A walk down Barton Street East to Lottridge, not far past Sherman will transport you back to the 1950's. A time before big box drugstores, a time when a drugstore called Littlewood's provided relief too all that ailed you. The door has been closed for decades but the curiosity still lives on.
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Through the grimy windows you can see how the store was the day the doors closed, providing future generations a snapshot of life in a simpler time. The products are still on the shelves. Soft Spraze hairspray, Vam, Blondex, Stripe toothpaste for 43 cents, nylon stockings from the pre-pantyhose days.
George Littlewood Jr. tried to give a run at running the family business after his father George Sr. died in 1961 but it was a short lived attempt. The doors closed for good, but George Jr. couldn't bare to give up a piece of family tradition so the store sat unoccupied all these years until recently.
The building is for sale at $79,900. That amount, and a lot more, will soon be fanned out to charity. That was the wish of George Littlewood Jr., who died of cancer Oct. 7 at 83.
The Hanson wicker baby scales are still ready for service. On the counter sits the chrome National cash register. Behind the counter, where the pharmacist could size you up first, are the Trojan-ENZ condoms, three dozen for $4.50.
There's Kan-Kil bug killer and Weed-No-More, from the days when DDT was just fine. Enema syringes. Kellogg's Asthma Relief -- one teaspoon on a plate, light it and "inhale smoke freely."
Over the store, there's one apartment. A woman in her 80s lives there with her son. She has rented the place for some 35 years and the rent never increased -- $110 a month. There was a kind heart of lion beating in a man who was known for his tight reign on his money. Many worthy causes will reap the rewards of Georges frugality's.
Fifteen years ago, George made his will. He put together a list of 10 charities -- including the Humane Society, the Harbour Rescue Mission, the CNIB.
Video courtesy of Paul Wilson, a street beat reporter with the Hamilton Spectator.
Later,
Kenaz
