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E. C. Brown Store

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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The turn of the 20th century saw the birth of urban department stores such as Macy's and chain stores like A&P. This photograph of a country store in Bernardston, Massachusetts, reveals that the consumer boom also made its way into rural areas. New items such as readymade clothing, canned goods, and commercially processed foods appeared on store shelves throughout the United States. Like other stores in this period, the goods were attractively displayed in glass showcases; one of the store's several employees would take out for customers the items they wished to examine or purchase.

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