Cheatham's Store "THE Store"

The Store

Cheatham's Store was as much a community center, as it was a place to shop. You could surely purchase just about anything you needed, top to bottom, hats to shoes, but you could count on the local news, and just stop in for a visit. The "yard" of the store was gravel over red dirt, and the crunch of the gravel under the tires of the vehicles was a welcoming, friendly sound. Bottle caps from the tops of the drinks were mixed in with the gravel, making confetti gravel! The front door had a metal Sunbeam bread sign, and there were metal signs all over the front of the unpainted store. The wooden porch sloped downward, towards the front, and the sturdy columns were worn, weathered gray, along with the all the boards, looking over the hill like a wizened patriarch.

Years later a new store was built right by the old store, a bench outside that store had the same people sitting there that I recall from the old store!

We lived in the big white house behind the store, and I remember Betsy and me running down the hill to the store when the wind picked me up and I blew right under a vehicle, about to pull out from the store parking area. Ben reached his strong black hands under the car, and pulled me out before the driver pulled away! it was the first time I remember someone saving my life. (I was really a skinny kid.)

Even though we were barefoot all summer, I don't remember if those bottle caps hurt the bottoms of my feet. We were tender-footed when we first shucked our shoes in the spring, but by the end of the summer, the soles of our feet were thick ad callused, serving us just as well as store bought shoes. On Sunday when we had to wear shoes, they punched our feet. We played softball, and it did not seem to impede the running of the bases.

Storekeeping was something I ever had the privilege of doing, and I thought Betsy was so grown up when she kept store. Her Mom, Barbara, kept store, as did Uncle Alex, and Gary. Mama kept store when she was young, and recalled the duty as an honor and an education.

Grandma Annie recalled keeping store and told me about a customer asking for her to "get her one of them pig nipples." She asked again and they repeated the request, and she assured them they sold no pig nipples. The customer said they had bought them before, so she asked if they could show her where they were, and the customer pointed to the Fig Newton's! She laughed about that for years. This was a great lesson in good communication for me, even as a youngster. Perhaps that has served me well in my clarification skills, and I am always eager to clarify the facts, which helps in keeping communications open.

Brothers Mr. Vernie and Mr. Willie St. John often ate lunch at the store. There was a cooler case of lunchmeats, and they kept an open package, and there was also an open loaf of bread. Mr. Vernie also rolled back the top of a tin of sardines and stabbed them with a knife. After he had eaten the tin, he would "sop" the empty tin with a slice of white bread. Both men sat on crates around the potbelly stove. My brother recalls that a dog with a circle around his eye (like the one on Little Rascals!) named Captain waited patiently and eagerly licked the very empty tin afterwards. The floor was wooden, and the men would spit a dark arc of spit across into the spittoon. The floor was stained with attempts at bravado. Many men had a "chaw" in a thickened jaw, and the chewing tobbaco was kept near the counter.

The penny candies, and the cookies and treats of all kinds were popular. What was your favorite? I remember Mary Jane's, Mint Julep's, peanut planks, peanut logs, Super bubble gum, soft peppermints, Turkish taffy, peanuts, Nabs, Fig Newton's, Johnnycakes, potato chips, Moon Pies, stick candy, etc.

Joe Turner would swagger in, pluck a Pepsi out of the cooler, pop the top, take a couple of deep swigs, and empty a pack of peanuts into the bottle, then take a drink of the sweet, salty drink.

Near the round cake of cheese on the counter, there was a ball of string hanging down, and a big roll of white paper on a roller, so the the Storekeeper could tear off a strip of paper, lay it down, take a knife annd slice a chunk of cheese, wrap it and tie it with a string. It was the best cheese I have ever tasted.

Marking the prices was a chore I was sometimes I was allowed to do. The price flipped around when you pressed down, and it inked itself. Argo peas lined up neatly with the purple price proudly displayed on top was an accomplishment!