Both Scott and I were pretty darned young when McKain’s Market was in operation. Yes, it’s been a minute ago. 🙂
McKain’s Market in the way back machine…
We started stocking shelves, running the register, and waiting on customers from as far back as I can remember. Scott was five years older than me and had a knack for suddenly needing the bathroom when there was work to do. Funny how often a comic book went with him.
I remember the day that I could wrap up a package of quivering liver without getting a drop of blood on the outside of the butcher paper. I don’t get much call for that skill these days, but at one point, I was pretty proud of it.
People drove miles to purchase Dad’s finest cuts of meat (I can remember him patting the steaks… like he was telling them how good they were), even after the big store came to town. Our little market outlasted the IGA. And after all those years of working around meat processing, Scott and I still love a good steak more than just about anything.
If I could bring back one thing…
I’d take an afternoon behind that counter with Dad. I’d even wrap the liver. Scott can put down the comic book and run the register.
What would you bring back from your old grocery store?
Was there something you always bought there, or somebody you still remember behind the counter?
Now You Know: When the first Piggly Wiggly opened in Memphis in 1916, shoppers could take a basket and pick their own groceries off the shelves. Before that, customers typically handed a list to a clerk who gathered everything for them.
