Before entering the Arp General Store, check out the front window, above the fresh produce, which showcases everything the modern 1930s bride would need to set up her house. This includes the first electric Singer sewing machine!
Inside the store, items to meet any need could be purchased in the local general store. This is the Wal-Mart of the 1930s. Check out the prices on the 1929 Brookshire’s Grand Opening advertisement on the wall just inside the door.
One difference between today and the general stores of the East Texas of the 1930s is that it was not self-service. The customer told the clerk, or often the owner of the business, what they wanted to purchase. And, the clerk would retrieve it and package it up.
Even though the self-service grocery store had been in place since 1916 starting in a Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, Tennessee, it hadn't yet made its way here.
Payment for your items was cash or credit only. But, the credit was store credit. The accounting slips were kept in the green fire-proof box located by the merchant. There were no credit cards as we know them today.
If you are curious about the contraption by the wood stove, it's a cream separator.
Before the advent of centrifugal separators, separation was performed by letting milk sit in a container until the cream floated to the top and could be skimmed off by hand. A variant container-separator had a nozzle at the bottom which was opened to allow the milk to drain off. A window in the side, near the nozzle at the bottom, allowed the operator to observe when the milk was drained.
The centrifugal separator was first manufactured by Gustaf de Laval, making it possible to separate cream from milk faster and more easily, without having to let the milk sit for a time, and risk it turning sour.
The original centrifugal separators were hand-cranked, just like the one in the General Store.
As you head towards the Gladewater Museum, check out the fashion window featuring items from everyday attire to a night on the town!
Once you have arrived at the Gladewater Museum, click "Next".
