The Hardware Stores and Dad

My dad was a woodworker in his early days in Somerville before he became a cabinetmaker. Saturday mornings I could be seen being dragged off by my dad to the local hardware store for our weekly visit. The first ones I remember were the ones in Magoun Square, Roses and Shawmut?. Always had to look at stuff and ask questions. So boring. Then we moved down to Park Street and off again. Razzaboni ran a very small hardware store which eventually became a bike shop but I don’t recall going in there until they did bikes. At that time we mostly went down to Shermans in Union Square. We didn’t really go over to Backers much for anything. Then up to Rush Street where we still went to Sherman Bros. but sometimes went to Harry’s if we didn’t need much. My dad liked to be loyal to the Shermans as they helped him a lot. I got married and moved up to Newbury Street but I don’t recall any being there. Maybe Builder’s Supply could have been considered a hardware store. While thinking of it maybe Somerville Lumber too as they always had those barrels out front full of plumbing fittings over by Merit Gas cheap. Moving over to Pearl Street I was going to Freddy’s mostly and sometimes to Capital. Although as I remember Capital at the time was mostly selling linoleum and installing it. I think there was a hardware store in Davis Square on the Highland side. If there are more back then they are lost in the fog. We also had the paint stores like Town Paint and Supreme, and Eaglo. The one thing they all had in common was they were friendly and accommodating. I figure they had to be pretty good actors or they really were that way. I still go to hardware stores today what’s left of them. Sadly they are in other cities and none left here. My dad eventually ended up being a cabinetmaker and had a building on Somerville. If I left any out any I may just have forgotten them or never noticed them. I remember those trips I didn’t want to go on as they were boring and changed to becoming not only fun but a part of my life. For the younger crowd we had so much business back then. Everywhere you went there was some kind of store or business. It is just so hard to remember and recall all of it.