Long Before Amazon.com

Dear Diary, 

This photo of my hometown was taken around 1949, the year I was born.  We wouldn’t move to Hudson until 1952 but I’m sure the street looked very similar.  I vividly remember the F.W. Woolworth and W.T. Grant stores, where we did most of our shopping.  You could get just about everything you needed on Main Street.  Wright’s Jewelry, on the left, which had opened in 1928, was still there 40 years later when my fiancé bought by engagement ring there.  I am happy to say it is still there on Main Street, but on the other side of the street, after 92 years in business.  I did most of my clothes shopping at the Hudson Dress Shop and the Redwood Shop.  I got my first credit at the Hudson Dress Shop at age 14, a little blue book where purchases and payments were recorded, the precursor to the credit card.  I felt so grown up!  I’m sure my parents had to co-sign but I learned how to budget and spend wisely, a very valuable lesson.  This was the world long before Amazon.com.