Appalachian Story of the Old Country Store

[@donaldrichey5866]

I made my living selling to mom and pop stores for over fifty years in East Tennessee.Some so small they made change from a cigar box.Of the hundreds of stores I sold to the one that stands out in my mind was J D Estep Grocery in Cumberland Gap Tennessee.Mr.Estep was the most pleasant man I ever met. I believe he was the mayor, the water commissioner and anything else that he was asked to do.Most all are gone now, all that's left is just the wonderful memories.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Countrylivinginthecity]

Did his store have the ice cream counter? I still visit the Gap often.

[@donaldrichey5866]

@@Countrylivinginthecity The best I remember they only sold popsicles, brown cows ect. no hand dip icecream.

[@RunninUpThatHillh]

Small businesses are the life life blood of America. We need them back.

[@donaldrichey5866]

@@RunninUpThatHillh So true but like so many of the things that made this country unique are lost. I am so thankful that I was fortunate enough to experience what was left of a bygone area.

[@kimsutton2268]

Thanks for taking us back to a slower pace of time before Walmart and big chain stores

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@WhispersFromTheDark]

Exactly! I think if I had a magic time machine and could take people back in time, I would make a mint on the people who would book a 1 way trip.

[@trishhinkle7076]

It’s so sad that these days are in the past. The innocence and simple life are long gone. Thank you Donnie for bringing us these videos so we can relieve these days. I think you videos should be on public television with you as the host!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@DianeKovacs]

Ham n cheese loaf and white bread and mustard for me every grocery trip...

[@corablue5569]

Loved this😊/ thank you for sharing these little moments from your past ❤

[@donnielaws7020]

@@corablue5569 Your very welcome.

[@patriciabond160]

@Native American 😀

[@court5231]

This one made me tear up a bit! My hubby and I call it "classic America"! Makes my heart ache for it. 🥰😭

[@donnielaws7020]

Love that! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@bradstoner7226]

Thank you again Donnie you brought back memories and made my day a little brighter. I remember the old country store around the curve near my fathers house. Old pot belly stove in the back with a spit bucket beside it and few old chairs for the old men to sit and talk. The store had the usual hoop-cheese glass on the counter where you could get a sizable slice and some crackers for 25 cents. Then there was the old box type coke freezer with glass bottles that you had to open with a cap opener built into the front. He also had a Pepsi one as well. There was a section in the store with fishing supplies as he had seven ponds that for a dollar a day, you could fish all of them. Cricket box was at the back of the store and you heard constant but peaceful chirping all the while. There was the usual giant pickle jar and pickled pigs-feet jar on the counter and behind the service counter on the wall you could get anything from spark plugs to combs all hanging off pegs on the wood stud wall with built-in shelves that had everything from motor oil to chewing tobacco. Then there were basic can goods in small isles in the middle of the store. There wasn't any bottled water back then if we got thirsty we pulled out the garden hose or dipped our hat in the spring behind dad's house. I use to walk around the ponds and the area roads picking up bottles to turn into the store to get enough money to buy candy, snacks, drinks. My favorite was called a "Chocolate Soldier" with a pack of Vienna sausages and pack of "nabs". If I didn't have money for crickets or worms It was no problem, I could lift any old piece of wood and find worms and crickets and there was a couple of trees that sometimes you could pull huge catawba worms from and the fish would love them. We'd catch a mess of fish then take it home and dad would fillet them and cook them and we'd eat like kings those nights. The outside of the old store had a gravel parking lot littered with thousands of old bottle caps. Some from the 40's, 50's and up. There was an old bowl type gas pump on a concrete footing when I was coming up but it like the store are gone now. Some years ago, the owner died and his daughter died a few later of cancer and they let the place sit for 12 years. Someone broke in and stole the old Coke machines, signage, etc. so it went up for auction and what was left sold with the owners home place on the hill above the store. What's left of it is a pile of wood and tin overgrown by trees and shrubs now. Dad's moved away long ago from the place and is in his 80s and I in my 50s. I ride by the old place every now and then and almost cry when I see it like this but then I reflect back on the good times I had there. I can still see me and my friends sitting on the old steps feeding the ducks and watching the hunters and outdoors men come in telling tales of a big buck they saw or a monster bass they caught down at the river only a few miles away. Lord how I miss those days. When I saw this video it brought so much back to me. Thanks again Donnie.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome story! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@bluegirl777]

Thank you for sharing your memories. 💛

[@reesedaniel5835]

That made me almost tear up...😪

[@stevebruce1235]

Yes same here cut from the same cloth we are,miss those days,but no one can take these memories, Lord Bless My Friend

[@bradr2142]

What a beautiful culture. Thanks for hanging on to it.

[@truthwarrior4412]

Mr. Donnie, you hit a home run with this one! Amen on collecting pop bottles to get a quarter or fifty cents and buy a bottle of pop out of the big galvanized tub covered in ice. The uniform of the day was a white t-shirt and blue jeans. I truly miss those days Donnie. Thanks for bringing it back to life. Take care my friend!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend. God bless.

[@cynthiaswearingen1037]

Lord, those days are long gone, but what fun they were! Moon pies and RCs...the flavors of childhood. Flour and meal in barrels, they sold them in a poke sack...Frying pans and Dutch ovens, nestled like strange birds in a nest...good times. Thanks for bringing them back, Donnie. God bless you!🙏💖

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend. God bless you.

[@glenjenkins21]

I live in north Alabama. There was one in a little community named Hulaco. It operated until around 10 years ago. It was leveled to put in a Dollar General...... There was around a hundred years of history in that old place. I remember going in all the time as a kid. They had literally anything people in the area needed, including the kitchen sink. (they sold hardware too) It was one of the only places around to buy Liberty overalls. There were no Tractor Supply stores then. Thanks for igniting old memories!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@erniemckracken1593]

Dollar Generals stand guard to keep any future mom & pop stores from opening. Thats why you find them in the middle of no where, everywhere. Profits ? They don't care, they are multi billion corporation. When there's no competition left, they will make up lost profits 10x. Franchise only , from this day forward.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@erniemckracken1593 Well put my friend.

