Our Past Is Present March 28, 2018

March 28, 2018

            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            Last week we had a story about the closing of the Peter Pan Grocery Store, which was located on Seventh Street.  Today’s story will be about the Stebbins Grocery, which was located at 1108 N. Clay Street in Junction City and the information for this story was taken from the Daily Union newspaper with the text written by Laurie Oswald.  Laurie wrote that “behind the grocery counter are shelves of penny candy and behind the candy is a bullet hole.” Les Stebbins, the owner of Stebbins Grocery told the reporter that even though he was 85 at the time he would work until he was unable. However, he was always scared.

            Les stated, “I can’t keep track of how many times I’ve been robbed.”  After counting the incidents, he remembered eight times when he was beaten up and one time when he was shot. There was even a time when his son was shot, with the bullet hole behind the bubblegum to prove it.

            Benefits outweighed the risks for Les, who managed the store since he retired from Water’s Hardware in 1971.  Les’s mother bought the grocery store, which was not much bigger than a living room, in 1921 and managed it until she retired in 1944. 

            The size of the store was 25 by 35 feet.  When the door opened a buzzer would sound and often the store became filled with children wanting to purchase their favorite bubble gum or candy.  Les stated that “they often asked ‘Do I have enough money for five pieces of gum instead of four’ and ‘How much tax do I owe?’“ 

            Adult customers would stop in the store to scan the eight shelves on the north wall for canned goods or the potato chip rack in the middle of the room.

             On a personal note, this story brought back memories for your host about a similar neighborhood grocery in the town I grew up in Ohio.  It was a small mom and pop store located in a housing area, frequented by us kids to buy our favorite candies and gums from the kind and patient owners, who seemed to look forward to us coming into their store if only to have us say hello.  Those are some good memories. 

            Share yours with us at the Museum at the corner of Sixth and Adams Tuesdays through Saturdays.  We love hearing your stories.

            And… thanks for reading “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.