Article brings back fond memories of Kresge’s

The story on Kresge (Kresge's to Kmart: a century in C.R.,” Oct. 6) took me back a few years. When I was about 10 in the 1930s, we used to come to Cedar Rapids from our farm near Central City to buy clothes, etc. The highlight of the trip was our last stop to Kresge.

We splurged and got hot pork sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy, and ice cream for 35 cents. The counter at the end had a big barrel of Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer. A mug was 5 cents. They also had a big block of Hershey's chocolate. They would break off take-home chunks with a chisel and mallet. A big attraction to kids were the cash boxes that ran on tracks up the posts and across the ceiling to the main office.

Just memories of “good old days.” Were we better off then? Were we happier? You answer that.

Max R. Hutchins

Fort Collins, Colo.