Introduction to "Eggleston Store"

My father wrote these historically accurate memories on a loose sheet of paper in the middle 1950's. It was set aside to be typed or used as a basis for a short story "someday". Long forgotten, I thought that it needed to be published and made public, lest the history of it be lost.

THE EGGLESTON COUNTRY STORE

Written by Neil D. Greene

Unless you had lived in Crawford Country, Wisconsin, you will probably not be familiar with the country stores that are included in this narrative sampling of the rural general store of this writer's boyhood of the early 1900's. In the most part we may assume they resembled the general stores of that period in other rural areas. Since Crawford County is rather hilly it is only natural that rural shopkeepers set up their businesses at strategic areas to suit a particular topographical area. For example, the Eggleston Store was located adjacent to the Rock Elm Cheese Factory which served the upper Irish Ridge farms community; the Haggerty Store served the Mount Zion area; The Rolling Ground Store was located at the crossroads of Orchard Ridge and Rolling Ground; the Plugtown or Childs Town General Store was located at the crossroads of Haney Ridge Road, the Marietta Valley Road, and the Cole Hollow Road.

Mt. Zion Store in Crawford Co., WI

IRISH RIDGE, near the MT. ZION area, had an active social family. Several activities included among others an active RED CROSS ORGANIZATION and an organization called THE WEST FORK SOCIAL WELFARE CLUB. In 1935 they published a cook book, one of those mini books that fit in a large pocket. Here are three excerpts from that 1935 edition.

WESTFORK SOCIAL CLUB 1935

A TOAST
Here's health to thee and thine,
Not forgetting me and mine;
And when thee and thine
Come to see me and mine
May me and mine make thee and thine
As welcome as thee and thine
Have made me and mine

"A little nonsense
Now and then
Is relished by
The best of men."

RECIPE FOR A HUSBAND
First get one. Not too young, but tender and of healthy growth. 
Make your selection carefully and let it be final; 
Otherwise they will not keep. 
Like wine they improve with old age. 
Do not pickle or put in hot water, 
This makes them hard and sour. 
Sweeten with smiles according to variety. 
The sour, bitter kind are improved with a pinch of salt and common sense, 
Spiced with patience. Flavor with kisses according to taste. 
Wrap well in a mantle of charity, 
Preserve over a good fire of steady devotion 
And serve with peaches and cream. 
The poorest varieties may be improved by this process 
And will keep for years in any climate. 
Wives may be preserved in the same manner.

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