Mrs. Bell's Store

Mrs. Bell ran a little one room store out of her house about half way down Mercer Avenue. Mrs. Bell was in her 50's and 60's in the 1950's and 1960's but to us kids she seemed a lot older. She had been a widow since her husband had died in the 1930's. She had moved to Mercer from 13th Street in the late 40's or early 50's. I remember she always had chickens and a garden behind the house she lived in. Us kids spent a many a day on her front porch playing and drinking 5 cent Cokes, Golden Girl Colas, Sun Drop, and True Aid Oranges. Those were the days, honey bun, peanuts and a drink for a quarter. Do you remember the sour pickle jar? We all used the same fork to get the pickles with. Again that was in the days before air conditioning. That made those drinks seem even colder.

The house is still there, but the store has been gone for years. Mrs. Bell passed away when she was in her 80's and was living in a nursing home her half brother was watching after her and her estate. She was buried next to her husband in Bellevue Cemetery.