Page 25 - 2019 August The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles
P. 25
helped attract customers in their local and surrounding communities, but it
was not a strategy that would work if they wanted to expand their business
westward into the increasing number of rural markets now accessible thanks to
the expanding rail transport.
The answer for an amped-up industrial and manufacturing-based economy
was for companies to put salesmen on the road to sell their wares directly into
new markets. Some served as
middlemen between manufac-
turers and wholesalers and local
stores all over America. Others
sold directly to consumers
door-to-door or in impromptu
displays set up on street corners
and other public venues. By the
mid-1800s, itinerant salesmen
had become a part of American
commerce. By 1900, there were
an estimated 350,000 traveling
men doing business in America. Washington St Shops in mining town of Sonora, CA
The general store was the
perfect target for a traveling one way a company’s name and brand could travel, signs,
salesman. As the center of point-of-sale displays, consumer packaging, and branded
commerce in a town, the owner specialty items were another. Promoting the brand name of the
tended to be receptive to any item soon became more important than promoting the item.
new product that could be of These signs and display items promoted everything from
interest to his customers. Mercantile Store tobacco and hardware to beverages and farm equipment.
Retaining customers became For dealers and collectors, it is these branded items of the late
important as in the waning decades of the 19th century, consumers had more 19th and early 20th century that command big money at “General Store”
shopping options and product choices. New specialty stores were opening on auctions today.
Main Street, and more door-to-door salesmen were passing through town to The American general store flourished throughout the 19th century but
sell items directly from the maker or their representative. For the first time in declined rapidly in the 20th century, particularly after the 1920s, due to the
almost a century, the general store was not the only game in town, and by
proliferation of mail-order catalogs and economic development. The novelty
comparison, outdated. and convenience of department stores and more specialized stores made
To get a general store to carry his company’s goods, the traveling salesman shopping in the center of town more of an experience rather than a necessity
came armed with a chest of branded marketing tools that the merchant could for the modern consumer, leaving the general store a cherished and collectible
display in his store to capture the attention of his customers – and subliminally part of our past.
encourage them to ask for certain products by brand name. It was soon clear Source: legendsofamerica.com/ah-countrystores/;
that advertising sells. While stamps on wooden crates, barrels, and sacks were alleganyhistory.org/culture/stories-and-folklore/fact-based-stories/465-the-old-time-general-store-was-a-symbol-of-american-enterprise
The Saga of the Oldest Continuing General Store in America
O n Sunday, July 29, 2012, The shop featured general store standards like penny candy and a small
what was reputed to be the selection of groceries, as well as antiques and collectible knickknacks. An
oldest continually operating old-fashioned marble soda fountain served up milkshakes and Rhode Island
general store in the United States
johnny cakes. Vintage cigar and tobacco cases and advertising memorabilia
closed its doors, ending an era in
adorned the walls and countertops in much the same way it would have over a
Americana. Gray’s General Store, century earlier. But in the end, nostalgia was not enough to keep Jonah Waite
located at 4 Main Street in Adamsville from his intended career in sports journalism. Or was it?
(Crompton), Rhode Island, opened in Perhaps “you don’t know what you
1788 and operated continuously for got till it’s gone,” but Gray’s re-opened
almost 225 years (under several in 2013, only six months after its
different owners), earning this 2012 closing. The new owner was Liz
distinction in 2007 when then-U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and Gov. Donald Carcieri Cottrell, who, as it turns out, was
issued proclamations. Grayton Waite’s fiancee at the time of
When it opened, Gray’s General Store was, like others of its day, the central his death. Judy Wilkie, a cousin who
provider of goods and staples for its community. The store did its best to keep had worked there for 16 years with
up with the times and needs of its customers by expanding product lines and Grayton Waite, also returned to the
installing a soda fountain – all to make the store more inviting to the evolving store and her post behind the counter
generations of shoppers. In the 21st century, however, Gray’s value to its with the antique soda fountain
community had been diminished by competition and an outdated business model. dispenser. Although most of the
“The shop’s finances aren’t sustainable and a supermarket down the street has general store’s inventory was removed for sale when Jonah Waite shut it down,
siphoned away business,” said Jonah the items that remained are now showcased in a museum of sorts to pay
Waite, the store’s owner at the time. homage to Gray’s founding roots. The merchandise for sale now runs more to
The shop has been in Jonah’s the gift-and-tourist trade with pottery, glassware, vintage clothing, jewelry,
family for seven generations, since cards, souvenirs, antiques, and consignment crafts.
1879, and comprises the front part of As a postscript to this saga, after Jonah
the family’s home. When his father Waite graduated from the University of
Grayton Waite died in 2012, 21-year Hartford he returned home to live in the
old Jonah Waite inherited the shop. family house attached to the rear of the
His great grandfather owned the store store. He fully supports Liz’ decision to
in the early 1900s and ran a gristmill to bring Gray’s back to life with a new vision
make his own cornmeal that he sold in for its future.
the store. “Obviously, I understand the historical aspect of it, and I would really Sources: onlyinyourstate.com/rhode-island/oldest-general-store-ri/,
love to keep it the way it is, but it doesn’t seem to me that that’s the most feasible en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray%27s_General_Store, liveauctioneers.com/news/top-news/general-
interest/grays-general-store-in-ri-closes-after-224-years/,
option. With the economy … the place has lost its attraction, lost its luster.” patriotledger.com/article/20130806/NEWS/308069549
August 2019 23
was not a strategy that would work if they wanted to expand their business
westward into the increasing number of rural markets now accessible thanks to
the expanding rail transport.
