Detective Work on an old Photograph of a Store Interior

Photo courtesy of Sam DiTullo

With the help of a high resolution scan and spot closeups, we were able to piece together clues of when, where, what and who (we think) is in this old photograph that the Beacon Historical Society recently received.

Referring to the numbered arrows pointing to objects in the photo, we find:

Arrow 1. A calendar hanging on the wall with the name "John M. MacFarlane, Chemist and Apothecary" printed below the calendar's picture. The date of the year is muddied, but we can read that the month is November, and the 1st falls on a Monday. That is enough information to tell us the year is either 1915, 1920, or 1926.

Arrow 2. Since the two men are wearing store clerk aprons, we can assume that the man in the picture is not John MacFarlane (also spelled "McFarlane") and is not his drugstore.  Had this been a drugstore, they would be shown wearing white lab coats.

Arrow 3. A chalkboard of "Deserts" offered at the drugstore: Pies--10 cents; Ice Cream--10 cents; Pie Alamode--15 cents; and cakes 10 cents.

Arrow 4. Picture of a "Coca Cola Girl" advertisement, which closely matches Coke's 1923 advertisement. Since the city directories tell us John had his drugstore by 1918, and by 1928 he was no longer at 163 Main,we can infer this photo was taken November of 1926.

Arrow 5. "Smith Brothers" cough drops and "Lance" cough drops. the Lance Company had just introduced the Tootsie Roll candy in 1918.

Arrow 6. Cigar and cigarettes case--"Murad" brand Turkish cigarettes, and "Between the Acts" cigars for sale.

Arrow 7: "Edgeworth" brand pipes and pipe tobacco. Smoking products seemed to be big sellers there in 1926.

Arrow 8. Pie and loaf bread glass case. "Pan Dandy" bread was for sale, probably for ten cents a loaf.

Step imaginatively into this picture and go back in time and see why local history study is so much fun.