It’s that time of year again. Just when Southerners are celebrating football and the waning summer heat, the holiday shopping season descends upon us. Since I’m sure all of you have been under a barrage of flashy ads for early bird deals and cyber discounts, I thought I’d give your consumerist minds a break and share a few images from a simpler shopping era.
Before big box stores or online shopping, a customer would walk into a local store and be taken care of by a member of the family that owned the business. And if you were doing your shopping in the South, you would very likely visit a shop owned by Jews. Shopping is a Southern Jewish tradition. Most immigrants started as peddlers and later built retail stores, establishing network of merchants across the region. While Jewish shop keepers did not observe the religious aspects of Christmas, the season of gift-giving was something to celebrate.
I envy the clients of the Alligator Store in Alligator, MS and Schwartz Store in Bay City, TX. You can tell by the looks on the owners faces their customers got great service.
Like today, the holidays were a big money maker, so stores were quick to cater to their clientele. Below is a shop in Laredo, Texas, decked out for Christmas.
Before you get too nostalgic, fear not! Not all of these shops are memories of the past. La Perla in Laredo is still run by members of the Norton Family today. So take a break from Amazon once in a while and venture out, after Black Friday of course, into the world for a personal experience and encourage these great traditional businesses to stick around.
Where have you been shopping lately? What are some of your favorite local family businesses?
