Wallace Stores Of Christmas Past-Combintaion Foodliner/IGA

Cedar Street Kid Many Christmases ago.

No, we didn't just have one name for our Wallace stores, we had multiple names. When I was growing up Wallace, we had two grocery stores in town, and my folks shopped equally at both. Occasionally we would venture to Pik Wik in Kellogg and Britt's Garden Spot in Osburn, but we pretty much gave Wallace stores our business. Anyway, the two stores that served Wallace in those days were the Combination Foodliner IGA, and the Food Center (now Harvest Food). The Food  Center actually was on Cedar Street when I was younger, and the Combination was where the Depot is now.

These stores were fun to me, especially the Combination, because they had some very cool shelves along the top rows where there were some really neat toys, especially at Christmas time. Yes, we knew that it was Christmas time when the store loaded those shelves with Holiday cheer.

One year when I was still very young we were in the Combination about a three weeks before Christmas. I looked up at the Christmas displays on the top shelves, and lo and behold, there is was! When what to my childhood eyes should I see, but two  toy red fire engines with all of the bells and whistles and little plastic firemen. I just had to have it. I pulled my mother over to it and pointed with childish glee. My mother then dropped the bomb on me. Santa already had my gifts for this year, but maybe some other time.
I was crestfallen. Two weeks later when I was once again in the store with my mother, I did a furtive glance up to the top shelf, and just as I feared, the fire set was no longer there.

Christmas time came, and as we opened our gifts, I was blessed as always with the best that my parents could do. When we were all done, Mom told me that there was one more for me to open. She handed me a big package. I tore open the wrapping, and there it was, all shiny and bright., two big red fire trucks, a child’s delight.