Parish History: Winnfield's First Stores, 1938, Winn Parish, LA
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
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From: September 9, 1938 Winn Parish Enterprise

Old Grocery Store Was Emporium That Attracted Buyers

Boss Simms established the first store in Winnfield, at what date, is not
known, and Phillip Bernstein the second immediately after.  The Bernstein
store first under the management of Phillip and then that of his brother
Morris continued to do business in this city for many years.

There are few stores operating today as they were in the early days.  With the
streamline interiors, glass show windows, and a cash register that does
everything but deliver merchandise and collect past due bills, the wonder is
how they did it in the old days.

The smell of the general merchandise store that handled everything from hair
nets to harness is unforgettable.  It was a mixture of everything which
combined to produce one of the most pleasant aromas imaginable.  It was
an outside world smell that made a customer feel that he had really gone
somewhere.

The rows of flour barrels and the white and brown sugar in sacks and barrels. 
The vinegar barrel always dripping at the spout.  The cured meat in a screened
box and the old pot-bellied stove tobacco stained.  Bolts of calico cloth and
gingham checks and the old cracker barrel into whose stock sneaked many
pilfering fingers.  Side combs, horse collars, buggy whips in a fancy stand -
it was all on one floor a grand dress rehearsal for all to see and enjoy.  But
last and not least, the sack of hard candy for the kids when the bill was
settled.