Then & Now Photos: The Local Hardware Store ... 100+ years and going strong!

[357magster]

You can keep your Home Depots and your Lowe's ...

This gem has been in the same family for three generations. It may be small, but they usually have what I need ... even if it means the owner disappearing into the ancient basement/storeroom for a few minutes to root around to find it. On the rare occasion that they don't have what I need, they can get it in a day or two. This is truly a Mom & Pop place ... and we all know that they are vanishing quickly. Every purchase comes with a sincere smile and usually a good story or two. (I wouldn't go so far as to call it "gossip" ... ) I truly feel privileged to be able to shop here.

And, oh, if those ol' worn, stained floorboards could talk ...

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Do they - Did they sell guns - ammo?
Down South, the hardware stores were the prime local Ordnance providers.
Most General Stores sold some ammo, but the Hardware Stores has a better selection.

 

[chief38]

Our local Hardware Store that has been in business for about 90 years JUST went out of business 5 months ago. They had a 20 year bout with Home Depot, Ace Hardware and when Lowes opened a few years back that put the final nail in their coffin. They simply could not compete and obviously could not carry the amount of product line the huge big box stores can.

The only old time Hardware store still hanging on anywhere near me is two Towns over and the last time I visited them it had the smell of death in there. I truly doubt they will survive much longer.

In all but the smallest towns and villages across the Country, the "local privately owned Hardware Store" is sort of a thing of the past if there is a bog box store within practical driving distance.

 

[NYlakesider]

They have a real old hardware store up in my area. Every time you go in you see stuff you never saw there before. Its very crowded and easy to overlook things but ask the old timers working there and they will get it. They also have a big back garage, a large basement and attic and there some where is just about anything you need. They do sell some common type ammo but no guns, remember this is the peoples republic of NY!

I worked PT for a local neighborhood hardware store when I was in my teens and living in Albany, so I understand more about that business than the average shopper does. At a early age I learned among other things how to cut keys, mix paint, repair both screens and window glass, sell nails by the pound in heavy paper bags, replace power cords on items like lamps/ toasters. A great place for a mechanically inclined kid to learn a lot.

 

[soFlaNative]

Like that collection of woodworking tools in the window... can
almost make out the landscape painted on that crosscut saw.
With the demise of the neighborhood hardware store I feel lucky to
have one nearby. Always busy they've managed to stay alive with
excellent service and hardware common to the houses in the area that are near
impossible to find at the big box stores. Only time they did
not have what I asked about was while I was in there anyway buying
something else. Asked in the off chance they had a 16" chainsaw blade.
Original owner passed away couple years back, wife and son run the place now.
They've got my business as long as they're there.

 

[Watchdog]

I love old photographs like that.

Interesting how they have "gasoline" spelled on the sign in the window.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Love those old hardware stores. There's one in Saluda NC, M.A. Pace (1899), that we stop at when cruising the mountains on my husband's Goldwing. Always nice people to chat with in there.

 

[arjay]

Then & Now Photos: The Local Hardware Store ... 100+ years and going strong!

When I moved back to the area where I grew up,I was surprised to learn that the car repair business my father used 60 years ago was still there.Hank didn't work on cars anymore,but he was there every day to greet and gossip with everyone who came in.He passed away a few months ago at 91,but his son is keeping the shop open.

 

[italiansport]

These old time hardware stores and drug stores pop up frequently on The Pickers TV show and it is amazing the varied types of items that are found in them. I remember buying a half dozen mortar and pestle sets when an old drug store went out of business many years ago
Jim

 

[DWalt]

At my second home near Brackettville TX is a hardware store (Davis Hardware) with a storefront entrance nearly identical in appearance to the Vanderhoof store pictured. God knows how long it has been there, but it definitely has the late 19th-early 20th century look, smell, and feel to it. It carries a little of everything, even has a small lumber yard, and I have never needed anything I couldn't find there - but for a little more than I would pay at Lowe's or HD. But then I don't have to drive 35 miles one way to Del Rio to get it. They do still carry a few guns and a small ammo inventory in a back room, but nothing special. I have never known where they got it, but they have an old brass National Cash Register denominated in pounds, shillings and pence. Of course they don't use it.

 

[DWalt]

I love old photographs like that.

Interesting how they have "gasoline" spelled on the sign in the window.

