Sunday Afternoon at the Five and Dime

One of the basic pleasures of any kid is a trip to a Five and Dime store, or as they are sometimes referred to, a Variety Store.  I still remember trips to the toy section of just such a store with my Grandpa Goodman.  He would buy dress up sets (with REAL plastic pearl earrings!) and paper dolls for me.  And just about anything I sweetly asked for............I was tickled to discover that just such a store still exists, AND it even had hardwood floors to boot.  Heaven.

Foy's 5 and 10 in Fairborn, Ohio still has a vintage sign, too.  So I just HAD to take Katie and two of her cousins.  We happened to be in town for Evan's 5th birthday party.  Happy Birthday Little Man!  Since it is nearly Halloween, they had an overwhelming amount of holiday related items.  Including some huge statues in front of the store and on top of the store. 

Such as this giant Jack O'Lantern.

And this guy.

This decoration is for you, Lisa........I know how much you love those scary clowns...............

The kids were fond of this skeleton.

And this one, who appears to be hooked to some sort of zip line that crossed the street.  I would've loved to have seen him come to life and dart across the street at the kids.  Of course, it's just as well that he didn't.  I no longer carry supplies for the kids when we are out, and certainly not clean underwear......

This outside display was my favorite.  And lately, this is how I feel while painting as well.

Inside, the kids were delighted with the HUGE displays of candy and trinkets for their buying pleasure.

They enjoyed the huge selection of hats.

And the endless aisle of "Made in China" Halloween bric-a-brack.  I let them each pick out 3 items, which was probably 2 items too many, as they deliberated for hours before making their final purchases.

They all ran past the scary masks, which cracked me up.

They had their fortunes told by the Great Zoltar.  They felt ripped off, as he didn't talk directly to them, but rather talked in general terms and then spit out a piece of paper with a fortune on it.  I should have told them that I was actually the one getting ripped off, as I paid the dollar for them, but why bother?  They have no real concept of money anyway.

I bought a new driver's license for myself.  I LOVE the signature on this license!!!  And since the kids were getting 3 things each, I thought it only fair that I also got 3 items, so I picked out some zombie napkins (just in time for Halloween entertaining!) and a DELUXE oriental fan.

After our purchases were made, we walked across the boulevard to the other side of Main Street to the Halloween only store.  I really, really wish that zip line with the skeleton would have been on.  But I suppose that the creatures on top of the buildings were scary enough for them.

Before we left, they stood by the GhostBuster hearse for me.

I was amazed at the wide variety of items available for sale in this tiny store.  Of course, the argument could be made that this IS a Variety Store............

I was delighted to see that my personal favorite candy is still available.  And in a full size, too.  Though the word "cigarette" is nowhere to be found.

Self inflating Whoopee Cushion, anyone?

Plastic clown heads for cupcakes?

Some Pirate's Booty, perhaps?

Fighter Jets?

An over the hill gag gift?

A cymbal playing monkey?  (Scary!!)

Costumes, Hats, or Magic supplies?

A nice NASCAR figurine, perhaps?

An economy pack of skeleton key chains?

Or some fly strips?  I had no idea these were even still on the market???

No matter what your heart desires, I'm sure that a trip to the local 5 and 10 store (if you are lucky enough to have one), will accommodate your needs.  Even if all you really needed was some quality fun time with kids.

If you are ever close to Dayton, be sure to stop by Foy's 5 and 10 in lovely downtown Fairborn!  You won't be disappointed.