There was no Internet back then, so that fact alone probably paints a contrasting picture of what life was like. Of courseof whatlife was like. Of course, if youlike to play outside andexplore the great outdoors,then maybe some parts oflife long ago might not seemquite so foreign to you.One thing that was definitelydifferent long ago wasshopping. Without theInternet and computers, yousimply couldnt order thingsonline that would bedelivered to your doorstep.Instead, you probably had tomake many of the things youneeded for yourself.For those items that youcould not make for yourself,you might have to arrange totrade goods and services youcould provide with someonewho had the other thingsthat you need. This system,called bartering, was themain way to get the thingsyou needed long ago.On the frontier, there mighthave been a primitive storeof sorts at a crossroads orthe meeting of two rivers.These outposts, often calledtrading posts, were placeswhere people could travel tomeet others to barter with.Over time, as technologyimproved and people beganto specialize in producingcertain goods, trading postsevolved into stores filled witha wide variety of commongoods that many peopleneeded. What were suchstores called? Youd be rightif you answered generalstores!While these types of storesmight have gone by manydifferent types of names,such as mercantiles,emporiums, village shops,general dealers, or evengeneral merchandise stores,they were collectively knownas general stores. Generalstores were where you wouldgo to get just about anythingand everything you couldpossibly need, from food andclothing to household goodsand even building supplies.General stores became theone stop shop for thecommunities they served. Infact, general stores oftencatered to the specific needsof the community in whichthey were located. They alsobecame social hubs wherepeople would gather to talkabout local news, politics,and events of the day.Over time, industrialization,improvements in technology,and the development ofautomobiles allowed peopleto travel farther to obtainspecialized, mass-producedgoods that they wanted. As aresult, specialty retail shopsbecame much morecommon, as sellers decidedto focus on a particular typeof product instead ofproviding a wide variety ofdifferent products.Before long, general storesbecame less common, asfamilies went to the grocerystore for food, clothingstores for clothes, shoestores for shoes, and a variety of other specialtyretail stores for specific purchases. A walk through any modern shopping mallwill reveal the many types of specialty retail stores that exist and thrive today.Is the general store dead in modern society? Not by a long shot! Todays large retailers and big box stores such as Walmart and Target have revived the concept of general stores by offering a wide variety of the most commonly-used products under one roof. By doing so, they offer shoppers the convenience of getting nearly everything they need with one stop, which is attractive to many shoppers in todays busy world. If you look around your community, youll probably find several examples of general stores!Rathor Sir

Its ok