ASHLAND — I have it on good authority that there was a method for how thieves stole box sets of baseball cards from the Nutshell in the early 1990s:
One delinquent would enter through the front entrance on Main St. by Peking. He/she would instantly engage the owner. At the same time, a second hoodlum would sneak in through the back door on South Street, stuff the three feet of cubed cardboard treasure chest down their hooded sweatshirt and skip out of the backdoor before the metal-latch- click sound that worked as an alarm, sounded.
For Generation Z, before you could watch your favorite athlete live-Tweet their breakfast, the best way to follow them was via these miniature cardboard cutout pictures, that had their height, weight, hometown, batting average and their locked smile.
Boys collected them like dolls.
Side note: anyone wanna buy my brother’s baseball card collection? The plastic sleeves have Velcro-sealed the cards rendering them worthless and they peel off like cheap wallpaper. Discount for the first 10 callers! Oh, and Babe Ruth only played against white dudes so his card should only be worth half as much.
Those were the days of Old Main Street, Ashland.
But who cares about nostalgia? Time to move on (well, after this column, anyway).
The future of downtown has already started — and it looks glorious.
“Ashland is on the cusp of a boom, a big explosion. Now is the time to get involved with the downtown, over the next several years, you will see it. Exciting times,” said Melissa Sponseller of the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce (AACC).
There was parking out front of The Nook, err, Riley’s, so that’s where Part I of the downtown adventure began.
Next door was a new law office, Clothes Minded, Downtown Perk, Antiques on Main and Compass, leading to the alley where, let’s call him “Justin A,” almost beat me into a coma after middle school let out back in ’94.
Had seen him take out a notorious tough guy just weeks earlier in the back mowed trails of the cemetery, and I wanted nothing to do with his punch-then-taunt techniques.
Next, it was the downtown relic everyone knows, the flashing clock and temperature sign by Peking.
Some say it’s this spot that Ashland was founded, just around the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The sign and building from the old bank is now the AU Founders School, followed by Bagnabit, Truly Yours Fashion, Splat, Ashland Bike Company, Uniontown Brewing and Graham & Associates.
Ashland’s true downtown extends beyond Main Street, and it has continued to grow and show tremendous prosperity. Unfortunately, the whole area can’t be covered in one article.
Anyone ever remember buying sports gear from Pierces’s? Little known fact about the old employees: they could beat Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES all the way through without dying. For real.
Pierce’s used to have gum and candy machines right inside the door. Insert a penny for Chiclets or a dime for a Nerds gumball, twist the silver metal crank to the right and out came oral satisfaction.
No-good kids in the late 1980s realized that you could use plastic bingo chips as a perfect substitute for Reagan trickle-down denominations. And oh how they stole so much gum.
You may ask yourself, what’s the deal with all the “go local” or “support small businesses” or “revive downtown” movements? Well, it breaks down like this:
You used to buy shoes at Jim’s and got your newspaper at Nardini’s, for example. The owners of those small shops would use their profits to buy other goods and services from other local businesses (aka people) around town.
Now, the consumer gets their shoes and paper and milk at Wal-Mart, and almost all of that top profit goes to Bentonville, Arkansas, not your local economy. Sure, the big chain stores provide jobs, but so do the mom-and-pop shops.
The street sauntering continued, past Livesburger, Alterations Plus, Superiormerch.com, Rumours, Masterminds, Bikesmith, Cambridge Home Health, an attorney’s office, Crosby and Home (True Value) Hardware.
Crossing the street from where JC Penny’s once was now sits Whitaker Myers, more law offices/title agencies, Beachcombin’ and Mike’s Music, the past storefront of Pic-a-deli.
In 1989, you could order a New York Seltzer, flavored water from Pic-a- deli and could feel a bit like Crocodile Dundee as you consumed the foreign yet magical fizz.
Continuing back up Main Street, there was something new while passing Advantage, Robin’s Nest, Juliana Bridal, Adonai, Ash Cleaning and Huntington — there was fresh construction along the old Nardini’s corridor.
“Nardini’s got restoration money, so we’re (Simonson Construction) putting new aluminum windows in and giving it an overhaul,” said Simonson worker Adam Moody.
Side note II: if you ate at The Room Upstairs, at the back of Nardini’s, please send me your picture or story!
A common occurrence after middle school in the 1990s was to go to Nardini’s, where the owner worked behind the counter with a white apron and sold “red hot dollars” candy for a penny out of a glass jar.
The sweetness of the store was not confined to the candy, however, as it was the overall atmosphere of a classic 1950s malt shop.
When the middle school youngsters were too loud, the owner would yell at them to leave the store! And fleeing quickly those kids would run, red gums bleeding out the sugar just previously consumed.
What about your stories?
Please leave your comments about the old days, about: Watson’s Shoe Store, Ben Franklin, Gilbert Furniture, Weiss Drug Store, The Downtowner Restaurant, Scarlett Fashions, Hush Puppies Shoes, Kastan’s Jewelry, Maxil’s Women’s Clothing, Jupiter Discount Store, Strauss Men’s Clothing, Hostettler’s Office Supply, Pries Women’s Store, Hiner’s Drug Store and all your unmentioned memories in between.
