"The Corner Store"

As you read Eudora Welty’s story called; “The Corner Store”, she takes you on a journey back in time to her childhood memories of Mr. Session’s corners store.  Welty gives a very illustrated description of the store; from the red brick exterior to the obscured darkness you meet as you entered inside the store. She talks about the many shelves that reached all the way to the ceiling and wrap around the store.  The shelves were filled with everything from lard, matches, kerosene to octagon soap. They carry such a diverse variety of foods that ranged from jars of pickles, bread, and milk to cans of sardines.  She reminisces about the sweet smell of licorice that filled the air and all delicious varieties of penny candy like; gum drops, tootsie rolls, wine-balls and lollipops.  Mr. Sessions would allow Welty to place her hand into the mouth of the candy jar and scoop the candy into her paper bag.  She talks about the many chocolates that are still popular to this day for instance Hershey Bars, Goo-Goo Clusters, and Baby Ruth’s .  When she wasn't in the mood for candy she would ask Mr. Sessions to fish out an ice cold soda pop from one of the huge barrels of ice water.  The barrels contained many popular sodas such as Coca-Cola and Orange Crush but her favorite one was a locally bottled soda concoction called, Mr. Lakes Celery Soda.  Welty said, “Enchantment is cast upon you by all those things you weren't supposed to have need for, it lures you close to wooden tops you'd outgrown, boy's marbles and agates in little net pouches, small rubber balls that wouldn't bounce straight, frazzly kite-string, clay bubble-pipes that would snap off in your teeth, the stiffest scissors.” These items were some of the toys that they were popular in her time period.  Every day before Welty would leave the store, she would look forward to being weighed on Mr. Sessions scale that stood by the door.  The scale was described as a stand up scale with a 20 stack of iron weights and a brass slide; on the balance arm.  He would place Welty on his scale and have her stand still as he weighed her.  He would wait patiently for her to be ready to come down and never rushed her off.  This was a fun experience that she would look forward to doing every time she went to his store. 

As you read her story you feel as if you are right there; standing by her side, seeing and smelling everything that she describes.  You can also envision all the different varieties of candies that she could choose from and buy; by the handfuls, from one single penny.  I can taste the refreshing, ice cold Coca-Cola and Orange Crush soda, and try to imagine what Welty's favorite, Mr. Lake’s Celery Soda would taste like. Mr. Lake's Celery soda was a popular treat, but in all honesty, it doesn't seem to enticing for me to even want to try it. The store described in Welty’s story sounds just like the store I would go to as a young girl.  My corner store was called the, Quick Shop and was owned by Mr. Dubois.  It was set up basically the same way as Mr. Sessions’s store.  Mr. Dubois had shelves that reached to the ceilings and wrapped all around the store and were filled with a multitude of items just as Welty described in her story.

I remember walking to my corner store at the bottom of my hill every day.  My parents would send my brother and I to store to pick up the things that they needed for our household. Just like Welty we too were occasionally allowed to use some of the money that was left over to buy candy or refreshments.  Sometimes I would try to hide the bread or drink all the milk just for a reason to go to the corner store.  Mr. Dubois was a lot like Mr. Sessions. He was always a very helpful, patient and a kind man.  He would allow me to hang out in his store with his sons Dennis and David and some of our friends from school.  Every Friday when I would get my five dollars allowance, I would run down to the store to spend it all on toys or penny candy. The Quick Shop also had the same variety of items as Mr. Sessions store did.  The toys that were popular back when I was a kid were similar to those of Welty’s.  We had the wooden tops and rubber balls but I don’t recall the marbles being sold there.  We had the fake rings, yo-yos, wolf pack poppers and jacks.  Toys were built very well not cheap like today’s toys.

Welty describes the corner store as one of her most favorite places to go as a child.  The owner of the store Mr. Sessions is characterized as a caring, helpful and patient man. The store itself may have been filled with items that would draw her or any child in but its the owner himself that makes her want to go back to the store each day.  Basically, all the small stores at that time would have the same items and be set up in a similar manor.  If the owner Mr. Sessions was described as a crabby old man who was impatient and unkind, I don't think that her corner store would have such wonderful memories to look back on.

“The Corner Store”  story is filled with so many rich details that even if you didn't grow up in that time era; you can still imagine what it was like to live back then.  Welty uses all 5 senses to accomplish that experience.  You can see the shelves that are up to the ceiling;, filled with all the many ranges of different items. Taste all the different assortments of penny candy and feel the cold soda pop in your hands and on your tongue.  Smell the jars of pickles that fill the air and make your mouth water. She also describes the smell of licorice as she walked in the door.  Last but not least, you can hear how much she loved her corner store that Mr. Sessions owned and all the life long memories she made there.