Big M

The only grocery store in the village was Big M (till eventually another store opened up on the other end of town). I found out decades later the “M” stands for Midstate – a grocery company. It was a tiny store, compared to the multi-acre stores around today.

Grocery shopping for the family was done once a week on Saturday morning. I remember there was a nest of sorts built into a space in the wall above the dairy section with either an owl or chicken (fake, of course); I don’t recall which it was. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it was an owl. Once and for a time there was this life-size clown that inflated & deflated continuously. It must have been there to advertise something. I was deathly afraid of that thing. It must have been the noise of it or something, because I was not afraid of clowns in general, but boy-o-boy that thing gave me the frights.

What I enjoyed most about Saturday morning grocery shopping was this special loaf of bread my parents would buy as a post-shopping treat. It was relatively small, as bread loaves go, but it was so soft and sweet and delicious, and we would go apey with anticipation of arriving home, slicing it up, and wolfing it down! I have never found anything like it, since.