There once was an institution that became the center of Americana throughout our nation. Without it, no community could survive! The "general store" carried every item needed to make it in our rural society that was America. Most of the farmers around Atmore and Davisville were lucky in that they were considered “well off enough” by the farm folk standards of the day. They had hard money, although limited, to buy what was needed and their farm produced the rest. There were few stories of the anyone going hungry although there were lean times that came their way just like everyone else. It was true that most of the poorer folks had a much more limited diet than the better off citizens. Their principal table fare was “hog and hominy” with an occasional helping of “greens” when they were available. Some of the poorer farmers ate “hoecakes,” which was cornmeal mixed together with water and a little salt and cooked over an open fire. If the proper cooking utensils were lacking, then the family was forced to lay the mash on a shovel blade and used that to cook it on. In the Fall, they would mix the mash in with a little cane syrup to sweeten the taste. So if you were lucky enough to have a plate of meat and vegetables then your place in society was raised several levels above the poorer fare by the less fortunate. The Ward and Davis families, when needed, load up in the wagon with the kids on Saturday around noon and the whole family would head off to Atmore. Straw was thrown into the back of the wagon for the kids and everyone scampered to collect the things they were going to take for the trip. The patriarch would throw some chickens in the back with their legs tied together, or maybe a large can of cream and perhaps a churn of butter for trading. Rebecca Ward or Martha Davis would naturally have a basket full of eggs since it was always customary for the woman of the house to be in charge of her own personal “egg money.” By December, their hens were through the “molting" season and egg production was high. This of course, drove the prices up to around seventeen cents a dozen for trade or a little less for cash. A last minute pail of fried chicken for the kids and a bucket full of oats for the mules and all was set for their grand Atmore social. The photo below is that of Joseph Albert's Store in Atmore 1930. Joseph was born in Syria and was the husband of Katherine "Katie" McEvoy. Their daughter Josephine married James Woodrow "J.W." Ward, son of James Oscar Ward and Carrie Otis Majors.
Joseph Albert's Store in Atmore 1930