GROSS NATIONAL

Dicken's Grocery

Amity, Ohio, 1973-1985

Looking through the old family photos today. We don't have many pictures of this place where we spent so much time over the years. Our grandparents (Christo and Nellie Dicken) owned this little business from 1973—1985. The old grocery was owned and operated by others before and after our family's years with it. For younger members of the group, this is in Amity on the corner where Dollar General now stands. "On the old 3-C Highway", as my granddad was always proud to say. - - I have posted these images before, but decided to give them a little glow-up with some hand-dyed vintage post card coloring.

The tiny rural mom and pop store (with attached residence) was typical of its time, but also a vestige of its own past, with an old-fashioned "coffin" style pop case in the back stocked with glass bottles, a deli case with Troyer's trail balogna, baby swiss cheese, deli meats, fresh local eggs, Nickel's bakery items, an old pre-war Meadow Gold dairy cooler you practically needed a flashlight to see inside, candy counter, ice cream, sunglasses, motor oil, lottery tickets, cigs. A little bit of everything. The old Sohio gas pumps sat only a few feet off the highway and were grandfathered in by Standard Oil, the only gas between Mount Vernon and Jelloway.

Christo and Nellie worked side by side in many different jobs in their lifetime, including years at North American Aviation building airplanes. This friendly outpost in Amity was their final and maybe longest-running endeavor, and by all accounts the happiest years of their life together.

And yes, a few of you may remember Christo playing his mandolin behind the counter, daily, usually around "rush hour" when there was more foot traffic in the store. He was playing bluegrass mandolin (or sometimes guitar) for as long as I could remember. He was self-taught, and would pick it up and put it down whenever the mood struck. Occasionally he performed with old friends as a four or five piece, always at our family reunions, throughout his retirement years.