Everything in One Small Place

The Slatington of my youth was a pretty self-contained little town. It was kind of like Emmaus and Nazareth are today.  You didn’t need to go to Allentown for much. In fact, some families never left town. Almost everything you needed could be found in the 600 block of Main Street or at least a short walk from there.

Sometimes I have trouble sleeping or getting back to sleep. I am a 66 year old male after all and we are famous for having to get up to pee several times a night!  My trick for getting back to sleep works most of the time. I either, in my mind, walk through the old green pigments plant I used to work in or I recall the stores on Main Street in Slatington.

A popular activity for the women in town was to actually go shopping on Main Street on a Friday night.  My mom and my Aunt Lorna would do that most Friday nights. My cousins Terry and Mike and I would stay at my place and make believe we were the Beatles.  With Love From Me to You! Our moms would usually bring something home for us.

Here is what you could get in the 600 block of Main Street, or close by. You could do grocery shopping at one of two stores, Acme or A & P.  You could buy auto parts at McCann’s. You could buy stationery at Kern’s and jewelry at Mack’s.  You could buy shoes at Kramer’s or Jones’s shoe stores. Need some nails…Guy’s Hardware, with an amazing toy selection in the basement!  Candy and cigarettes at Kuntz’s, Sporting Goods at Marty’s, and hats, yes, hats! at Martha’s.  At prom time, we all got our tuxes at a men’s store whose name I cannot remember. At the five and dime, the ArGe store, you could get most anything. There were two pharmacies, Bechtel’s and the Corner Cut Rate.  The Corner Cut Rate soda fountain was a place to get refreshed. If you needed something stronger there were two bars, Art’s and Rice & Evans.  A liquor store and the post office were the government’s places on Main.  When you got your prescription, and your new hat, you could finish off the evening with a meal at Handwerk’s Restaurant! If you ran out of money, you could get more at Citizens’ Bank or the First National Bank of Slatington.

That was the business side of my hometown. There were other businesses, of course, scattered throughout the rest of town.  But that one block was the economic powerhouse that sustained us.  It was often busy and always fun to be there. Here is an interesting side note about Slatington stores. Every year, on Good Friday, all the stores would close from 12 to 3, to represent the time Jesus was on the cross. How quaint! How small town! How politically incorrect!

Thanks for the chance to reminisce. It was a wonderful time to grow up.  The wonder years.

If any of my Slatington readers remember anything else, or find some mistakes, I would love to hear it in a comment. To my non-Slatington readers, if you grew up in a different small town I hope this sparked some memories. If you grew up in the country, I am sure you have your own special recollections. If you grew up in a city, I’m sure this talk about living in a small town must be hard to relate to. What can I say except…small town magic!