Nostalgia: G.C. Murphy's Dime Store

If you were raised in Indiana during the 60s or 70s, you no doubt had a G. C. Murphy's in your town or in close proximity. We use to refer to it simply as "the dime store". My sister and I spent a fair amount of time at Murphy's,because our Aunt Carol worked there. Aunt Carol didn't have any kids or husband, she didn't even have a pet so she spoiled us rotten. We'd walk in the front door of Murphy's and go directly to the candy counter. The wood floors would creek under our steps and every person there knew us. The candy counter seemed huge to us. It was square and you could walk all around the display case admiring the yummy candy behind the glass case. It was sold by the pound or the piece. A clerk would walk in to the square candy counter, scoop up our order and serve it to us in a white paper bag. My favorite was the chocolate covered nuts. Then we'd head down to Aunt Carol's office (she was the bookkeeper) totally oblivious to the fact that someone needed to pay for the candy. We'd stop and admire the gold fish in the pet department, browse the toy department and then down we'd go to the basement to see Aunt Carol. It didn't occur to us until years later that Aunt Carol paid for our candy, no questions asked!

I was thrilled to discover that others had the same wonderful memories of Murphy's that I do. Jason Togyer`s book "For the Love of Murphy's: The Behind-The-Counter Story of a Great American Retailer" certainly pushes my nostalgia button. For more about the book and to see additional pictures of G.C. Murphy's stores check out the web site G.C. Murphy's Memories and enjoy a trip down memory lane!