Cratus Barnes Store

'77-78

how it looks now

This is what used to be the Cratus Barnes Store (name could be slightly different) in Headland, AL, on Main Street.  I remember it in operation in the seventies- mid-eighties.  However, it goes back to the sixties, I believe.  It was the residence of Cratus and Beatrice Barnes, and it had a section that was a small country store of sorts.  It had a store sign, of course.  We would often to get some sliced bologna (which I hated), chocolate milk and candy (loved these items) and some other household food and items.  Best part about it was that we could swing by and charge a few items on my mother's or my grandmother's account.

One story involving Cratus Barnes store stands out to me.  My mother went inside Cratus Barnes store once, and left my brother Miles and me in the car.  I might have been five, which would have made him seven. Well, Miles pushed in the cigarette lighter, and when it popped out, showed it to me.  And then, only the way a devious big brother can, convinced me that the light was quite magical and touching it was even more magical.  I did just that, and then ran inside the store screaming for my mom. Let's just say it wasn't a good day for Miles!  Of course, I never forgot what a cigarette lighter was!  I remember going home and Mother applying some ice to my burned fingertip  I also have a memory that she warmed up those stuffed crabs (frozen) in the oven, and I ate a couple, sitting at the hearth, right in front of the TV.