I almost feel like I should be hiding this bit of my history because it makes me sound dinosaur-old, but... when I was a kid, my friends and I would walk to a little antiques store after school and buy penny candy to stuff into our backpacks. Then we'd head over to the library to hang out.
The beloved store, which we all called the "Red & White," was in a building old as dirt ~ rickety and possibly haunted, just like a lot of the old houses in the small Connecticut town of my childhood. Only recently have I learned the store was actually called, "The Homestead" ~ a sign hanging outside said so, clear as day, but I never noticed it.
{ Snapped this pic on a visit home in 2012 }
"Perhaps built as early as 1815 by Danforth Richmond, the building at 46 Tolland Green in Tolland served as a general store for a century and a half. Various businesses have occupied space inside over the years and at one time, manufacturer Henry Underwood had a workshop on the second floor. Other businesses included a shoe shop in the 1850s, A.W. Munger’s store in the 1860s, and J.P. Root’s store around 1900. In the mid-twentieth century, the building housed the Red and White grocery store, run by the Clough family, complete with gasoline pump. More recently, the Homestead gift and antiques shop has been located here."
~ Daniel Sterner, Historic Buildings of Connecticut
I will always remember walking in through the porch door, dropping my backpack on the floor, and stepping up onto the stool so I could get a better look at the candy under the glass. You would start by telling Mrs. Shaffer, the lady behind the counter, how much money you had that day, and it was never much. $0.75, maybe $1.15. Mrs. Shaffer would scoop your candy into a small brown paper bag while counting backwards, telling you how much money you had left ~ and I swear, grape licorice, sour bears, and Swedish fish never tasted so good.
My parents told me the other day that Mrs. Shaffer died and the Homestead went up for sale. I didn't really think about it much until I sat down at my sewing corner and then it started sinking in. And I was inspired ~ by sweet memories of the Red & White. I thought about it while I sewed and stitched and evenutally came up with this...
It's a square mint linen tea towel of sorts. 20" x 20" with back-to-front binding. I didn't do mitred corners because I couldn't be bothered. I just kinda made it up as I went along and had fun with it. A little lace, a little embroidery, a hexagon flower, a little applique...
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The Red & White truly was a gem in our small town. It's hard to believe that it's no longer there ~ that kind Mrs. Shaffer is no longer smiling behind the counter ~ though I'll always remember it just that way. And good memories only seem to get better with time. I know this is true because Swedish fish never tasted quite as good as when I paid for them with pennies ~ when pennies were scrounged and saved and worth more than... a penny.
xo amy