Bi-Weekly Newsletter

​More 1960’s
Growing up on Sheridan Street in North Easton it was possible to walk to various stores, both on Main Street and otherwise. The store I most often frequented as a child in the1960’s was the Corner Store that was located at the bottom of Columbus Ave. My cousins lived just a few houses up the street from the store and we often walked from there.


Side story, when I was in elementary school we used to play in the middle of Columbus Ave. We would draw in chalk in the middle of the street, not sure what game that was? I remember neighborhood boys making go-carts and driving them down the street; we would just shout, ‘car’ if we saw one coming. 
The owner of the Corner Store at the time was Dick Southworth; he was also a postman I believe. Candy cigarettes were popular, we played at smoking. Colored liquid in wax bottles, wax lips, Bazooka bubblegum for two cents. I believe (memory can be tricky) I recall when popsicles went from five cents to seven cents. Sky Bars were a favorite of mine, four different fillings wrapped in chocolate.

The Corner Store. Later to become Casey’s, Tedeschi’s, Little Peach. Now, The Peach.

​Tom Barnhill’s Five & Ten was located on Main Street. I remember buying Christmas presents for my brothers and sisters there. It was dark and dusty inside. Creaky old floors. For a short time, I worked there- Tom Barnhill was our neighbor on Sheridan Street. I remember being told to watch out for shoplifters. Apparently, neighborhood kids were known to do such a thing(!) When the store closed, or when Tom Barnhill died, I don’t clearly remember, we acquired his large brass cash register. It sat on our hearth for decades.
I remember waiting in the station wagon in the narrow drive outside Harvey’s Market on Main Street, with three, four, or five younger siblings, while my mother went inside to buy a pound of hamburger. We had hamburger at least twice a week, broiled, in meatloaf, American Chop Suey or a dish my mother made up, called South American Meat Cakes- hamburger with onions and gravy. It sounded exotic; we didn't know until years later that there was no such thing as South American Meat Cakes. She seemed to take forever in there. I disliked stopping at Harvey’s.

The Easton Pharmacy was a staple on Main Street before chains like CVS or Walgreens came to town. It’s where we picked up prescriptions and other drug store items. As a teenager I recall buying nail polish or a lipstick.

Easton Pharmacy, 108 Main Street, North Easton, MA, 1950’s. Starting in the 1950’s through 1970’s, James A. Zarrella operated the Easton Pharmacy at 108 Main Street. Easton Historical Society. Further down the street was Howard’s Insurance, O’Connor’s News Store and Barnhill’s 5 & 10.

106-108 Main Street today. Mind Body Barre Yoga Studio.

The top photo: Manuel Silva’s shoe repair shop. Harvey’s Market is on the right. Easton Historical Society.In the bottom photo: Today the building houses Shangri La Salon and Day Spa.

I don’t live on Sheridan Street anymore but still walk down Main Street, though I am more likely to stop at The Farmer’s Daughter or La Cucina restaurant. And I stop by The Peach for wine or snacks. Though Easton has changed a great deal, it’s still a place I like to call home.

                   Fusilli pasta tossed with artichoke hearts,
                   Roasted red and yellow tomato, Kalamata olives, 
                  Red onion, roasted red peppers, olive oil and 
                  Balsamic vinegar, served over greens
 
 
Anne Wooster Drury
[email protected]
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