[@FishingWithChris_Tv]

This video really hits deep. I didn’t come along until 86, the early millennial generation, but I grew up around the older generation going to the few general stores we had. I always enjoying hearing the old timers stories about work, play, and tall tales. All the old run down farm equipment that some general stores have laying around could tell stories of their own if they could. It’s sad that these stores are slowly disappearing, we have one local one still running in reliance TN called Webbs Store and it sits beside the hiwassee river in Polk county.

[@donnielaws7020]

It is sad. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@markpospichal571]

I was around there for awhile in the early 80's and shopped there. Are the old brothers still alive and running it? Loved that place and the whole area around there.

[@donnielaws7020]

@The mysterious Miss X Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@cherylbusch6236]

Yep, I’m a baby boomer that remembers! Precious memories…. Bless you for posting! 🙏🏻💙🙏🏻

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@christikulczyk1439]

I remember being in grade school and walking with my friends to what was actually called the “The Country Store”. Mind you I was born in ‘88 and this place was ancient by the time i was in the 3rd grade. The wooden building was leaning, the floor boards crack echoed through the little building with every step. In the center you could get a cold cut sandwich or ice cream. Penny candy jars with paper bags, old men arguing about what was in the news paper that day. Eventually the old store was too far gone and torn down. They built the new Country Store in its place, a shiny new Shell gas station. Gone we’re the penny candy jars, the creaking old boards and the old men arguing about the news. It was replaced with a standard convenience store with a Dunkin’ Donuts on one end and a little pizza shop in the other. My little home town hasn’t felt the same since. Good to know I’m not the only one with these types of memories, sad knowing no generation since will know what it feels like to step into a piece of history like we did.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@mountaingator001]

👍❤️🙏🇺🇸

[@jacktribble5253]

I lived in a community called Gap Creek back in the 70s. Northeast Tennessee, almost to North Carolina. When church wasn't having a service, Jack Robert's store was the community center. If you couldn't find someone in their usual territory, they were probably at the store. My Mom used to take the neighborhood kids out on Saturday afternoons to collect bottle caps from the gravel in the store's parking lot. Our local theater, the Bonnie Kate, used to let kids in for ten caps. Provided all our chores were done to satisfaction, we would see a movie every other week or so. Fond memories. Best of Days to you and thanks for your work.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for the story my friend. Your very welcome.

[@kfiscal01]

Lord, memories so thick I have to brush them away from my face. These stores were the life blood in my neck of the woods. We all knew each other, helped oneanother, looked after the kids, and when times were rough you could run a tab till things turned around for you. Yep, the old way of life is becoming a distant memory.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Scottish_Rose]

Hi Donny. watching your videos from Scotland. Just wanted to say how much I adore your videos. I love being curled up in bed on a rainy night, watching a few of your videos while I'm crocheting or working on cross stitch. Your voice is soothing, and you speak of a time long since gone that my soul yearns for, thought it never knew such a time. I could listen to your stories forever. Thank you for the glimpse into this wonderful time and place that I shall never see. God bless and keep you.

[@donnielaws7020]

Wow, thank you my friend. Your are very welcome. God bless you.

[@dwhunter8904]

I really enjoyed that Mr. Donnie. We had a old one room store out on the ridge named "Harless Grocery". Fine people, they knew everybody had a hard living and would swap out stuff or run a tab for people to help them out. Old wooden floor and a glass meat case that had bologna , hoop cheese, pickle loaf and processed ham and a few other things. The would make you a sandwich and cut the meat thick or thin....how ever you liked it. In the back they kept a little hardware stuff like nails, fencing staples and mouse traps and such. Old timers sitting around playing checkers and throwing (swapping) pocket knives. I can still smell the odor of that old store today. Great childhood memories. I'm from West Virginia and we called it pop too. Thanks for the memories once again.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@keithmaxwell2169]

I miss them old time's the World was much Simpler and Safer Back then thanks for the Memories Donny

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@ForgottenHillbilly]

There was an old store out by where i was raised like this. The old man lived in the back of it. He had an old cash register that was really just a money drawer that would bling when opened. The counter was an old desk and it had a huge paper that covered the top of it. He would figure up what you owed on that paper with a pencil so it was always wrote all over it. He sold good all beef bologna by the pound and the best cheese to, way better then you find in any box store. He also bootlegged moonshine and colored label liquor also, at the time it was a dry county. Fella kept a double barrel shotgun leaned up against the wall back behind the counter and nobody ever messed with him. I knew a lot of that family and played with some of his great grandkids. After he died some of them tried to update it and ran it for a while. They also got robbed for the 1st time ever and one of the girls was caught selling liquor. They just didn't have what he did i reckon to run it all. They fought over it all the time after a while and it ended up being dozed down, burnt and the rest hauled away. Such a bare looking spot now. The highway was turned into a 4 lane and they took part of it and out of towners have moved in and built up houses all around. My daughter can't believe how it was when i grew up and the things i tell her. It was the good ol' days for sure.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome story my friend. Thanks for sharing it.

[@hollyhock3945]

My maternal great grandpa had one of these stores in Floyd County Kentucky. I remember as a young child, while visiting family, going there to Poppy's store. We are blessed that my mom has an artists' sketch of the store, a couple of photos and I have a small table that Poppy built partially from wooden crates he received items to sell in. I purchased this dark, black oily table from my grandma's estate. It had been in her attic for decades and when we were cleaning out her house, we didn't know where the drawer was. Later at the family sale, I did have the high bid ( maybe the only bid it was that rough). My mom said she'd clean it up. For my birthday that year, she presented me first with a letter. She had written it almost in the first-person from Poppy, who had been gone for years. It confused me a bit but in it, "he said" what he used to build it and that it was meant for me to have. Inside the drawer, as my mom cleaned away the layers of grease and soot, words and an image appeared. The drawer was made from a salt crate from a town in West Virginia, whose town symbol was holly bush leaves. My name is Holly. The tears were flowing from all our eyes, just as they are now sharing this precious, treasured story with you all. Have a blessed day.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW great story my friend. Thanks for sharing this.

[@janeworth3232]

Love this video because it brings back great memories. The Piedmont General Store was actually Frank Snodderly’s Store when I was growing up in Piedmont. We would walk there from Piedmont Elementary School and get the best bologna sandwiches ever made along with a candy bar and a coke w/peanuts. Thanks for posting this.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@rkow8508]

Jane just wondering how much that cost ?

