Augusta County Historical Society Fall Meeting

“Pins, Pepper, Plows, and Patent Medicines: Superstores of the Past”

(Program by Linda Petzke & Nancy Sorrells)

Sunday, Sept. 11, 3 p.m. Middlebrook Community Center in the village of Middlebrook

Long before the internet and big box stores, folks in the Shenandoah Valley had the world at their doorstep in places called general stores. More than just a store, these mercantile establishments supplied anything from anywhere that anyone could possibly need from birth to death. In addition, country stores operated as banks, post offices, and were the source of all local news and gossip.

Local historians and educators Linda Petzke and Nancy Sorrells will be teaming up to talk about these all-in-one businesses in their program, “Pins, Pepper, Plows, and Patent Medicines: Superstores of the Past” at the Augusta County Historical Society Fall Meeting to be held Saturday, Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. at the Community Center in the village of Middlebrook.

The day comes with a “Bonus Prequel” (11 a.m.-2 p.m.) to get you in the mood for the ACHS program. Everyone is encouraged to take a trip down memory lane by immersing themselves in the nearby country store exhibit at the Brownsburg Museum in that village and then visiting 3 Seasons Antiques & Unique Treasures in Fairfield where they will find an exhibit and fresh lemonade.

In their joint ACHS program, Sorrells will draw upon research that she did for the Brownsburg exhibit, while Petzke will talk about what she has learned from area general store ledgers that she has been studying in the course of developing a general store educational program for the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Staunton.

The ACHS Fall meeting begins at 3 p.m. The general store presentation will begin immediately after a short business meeting. All of the day’s activities are free and open to the public. All are welcome.

Light refreshments provided by the Middlebrook Ruritan Club will follow the “Pins, Pepper, Plows, and Patent Medicines” program by Petzke and Sorrells.