The ending of things...

[fajrdrako]

We all know things change, and things disappear that we miss, and the older we get the more these things sort of accumulate in our background. I still miss the Harvey's that used to be at the corner of Rideau and Nelson, and the Capitol Theatre, and Caramac.

A few recent losses I've been sorry to see:

• Tim Choate died in a motorcycle accident. He was the actor who played Zathras in Babylon 5. A small role, but such a memorable one. "Zathras talks, but no one listens."


• The Stittsville Flea Market is closing down. I never went there often - it isn't convenient to someone without a car - but it was always fun when I did; I liked knowing it was there. And it has been there for thirty years.


• Why have Lifesavers become so difficult to find?


• Department stores. Why are there so few of them? And those that exist now seem to be glorified clothing stores with a section for kids' toys, stationery, furniture and appliances, and make-up. No books, no hardware, no pets, no foodstuffs except candy. The malls are only slightly better, though the big grocery stores are picking up the slack with regard to electronics and household goods.

Comments

[dolimir-k.livejournal.com]

Zathras died??????

Nooooooooooooooo!

Okay, now I'm seriously bummed out.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Isn't it amazing what an impression Zathras made on all of us? Yes, he is dead. It doesn't seem right, somehow.

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

I miss drug stores and lunch counters with soda fountains.

There was also a department store in my hometown called the "Cash". When you paid for whatever you bought, the cashier would write you out a sales ticket BY HAND, put your money or check in this little metal basket thingy, put the basket on this metal-train-track kind of thing (I was a kid, so I have no idea what this system was called) and it would go clickety-clacking upstairs to the store office. In a few minutes, it would come clickety-clacking back with your change, receipt, etc.

Do you remember anything like this?

I think my Grandma used to call stores like this "dry goods" stores. What classifies an item as a "dry good"?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh,yes! I don't think Canadians ever had the kind of drug stores you had (or have) in the States, but I have fond memories of Throops at Westgate Shopping Centre. It had a lunch counter (I don't know if I ever ate lunch there, but I bet I did!) and a place for developing film and that old-time feel to the whole place.

I never heard of a clickety-clack system like at that place you remember. That sounds fascinating!

Dry goods... I looked it up on http://dictionary.cambridge.org/. They give two definitions, specified as FOOD and CLOTH:

(1) U.S. for drapery (= cloth, pins, thread, etc. used for sewing)
(2) food, such as coffee and flour, that is solid and dry

I can remember my mother (and the stores)using both terms.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Talking of flea markets, the local car boot sale that I was planning to take you to next October has stopped being held. Pity - it was a pleasant way of spending the occasional Sunday morning!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh no! So it's happening there, too. Maybe we'll be lucky and both will start up again in the next year.

[lmondegreen.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about the Harvey's - there seem to be fewer and fewer of them all the time!

On a happier note, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the Stittsville Flea Market is closing only to open at another (bigger) location close to the original...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Re Harvey's: I think it's true. And there seem to be fewer places to eat that I like in the Rideau/King Edward area every day.

As for the Stittsville Flea Market - that's good news! Yay!