[@janeworth3232]

Rk ow I can’t remember exactly because I’m 70 y/o now. I’m sure it wasn’t much more than a dollar though. As a kid, I don’t think I ever had much more than that to spend. We were only allowed to walk to Snodderly’s a few times during the school year. In the summer, a man named Isadore would walk from Piedmont carrying a suitcase filled with candy, medicines, etc. It was about 12-15 miles to our house. The candy bars were about 5 cents if I can remember correctly. We couldn’t wait to see Isadore walk up our driveway. Such great memories.

[@fullofgracehomestead]

They closed down during c v lock ups.

[@janeworth3232]

Pure One they are open now. They serve lunch there during the week. I hear the food is pretty good.

[@mulekickhandmadeguitars8465]

In rural Iowa, back in the 50's, we had a country store on a gravel road about 2 miles from our farm, named Dixon's Store. At that same time period, there were the same corner mom & pop stores in large numbers all around in every Des Moines neighborhood. No matter where a family lived, there was a store within walking distance.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@garymckee448]

I from East Tennessee but now I work in Omaha and I stay in Council Bluffs, Iowa is a good place to live.

[@thorawilson1466]

I small ohio city too. Every neighborhood had a school, a couple of churches, a bar and a sundry store.

[@hollyhock3945]

Iowan here too. There are a couple still standing in our area. One is empty but a designated historical site. The other is a well-kept art studio or home. The amish do have country stores that we visit regularly...close, but not the same.

[@browningbelgium2326]

Donnie, I grew up before plastic replaced glass. before pencil pushing inspectors made it hard on store owners, before people waked up each morning in search of anything that would offend them so they could complain, before Walmart put mom-n-pop stores out of business, before it was against the law for kids to ride in the back of a pickup, and before cell phones were invented. I yearn for days again. Thank you, sir, for this video!!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@annettehowell6957]

When I lived in Kentucky quite a while back, there was a combination general store, feed store, post office. We'd go into town and everybody would be there, hanging out, buying supplies. It was a good way to see your friends. At the end of the day, we'd head back to the farm. It was a big deal to go into town. Times sure have changed. Thanks so much for all your wonderful videos. They sure do make me feel blessed to have experienced a different time.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@kindnessmakesmesmile6583]

Annette, thank you for sharing this! I agree with you. I also feel blessed to have had these childhood experiences. 😊😊😊

[@myleslong5584]

My first job was riding/throwing on a trash truck serving parts of Warren,Barren and Edmundson Counties and we would nearly ALWAYS stop at one of those country stores for lunch break. The owners would always hook us up fat with some freshly sliced ham n cheese sandwiches…and slick em! And all soda was referred to as “Coke” whether it was Pepsi or Root Beer or Sprite (which is White Coke).

[@donnielaws7020]

@@myleslong5584 Awesome!

[@TennValleyGal]

I'd forgotten those pleasant Sunday afternoons where we'd walk to the store. We didn't have any money but that didn't matter. We had some place to go and friends to see. Thanks, Donnie, another good trip down memory lane.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jillconnelly8206]

Hey you've got that right, we were looking at photos of neighborhood back in 70s and everything seemed a little bare or sparse, most in our community didn't have budget during those years for landscaping, new cars, all the accoutrements of today's modern suburbia. But we didn't focus on it, what we had to live without we just did it & made the best of life. I always tell my daughters (born in 85, 89 and 2000) we got school clothes in fall and when school let out for summer, you had cutoff shorts from your school clothes/jeans, pants. No Hollister, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Forever 21 needed LOL All we had in Ocala, FL 1970s was Sears, Penneys, & KMart

[@donnielaws7020]

@@jillconnelly8206 Awesome! Thank you! Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@rickyhenry4958]

My grandparents ran an old country store till the early 90’s. Thanks for the video and memories Donnie!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing.

[@TeachLongbeard]

Thank you so much for helping me relive my family and my past. I grew up in the city because of the military but my families are from the mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia. No one but our kin will ever know how great life was and is.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@scottyg.4199]

Another great video, thanks so much Donnie. Brings back great memories. About 70 years ago, I was 10 in south Texas. There were stores in the poor neighborhoods made from a one or two room house. Wooden shelves around the walls had all sorts of items priced higher than the large stores, but walking distance from the homes. They weren't a gathering place like you talked about, just a way of getting what you needed. Mostly soda water & candy for us kids. My older brother & I decided we wanted to be men & chew some tobacco. While our folks were gone, we walked down to one of these stores, bought some chewing tobacco & started chewing it on the way back. I swallowed too much and was sick by the time we got back home. Then I had to tell Momma what happened. She let it go, said I had punishment enough already. I didn't try that again until my teens.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@hillbillydan4721]

Well Mr. Donnie, you've opened up a floodgate of some of the best memories of my life !! When we stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's in the summertime we would get to go down to Swamp Branch post office, gas station, and a country store all in the same building !!!! We always got a 6oz coke and a moon pie, that was the biggest treat !! Thank you once again for taking me back down memory lane !!!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jillconnelly8206]

When we have vacationed in NC & Tennessee mountains and visited family, there were some little family owned stores as being discussed here with a ton of character and I hope there still are some being ran this way. I'd love to move to a little remote area & own a small store and serve needs of people around, maybe some would still prefer this to Amazon LOL I'd hope so,...I remember the bait in the little stores, too not only the crickets and worms, but the tanks with circulating swirling water filled with different size minnows you dipped out. Seems like every little store had a resident mascot overseer: an old porch dog 🐕 or 2

[@UnStrungHero]

We had a little store like that in the town I went school in. We didn't go often because we lived out of town, but you could buy anything in there. The people that owned it were pretty old. They lived in the back of the building. Somehow, I always thought that was a good idea because you had no drive to work.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@andrewstravels2096]

My grandpa lives in Mount Vernon, Ohio which is in the rural part of the state. All throughout my life we used to drive around the area and see some sites like parks, waterfalls and Amish Country. Occasionally when we drive down the country roads we’ll see an old general stores in the small towns with a few hundred people. Most are boarded up, but a few are still open. I’ve never been in one, but there still cool to see. I love going to Mount Vernon, it gives me some time to take a step back, enjoy the simple rural life and get away from the busy suburbs where I live!!!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@kskollections2142]

