GREENWICH, N.Y. — “A pound of sugar, some coffee beans, some calico cloth for the Missus, and I’ll take my mail if I have any please. Thank you. I’ll be back in a few weeks when my feed order comes in.” The preceding fictional dialogue were the kind of statements that might have been made in a general store. While the general store is more of a novelty today, in the 19th and early 20th centuries they were an essential one-stop shop for American farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.
The concept of the general store came about in the 1700s and developed from trading posts which were located along trade routes. Trading posts were places where trappers, pioneers, and Native Americans could trade and barter for various goods and supplies. Trading posts were also places where the news of the day could be heard by people who spent most of their time isolated in the wilderness.1
As established communities sprang up along trade routes and more people moved west, the trading post transformed into an established general store. Some of these stores remained in towns, or they would move along with boomtowns like mining camps, cattle towns, or railroad towns. Wherever the action was, the store would move with them.2
Throughout the 1800s the general store was an important institution in small towns and the farmers and ranchers that surrounded the area. The general store was a place where farmers could get food items that they did not grow themselves, as well as other necessities that they could not make themselves. After the Civil War, improvement in the economy and the expansion of railroads enabled general stores to acquire more “exotic” goods beyond necessities.3
From the outside the general store was usually a two-story building with a porch on the front which made loading and unloading of goods easier. The second floor was typically a storage area or the store owner’s residence. There was also typically a larger display window to show some of its goods.4
Upon entering, a customer would find a darker room with long counters, display cases, and floor to ceiling shelving packed to the brim with goods. A store was typically separated into various departments which featured similar kinds of goods. Staple foods were kept in large barrels on the floor containing items like flour, sugar, coffee, dried beef, and dry beans which could be packaged to the customer’s desired amount.5 Fruit and vegetable produce would be available depending on what was in season at a particular time of year. Later, canned goods lined the walls offering preserved produce. Cheese, milk, oats, molasses, honey, and “penny candies” like licorice or peppermint sticks were some of the other typical food items that could be found in a general store. Tobacco and cigars were also usually included in the food department.6
A “pharmacy” department included items like medicines, remedies, and soap. Items for the home were various such as bolts of cloth, sewing supplies, and some clothing and shoes like hats, denim, pants, boots and more. Pots & pans, dishes, and cooking utensils for the kitchen could be found too.7
For the farmer, the general store was a place to get important farm needs such as milking equipment, fertilizer, various tools, guns & ammunition, pails, and nails. Larger farm equipment could also be ordered for delivery. The store typically supplied animal needs too such as horse harnesses, rope, and livestock feed.8
Given the farmer’s distance from town going the general store was not an everyday occurrence, and a trip to the store was often a noteworthy or exciting event for a family. If a farmer did not have enough cash at the time of purchase storekeeper’s often would allow them to buy on credit and the farmer would pay when he had earnings from crops. Farmers would also sometimes barter with storekeepers supplying farm goods for store goods.9
It was the shopkeeper’s duty to keep the store stocked with such a vast variety of goods. Storekeepers typically bought their goods from salesmen who represented larger manufacturers or wholesale businesses in cities. These salesmen were often referred to as “drummers.” While general stores offered similar items, they varied from place to place and region to region as storekeepers would keep track of the items their customers were purchasing and tailor their stores to meet their community’s needs.10
Apart from supplying material goods, the general store was an important social center. One of the defining features of a store was a wood stove with chairs circled around it and sometimes a checkerboard and spitoon. The general store was a place to gather and chat about happenings near and far. Town or organization meetings took place at general stores. The store also served as the town post office. A farmer may have come to the store to get supplies, but they would likely be leaving with the latest news and connection with his neighbors.11
The general store remained an important commercial and social institution for rural communities throughout into the early 20th century, particularly in the South where they served as suppliers of goods and credit for sharecroppers and tenant farmers. However, they started lose their sway during this time for a few reasons. In the late 1890s the U.S. postal service began offering Rural Free Delivery services bring mail to people who lived outside of towns, instead of them having to go to the store to get it. Mail-order catalogs also appeared around this time meaning residents could order items and have them shipped to the store or to their homes directly thus cutting out the need to get items via the general store.12 By the mid-1900s improved transportation and the establishment of grocery stores and other specialized retailers further diminished the need for the general store.13
While not many general stores exist today their memory lives on as a piece of Americana. They can be seen in many old Westerns or other television shows and movies such as the uppity Olesons who run the local store in Little House on the Prairie or the kindly Ike Godsey whose shop is featured often in The Waltons. Some remain today and while they may not be essential to everyday life, in some communities they continue to be gathering places for townsfolk to catch up on the happenings in town.
1 “General store,” New World Encyclopedia, accessed March 30, 2023, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/General_store.
2 Kathy Alexander, “Old-Fashioned Country Stores,” last modified December 2021, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-countrystores/.
3 Neil Gale, “The term ‘Grocery’ had a different meaning prior to the 1850s,” accessed March 30, 2023, http://livinghistoryofillinois.com/explanations/word_grocery_means.html.
4 Kathy Alexander, “Old-Fashioned Country Stores,” last modified December 2021, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-countrystores/.
5 The Henry Ford, “A Walk Through an 1880s-Era General Store | The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation,” YouTube, July 25, 2020, 3:20, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B1ezLeuj1g.
6 Kathy Alexander, “Old-Fashioned Country Stores,” last modified December 2021, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-countrystores/.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Neil Gale, “The term ‘Grocery’ had a different meaning prior to the 1850s,” accessed March 30, 2023, http://livinghistoryofillinois.com/explanations/word_grocery_means.html.
10 The Henry Ford, “A Walk Through an 1880s-Era General Store | The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation,” YouTube, July 25, 2020, 1:44, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B1ezLeuj1g.
11 Kathy Alexander, “Old-Fashioned Country Stores,” last modified December 2021, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-countrystores/.
12 Ibid.
13 “General store,” New World Encyclopedia, accessed March 30, 2023, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/General_store.
Chandler Hansen grew up and lives in Easton, NY. He is a graduate of Gordon College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in History. He serves as a writer and editor for Morning Ag Clips.