This and That

Our Town

By Helen Kaverman, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Monday, November 17, 2008 (1 month, 3 weeks ago)
Print

Downtown Delphos just isn’t the same anymore. Since Shenk’s closed, I feel like I lost a good friend.
My friend, Chris and I finished decorating a tree at the Delphos Canal Commission Museum for the annual Christmas Tree Festival so we decided to walk up the street. Many of the buildings look so nice, with the new renewal project and the benches make it look so welcome. Most of the buildings have occupants but Shenk’s was closed and the Westrich store is closed.  All Things Unique was dark. Maybe they were out to lunch.
Shenk’s was always such a friendly place to go.  Several of the clerks had worked there for years. They knew exactly what a woman wanted when she walked through the door. There was Alice Lause, Leona Stallkamp, Ann Kirchner, Florence Vogt Shenk, Mrs. Shenk and Bob Shenk. They knew everyone.
The store had Sunday dresses, daytime dresses, coats, stockings, panty hose, under-garments, sleep ware, sheets, towels, a wonderful selection of yard goods, notions and patterns. There was McCalls, Simplicity, Vogue and Butterwick. At one time I did a lot of sewing so I loved those pattern books. In later years they even handled the school uniforms. Sometimes the clerks would allow customers to take pattern books home for the week-end. It was fun to look over all the fashions in these books.
In the 1940s, the Stites brothers came to town, with Gene and his wife opening the Betty Jane Shop. It seemed to me his brother opened a shoe store. The Betty Jane was a wonderful place to shop for years. We loved their selection of clothes and shoes.
Then the Penns opened the Jack and Jill Shop — first on the east side of Main Street, then they moved to the west side of the street. On dollar days, I would do my Christmas shopping there for the next year’s gifts for my grandchildren. We found some really neat snow suits at bargain prices.
We had two men’s clothing stores in the block of Main Street operated by the Odenweller and Steinle families. They were both top notch. Lion Clothing carries on the tradition.
Remember when there were three drug stores on Main Street? There was Stallkamps, Remlingers and the Pioneer. The Pioneer was in the northern block of Main Street. That was owned by the Wahmhoff family. This was the place to go for wallpaper and religious articles.  My friend, Chris, remembers going to Remlinger’s for her marshmallow cokes at the soda fountain. Stallkamps also had a soda fountain in their store at the corner of Main and Second. They had an old elevator that you used a rope or cable to take it up and down. I had the privilege of working there with Ted and Alex during the winter of l949-50. I learned an awfully lot in the drug store and it was fun. Drug stores even sold cameras then. Bill Remlinger really knew his stuff on cameras. The three drug stores in town took turns being open on Sundays and holidays. That was before everyone stayed open on Sundays.
Weger’s also had a dry goods store in the northern block. That was close to John Pitsenbarger’s Auto Supply on the corner of Third and Main. For years we went there for our license plates. Clawson’s Electric was right across the street.
My kids favorite store was the Western Auto Store, especially at Christmas. The upstairs toy department was just as good as Toys R Us.  We still have a Strutco or Tonka metal dump truck that came from there. The boys haven’t decided who it belongs to. My first clothes dryer came from the Western Auto in 1955. By the time we had our third. child, Hups thought I needed a dryer for Christmas.
Oh! What a Joy! Hups used to drop the girls off by the Western Auto on Christmas Eve Day and say “Go get your mother something for Christmas!” That was when they were old enough to shop so they went there or down to the Betty Jane.
Remember when we could go to Roth’s or Helmkamp’s for our fresh meats and to Niedecken’s for those fresh fruits and vegetables? I remember sending Mary to Helmkamps for sandwich meats. She was going to buy Pride of Lima bologna but Carolyn Gallmeier said “No….your mother always buys Eckrich. That was first class service.
We had Kroger’s and Scott’s Grocery on Main Street, with O’Niel’s and Schmit’s right over on Canal Street.
There was Hotz Restaurant downtown for the men to go. After the Jefferson football games, my dad would park the car in front of the Equity. He told me to go to the Equity while he stopped in to visit the guys at Hotz’s.  That’s how I got to make new friends from Delphos Jefferson. That was really a fun and active place to hang out.
There was also Nick Johnson’s across the street  and the Cozy on Second Street. The Cozy was even the bus stop in town. The Choo Choo came later.
We still have several good stores in town. Our three furniture  stores were known for miles around.
Let’s stop in at some of our local businesses for some of our Christmas shopping and don’t forget to go to the Christmas Tree Festival and the Delphos Canal Commission Museum. It is absolutely beautiful.

More on our old stores and hang-outs next week.

0 Reader Responses to “This and That”

Complete the form below to leave a response of your own.