I’m almost as old as Fulks Run Grocery, which is celebrating 75+ years in business on June 14. My Dad Garnett Turner opened the store in January 1949 and set up housekeeping in November 1949 with his bride Lena in a four-room apartment in the store’s basement. I remember living in the apartment for several years.
My mom Lena had been a full-time clerk in the store, and my arrival put a dent in her schedule. She invented “Bring your daughter to work” day. Cardboard boxes were my playpens, and customers helped watch over me. As I gained siblings, we kids played house with boxes of canned goods. I remember a particular store corner perfect for playing if the boxes were stacked just right. While their parents shopped, children sometimes played with us in the store’s backyard.
Early on, Garnett and Lena trained us to be store helpers. They spent many hours in the store, so it was natural that we kids helped. Opening the screen door for customers and smiling hello was an early job. When I was about eight years old, Lena taught me how to make change. About that time, Garnett let us answer the store phone by saying “Fulks Run Grocery” and politely getting an adult to take care of the rest of the call. Each step made us feel grown-up and important to the family.
We learned to use the hand-crank adding machine which will be on display at the June 14 anniversary celebration. Before the store was enlarged in 1963, the clerk tallied up the groceries on the adding machine and then entered the total sale amount in the separate cash register. The first time I practiced my new adding machine skills on her grocery order, Grandma Ruth insisted that my Dad add it again to double-check. I don’t remember whether or not our totals agreed.
Growing up in a country grocery store had many advantages, especially for my later hobby of family history. Practically all our customers were cousins in some way, my parents said. Later family history research revealed how those customers were related. Probably the oldest customer I knew was Zack A. Turner, born in 1869, who was a first cousin to my great-grandfather.
Working in the store taught us many life lessons. Some were taught by my parents:
- The customer is always right.
- Look the customer in the eye when you say thank you.
- Treat everyone like a customer.
- Say, “and what else for you,” not “is that all?”
- Don’t talk bad about anyone because you are probably complaining to their relatives.
- When you finish a task, look for something else to do.
- Whatever your job, it is important. Do your best.
- Family pitches in when needed. When my dad and mom were the only store employees, she sometimes went downstairs to do housework. If he got busy, he’d stomp on the floor to signal her to come help. In my early teen years, at busy times he set off the siren for a few seconds. My sisters and I would jump on our bikes and rush to the store, even with curlers in our hair.
- Don’t talk religion or politics at the store.
My siblings and I learned that old men like to tease little kids. Customer Mick Miller, my grandparents’ age, threatened us that “I’m going to get your nose.” He then gently touched a nose, then showed it to us (his thumb held between his two fingers). The first time he got my nose, I checked my face to see if it was missing. Mick also liked to give dry shaves, rubbing his knuckle hard over our heads.
Other elders imparted folk wisdom. When I was cleaning the deli area, Rus Miller, who grew up in a large family during the Depression, informed me it was a sin to throw away bread. Violet Turner Custer said it was bad luck to go out a different door than the one you came in, and bad luck to pass someone on the stairsteps. Saying “Thank You” the Brocks Gap way, Grace Miller Fulk told me she’d throw a rock in my garden sometime. This saying seems to be unique to Gap families.
Time at the store was different from other time, according to Larry Custer who also worked at the store from an early age. He remembers that if Garnett told him a job would take five minutes, it would really take an hour.
Those of us who worked in the store or ham house have many more stories, but space has run out. Come to the store June 14 to see vintage photos, hear more stories, and celebrate 75+ years of serving customers in Fulks Run.
