One of the things I remember was the meat market owned and operated by Mr. John Raulston. It was located about where the Masonic Lodge Hall now stands. This must have been the first time my mother sent me to the market all by myself; because it left quite an impression on me. She gave me a quarter (which looked like a large piece of money then) and told me to go to Mr. Raulston's Meat Market and buy a quarter's worth of steak. As I stood and watched Mr. Raulston cut the meat, everything looked so big! The chopping block was one of the biggest I had ever seen.

To this day, I can still remember that big chopping block. The knives he used were big also, much bigger than the ones we had at home. He also used a large cleaver and saw to cut through the bone of the meat. As I continued to look around the shop; I could see the delicious display of assorted cookies. We didn't buy many cookies back then. That was a long time before junk food days. When Mr. Raulston had finished cutting the meat; he pulled a heavy paper through a dispenser that cut the paper off at the length needed. He wrapped the meat and then pulled a string through a cone shaped dispenser to tie the package.

Another thing I can remember about the meat market, one could buy a nickel or dimes worth of cheese and crackers. Mr. Raulston would slice the cheese, reach into the cracker barrel and get out a handful or two of loose crackers. He would then wrap them all together in the heavy paper and tie with the string.

Mabel Sewell Hill