I am not old enough to have lived in the era of this type of store, although I wish I had. What I remember from my childhood is going down to the farm store (now called a convenience store) that was down the street from the dairy and buying penny candy. This was one of the things that I loved about going to my grandma’s house on the weekends. I always loved Saturday morning when the milkman would come and grandma let me get a bottle of chocolate milk! We also had a small corner store at the corner of the railroad tracks across the street that I would got to and buy candy. It’s astonishing now that I could go there by myself any time of day as a child in 1st grade and be completely safe. I sure miss these times!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome ! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@donaldwells2102]

Thanks Donnie, you brought back some good memories. That was the highlight of the day, walking down to the store to good some goodies. A dime would get you a dope and a candy bar and I was a happy fellar.That was what I call the Good Old Days. 🙂

[@donnielaws7020]

Yes it was. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@4uRicki]

I remember seeing hundreds of these little stores all over the county surrounding Danville in southeast Virginia. Great memories of rabbit hunting with my dad and we would stop in for a snack. There was even one in the city literally a stones throw from where Wendell Scott lived, the first African-American in NASCAR. I would stop there on my bike on my way from home to my grandparents house. The older black woman who owned and ran it was always glad to see you. I would sit on the front steps eating a Mickey Cake and washing it down with a Tahitian Treat soda pop. So thankful to have grown up in that wonderful time in America. 🙏

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing your memories with us. Your very welcome.

[@mikemcnamara1831]

Donnie Laws, this is one of my favorite episodes. I remember walking to the "fillin station"/store, cashing in bottles and buying an ice cold Chocolate Soldier. Thanks for the good memories.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@moonshinerphd9523]

This brings back memories, collecting pop bottles so we could have a little walking around money, if we didn't spend it after cashing them in. I remember my parents at the grocery store buying a carton of drinks and mixing them up, you can't do that now. Thanks so much Donnie!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Houndini]

My area. If you a drinking type you could buy moonshine in them old pop bottles with cap on it & all. Worst car wrecks I ever seen was a hauler car running from law lost it & almost cut it in 1/2, Hit 1 them old concrete bridge sideways. He was good 10 mins ahead of them but didn't know it. I know guy real good. About killed him but last I heard he was still alive.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@Houndini WOW!

[@reesedaniel5835]

@@Houndini Real clever way to conceal the moonshine...😁😉

[@mikel917]

That touched my heart strings, I have those same types of memories. My grandaddy owned a country store on route 22 outside Roanoke Alabama. That was the 1960s, I was a little fellow. I remember the cookie jar, the orange sodas and the old poster ad with a 1950s football player (can't remember what the ad was for). One time a farmer pulled up and was getting gas. He was hauling a young bull that got rowdy. I remember my dad wrestled with that bull and grabbed its horns. It was strong haha. But my dad helped get it under control. I remember the smell of gas around the pumps and the beautiful white sandy dirt of the Cumberland plateau. So many wonderful memories! Thanks so much for the video!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jillconnelly8206]

Thanks for sharing, I'm glad I came here this morning, I needed some cheering up, things seem so dismal these days and not much nostalgia-worthy anymore it seems. This is when you realize you are getting OLD 😎

[@donnielaws7020]

@@jillconnelly8206 Ant that the truth. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@mikel917]

@@jillconnelly8206 Me too! I started hiking and exploring kinda like Donnie several years ago. It's inspiring to get out and see the beauty of nature and some of the nostalgic things on the forgotten routes of Appalachia.

[@homesteadingpastor]

THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS VIDEO!!!! Mr. Donnie I was raised during these times as well. I was born in 1967 and oh how I miss the good ole days so bad. My Grandaddy was the owner/operator of one of those little country stores for over 35 years. It was one of the main places that folks would hangout at especially on Saturday’s. He had the post office in his store and you could buy pretty anything you needed from there. From a Pepsi Cola to Hoop Cheese to a fan belt for your car to fresh fish displayed on ice in the front of the store to gasoline , motor oil, bologna, candy, chewing tobacco etc etc etc 🙌🏻👍🏻🙌🏻👍🏻🙌🏻👍🏻

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jessemullins2769]

This is awesome Donnie it hits close to home my grandparents had an old country store with one gas pump out in the middle of nowhere. And believe it or not they had pizza and ice cream. And everything in between.Great memories. Thank you so much.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@SmokyMountainBlessed]

I love these old stores, thanks for sharing your memories

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome my friend

[@StarDreamMemories]

I love 💗 the backroads! Before my husband and I got married we took a trip across the plains the North route to the continental divide. Just exploring and seeing what we could find. I figured we'd camp the whole way....well I found out just how much he doesn't care to tent camp. 😂 I learned traveling off the big routes is so much more calm and relaxing. We found out things we'd never know, talking to local folk. Love this video. It does bring back memories though my mom and dad's parents were city dwellers. We had family in the country.....and that's not country anymore!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@sonnyjordan1911]

Love this video brings so many memories the years fly bye I am 65 now I can still remember them days thanks so much

[@donnielaws7020]

Glad you enjoyed it my friend. Thanks for sharing.

[@garyglanville1158]

Thank you Donnie. You always bring my childhood days staying with my grandparents in the summer. in Tennessee. We would go to the small country store in Dayton Tenn. it had painted on the door screen a loaf of Sunbeam Bread. We would get a Mayfield fudge cycle and like you a pound of boloney and bread. Maybe a Moon Pie too. A Nebi Orange soda pop we would slide through the cold water in the cooler to get it out. We thought we were really something. And the folk that ran the store were so nice. And if we got lucky a Southern Rail Freight would come through town. One of Gods gifts He only gave to people is their memories. Thank the Lord for that. And thank you for wakening up old brain cells that have not thought about such things. You are a blessing. God Bless you.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome my friend. Thanks for sharing.

[@TNgrandee3]

Yes, we do understand and remember. Watching your videos and listening to your voice almost brings this old lady to tears because I am so overwhelmed with homesickness for a time long ago. When we cross River Jorden someday.....

