Nostalgia

Posted by Russ Devan (New Hanover, United States) on 13 May 2008 in Architecture and Portfolio.

This is a little store in Birchrunville, Chester County. I discovered this quaint old place on my way to photograph a covered bridge one evening. Driving past this place, I thought I had gone through a time warp and landed back in the 1930s or 1940s. That old Esso gas pump really caught my eye but I love the old, nostalgic look to the entire store. The rocking chairs on the porch look like a place where some guys might get together over a soda to play some checkers on a hot summer day. I half expected John-Boy to walk out of Godsey's General Store, like in the TV show, The Waltons. Or see a '57 Chevy pull up to the gas pump.

The store reminds me of several small, family-owned stores that used to exist long ago in and near my hometown in western Pennsylvania. Places I used to frequent as a kid: D'Arcs Pizza which was kind of like our town's version of "Arnold's" in the TV show Happy Days where many of us went to hang out after the high school football games. Leone's was the place you went when you wanted a great Italian sub. Two doors down from Leone's was Andersons (my in-law's store) who had a little bit of everything including all kinds of penny candy (as well as one very pretty blonde cashier who worked there with a smile that would make you melt). There was also Palumbo's, Conjelko's, and Pomroy's - all family-owned stores. In my dad's hometown nearby, there was Maljavic's (a good ol' Slovak name prounounced Ma-LAW-vik) which was near my great grandma's house and which my dad used to walk to as a kid to get groceries for his mom and his grandma (grandma's grocery list was always written in Slovak; she couldn't speak English). In any one of these stores you walked in and they knew you and your family and more than half the time probably had your favorite newspaper saved for you behind the counter each day. My in-laws got to know their custormers so well that many were invited to our wedding (we had a pretty big, fun wedding with a lot of people...think along the lines of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and you'll come close to understanding).

I really miss all those small, highly-personal, family-owned businesses that America used to be made of. Now we have all of those impersonal Walmarts and other mega-corporations that don't even know you, but they'll be sure to hand you a smiley sticker whenever you arrive (what the hell is that about anyway?). It's just sad when you think about it. I guess that's why I go to family businesses whenever I have the choice.

“If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.” - Sir Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of Boy Scouts

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