Shopping Then & Now - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

A Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Shopping Then & Now

While growing up, shopping excursions usually meant a trip with Mom to town for some groceries at Borchers store and dry goods at Willman’s department store. While I’d be scouring the candy area for Topps bubble gum baseball cards, Mom and my sisters would be checking out the other areas of the store for stuff they needed. Mom never bought anything she wanted, only what was needed for the family. That meant a pretty spartan life for us all, but who knew anything different. We were happy and fortunately living on a farm meant we were never hungry.

There might be the occasional trip to Sidney for some shopping perhaps after a dentist appointment or vaccinations at the Health Dept. in the basement of the old Courthouse. Mom would hit all the shops around the courthouse square pictured below. Her favorites were Woolworth’s, Kresge’s, GC Murphy’s Five & Dime, Montomery Wards and the Arcade in the Wagner Hotel, if memory serves, with its bowling alley. I'd periodically have to run back to where the car was parked to feed the parking meter with pennies and nickels. Many times Mom parked near the county jail just off the square, and when feeding the meter, I always kept a wary eye out for escapees!

A visit to the Spot restaurant for a bite to eat or the Sidney theater to catch a Disney movie were special treats after shopping. I recall the Spot’s hamburgers and the Theater's popcorn were the best.

Contrast those times with today’s shopping ventures. For me, it’s about the same, only I’m following my wife around rather than my Mom! Spring and fall are especially active because of the change of season and latest style changes.We’ll sometimes spend Sunday’s after church heading to the local mall called the Somerset Collection with 180 stores and restaurants pictured below, none of which are any of my Mom’s old favorites that have all bit the dust!

Note the two gigantic buildings are connected by a moving walkway over the road to speed the shoppers across to the other side for some more stores. In preparation, my wife will typically check out items of interest on a store’s website, and if she buys on-line, will purchase two different sizes to assure that at least one fits. That means much of the time at the Somerset Collection is returning the items she bought on-line that didn’t fit or she didn’t like. I find it ironic that my wife concludes since the returns will provide a credit on the charge card, that she can buy something else “for free”. Many times, to give my wife even more time for shopping, my job is to do the returns.

After the returns, my routine is to stop at my three favorites, the Apple store, a sport memorabilia store and Sharper Image where I’d test run the massage chairs.

After those interludes, I’d then proceed to California Pizza Kitchen to eventually meet my wife for lunch. Taking a seat at the bar near the big screen TV like shown on the right, I'd watch sports, read the Sunday paper and enjoy an appetizer and beer (or two) until my wife was done shopping.

Once she arrives, the shopping escapades are shared, mine rather quickly and her’s somewhat more detailed. For one of my wife’s future shopping excursions, I’m going to secretly turn on her smart phone app called MapMyWalk that we use when trekking around the walking paths in our neighborhood. I bet the app’s output would look just like the Family Circus cartoon shown below!