They were called “dime stores,” no doubt because there were an assortment of candies that could be had for a dime. Peanuts, sugar babies, gum, marbles, licorice, whistles, balls, gum balls. Or perhaps small items such as pencils and small toys or trinkets. More correctly these variety stores sold a myriad of household goods such as brooms, mops, baskets, dish cloths and dish towels. But of great attraction to youngsters were the birds and turtles - parakeets, canaries, and finches. And goldfish, many goldfish.
Today the only such surviving variety store is the Ben Franklin on Chapman Street. Exact dates have not been found, but early on the Vail building housed Murphy’s Clothing and Klug’s Variety, which replaced the Chocolate Shop in 1945. In 1955 the Vail building was demolished and it was replaced by the Jugloslav National Home (upstairs) and JC Penney. It is now the NAPA auto parts store. Klug’s disappeared from the scene.
A name familiar to many of us was Agnew’s Variety (Ben Franklin). This was first housed in the east half of the James building, which is now Potluck Kitchenware. Barney, Etta, and daughter Barnetta Agnew had come from Billings, MT in the 1940s. Billings was another mining town. They established a variety/dim” store door here. After the 1947 fire in the James building, the Agnews relocated to a new building next door. That building is now gone and is home to the Puddlejumper Pocket Park.
After Mr. Agnew died unexpectedly Mrs. Agnew sold the store to Rose Koschak, one of her employees. The building was sold a few years later to Schultz Bros., a discount store. Then came the Pamida store. Rose moved her Ben Franklin store across the street where it continues under the same name. No more any penny or dime candies, no canaries, no small toys but many household goods. Many remember being carefully watched by the clerks.
Young Bill (“Willy”) Mackie lived upstairs of Maki Clothing on Chapman Street. Not to be outdone by bigger stores, Willy set up “Willy’s Variety” on the long flight of steps leading upstairs. He somehow accumulated candies, comic books, small toys and the like and opened up shop reselling these items.
Now we have dollar stores. No longer exotic fish or candies in small quantities but all sorts of house hold goods, pharmaceuticals, and food. Probably nothing for a dime (and not much for a dollar either!) Our earnings have certainly increased over the years, so it is completely understandable how it now takes dollars instead of dimes.
A note of thanks to Jim Krunkala who pointed out that I neglected to write that Arlie Clusiau also had a Ford dealership in the Ford Garage building.
To see a number of interesting pictures from the of the variety stores in Ely, old and present, stop at the Ely-Winton Historical Society office where the exhibit is located. Pictures are all from the collections at the historical society. The office and museum are open from noon until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The phone number is 218-365-3226 and the email is [email protected].
A young Bill (“Willie”) Mackie. He had his own “variety” store on the stairway in a building on Chapman Street.
