by Jeannie Travis
In my little hometown, Dresden, TN. there were two ‘Hitch yards’ where folks could tie up their buggies , riding horses or wagons and go up a sidewalk between buildings to get to the store fronts…There was no shade in the one Daddy used, but it was on the side of town he shopped at.
Another memory from this time…you could go back to the meat market area of the grocery store and buy bologna, crackers, and Hoop cheese to make a cheap lunch. The butcher would tear off a big piece of paper and lay out your food on it. I guess we were not ‘pore’ enough for Daddy to have to take a lunch and go eat at the wagon. Only my brothers were allowed to go to town with Daddy on Mule Day/First Monday to do the
trading. So we could only envision the delicious boughten lunch they told us about. What a treat !
I don’t know how much this lunch cost, but you could get a big RC Cola and a Moon pie for 10 cents. Big candy bars were a nickel, ditto a bag of potato chips or an ice cream cone or Wonder bar. Coke floats were high though – 10 cents and were a rare treat at the drug store. It cost 12 or 13 cents to go to the ‘show’ and you could stay in there all day if you wanted to. Popcorn was probably a nickle…..Happy memories! Jeannie T