[@donnielaws7020]

God bless you my friend.

[@coinslotsandjoysticks2572]

We still have 2 old stores here, and were blessed to have em. Cause when you walk in you think you went back to 1950 , really. It's still the same stuff hanging and sitting around. Same family still owns them

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@normanhunley4160]

Mr Laws: At 1:10 on your video (the Esso sign) is filmed from near the overhead rail road tracks in Cumberland Gap, Tennesse. This service station was owned & operated by Mr Whitaker. Across the street was the Cumberland Gap Hotel owned by Clarence Russell. Estep Grocery referred to by Mr Richey is on the left side one block up. The main road intersected at the only traffic light and the grocery was on the corner of the side street. Across the side street from the grocery was the old Post Office building where my Dad had a restaurant (Hunley's Cafe) from about 1964 to 1967. The white building just past the Esso sign had a Truck bed building business operared by Bill Moss and Mr Hoper. In 1958, my Dad had a fish & tackle store in the front of this same building. The next structure was a house occupied by the Burchet family, sons Gary Joe & Randy. Gary Joe became President of Lincoln Memorial University. The next structure was the Daniel Boone Resturant also operated by my Dad in 1958. Thank you so much for your video.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thank you for that info on the Gap .Thanks for sharing my friend. God bless you.

[@clockendfarm]

I was lucky, the one in my li'l town stayed open a lot longer than some did, well into the 1980s, by adding a little old breakfast, burger & sammich shop in the back with about 4 tables. I remember it actually made the local newspaper when the price of penny candy went up. :-) Time was, you could get 5 pieces of hard candy for a penny, then it was 2, then 1. The place still had an old disused hitching post and water trough from the horse and buggy days. In the 1970s we kids talked w/ the owner & helped clean up and refurbish them so we could stop there on horseback and let our horses have a drink while we grabbed us a Co-Cola. The owner, with help from local farmers, changed the leathers on the old hand pump and we did our part by replacing the old rotten hitching post, keeping the trough clean and filled and sanding/repainting the pump. If I'm remembering right, we ended up making this a 4-H project, and it did benefit the community - hikers and bikers used it too. People helped each other out in those days. They were good times, and I miss them.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@MarkWYoung-ky4uc]

Donnie thank you for sharing this. I remember when every community in Stokes County had at least one country store and some had several. The town of Walnut Cove once had 4 in the city limits as well as 2 grocery stores. They were not only the grocery store, they were the hardware store and gas station as just about all sold gas. At one time, many of them served as polling places on election day. Now most are a thing of the past.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@mwblackbelt]

@Mawk W. Young Walnut Cove is still a really great place

[@MarkWYoung-ky4uc]

@@mwblackbelt Thank you ma'am. It's been my home for 59 years.

[@mwblackbelt]

@@MarkWYoung-ky4uc I used to live in Walkertown. Spent lots of time around there and on the Dan River

[@MarkWYoung-ky4uc]

@@mwblackbelt O yes I've been in and through Walkertown many times.

[@loisreese2692]

@DONNIE LAWS Hello, Mr. Donnie. Thank you for another trip down Memory Lane I love your stories. I'm a Gen Xer (53 y.o.). Mom and Dad were born and raised in a small town in PA's anthracite coal region. When we'd visit my grandparents, my favorite thing was to walk up to the 5 and 10 my Mom worked at before she married my Dad. All kinds of little toys (paddleballs, puffy stickers, Super Pinky balls, etc.). You name it, they had it. Sadly, it's been torn down now, but your memories brought back my own. I appreciate that so much. Thank you, Donnie. Take care, and God bless. Half-Yankee Lois. Edit: corrected a word

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@speckledhen409]

Donnie you are a fabulous storyteller. It was a gentler time and oh don't we miss those days! I too went looking for pop bottles and nothing felt better than a pocket of coins. Some days it was a hard choice to pick my treat but usually it was an assortment of penny candy and a Mounds Bar... still my favorite! Did anyone get sent to the country store with a note to buy cigarettes for their parents? I did and I must say I never enjoyed that jaunt to the store to buy them. Carrying home a gallon of milk was the worst! Thank God we have these memories to share of an America that nutured our youth. Thanks for your channel.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@searcymasonry]

i remember buying the ' mallo ' cups . like two huge reeses cups except chocolate / marshmallow . also sometimes bought the metal jumping bugs . they had a shiv of spring steel underneath that momentarily adhered to a glob of tar , then they jumped or flipped over when the tar let loose .

[@jeff1313]

I miss these old stores, when I was a kid it seemed there were dozens of these places all over Eastern Kentucky. They had every and anything you needed, and usually a couple things you didn't know you needed til you stopped in. Someone was always playing guitar or people gossiping about local news or some fellers playing checkers just like you said. Everyone knew each other or knew someone they were kin to at least. They were some of the most welcoming places you'd ever go. Whether you were buying or just stopping by they were glad to see you. But by the time I was 11 a Wal-Mart showed up downtown. Thats was the beginning of the end. By the time I was 15 almost all those little stores were gone. Luckily there's still a one locally left, I stop in every chance I get.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@sonyafox3271]

There’s still The Old General Store in Rabbit Hash, they rebuilt it, I don’t know how many times. They still have a few of the Old Country Stores in Eastern Kentucky they are just few and far between and, off the beaten path. That, I do know. You need to do some online research and you will see, you just put in General Stores in the search bar.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@sonyafox3271 Thank you friend. There still is a few around. Thanks for sharing.

[@jeff1313]

​@@sonyafox3271 I believe what you call eastern Kentucky and what I do are bit different lol. I had to look up Rabbit Hash, because I had never heard of that place. Turns out why I never heard of it is because it's about a 3 hour and 40 minute drive west of me. So basically a 7+ hour drive to what I think of as more mid Kentucky and back home. Glad they rebuilt after the fire though, the outside reminds me very much of a store/bait shop that used to be a little ways past Hellier. If I'm ever that way I'll have to stop in, thanks for letting me know about the place.

