The Old School Bookstore

School is back in full swing now, and the store shelves that once had row after row of school supplies are now full of Halloween candy.  If the school kids need something that Target or Wal-Mart or Krogers doesn't have, they'll need to get it at the school bookstore.  The bookstore was the place to shop.  It showed the other kids "I'm big enough to buy my own school supplies."

The bookstore at Greenwood Elementary and Conway Middle Schools were almost identical - they had a very cool half-door.  The first time I saw it at Greenwood Elementary, it reminded me the door that Mr. Ed had in his barn.  Except Mr. Ed didn't have a small shelf on his half door.  The shelf was where we would slide our money to the clerk and where she would place our loot.  Our librarian at Greenwood pulled double-duty and worked at our bookstore before school.  She wore black cat-eye glasses, and had them hanging around her neck on a chain.  If there was a particularly difficult transaction, she would put the glasses on, and slide them down the bridge of her nose. 

Usually, we would get my school supplies at Consolidated, our big discount store.  But if I ran out of something and it was too late to go out to the store, or if my parents didn't want to be bothered, they would give me money to pick up the stuff the next morning at the bookstore. Oh how I loved when that happened.  I loved strolling up to the bookstore half door, and whipping the money out of my little purse.  Grandma or Grandpa would always give me some extra money on bookstore days so I could buy one of the very cool little car erasers that were sold exclusively at the bookstores. Sometimes, we would find unused staples and stick them in the bottom of the car erasers so they would slide better. They also sold very cool pencils - fancy, colored ones; not like the boring old yellow pencils.

The Greenwood bookstore also sold candy, which I'm sure is considered contraband today.  On special days, our bookstore sold Charms candy - the square version of fruit-flavored Life Savers.  In the meanwhile, they sold cherry cough drops.  Practically every kid at Greenwood Elementary had a pack of cherry cough drops at all times; you'd think we were a school full of TB patients.