The Corner Drugstore

Not all small-town drugstores in the 20th Century were on the corner and not all of them had soda fountains but my favorite one did. It was replaced before the new millennium made its debut by a chain restaurant that mostly sells ice cream. I’ll bet there were a lot of corner drug stores around the country between 1951 and 2000, when I did my running in the last century.

These were places where you could buy tobacco and newspapers and magazines and men’s and women’s toiletries and get your prescriptions filled. But they were also places to leisurely enjoy a cherry Coke from a soda fountain or an ice cream soda or even a hamburger. The “druggist” usually wore a white smock and the soda fountain waitresses often wore pink or blue uniforms. I liked it when these women popped their chewing gum and winked at me.

I’ll probably never get to see a drugstore as cool as the one in the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life” but I’d give an eye tooth to set my butt down on one of those high stools and order a double chocolate malted or an egg cream or a lemon phosphate.

Anyone have a time machine I can use for a few hours?