[@arnoldseay9118]

This brings back so many memories. Some of my first memories are of my dad bringing me to the little country store. In winter the ranchers and farmers would gather around the big pot belly stove and spin yarns or talk about livestock. There were brass spittoons here and there that the men would spit snoose into while they chewed and talked. My dad would give me a few cents to buy a pickle out of the big old pickle barrel and crackers out of the cracker barrel. If I was lucky I had enough to buy a bottle of pop. Later as I got a little older I would load my old wagon up with pop bottles I would find along the road and get a few cents to buy a candy bar and pop. I now live in Idaho and the only place I can find these little stores are in the most remote little towns and they just aren’t the same anymore. Great video.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@melissavancl_2090]

My grandparents owned a country store. Had everything from groceries, meat counter and 2 gas pumps out front. This was mid to late 1970's when they bought this store. Us kids all worked there. Learned how to respectively deal with people and money. Wonderful memories. Thank you again for your wonderful videos.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@lisapop5219]

My family moved up to Detroit during the war and that's where I was born. We had the corner store that I haven't really seen anywhere else I've lived. We did everything just like you did, from mom calling us and saying we need to go to the store, taking in bottles, etc. They were all mom & pop and were the place for the neighbors, they even gave credit (if they knew you) in a little notebook. Lots of neighborhood kids got their first jobs there even if they didn't have anything for you to do but sort the bottles. They didn't pay much but it was something. I had one on either end of my block but that was unusual. But generally had them around a mile apart. I think the people that moved up brought the spirit of the country store to at least this corner of Detroit. It's all gone now. I left in 92 when I was 18 and have never experienced it anywhere else

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@georgesilverhawkstrailcame2297]

Thank you my friend Donnie Law, for this trip down memory lane. The atmosphere in these little Country Stores was (is still I'm sure in those that remain) wonderful... I'd say cozy. And right now I can still remember how wonderful they smelled inside... the candy, breads, pipe tobaccos, them smell of freshly cut lunch meats and other good smelling stuff. All my best to you my friend...

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@allisynlitton8373]

Thankyou Donnie for your stories, it's fascinating to me as I'm from Australia , Irish imagrants, your story about the old remedies that the ole woman use to use struck a cord and had me giggling because my mum used alot of that stuff. I really love the old ways, I wish we could bring back the horse and cart. Stay safe beautiful friend xx

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jackkeeble9272]

Great memories! 58 years ago I would go with my dad to run his trap lines. He always stopped at a old country store and get me a R C!🤗 thanks Donnie, your fried from Maryville

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@rogerhuber3133]

Donnie, I love your stories. This one really struck my heart. I grew up in Maryland and my buddies and I would walk the 2 miles to our local store picking up soda bottles along the way. We'd trade them back to our store for a soda and some Atomic Fireballs and a Tastykake pie. Then we'd walk around the area collecting more bottles for the trip home while waiting for a train to go by. We'd sit on the braces for the abandoned water tank and tell lies to each other until time to go back home. Our store was a bigger one than most with 2 buildings and a wooden coal/sand/gravel trestle serving one building they sold feeds and all sorts of building supplies in. The other was a magical 2 storey place with nearly everything in it from chewing gum to stoves, wash tubs, hardware and everything else one needed for around the house. We'd trade the new bottles for an ice cream from the horizontal freezer with tons of Orange Fugicles and an Almond Smash for the walk home. Great adventures for us kids in the 1950's and early '60s. Thanks for always exciting my old memories. Maryland or Tennessee it was all the same back then.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@mannycolavito8918]

Great video Donnie! It's a shame that these little country stores are gone, with all of their history and memories. Now in the country we have these Dollar Stores popping up. Things have sure changed!

[@donnielaws7020]

Well said! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jillconnelly8206]

DOLLAR STORES SUCK, ARE UNHEALTHY & RUIN COMMUNITIES

[@cybrpypr]

I loved this video. Thank you for making it for the ones of us who couldn't wait to ride in their Uncle's old pickup truck down to the general store and hear him and the store owner go over each pocket knife in the display case as to what each of them thought was the best knife and why. I would sit and drink my big red and eat a Chic-O-Stick just soakin' up the pocket knife knowledge. Really appreciate this walk down memory lane for me.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome, your very welcome my friend. Thanks for sharing.

[@ktm42080]

I got a big smile hearing this! My great grandfather ran one up here, he had the molasses barrel in the cellar and folks would bring a mason jar to fill. I remember gathering the green Coke bottles for the nickel a piece and I felt like a businessman. Hahaha!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome!. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@CelebratingAppalachia]

Great video Donnie! I have fond memories of 3 little stores in my area that haven't operated in many years. The buildings are still there, and when I drive by them I'm always reminded of stopping at them with Granny and Pap and begging for candy and a coke 😀

[@mannycolavito8918]

Donnie, you ought to do a video on Old Time Gas stations! I remember as a child that when I used to go to the gas station with my Dad to get gas in the car that they used to give you a small gift. One time I remember getting a toy car. That made my day. Folks used to get other items as well when they got gas as well. And you could pump your own gas or have an attendant come on out and pump your gas for you and check your oil level and clean off your windshield. Things have surly changed.

[@donnielaws7020]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@twohandsworking896]

thanks for the memories-great old photos

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome my friend.

[@maybesomeday2596]

“This generation don’t have a clue…the baby boomers understand it”…truth. I really appreciate your stories and thanks so much for holding each photo long enough to get a good, long look…time enough to pull out the detail and evocatively connect to your narration. So much editing today looks like a slide show at three-times speed, as if everything’s gotta be presented in snippets and quick flashes. Then again, seems that’s the attention span of most folks these days.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@cjsrescues]

Walkers store right outside of Lafollette on old highway 25 had the best sandwiches. Donnie, I'm so homesick right now. Watching your videos has just put me in such a nostalgic mood. Thank you.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@MrIslandman59]

Thanks for sharing that Donnie, it made me remember a story my mother told me. 10 years before I was born, my mother and father stopped for gas and a soda at a country store in Hilliard, FL. on their way back to Jacksonville from an overnight in St Marys. When they walked in the store about a dozen people were glued to the radio as the announcer was describing the attack on Pear Harbor.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@cadeevans4623]

I love the old country general stores Donnie wish more of these old country general stores existed you go inside and buy a bottle of pop or soda or a moon pie for 5 cents or 10 cents back then that was cheap and everybody hanging inside the country store buying their bottle of sodas moon pie candy bars and potato chips for a cheap price these old photos of people walking barefoot without no shoes inside the store your right they hardly make sodas in the bottles anymore they still sell sodas in the bottles but mostly in the aluminum cans things were cheap back then collecting those old soda bottles are great to collect and then you have the old gas pump love it reminds me of the Andy Griffith show the old gas pumps love the old country general stores hanging out drinking your bottle of pop eating your moon pie candy bar wish more existed the kids and people going barefoot in the photos remind me of something from the waltons when the Walton kids went barefoot times were simpler and better back then love it thanks for sharing great video Donnie

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing that story my friend.

