topic Re: The ROLLING STORE in Community Chat

The ROLLING STORE

cheriere — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:00:45 GMT

Long before QVC was ever imagined, out in the country may have been it's predecessors called ROLLING STORES.

Ive heard my Granny and my Mother speak about these many times. In fact, before writing this post today, I spoke with my Mother again just to make sure I got some of the details correct.

Since many folks who lived in the country may have only went to town once a month, local stores would send out vehicles stocked full of all sorts of items they figured people might want or need. I was told that these existed even before my Mother's time, but the one she remembered was an old school bus that had been painted bright red.. He came by every Saturday and everyone looked forward to his visit.

The store would drive slowly down the road, as many of them were still dirt lol. Families would usually have the kids sit on the porch waiting until they could see it coming, as to throw your hand up for it to stop.

Each person got their own turn to go on the store. Many items were on board, some included: All manner of dry goods, household items, hardware, farm supplies such as bags of feed and salt blocks, drugs, Many groceries including canned goods, fresh pies, cakes and breads, and all the Pop and Candy you could imagine.

My mom fondly recalls how good the Rolling Store smelled once you got inside. She and her sisters and brother would always get change from her parents or grandparents to buy candy and a pop. Since she was raised in the city in Ohio, this was one of her best memories when spending the summers down home with her grandparents.

However, even when her family moved back here when she was in high school, the Rolling Store still ran and that was in the 60s. She wishes she'd have taken a picture of that old store so many times. She tried to find one among her Facebook friends, but was unable to. I've included some other pics I found online of other Rolling Stores.

Re: The ROLLING STORE

haddon9 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:07:10 GMT

Interesting and it makes sense. Both of my parents grew up in NYC and I spent my early childhood there. No rolling stores for us!

Re: The ROLLING STORE

SportyShorty07 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 18:17:58 GMT

@cheriere This is wonderful, Cheriere! Thank you so much for sharing thelovely storis your family has about the Rolling Stores :heart! I think its os great that these Rolling Stores existed and provided shopping opportunities to people in small towns! It must've been really exciting for your Mom and Grandma to see those stores approaching their neighborhoods- and I bet it was a lot of fun to walk into the Rolling Stores and look at all of the merchandise . I like the photos- all of the people waiting in line are probably really excited to buy their favorite things or discover new things they haven't purchased before. Thank you for sharing!

Re: The ROLLING STORE

cheriere — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:12:00 GMT

@SportyShorty07 @haddon9

Thanks 😊💝. Mom smiled and said she can still recall how great it smelled to climb aboard...and ALL that candy lol.

Re: The ROLLING STORE

persiflage — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:17:23 GMT

I'm thinking of Mr. Haney on Green Acres!

Re: The ROLLING STORE

SportyShorty07 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:19:05 GMT

@cheriere Ooh I bet the Rolling Stores smelled great ! And I love candy- I eat candy everyday! Not a full bar, but a few pieces of fun sized mini candy. Yesterday I went to Walgreens and I bought Charms Blow Pops and Tootsie Roll pops . Do you, your Mom and Granny have favorite candies?

Re: The ROLLING STORE

cheriere — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:22:34 GMT

@SportyShorty07

Mom's definitely a cotton candy, circus peanuts kinda gal. I prefer Jolly Ranchers and Sour Patch Kids lol.❤️

Re: The ROLLING STORE

SportyShorty07 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:30:43 GMT

@cheriere Ooh you and your Mommy have great taste in candy! I love cotton candy, circus peanuts, Jolly Rachers and Sour Patch kids . I'll eat any type of candy- some weeks I crave Mr. Goodbar or Hershey's, other times I want Jolly Ranchers or Haribo gunmmy bears. I like Mallowcups and Rollos. I had some M & M's the other day and they were delicious. I'll never outgrow my love for candy.

Re: The ROLLING STORE

cheriere — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:32:51 GMT

@SportyShorty07

Ooh, mallowcups! We love those too and I totally forgot about those! I love chocolate as well. In fact, I hogged out and ate count them, 5 Reeces Easter Eggs last night!😃❤️

Re: The ROLLING STORE

Mombo1 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:37:35 GMT

@cheriere Great story and pictures. We did not have a Rolling Store, but we did have what we called the "Bread Man". He drove his small van by almost every night....usually late afternoon. He mainly carried breads, cookies, pies and cakes. When we heard the bells on his truck, we knew he was coming. Occasionally we were allowed to meet him at the curb....and he would always give us a free cookie. My mom always got the bread. Sometimes my mom would get mad at the timing. It was always close to dinner, and she didn't want us to eat anything to ruin our appetites. Eventually she gave in, and everyone was happy. Those were also the days when milk was delivered to the house. We had a little metal box on the porch. When you heard the lid slam shut, we knew it was there. Free cookies and a glass of milk hit the spot. 🤗

