The Corner Store

On the corner of Jackson and Porlier sat a two-story longish building. The bottom front of the building, facing Jackson Street, was Boulanger's store. They had cookies and the sorts of things that we now get at convenience stores, emergency supplies so to speak, sugar and flour and canned vegetables. They also carried candy, Kool-aid and POPSICLES and FUDGSICLES and CREAMSICLES. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I used to be a regular visitor to the store. Mrs. Boulanger hated me after a while I am sure. I would come in and window shop for popsicles. I loved orange and still do. Sometimes they had root beer, banana flavor or those icky blue popsicles.

The freezer case was one that opened from above, with a sliding glass cover. Inside, the galvanized metal sides were crusted with frost, and you could get your finger stuck on the side if you were not careful in pulling out the frozen treats.

When I visited too frequently Mrs. Boulanger would tell me to come back in five minutes. I would go home and sit in the kitchen staring at the clock, the dark green clock above the table, and watch the five minutes go by. Then I would hurry back to the store, where Mrs. Boulanger was horrified to see me reappear so quickly.

We used to have Kool-aid stands, and that involved a lot of Kool-aid packets and tons of sugar. I think we had it all figured out so that we could afford some sort of treat from selling our Kool-aid. We did sell a lot!