[@cadeevans4623]

Thanks very much happy to be sharing my story buddy

[@kimberlyholt2241]

We need more people to carry on the tradition of little country stores! So today's generation can get a glimpse of the past. 💐

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@davids6533]

I try to feel like the younger generations would care, but so far all I can see is people with cell phones in their faces letting the world I knew just keep on crumbling. It's so nice to occasionally find videos like these where people remember the good days. To read through the comments and see that I'm not alone in my thoughts and feelings helps a lot.

[@tammymoore6126]

My grandparents had one of these stores in Gilkey NC. My daddy would always say we trade here or there. Mr Laws you are a blessing

[@donnielaws7020]

Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jessicastoke777]

I had the pleasure of experiencing the good old days in my young years. Out in the country where my Daddy lived there were 3 stores like this and we would walk to them. We also had Sunday dinner at my Great Grama's and the entire family would come. Us kids would play by the creek while supper was being cooked. Best times of my life.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@conniehightower7396]

I really enjoy your videos. You're right this new generation don't know what they are missing. God Bless you and your family. Keep up the good work!!

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend. God bless.

[@EliTheMac]

i’m so happy you posted again today mr. donnie, good to see you doing well!

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks, you too! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@mrs.g.9816]

The closest to a general store I've ever been in was a candy, grocery and newspaper store in the town of my birth, Ossining, NY. Comic books (like Casper and his friends) were also sold. The floor was wooden and the pressed tin ceiling had ceiling fans. A sweet old Hungarian couple, Mr. and Mrs. Palko, ran the store. They had a great penny candy counter, and I had a choice of collecting the money from pop bottles I brought in, or selecting some candies. Before I was ten years old, I usually chose the candy, and walked away with a small paper bag of candy and a comic book. So nice to while away a Sunday afternoon in my favorite "hiding place" up in the crook of a tree, eating candy and reading.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@cherylatkinson7479]

Brings back good memories. You're right Donnie this younger generation doesn't have a clue us baby boomers do. We lived in a much simpler time back then. I remember several country stores growing up Hills Grocery was one of them. They had anything you wanted from a butcher shop that had the best meats to farm supplies and everything in between. And it was on a state highway. There are a couple still around this area. I love the photo of all the men around the stove warming their backsides too!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@arthurpeterson246]

I miss them old country stores they all ways had the best Bologna cheese and cold soda pop and juicy gossip 😄 Thanks Donny.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@tnwildcam]

Still 1 or 2 around here, but like you said, they're rare these days! I remember getting that bologna too😄. Enjoyed this video very much sir, have a good day!

[@donnielaws7020]

Thank you friend.

[@realification6827]

This does bring back some memories! Sweet memories... Such a simpler time. RC cola and Moon pies. That's East TN.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@dr.sminty7781]

Donnie, thanks for posting this. Love your videos. They always bring back good memories. I knew of such two country stores in my youth. Those times are gone and those stores have long faded away.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@happyhippytreehugger1283]

Oh my goodness. This brings back some lovely memories for me. We had a little red wagon. Remember the Radio Flyer? A whole bunch of us used to do the pop bottle collecting and errands for Mom and Mamaw down to the corner store. It was one of the highlights of our day! Sometimes we could get a bag of chips and Nehi as a treat. My favorite was the strawberry one. I love those old country stores to this day. I wish we had more of those wonderful times even now.

[@donnielaws7020]

Oh wow! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@gerardhiggins1]

Your stories trigger memories of my own childhood. Everything from the General Store to the pop bottles, to the baloney and Kool Aid, is the same as my experience growing up. That's why I love your videos so much. I only know of a hand full of these stores still around in Atlantic Canada today. But those that are left sell everything from bullets to beef jerky and baloney of course. Jokingly we call them the small town Walmarts. Because they have just about everything you'll ever need lol.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@garytaylor2084]

My great grandpap ran a store in the mountains in Northern Pennsylvania. Later on he sold the farm and moved in to a house in Kaylor, PA. I remember stopping at the store nad getting a pop from the coke a cola cooler on the porch. Glass bottles swimming in ice. Thanks for posting this memory.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jamesrobertson9761]

We had the “White Store” in Whittier North Carolina. It still stands directly across the road from the new post office. It’s an antique/consignment store now. That’s where we would go with Papaw to get whatever was he needed that particular day. We usually got an RC and a moon pie o try candy bar. Your videos make me feel good Mr Laws.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome!. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@gregoryj.m.8985]

Finding the pop bottles and walking to the store was part of a days fun for us....such a sweet trip down memory lane Donnie.. ..I still fry up a bologna sandwich now and again....and keep some moon pies on hand.. ..stay safe and thank you for the video Brother....

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@terryqueen3233]

Well Donnie you know that brought tears to my eyes. Wishing them days wer back. I can member walking to the store above the house with a six-pack of Coca-Cola and one of them metal carriers and that was the deposit for the bottles I was bringing back and I done the same thing with my little wagon except it didn't look as good as the one in your picture and doing the same thing to get enough bottles for Penny Candy. Yessir them were the good old days and I wish they were back. Thanks for the best memories I've had in awhile. Have a great day and take care of yourself Donnie. See yle

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@terryqueen3233]

@@donnielaws7020 yeah Donny I haven't been on KZbin in awhile I have to drag myself away from it for a while or I would just sit and watch it all day it's kind of addictive and that's how I stay on top of my addiction. Have a great day Donnie

[@donnielaws7020]

@@terryqueen3233 I understand my friend.

