New England's General Stores: Exploring an American Classic with Ted Reinstein and Anne-Marie Dorni
Tuesday, December 47:00—8:00 PMCommunity RoomNorfolk Public Library2 Liberty Lane, Norfolk, MA, 02056
The general store is literally as old as America itself.
It harkens back to a simpler time and a more innocent and rural nation. It conjures a
country-like place where kids come in to by penny candy, and adults to buy everything
from swaths of fabric, to fresh vegetables, to four-penny nails. It was a place to pick up
mail, the newspaper, and perhaps tarry a bit on a cold, winter’s morning to chat over a
cup of coffee and a warm wood stove. Long before “Cheers,” the general store was the
vital and inviting heart of a community, where everyone not only knew your name, but
how you took that coffee, how many kids you had, and how’s your dad doing, anyway?
And in tough times, it was a place that often treated customers like family, extending
credit when no one else would. In short, the general store was real-life Norman
Rockwell—deeply woven into America’s cultural identity, an integral part of the nation’s
self-portrait from its earliest days. But over the last 50 years, many of New England’s
general stores, competing with behemoths like Wal-Mart and Target, began to
disappear. But then a funny thing happened: people really missed them. And in many
towns, decided to hold onto them.
In talking about New England’s General Stores: Exploring an American Classic,
broadcast journalist Ted Reinstein shares the rich and colorful history of this iconic
institution, how they figured in the rise of early American commerce, why they began to
fade, and why—like another New England icon, the diner—they have begun to come
back and even be re-invented and re-imagined for a new era. Told with anecdotes from
a variety of local landmark stores across the region, the presentation is accompanied by
the award-winning photography of Art Donahue.
The presentation runs about 50 minutes, followed by Q&A, and book purchase/signing.
No Registration Required