Older Residents Recall Fostoria of Long Ago
January 4, 1998, article two

Maybelle Kinn came to Fostoria in 1941. She and her husband, A.D., purchased a home on Gerlock Drive, one of only eight homes on the street then. Those homes and most others around town, especially those with children, needed dairy items delivered. Maybelle recalled that her milk and butter came on a horse drawn wagon.

Going back a bit further, horses were a common feature of personal transportation.

Alverda Myers grew up in rural Fostoria. Her grandfather, James Waltermier, was a veteran of the Civil War. Whenever her family wanted to go anywhere, it was time to hitch the horses to the wagon, a process that didn't take too long, "if you knew just how to do it."

Horse owners can tell you that horses have their own personalities and some, like their human counterparts, try to curry the sympathy of others.

"We had one horse," said Alverda, "she just limped until you'd think we were punishing her and we were terrible people to drive a horse like that. But she just limped when we went to town. When we got home, she didn't limp anymore."

Alverda recalled that those trips to town usually occurred once a week.

Another woman recollected that her family's Sunday ride to the "Reform Church" in rural Seneca County was taken in a horse and buggy. Another said that in wintertime it wasn't unusual for someone to come into town on a sled.

Most of the folks in the Good Shepherd nostalgia group are 90 or more years old and remember when many things were very different. Today we're vitally concerned about health care - hospitals, HMOs, health insurance and the like. But around the turn of the century most people were born at home, difficult as that is to imagine today.

In fact, for about half of the 143 years that Fostoria has been a city, our community didn't have a hospital, as such. Fostoria's first "medical facility," if you will, was Dr. William "Doc" Leonard's clinic on South Main, where the parking lot is across South St. from Dell's.

Paul Carbin still carries a scar from an injury that Doc Leonard stitched up for him. Dorothy Gamertsfelder said that the front part of Doc's office and the back part was the "hospital," just three or four beds.

"My father had surgery there one time," said Dorothy, "and they kept him overnight. I went to see him there. I was just a little kid."

Television is a staple of modern life. The folks at Good Shepherd not only remember when there was no television, but one woman said, "I remember when we first got radio, for crying out loud. Families and friends would go to the home of someone who had a radio and listen to programs like Fibber McGee and Molly, westerns, Amos and Andy, and Jack Benny."

And shopping wasn't always a matter of handing over a credit card, writing a check or even putting down cold, hard cash. People from farms would come to town with butter and eggs to barter for processed items like sugar and flour.

And your mother might not even take you along when she shopped for you. She might size up your foot on the way out the door and come back with your new pair of shoes. Consider that the next time Junior wants a new pair of $100 Nikes.

When Maybelle Kinn came to Fostoria, downtown had many more stores than it does today. She said that has been one of the biggest changes in Fostoria.

"There was never an empty store on Main St.," she said. "All the buildings were filled."

Ahlenius' was a favorite place to shop and many people recalled it as one of Fostoria's nicest retailers. Helen Sour and Juanita Dunfee said that women preferred Ahlenius' while men purchased fine haberdashery at Mose Lamfrom.

The more economically-minded bought clothes at Montgomery Ward. "It was," said Juanita, "a very good place for school clothes."

All those buildings were filled with a variety of specialty shops. The Fair once occupied the site where the Flower and Gift Shop is today. Dorothy said that it was distinctive for its hats, ribbons, berets and pins, "everything for your hair." It was owned by the Schutts and later on by their daughter, Cricket.

Cricket was a close friend of Blanche Freese whose family owned Freese Creamery on South Union where you could buy buttermilk in a little bucket, eggs and even chickens (alive, if desired).

Many folks might still recall Bazely's Meats, but there was also Huss' Meat Market in the 30s where Dorothy said, "You could buy a package of boiled ham for a dime. That was enough for a couple of meals for my husband and I.

Well, when you boil it down, this week's article is finished, but our series will continue. Next time - some interesting items from Fostoria's sports history.