Back in the earliest days of American motoring, there were very few gas stations as we think of them today, and motor fuel was usually sold at hardware stores, along with kerosene. I think Gasolene was a British spelling but used in the US.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

That's a good question. They certainly don't sell guns & ammo now, but will ask about yesteryear. The owner and I were talking a couple of days ago about fireworks. They sold them "back in the day", but now the nanny-state laws here forbid such exhibitions of patriotism. Strictly verboten!

A relative of some extended family members brought home a 28 ga double hammer gun. Italian I think.
At 10-12 years old, I just knew that was the gun for me!
The General stores out in the country sold 12, 16, 20 and 410s.
But not 28s!
Everybody said you got to go to York Arms in Memphis for those.

 

[DWalt]

Some hardware stores still carry guns. Russell Hardware in Del Rio TX is a True Value store, quite large, and has a sporting goods area with about as good a selection of guns (long guns and handguns) as you would find in most dedicated gun shops, including ammo, reloading supplies, and scopes. But a little too pricey for me. And also an extensive line of fishing tackle and supplies, not too surprising as it is so close to Lake Amistad on the Rio Grande, one of the best fishing spots in Texas.

 

[Maple Trapper]

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but from before I was born (1946) until about 15 years ago, my hometown had a true hardware store. It was started by 2 brothers, rather 1 of 2 brothers. One had the hardware in Oneida, NY and his brother had one in Cazenovia, NY. Both had a fantastic selection and I don't recall ever going in to get something that that they didn't have.
The brother who had the Oneida Store died about 16 years ago, and the store went out of business shortly after. I didn't go, but my brother attended the auction that sold everything that remained. Now, this was both a grocery and hardware store. The customers only had access to the main floor, but there were 3 floors of inventory and a basement full. A few of the things my brother told me about were: a sealed case of baking soda from several decades ago, which sold several hundred dollars, full wooden kegs of horse shoes, all kinds of plumbing supplies and tools. My brother at the time had a team of Belgians and he had bought a heavy commercial sewing machine (from a retiring custom shoe maker) for making harness and such, he bought a few cases of super heavy thread that they had. He said they also had a bunch of new (but very old) 1 and 2 man crosscut saws. It seems he said some were up to over 10' long and still like new, no sign of ageing.
Back in it's heyday, I think the first thing I bought there, shortly after a house I owned and had rented out was involved in a major fire, was a good 16 oz hammer, wooden handle. I still have that hammer over 40 years later and while it no longer hits as hard as it did then, it is still in perfect condition, still has the original handle and the head has never loosened.
The name of that store was Buyea's. The one in Cazenovia is still in business but I suspect it is owned by a son or other relative or such. The brother (owner) I knew was over 80 when he died and I'm told his brother was older.

 

[Bugkiller99]

I "grew up" in a hardware store. Was lucky enough to be hired by the owner while I was in high school. He made a point to have two high school kids on the payroll at all times. Found out much later that this was one of the ways he gave back to the community, as we weren't worth the money he paid us .
But, boy o boy, what I learned. NYlakesider just scratches the surface in his description. I told the owner many years later that I learned a lot while working in his hardware store, and only a small bit of it was hardware.
Two stops I always make when visiting a small town. The LGS and the hardware store.

 

[chaparrito]

My local Feed/Hardware store is more feed than hardware, but they are managing to survive with customer service and for well known locals in my little community, they give no interest credit. I can run in and grab a roll of duct tape or bag of nails or something and wave it at the gals who run the place and I'm out the door. They put it on my tab and I settle up once a month.

 

[snubbyfan]

Local (30 miles is considered local) to us is "Hunter's Hardware".
It's an old fashioned hardware store with most anything a person could want or need. Including guns and ammo.

 

[Onomea]

I, too, like hardware stores. While I have never understood the attraction of shopping, per se, like most of the ladies enjoy, I make an exception for hardware stores. While I always have something specific in mind when I go, I usualy wind up buying a coupla extra things that I happen across.

(Gun stores, too, of course, are fun to just browse. And bookstores. Hmm. Maybe I like shopping after all, and it is just I don't care to shop for the same stuff that most women seem to enjoy shopping for.... Clothes, houseware, cosmetics, etc. At least that is the stuff my wife enjoys shopping for, and I don't.)