Remembering Larry’s 5&10¢ Store

Second in a Series

Annette Vaughan, who lived in the farmhouse on the corner of Royalton Road and University Blvd., still has vivid images of Larry’s 5&10¢ from the early to mid-1960s on. “My two best friends (who lived on Royalton Rd.) and I would walk up to Larry’s Five and Dime to look at the interesting things the store had to offer. We almost always came back with a jigsaw puzzle to work, penny candy, or a comic book (Archie, Betty and Veronica, Ritchie Rich, Casper).

“I also remember seeing Breyer horses on the top shelves which were too expensive for my budget, but I loved looking at them. I was always intrigued by the bins with small green plastic army men, which I never actually bought. But I did buy marbles (choosing the most interesting ones I could find to add to my collection), gimp [an ornamental trim used in sewing and embroidery], potholder-making loops, paint-by-number kits, water colors, and, of course, jacks! I remember contentedly browsing through the crowded aisles. It was not a clean-feeling store, but intensely engaging. It had a unique odor of oldness and having always been there. We could “get lost” in it for hours.

“After looking around the store, we would then, perhaps, stop by Woodmoor Pastry Shop to look at all the beautiful cakes and cookies under the counter glass — a wonderland of sweets (not to mention being intrigued from the outside with the curved shop glass and dark marble below) — but never buying. We would then progress to People’s Drug Store to have my favorite: hot fudge sundaes at the counter.

“Back then, a walk with friends to Larry’s 5&10¢, followed by a visit to People’s for a sundae, was, at the same time, adventurous, satisfying, and the epitome of my happiness.” ■