Thursday Thirteen #2!

Recently my friend told me that she had given her niece a Visa gift card for her graduation from 8th grade. Her niece shared where she went and what she spent the $100.00 on…well, to be precise: spent the $98.44. So I began to think about my 8th grade graduation and where that money would have gone: 1. Kroch and Breantano’s Book Store...for tons and tons of books. Heaven. Just heaven. I wanted to be buried in there. 2. Marshall Field’s….for Frango mints. That beautiful green logo is now replaced with a red MACY’S and Chicago is still in mourning. 3. E. J. Corvette's….for crap. Morphed into K-Mart. I remember them covering John Lennon’s “Two Virgins” album with a white cover (I peeked), only to eventually bow to public demand and ship them all back to Apple Corps. 4. Lemon Tree…for records. I bought Meet the Beatles (mono) there for $2.99 in 1964. I still have it, but no record player to play it on. 5. Cock Robin…for a hamburger and shake…for probably $1.00. (Please, no comments about the name – they were referring to a MALE CHICKEN named Robin. They are still in business, but a buck won’t get you anything but laughed out the door) 6. Kerry’s Custard…..major delicious. The first soft serve ice cream in the entire area. 7. Guy’s…..penny candy for the kids; liquor and cigarettes for the adults. Your parents would drop $2.00 in your pocket and send you on your bicycle to Guy's for a bag of candy (for you), a pack of cigs and a 5th of whiskey (for them). If you were really lucky (and quick) you got to keep the change. 8. Chas A. Stevens clothing store for a cute little something for the swingin' junior miss. Was sort of a fancier JC Penney. Also had its own hair salon. 9. National Bank of _____________ (please insert your hometown name). No longer available anywhere thanks to the likes of JPMorgan Chase megaultrabankingconglomerates, however, I would have deposited a quarter or two in the old savings account. 10. Ben Franklin – for little packages of angora yarn to wrap around the backs of any ring that didn’t fit – to make it fit. Color was a decision akin to a final chess move. And they had rows and rows of great junk. You could come home with a grocery bag full of stuff for .75 cents that would keep you occupied for months. I purchased Barbie doll clothes there too. In my day you got ONE Barbie, ONE Ken, ONE Skipper and then bought clothes. Now if you want a certain outfit, you have to buy ANOTHER doll. What marketing genius came up with that? 11. A&W Drive Up. Great root beer in a frosted mug….and you didn’t have to get out of your car to get it. They plopped the silver tray on your window that you had to roll down to the perfect height to support it. Their hotdogs were mighty fine too. 12. Stan’s Meat Market. Where they MADE ground beef for you right there, from a hunk of meat you chose from their store window. Then they put a nice big slab of butter on top of the freshly ground beef, so when you unwrapped the plastic wrap, you slapped it butter side down in the fry pan. Hmmm hmmmm good. 13. Kanak’s Pharmacy for Tiger Beat and Fave magazines, with a quick trip through the cosmetics aisle, wondering if you had enough money to buy some Bonnie Bell.

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Thursday Thirteen #2!

http://larachronicles.blogspot.com/2007/07/thursday-thirteen-2.html