[@robderham1958]

I just stumbled upon this. Although way before my time, I get a sense of just how great it must have been by listening to your voice and how you tell a story. I wish I could jump into the scene and experience it myself.

[@donnielaws7020]

Wow, thank you!

[@rotatothesmoothbrainandtar6189]

This video actually made me smile, and my heart sing. Just a couple weeks ago there is a general store that just opened up in a small town called jack fork and it's not very far from where I stay. After this video it makes me wanna find out about the general store.🙂

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@elenacaddell3639]

Excellent video. Better times they were.😊

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@johnhughes6074]

Once again, outstanding Donnie !

[@donnielaws7020]

Thank you friend.

[@carfvallrightsreservedwith6649]

A "Baby Boomer" here. Our country stores (Overcup & Solgohachia, Arkansas; circa 1966) always had the 'checkers' table ready. Rarely was it not being played on by the old men of the community. Everybody carried a "tab" with the merchant. Honor meant more then than now. Even as a 16 year old boy (1978) I had an account that I paid in full every Saturday after payday Fridays. Times WERE better then.......

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@searcymasonry]

the little NAPA store in my town sold me a car battery on time payments when i was only 16 years old . they HAD to . in 1974 nobody had 40 dollars lying around . used batteries and used tires were still a thing .

[@jasonrunyon2663]

Brothet Donnie, you brought a big smile to my face this morning. Especially when I saw them old squirt pop bottles, and when you mentioned getting balogna and kool aid. My Dad always calls it poor man's steak. Even to this day. Ain't nothing like fresh balogna and mater sammich with some kool aid. You made my day!!!! Thank you very much!!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@annstephens3698]

Wonderful memories Donnie! I remember taking Grandma's bottles to the store. My favorite was the Orange Crush or Cherry soda. I'd bring her back a loaf of bread or a dozen eggs. There were 3 stores within walking distance of where she lived. Yes, GOOD memories...

[@donnielaws7020]

Classic! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@phyllispitts6656]

I love these little ole mountain/country road, mom & pop type stores! Seems like they had the best candies and snacks. I remember collecting pop bottles growing up. It be me my brother and a couple of friends. We’d take ‘em to a little store not too far from where we lived. We’d trade ‘em in for candy and another bottle of pop that we’d share. It wasn’t in the mountains, but it was still enjoyable.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@starjunkie5328]

I remember the same thing, Mr. Donnie. Every Saturday morning, rain or shine, my brother and I would begin a collection of any pop bottles we could find along the roads or even job sites, school houses, etc. Our stores were Litwacks and Herschtel's. If we had .30 or .40 cents we were rich. Always bought bubble gum and little cakes, maybe a root beer to share if we had enough. Great memories of the 60's. Thank you for this great memory.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@BL-no7jp]

Thank you for sharing the better times in the Appalachia where some of these stores still exist in the mountain villages in the Cumberland plateau. Back in the late 50’s and early 60’s, these little wood floor stores with the coal burning small pot belly stoves and the old men gathered around certainly gave these stores character, like a community center. Sometimes, the bull was as tall as their stories, with lots of laughter. I would buy orange crush and chips. My grandfather would send me to get plug tobacco for him. I can still smell the aroma of these country stores. They were the life line for many poor folks who needed credit until pay day. Others charged their seed and canning supplies for food. I can never go back to the past but listening to you is the closest thing to those wonderful glory days of rural America.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@aliciamott1396]

Very good video, excellent photos , love the men turned around to warm up to the pot belly stove !!! I’ve been lucky enough to go in an ole country store in southern Mississippi that was real tall and had those ladders to reach up high , it’s so 😎, I love the seed bens and nails bens , I feel sorry for the younger generation 🍄😎💕💕😎🍄🍄🍄

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@terryfinley7760]

I would give anything to go in one of those old stores with my granddaddy again. The smell of candy in the big jars. The old Coke ice boxes where the drinks were hanging and you had to work them down the slot to get them out. The old pot belly stove, and all the old timers standing around talking. The days before the ball cap! Love the old hats…I still wear them!

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@sergeant816]

I remember camping in Brumley Gap in the 90s. Way up in the hollar were old collapsed cabins. The folk only came off the mountain to the Brumley grocery store.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@mishalea]

I remember the one we had we called Dittie Wise's, I think her name was actually Katie Wise. But it was right beside where we got mountain spring water. My favorite things were the swedish fish and bottle grape sodas! Oh and bottle caps & juicy wax bottles. Yes sir, the good ole days. Some of those photos reminded me of when we didn't always have to wear shoes into stores!😮😉 Have a great week!😊👍

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@cynthiaennis3107]

Thank you for sharing these great memories with us. 🙏🏼 I remember my mom, who would be 98 this year, God rest her soul, who also used to remember standing in front of a pot bellied stove to keep warm & told me how they had ice boxes & that the ice went in the top & their were trays or drip pans underneath to catch when it melted. She was old enough to be my grandma, but she was the very best mom I could’ve ever had! Such hard times my parents, adopted ones, had when they were growing up! There are still some country stores around here & there & especially on Cape Cod! One old country store had small bottles of pop & my favorite was Birch Beer! Those were such special times! Thanks for the great memories! 💙🙏🏼🦋

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Catlife247]

Everything that means anything is fading away before our very eyes...

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@albertsnow8835]

The old country store in the farming communities is what kept people alive. The store owner would give credit to the farmers for a portion of their crops. The amount of credit depended of how much land you had and what you were planting. Seed, fertilizer, food, fuel, furniture, dry goods and much more was found in these old mostly two story stores. My father and grandfather would buy dynamite and caps with just a signature in a log book. I bought shotgun shells for 7 cents each when I couldn't buy a full box as a 10 year old boy. No restrictions. We lived so far out we had a peddler that came by every day. He had a green 1950 Chevy pickup with a homemade store on the back. Meat, eggs, milk, bread and other foods and candy and fruit and vegetables along with needles and thread. If he didn't have it just ask and if he could find it he would have it the next day. The peddler was import because the store was several miles away and cars were in use taking men to work. Some rode tractors to the store. Those old days are gone but I still remember them till now. I wish everyone could experience those days. We would have a much better country today if they did! Thanks for letting me rattle along.

[@donnielaws7020]

They helped a many a family in their time. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.