Shopping in the dark ages.

I grew up by a small town. Fridays stores stayed open til 9 and the whole area shopped. We had 3 drugstores, 3 hardwares, two department stores, two dime stores, two shoe stores, a few womens shops and one mens. The downtown was mainly a square of a couple blocks either way. It took my parents and I an hour to walk due to stopping to chat with people we knew.
Teens and moms bought Tangee lipstick, Maybeline red eyebrow pencils and eyeliner cakes, Blue Waltz or Ben Hue perfume at the dime stores. Or better brands at the drug stores. Kids haunted them for toys. Shultz Dimestore owned a myna bird who startled you when he said hello. Look up. His cage is on top of a shelf. Woolworth had even a lunch counter. Marble, just like the one in Wilz Drug. That one is still there, even if they changed stores 3 times. Atkinson's Department store had everything for clothes and house on the main floor. Second was childrens. And the top floor was fabrics. Men found their tools and more at the hardware stores. What did you need..follow to the back, blow the dust off..had one just in case. Or follow down the wood stairs to the stone walled basement to check understock. Still no luck. OK, will order it from the catalog next stock order and call you when it's in.
We had two furniture stores, on appliance store, a record and office supply store. Even a big Montgomery Wards store. we had it all once. Now the store fronts are over half empty, those stores long closed as owners got old and kids moved on.
The other needs were met by catalogs. Wards and Sears and Robuck. Every spring came the small catalogs. Summer brought the massive main one. Fall another small to be followed by the massive winter one. Best were the Wish books. Aldens. Sears, Wards, Pennys and Spiegel.
These were the thinner Christmas ones. Mom shopped for that special dress, dad that new shirt or shoes. And kids wore them out looking at toys galore. When I was little, mom and dad bought what they thought was nice and fun. Once I ended up with a wind up train set. Mom told me later. Dad had always wanted a train set. He looked at the price to get one for me. Choked at it and got the wind up. She said in the evenings after I went to bed, in the month before Christmas..he went in his basement office, set it up and played with it.
When I chose toys, I would dog ear pages in the catalogs and circle ones. A month or two before Christmas, mom would tell me..NOW! You go through and decide what you REALLY want and mark FIVE or them. And then dad and I will go over them and decide what or if you get.
I never believed in Santa. Dad said he paid and wanted me to know it. Plus, Santa was lying to me and how could I trust them when I found out.
One year I wanted a new BB rifle. Under the tree, turned up a long gift. No, dad said..I got you an umbrella for when you wait for the bus. By Christmas eve I almost believed him and was prepared to be overjoyed at an umbrella. It was my rifle.
Toys back then were metal..cars, construction, tractors, doll houses. We wore cowboy hats and fake coonskin caps. Wore cap guns in hostlers and shot real wood arrows from wooden bows we strung. We dragged little red wagons, slid on red flyer sleds, shot BB guns and sling shots. Our toys were the start and we had to create the rest.
Now we shop box stores and click a mouse. Alone in our homes.