The answer for an amped-up industrial and manufacturing-based economy
was for companies to put salesmen on the road to sell their wares directly into
new markets. Some served as
middlemen between manufac-
turers and wholesalers and local
stores all over America. Others
sold directly to consumers
door-to-door or in impromptu
displays set up on street corners
and other public venues. By the
mid-1800s, itinerant salesmen
had become a part of American
commerce. By 1900, there were
an estimated 350,000 traveling
men doing business in America. Washington St Shops in mining town of Sonora, CA
The general store was the
perfect target for a traveling one way a company’s name and brand could travel, signs,
salesman. As the center of point-of-sale displays, consumer packaging, and branded
commerce in a town, the owner specialty items were another. Promoting the brand name of the
tended to be receptive to any item soon became more important than promoting the item.
new product that could be of These signs and display items promoted everything from
interest to his customers. Mercantile Store tobacco and hardware to beverages and farm equipment.
Retaining customers became For dealers and collectors, it is these branded items of the late
important as in the waning decades of the 19th century, consumers had more 19th and early 20th century that command big money at “General Store”
shopping options and product choices. New specialty stores were opening on auctions today.
Main Street, and more door-to-door salesmen were passing through town to The American general store flourished throughout the 19th century but
sell items directly from the maker or their representative. For the first time in declined rapidly in the 20th century, particularly after the 1920s, due to the
almost a century, the general store was not the only game in town, and by
proliferation of mail-order catalogs and economic development. The novelty
comparison, outdated. and convenience of department stores and more specialized stores made
To get a general store to carry his company’s goods, the traveling salesman shopping in the center of town more of an experience rather than a necessity
came armed with a chest of branded marketing tools that the merchant could for the modern consumer, leaving the general store a cherished and collectible
display in his store to capture the attention of his customers – and subliminally part of our past.
encourage them to ask for certain products by brand name. It was soon clear Source: legendsofamerica.com/ah-countrystores/;
that advertising sells. While stamps on wooden crates, barrels, and sacks were alleganyhistory.org/culture/stories-and-folklore/fact-based-stories/465-the-old-time-general-store-was-a-symbol-of-american-enterprise
The Saga of the Oldest Continuing General Store in America
O n Sunday, July 29, 2012, The shop featured general store standards like penny candy and a small
what was reputed to be the selection of groceries, as well as antiques and collectible knickknacks. An
oldest continually operating old-fashioned marble soda fountain served up milkshakes and Rhode Island
general store in the United States
johnny cakes. Vintage cigar and tobacco cases and advertising memorabilia
closed its doors, ending an era in
adorned the walls and countertops in much the same way it would have over a
Americana. Gray’s General Store, century earlier. But in the end, nostalgia was not enough to keep Jonah Waite
located at 4 Main Street in Adamsville from his intended career in sports journalism. Or was it?
(Crompton), Rhode Island, opened in Perhaps “you don’t know what you
1788 and operated continuously for got till it’s gone,” but Gray’s re-opened
almost 225 years (under several in 2013, only six months after its
different owners), earning this 2012 closing. The new owner was Liz
distinction in 2007 when then-U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and Gov. Donald Carcieri Cottrell, who, as it turns out, was
issued proclamations. Grayton Waite’s fiancee at the time of
When it opened, Gray’s General Store was, like others of its day, the central his death. Judy Wilkie, a cousin who
provider of goods and staples for its community. The store did its best to keep had worked there for 16 years with
up with the times and needs of its customers by expanding product lines and Grayton Waite, also returned to the
installing a soda fountain – all to make the store more inviting to the evolving store and her post behind the counter
generations of shoppers. In the 21st century, however, Gray’s value to its with the antique soda fountain
community had been diminished by competition and an outdated business model. dispenser. Although most of the
“The shop’s finances aren’t sustainable and a supermarket down the street has general store’s inventory was removed for sale when Jonah Waite shut it down,
siphoned away business,” said Jonah the items that remained are now showcased in a museum of sorts to pay
Waite, the store’s owner at the time. homage to Gray’s founding roots. The merchandise for sale now runs more to
The shop has been in Jonah’s the gift-and-tourist trade with pottery, glassware, vintage clothing, jewelry,
family for seven generations, since cards, souvenirs, antiques, and consignment crafts.
1879, and comprises the front part of As a postscript to this saga, after Jonah
the family’s home. When his father Waite graduated from the University of
Grayton Waite died in 2012, 21-year Hartford he returned home to live in the
old Jonah Waite inherited the shop. family house attached to the rear of the
His great grandfather owned the store store. He fully supports Liz’ decision to
in the early 1900s and ran a gristmill to bring Gray’s back to life with a new vision
make his own cornmeal that he sold in for its future.
the store. “Obviously, I understand the historical aspect of it, and I would really Sources: onlyinyourstate.com/rhode-island/oldest-general-store-ri/,
love to keep it the way it is, but it doesn’t seem to me that that’s the most feasible en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray%27s_General_Store, liveauctioneers.com/news/top-news/general-
interest/grays-general-store-in-ri-closes-after-224-years/,
option. With the economy … the place has lost its attraction, lost its luster.” patriotledger.com/article/20130806/NEWS/308069549
August 2019 23
