You know, I only thought of this today. I don't know how it had slipped my mind, but it had. I have talked a lot about shopping in Huntington Park, California, where I was raised, but I don't remember ever telling about Dobsons'. Purhaps because it wasn't on Pacific Blvd. In fact I don't recall the side street it was on, now. I can't even recall when I first was inside the store. I can see it in my mind even now. Pretty hodge podge it was. Not like any other store I had been in, in my life, or since for that matter. Some of the merchandise was decidely 'soiled'. You see everything in the store had been brought there from either the scene of an accident of a truck, or train. Some from other places that had been either destroyed or damaged by fire.
Labels on cans might even be missing. Those you could buy without knowing what was inside the can. Maybe it was fruit, vegetables, or who knew what. You took your choice then had a surprise when you opened the can. The price was always right, so, take a chance!
You could find almost anything in Dobsons'. There wasn't much of a system to their purchasing. If the merchandise was worth the effort to go and salvage it, it turned up in the store. Any shopper could just mull through the various isles of things. If there was something that caught the eye, then pricing was the next item of interest. Work clothes were a big sale item. You have to remember this was still the depression era and everyone who liked a bargain found their way into Dobsons'.
I remember I bought my Cowboy Boots there. They were pretty neat as I recall. Don't have a clue as to why I thought I needed a pair, but I had them for years. Have'nt the faintest idea what I ever did with them. They were pretty "snazey" however.
I don't recall my Mother ever shopping in the store. I think I found it quite by accident. The boys I think found their way in and out of it a number of times. I gues we kids were more adventureous. Mom may had felt it was for those who had less than she did. Of course the way she was raised, it might have been, she wanted to put that kind of thinking behind her. She would rather do without than take something less than what she really wanted. She and Dad had learned early on that you didn't long for things you could not afford. If you got anything, it was after you had priced it, saved for it and then purchased it for cash.
Maybe I have never mention her and the 'white wool coat'. If not, this is as good a place as any to tell the tale.
Mom had gone to work in the Pottery Shop when she was still very young. All the Hall kids seemed to have done so. One of her pay checks she decided to go shopping for a new coat. She found the prettiest white wool coat, but didn't quite have enough left over to pay cash for it. The sales person talked her into buying it 'on credit'. A little each pay check, and she could enjoy the coat long before she had the cash up front. Being young, and seeing it was a great way to go, she allowed herself to be 'talked into' opening a charge account. Sounds pretty simple. When she took the coat home, I guess her Mother wasn't very well pleased that she had bought it on 'credit'. Mom felt she had enough sence to know what she was doing. (Didn't we all feel that way at one time or another?)
Well she and her friends were planning a fun evening out. I don't recall now whether they were walking, and were picked up later by a friend in a car, or just how it was that she was in this 'big touring car'. However she came to be riding rather than walking, I can't remember. I do, however, remember her telling about how they were all laughing and having such a great time riding along when another car came alongside them and splashed mud on them, the car, and of course Moms new 'white wool coat'. Mud you say. Well back then the streets were used by horses, as well as cars. Mud was more than just dirt and water. The white coat was ruined. The stains didn't come out. She wore the coat one time, it wasn't paid for and that was that. Maybe that was why she always told us kids not to worry about what we had to wear, it was always: "clean and paid for". I don't think Mom or Dad ever bought anything, wearable or not that was not 'paid for first'!
Back to Dobsons'. It wasn't the best store in town, but it was certainly one of the most interesting. One never knew just what they would find there. If you saw something that you liked, best buy it because it probably wouldn't be there when you came back, and it was for sure it would not be replaced. Some things were not worth buying. If they were smoked damaged, they might even fall apart when they were cleaned. Only a seasoned shopper would dare be serious about some things the store had. As for myself, I just loved the variety. Can't say I ever bought much, but the looking was great fun. Some of the characters you would see in the store were pretty interesting as well.
Strange how an innocent conversation can dredge up in the mind things that haven't been remembered for years. You know, I would enjoy a stroll through that old store again. There isn't anything like it around today. Well maybe some of the 'thrift stores' come close, but still they are far from the character of Dobsons'.
Written this 9th day of June 2010
by: Eileen Rosenberg
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