Re: The ROLLING STORE

SportyShorty07 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:48:21 GMT

@cheriere I LOVE MALLOWCUPS! They got me through a bad breakup years ago - I bought a gas station display box and ate the whole box in a matter of months. Anytime I was sad, I'd eat a Mallow cup or two to cheer myself up, and it worked- but I gained about 10 pounds in 2 months by doing that, totally worth it! Ooh that's my girl- I love Reese's Easter eggs and 5 of them is a good number- if I eat just 2, I'd think, "Well, that was good, but now its all done"- but if you eat 5, that's really the perfect number! I think my personal record is 8 Reese's easter eggs in one go . I love regular Reese's peanut butter cups, but I think that the fun shapes for different seasons have even more peanut butter than the regular ones and that's why they're my favorites. I've got to go to Walgreen's again on Monday to get Easter candy on sale- its 75% off all Easter candy now! Maybe some Easter M and M's or some Peeps- I forgot to get it yesterday, but there was a big hollow Chocolate easter bunny that was calling my name.

Re: The ROLLING STORE

SportyShorty07 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:52:07 GMT

@Mombo1 I love your Bread Man and Milk Man stories! That Bread Man truck must've smelled so good with all of the bread and pastries on board and the fresh milk and free cookies on the spot must've been so delicious!

Re: The ROLLING STORE

cheriere — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:53:20 GMT

@Mombo1

A bread man sounds right up my alley! I'd love ❤️ that free cookie too!
She's told me about the milk man when growing up. They lived in the city for many years. When they moved back down here, it was fresh cows milk which all the kids hated lol.💝🌸

Re: The ROLLING STORE

Estellee — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:55:41 GMT

@cheriere I love hearing about this. I wish my mother was still here so I could ask her if she remembered this. She grew up in the 20's and I was born in the 50's but don't remember this happening. Maybe it depended on where people grew up. My childhood was in the northeast, in Rhode Island. I do remember the milk man though, delivering to our family. Nice to reminice.

Re: The ROLLING STORE

cheriere — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 16:55:12 GMT

LOL, I raced to WalGreens hoping to get a bunch of Cadbury Cream eggs but someone beat me to it! All gone the day after Easter!😩

Re: The ROLLING STORE

cheriere — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 20:32:59 GMT

@Estellee wrote:
@cheriere I love hearing about this. I wish my mother was still here so I could ask her if she remembered this. She grew up in the 20's and I was born in the 50's but don't remember this happening. Maybe it depended on where people grew up. My childhood was in the northeast, in Rhode Island. I do remember the milk man though, delivering to our family. Nice to reminice.

My mom was born in 53 and lived in Ohio except for the Summers and until high school. I'd love to know if these were just in the south or if lots of communities everywhere had them too.

There was also a fellow they were friends with down here everyone called, the rag man lol. He owned an old store that pretty much sold old clothes.

However, my mom's grandmother would save cotton feed sacks with prints to make the girls little dresses and things to play in outside so they didn't ruin their nice clothes. Mom said she always loved what her grandma would make, but not her sisters lol.

Re: The ROLLING STORE

SportyShorty07 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 17:14:01 GMT

@cheriere Ooh the Cadbury Cream eggs go fast at Walgreens- they're always sold out when I look for them too! Some people go nuts over seasonal candy- I saw a woman at Walgreens buy 30 plastic candy canes filled with Hershey's kisses. She bought the entire display!

Re: The ROLLING STORE

Estellee — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 17:14:44 GMT

@cheriere It's so great she can give you so much information. I find the older I get the more I want to know about the past. Funny thing

@cheriere wrote:
@Estellee wrote:
@cheriere I love hearing about this. I wish my mother was still here so I could ask her if she remembered this. She grew up in the 20's and I was born in the 50's but don't remember this happening. Maybe it depended on where people grew up. My childhood was in the northeast, in Rhode Island. I do remember the milk man though, delivering to our family. Nice to reminice.
My mom was born in 53 and lived in Ohio except for the Summers and until high school. I'd love to know if these were just in the south or if lots of communities everywhere had them too.
There was also a fellow they were friends with down here everyone called, The Rag Man. He sold fabric and the old pretty feed sacks my great grandmother used to make them things out of.💝🌸

Re: The ROLLING STORE

Estellee — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 17:15:57 GMT

@SportyShorty07 wrote:
@cheriere Ooh the Cadbury Cream eggs go fast at Walgreens- they're always sold out when I look for them too! Some people go nuts over seasonal candy- I saw a woman at Walgreens buy 30 plastic candy canes filled with Hershey's kisses. She bought the entire display!

@SportyShorty07 That would be me, Hershey's is my favorite.

Re: The ROLLING STORE

Bookplate — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 17:33:29 GMT

This is a fascinating bit of hidden history; thanks. It sounds like the householder's version of a library bookmobile.