THE THING I HATE MOST
I hate blister packs the most. They cannot be opened without a sharp tool. They never have the correct number of anything inside. It seems to me it is a way to sell more or less of something than is needed. D cell batteries come two to a blister or ten in the economy size. My radio takes six and my three-cell flashlight takes three, that is nine batteries needed and one leftover. To me that is not economy.
A hinge takes six screws each; times two hinges per door, that totals twelve screws. Try to get a blister pack with twelve screws. A walkman comes in a blister pack that is heat sealed, and so hard that it takes a sharp knife to open and that is not safe and should have a warning; “Do not open this blister pack at home,” or “Keep all blister packs out of the reach of children,” or “Open this blister pack at your own risk,” or “The Surgeon General Warns; Blister Packs Cause Cancer.”
Yeatman’s Hardware Store was located on the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Highland Street in Clarendon, the capitol of Arlington, Virginia. The store was only a half block from my house. Yeatman’s was housed in a wood framed building with three entrances. In the summer they had screened doors that banged when you went in and out. The windows opened to attract any breeze, and those sticky fly strips hung from the ceiling.
In winter there was a wood or coal potbellied stove, red-hot most of the time. There were three wooden steps up off the dirt and gravel or mud and gravel Wilson Boulevard to a porch then into the most exciting store in the world. There were shined brass spittoons on squares of linoleum strategically located around the store. The place smelled like smoke since everyone smoked, as did the stove. I cannot remember the walls, since merchandise hung all around and even from the ceiling. It was beautiful.
They sold every thing but food. The ground floor had two wheeled bikes by Speed King, Flexible Flier sleds, Lionel Trains, red wagons, Dazy air guns, all of which we got as Christmas gifts over the years. Remington rifles, Colt pistols, Ithaca, Savage, and Remington shot guns from .410 to 10 gauge. Yeatman’s had Case hunting knives and all kinds of pocketknives, even one to fit the little pocket on your lace-up boots. Dollar pocket watches that kept perfect time unless you forgot to wind or it got busted in a game or fight. There was no repair cost with a one-dollar watch. I had a small brass anchor over which I wired a pot metal arrowhead with an Indian face in relief on a leather thong as a watch bob. Really neat. They had pots and pans, dishes, tableware, kitchen supplies, all sizes of canning jars, everything from gadgets to toasters. The toasters were the type you put over the burner on the stove and toasted one side at a time. I see them today for campers.
The basement was a wonder in itself. There was an outdoor tool supply section with every size of the latest two man crosscut saws to cut down any size tree. They even had brush axes, two edged axes, hammer axes, all types of hatchets, sledge hammers from one to nine lbs., malls, picks axes, wedges, and I could go on about the tools but I would not have space to mention the nuts, bolts, screws, nails from half inch wire brads to 12 inch spikes. Every one of the above sold each or by the pound in a bag or keg.
Plumbing supplies: all sizes of iron pipes, fittings, faucets, washers, pipe cutters and thread cutters. Dad made an adjustable light for his drafting table from 3/8-inch pipe that preceded goose necked desk lamps. I still have some of pipes and fittings in Dad's old steel workbench in my basement. Can’t throw them away. Who knows, I may need to make an adjustable light someday?
If you needed a thing or a whats-a-may-jigger, they had those too. A person only had to take the thing in, describe it with hand jesters, draw a picture, or my favorite way was to rummage through the store until it was found. One sure thing was that Yeatman’s had it?
In 1946 the old store was ripped down and a new brick and block building was built on the sight. The new building had glass doors; show windows, central heat and the new thing called air conditioning. It may not have a potbellied stove, spittoons, and light bulbs with shades hanging down, and stuff hanging off the ceiling or walls, and they may have lost those wonderful smells, but they still had the stuff only neater.
The only thing Yeatman’s did not have was blister packs, the very thing I hate most.
A hinge takes six screws each; times two hinges per door, that totals twelve screws. Try to get a blister pack with twelve screws. A walkman comes in a blister pack that is heat sealed, and so hard that it takes a sharp knife to open and that is not safe and should have a warning; “Do not open this blister pack at home,” or “Keep all blister packs out of the reach of children,” or “Open this blister pack at your own risk,” or “The Surgeon General Warns; Blister Packs Cause Cancer.”
Yeatman’s Hardware Store was located on the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Highland Street in Clarendon, the capitol of Arlington, Virginia. The store was only a half block from my house. Yeatman’s was housed in a wood framed building with three entrances. In the summer they had screened doors that banged when you went in and out. The windows opened to attract any breeze, and those sticky fly strips hung from the ceiling.
In winter there was a wood or coal potbellied stove, red-hot most of the time. There were three wooden steps up off the dirt and gravel or mud and gravel Wilson Boulevard to a porch then into the most exciting store in the world. There were shined brass spittoons on squares of linoleum strategically located around the store. The place smelled like smoke since everyone smoked, as did the stove. I cannot remember the walls, since merchandise hung all around and even from the ceiling. It was beautiful.
They sold every thing but food. The ground floor had two wheeled bikes by Speed King, Flexible Flier sleds, Lionel Trains, red wagons, Dazy air guns, all of which we got as Christmas gifts over the years. Remington rifles, Colt pistols, Ithaca, Savage, and Remington shot guns from .410 to 10 gauge. Yeatman’s had Case hunting knives and all kinds of pocketknives, even one to fit the little pocket on your lace-up boots. Dollar pocket watches that kept perfect time unless you forgot to wind or it got busted in a game or fight. There was no repair cost with a one-dollar watch. I had a small brass anchor over which I wired a pot metal arrowhead with an Indian face in relief on a leather thong as a watch bob. Really neat. They had pots and pans, dishes, tableware, kitchen supplies, all sizes of canning jars, everything from gadgets to toasters. The toasters were the type you put over the burner on the stove and toasted one side at a time. I see them today for campers.
The basement was a wonder in itself. There was an outdoor tool supply section with every size of the latest two man crosscut saws to cut down any size tree. They even had brush axes, two edged axes, hammer axes, all types of hatchets, sledge hammers from one to nine lbs., malls, picks axes, wedges, and I could go on about the tools but I would not have space to mention the nuts, bolts, screws, nails from half inch wire brads to 12 inch spikes. Every one of the above sold each or by the pound in a bag or keg.
Plumbing supplies: all sizes of iron pipes, fittings, faucets, washers, pipe cutters and thread cutters. Dad made an adjustable light for his drafting table from 3/8-inch pipe that preceded goose necked desk lamps. I still have some of pipes and fittings in Dad's old steel workbench in my basement. Can’t throw them away. Who knows, I may need to make an adjustable light someday?
If you needed a thing or a whats-a-may-jigger, they had those too. A person only had to take the thing in, describe it with hand jesters, draw a picture, or my favorite way was to rummage through the store until it was found. One sure thing was that Yeatman’s had it?
In 1946 the old store was ripped down and a new brick and block building was built on the sight. The new building had glass doors; show windows, central heat and the new thing called air conditioning. It may not have a potbellied stove, spittoons, and light bulbs with shades hanging down, and stuff hanging off the ceiling or walls, and they may have lost those wonderful smells, but they still had the stuff only neater.
The only thing Yeatman’s did not have was blister packs, the very thing I hate most.
posted by JackSML | 9:47 PM
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