I remember it vividly.
“Biggie” (my Big Momma Scott) struggling furiously with the many cords
to her corset and perspiring profusely after her bath and powdering. Every now and then, she’d stop and sit down
in her old wooden rocker next to the window, fan herself and catch her
breath. Then she’d struggle to get up
and start the process again and finally get the huge contraption all hooked and
laced and then she threw over it all the remaining undergarments and then put
on her prettiest flowered voile dress.
I watched this process most Saturday afternoons during the
mid – 1940’s when the courthouse square in my hometown was bursting with
activity. This was the day when
everybody, town and country folks alike, made their way to the grocery stores,
barber shops, department stores, “dime” stores, feed and seed stores, etc. and
spent most of the day and into the early evening shopping and visiting with
friends and neighbors and swapping stories.
I remember Momma saying, “You better hurry or we won’t get a
good parking place”! “Our” good place
was in front of Harrison’s Drug Store.
That was absolutely THE best spot in town to us. After all, you could get the whole block in
from there. If you looked to the left
and looked hard enough, you could see Uncle Waitus’s red peppermint barber
pole, Darling’ 5 & 10, United 5 & 10, and Ehrlich’s. Then there would be Rosenberg’s, Harrison’s,
and Elmore Berry’s grocery. Then of
course, the Citizens Bank.
The process started immediately after noon dinner. We would pile into Biggie’s old Ford and beat
it to town! Most of the time it would be
just the three of us. Biggie, Momma, and
me. But, sometimes, Tommie Faye and
Buddy, my first cousins would be with us to liven up the crowd. Then again, sometimes, Aunt Lucille and
Donnie would come along. That was a
“buggy full” as Biggie would say! We’d find our coveted spot, park vertically
and immediately open the doors to let in the cooler air. I would get my dime from Momma,
jump out of the car and be on my way up the sidewalk to the dime store to
peruse the wares. The counters were full of Tangee “Natural”
lipstick, Blue Waltz perfume, Cody face powder, combs, hair barets,
handkerchiefs, and of course, candy, all of which I could justify spending my
money on if I had to. But, usually, I’d
hold on to it and “shop” since I had just started the process.
Up the sidewalk I’d go.
I’d probably stop in to say “hey” to Uncle Waitus. I don’t think Momma liked for me to go in the
Barber Shop where it was always full of men spitting tobacco in a nasty brass
spittoon but I didn’t think it was nice not to speak to him so I would at least
go in to speak to him while I was that far down the street. He was always so nice anyway and took me
“splurging” so many times. I did love
Uncle Waitus. He was such a jolly
man.
I’d probably stop in Ehrlich’s and walk around looking at
all the pretty hats and dresses. The
ladies were always so nice there. There
was a place in the back you could try on dresses that you could pull the burlap
closed so nobody could see you in there.
It was small and hot. Momma made
most of my dresses during that time so I didn’t try on many dresses. Neither did Biggie. She would have had a real hard time in that
hot spot dealing with that corset. But
she did buy hats in there sometimes.
Hats that always had little net veils that hung down over her eyes. She didn’t wear the veils down much. Mostly for funerals. I'd get hat boxes from Ehrlich's sometimes for a Valentine Box for my class at school. It would be a nice big, round box and we would cover it at school with red paper and cut out valentines from paper doilies and paste them on with glue from a bottle with a slanted rubber tip. Mine always got hard and I couldn't get the glue out before the glue was used up!
Then on up the street to Rosenberg’s where they had very
nice hats and dresses as well and ladies with bright red lipstick. They always smiled and asked about Biggie and
Momma. Now, I’m back in front of the
car again and see a whole flock of people around talking so I still have plenty
of time to check out the drug store. As
you enter the door, on round wire racks are so many comic books that I have a
hard time choosing which one I want to thumb through. I don’t think Dr. Harrison likes the kids to
stand there and look through the comics without buying one, but everybody
always does. I hate to do it. I kind of search with my eyes like I’m
looking for a particular one, pick it out of the rack, and quickly flip through
the pages reading a fast as I can. I decide not to push my luck and put it back
in the rack and mosey on back to the perfume counter. Now, that’s the best part of the whole
store! Well, the second best. The beautiful blue bottles of Evening In
Paris, crystal bottles of Windsong, Tigress, with a leopard cap, and others
that just took my breath away. I stood
there and opened every bottle smelling the delicious aromas and dabbing a
little on my wrist and behind my ears.
I smelled more like roadkill when I left than the glamorous movie star I was pretending to be.
As I meander through the store, looking at the various
potions, liniments, and latest elixirs and remedies for whatever ailed you,
there is the massive soda fountain and what I really came in for all the
time. My dime still in my pocket, I
announce to Dr. Wimberly, “Chocolate Milk Shake please”! I sit down at the round wrought iron table on
a black iron chair, sip the best milk shake in the whole wide world, and watch
while the whole town comes parading by with almost the same agenda. Except for maybe the comic books and milk
shake.
