Historical society hears about general stores
By Bill Rea

Writer, researcher and editor Dr. Rae Fleming spoke about general stores to members of the King Township Historical Society recently.

General stores have played a significant role, both in the history of communities and the country.

They appear to be declining these days, but the memories of what they once meant are still alive, and some of them were recounted recently for members of the King Township Historical Society.

Writer, researcher and editor Dr. Rae Fleming of Argyle was the guest speaker at the meeting, held at the library in Schomberg, but he was not the only one to offer insights into life in a general store. Doug and Margaret Brookes, former proprietors of Kettleby General Store, were on hand as well.

Fleming said he grew up in general store, so he got a first-hand view of what went on, adding he heard a lot of negative comments at the dinner table.

His parents bought their store in 1937 (about seven years before he was born), toward the end of the Depression, when store keepers had to extend credit. By the 1950s, he said there were still farmers who were having trouble making money. He recalled by the '60s, there was one farmer who owed his parents $300.

"I don't think he ever paid," Fleming remarked, adding his folks often heard lines of the, "Wouldn't you know it, I left my wallet in my other trousers" variety.

Brookes recalled having to keep track of who credit had been extended to, because some people swore they never bought certain items.

He added store keepers had to diversify to make ends meet. He did electrical work for people in the community, and also rented the upstairs of the store as apartments.

The Brookes weren't the only ones. Fleming pointed out Timothy Eaton ran a general store in St. Marys, and he diversified. There are other examples like him.

Fleming pointed out there was a time when many general stores had safes. In fact, he said the first credit union was started from the safe of such a store. He added it was common, at a time when there were no banks nearby, or someone had a bad credit rating, that general stores were used as pools for money. One result is they were robbed a lot.

The first general store in a permanent settlement in Canada was established in 1608 in Quebec City by Champlain, and in many cases, they became among the centre pieces of a village, along with schools, grain elevators and railroads. There were cases that as soon trains were passing through an area, a general store would be established, sometimes in a tent.

Native peoples would have been among the first customers in Champlain's store, and trade was conducted by barter.

Some general store keepers were able to make money with unusual investments. Fleming told

the story of a proprietor in South River (near Lake Nipissing) who bought a painting from artist Tom Thomson shortly before his death in 1917 for $25. In time, he sold it for more than $100,000.

There was also a period when there were portable general stores, basically wagons that made the rounds selling dry goods to farmers' wives. Fleming said they disappeared around the time of the First World War.

He also indicated that general stores could possibly take credit for the development of the billboard. He said a store, called Swain and Fox, was established in the Calgary area in 1917, with a large sign on the side of the building, proclaiming the proprietors were veterans of the war, and that one had been wounded. "It's a wonderful way of advertising," Fleming declared.

He recalled funeral notices being placed on the counter of the store he grew up in.

As well, he said it was a common place for people to swap news from the community, and he admitted he listened in on a lot of things as a youngster that he shouldn't have.

Fleming also said the boom that followed the Second World War, which brought better cars and shopping malls, started the decline in general stores; "Something that flourished once, and like all things, just declined."