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Personal touch really counted Continued from Page 1. stroyed When glycerin was taken out of the tobacco in cigarettes^ Manter placed a glass of water in the case with thje cigarettes, to keep them from drying out. If a customer got a bad pack, the tobacco dried so quickly it fell out while the cigarette wad' still in its container. Marner recalls, to the *308_ Ova cigarettes sold for fifeTM cants. At Christmas people bought "flat 50s" (a package of 50 cigarettes in a flat, tin container) and gave them as gifts to the mail man or'tmlk man. "That was their year's tip/* H ?:;-:: n ys. and shipped to the store. , 'They all sold that morning. That was the one time- of the year you had hot*cross buns," Being near to Belleville Vocational Institute, the store had plenty of teenaged customers, who, in the late '40s and 'There were"as* many wo3/s to beat the ration as there were ration tickets/ early '60s, were allowed to put things on the "chit list"* or on account^ Adults did this regularly, paying their accounts weekly; monthly or, with some, "when you caught them," A half dozen customers were so trusting of Marner that they told him not to bother sem 1 Other Christmas specials included mincemeat and ginger bread that Frances made and aold in the store. Customers baked their own cakes with it at home. On Good Friday the store stayed open until noon to allow cms to buy hot cross buns made in Dickon's Tea Room an itemized list with their bill. However, not all store owners were a® trustworthy. One gimmick Marner^heard of was to place a broom near the cash register and then charge the customer more than the correct amount. If the person checjced their bill and complained, the man said, "Oh, 1 thought that broom was yours." They would sell the same broom five or six times a day^he says. . After closing their store in 1984 the Marners converted the space into their living room. A hook used for hanging bananas on (bought in lai bundles standing three feet high) now holds, a hanging planL The store's door handles ' have been mounted on wood and make good bookends. A portion of the maple top counter that saw money and goods exchanged over it for nearly a "n--i.i--.ury, sits in fJheir kitchen and the woocfcn drawer tised as a cash register is still below that counter. Watty and Frances Mamer In the doorway of their store, upon retiring In 1984, Belleville's city directory shows the store opening about 1911 under a different name. The store was built first, with the house being »added later. When the Ma rivers retired, they converted It Into part of their home. They knew their customers by name and put items on ac* count for many. H**Ur>g. County Hu-:./ic*l S^krty Wright's Food Market opened in 1931 at 84 W, Moira St, Belltvllte. i * i i *TM i