Berks Nostalgia

Berks County Christmas – Day 16 – Crowded Downtown

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Alexa Freyman

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Downtown streets were so busy in 1961 that the Reading Eagle published an article about it. Were you in this crowd?

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Franklin Starkey
Franklin Starkey
3 years ago

I remember seeing the streets crowded like that,especially at Christmas. My parents got paid every 2 weeks and we would go “in town” to do our shopping. There were no malls yet. Sear’s moved to the first mall in Berks at Shillington in early 60’s where Giant is now. Stores closed at 5 o’clock Mon to Thursday and 9 o’clock on Fri. Were not open at all on Sunday. Then they started staying open until 9 o’clock on Mondays. Then same on Thursday. The “Blue Laws” only allowed stores to sell food and health items on Sunday’s. The Blue Laws ended in 1977 and it was off to the races. Now stores were open 7 days

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Alexa Freyman

Born and raised in Berks, I am fascinated by the design, architecture, culture & style of the 20th century. I started this website to research and build a collection of the places, things and stories I have heard about my entire life. Read more here.

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Berks Nostalgia