Flipside: Back to the 50's--Mom and Pop stores near Perrysville

In my elementary school years there were several Mom and Pop stores we frequented. Walking home from Perrysville Elementary School, if we took the Perry Highway route, we had to pass by Wall's Market. Wall's was a "real" grocery store, not a chain, and I believe probably owned by....the Walls ;-) It handled produce, meat, paper products and CANDY. Back in those days one nickle would buy a large chocolate candy bar. Very strange that my dentist, Dr. Keopke's office was almost directly across Perry Highway from Wall's. That fact did not deter me from purchasing a Clark bar or Sky Bar....probably my two favorites. Another candy I loved was Sugar Daddy....now that one occasionally did pull a filling out of a tooth and then I had to go see the dentist. I learned early on that Sugar Daddy's were to suck on.....not bite into ;-)

When my childhood friend and I received matching bikes from Santa one Christmas, we were more mobile. Two authentic Mom and Pop stores we frequented were located in Perrysville and in Laurel Gardens--both local to our houses on Washington Drive.

Heiber's looked the same in the 1950's, except for the buggy's.
Credit: Images of America: Ross Township by John D. Schalcosky, page 34.

I have finally found out the name and a photo of the Perrysville Mom and Pop store we frequented. Now an abandoned lot next to H.P. Brandt Funeral Home which is used for parking, it once was the home of the Heiber's General Store. I remembered it as wood framed and having to go up several wooden steps to the entrance and now that I have a photo, my memory served me well. It was the destination, in the summer, for bottles of flavored syrup which we used to cover crushed ice. Yes, we were young entrepreneurs who had one of those neighborhood beverage stands in front of the house....only we served ice cones.

The second Mom and Pop store we loved to bike to was in Laurel Gardens. At one time there was no road that connected North Hills Estates, where we lived, to Laurel Gardens. Then an extension was made, several new homes built and voila.....we were off and biking to explore a new area near home.

I can't remember whether we discovered this new store ourselves or perhaps some of the older boys in the neighborhood told us about it...nonetheless, we peddled there on a regular basis. My memory is going on either First or Second Street, which to an elementary school kid was like peddling a roller coaster.....gliding down and then peddling hard up the hill. A zig and a zag and there we were, in front of the store. Again, the name of the owners is long forgotten by me; however, I did join a group on Facebook of folks interested in the history of Ross Township, asked the question of who owned the store and was thrilled to have a multitude of answers. From what I gleaned, Laurel Gardens actually had two Mom and Pop stores during the time frame I was interested in, but the folks who owned the one we biked to was probably either Lavine's (Levine's) or Pelusi's. The goal of our trip was the HUGE stock of penny candy....the pot of gold at the end of an elementary kids rainbow ;-) Typical of the 50's. The penny candy was stored in large glass jars tilted forward so we could choose our own wrapped confections. Those that were not wrapped had lids, which the owner would open and remove the candy with a large metal scoop.

Another wonderful 1950's childhood memory.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published. PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.