Uncle Sam... Walton

Two posts on my first day, I must be an over-acheiver.

Ever wonder what Sam Walton's first store had in it? From what I understand, it was a hardware store in Benton Arkansas. I would expect that Sam was in his 20's when he opened it, maybe younger if he took it over from his father of uncle or something. That would put the store opening or changing hands in or around the depression.

Can you imagine walking into a hardware store, in nowhere Arkansas, during the depression. Worn wood floors. Tins of lard and jars of peaches. That sweet-musty smell you can only find in vintage hardware stores now. Images of the shop keeper in Oh' Brother flashed in my head. "We don't carry Dapper Dan. I can order it for you, have it for ya' in two weeks."

"Pardon, where is your saddle soap?"
"Down that aisle, there, just past the sweet oil."

What is even more strange, is that the multi-national, multi-billion dollar retailer grew from selling nails, utter balm, castor oil and palmaid to dirt farmers and share croppers in Arkansas.

Think about that next time you balance your checkbook.