sale at brewster's!

[petofi]

No doubt, MB - In the 60s Maine was a heck of a lot more isolated in some ways than the rest of NE.  The population of Maine in those days was under a million for the whole state!!  There may have been a Brewsters in Portland, for all I know.  In those days Portland was the only "big city" in Maine, at least in terms of being up to date with the rest of the world!   Mass and Connecticut definitely had a lot more of the cosmopolitan amenities than Maine in those days.

Petofi

[Raineypark]

Kresge's and WT Grant also had stores on Long Island at the time. 

[michael c]

i grew up in new england as well but i don't remember 'brewster's'.

in our town the department store was called 'miller's'("meet you at miller's" was the slogan).in boston of course we had 'jordan marsh' which has sadly departed and 'filene's' which is similarly about to become history.it's so sad that all the old regional chains are gone.they really used to be a source of pride for a town.

b.t.w. i rewatched the episode where maggie goes on about her paisley dress and indeed the place of purchase was 'shepherd's' not 'brewster's'...my bad.

[Charles_Ellis]

Buzz, I knew you were a fellow after my own heart!  I had a Big Jim, too, and the camper set as a kid!!  Also GI Joes and Hot Wheels (I'd love to track down a Thundershift 500 racing set at a cheap price for my nephews- I can't tell you what joy it brought me), and Matchbox cars!  About McCrory's - at one point, our former Kresge's in Staten Island became a McCrory's for a few years, and then it closed down in the 80's.

[Raineypark]

at one point, our former Kresge's in Staten Island became a McCrory's for a few years, and then it closed down in the 80's.

And in the 70's, the Newberry's I worked in became a McCrory's.

Now we have nothing but Wal-Mart and K-Mart and Target.

I wouldn't call it progress...

[Heather]

Neat.  There were also a W.T. Grants, Zayre's, and Shop 'N Save stores in W. PA/Pittsburgh area as well. 
They all closed in our area by the 80's...except for Shop 'N Save, which is still alive and well in our neck of the woods.

[Misa]

When I was buying Dark Shadows bubblegum I bought it at a little store that was owned by an old lady. The store was an old house that had been turned into a store, although, she may have lived in the back. Her name was Hilda, and the store was called Hilda's. The largest department store in my city was locally owned and was called Brett's. If the Collins family were going to shop in my city Brett's is where they would have gone.

The most impressive store in Minnesota would have been Dayton's, which was bought by Marshall Fields. Dayton's owned Target too.

Misa

[BuzzH]

Buzz, I knew you were a fellow after my own heart!  I had a Big Jim, too, and the camper set as a kid!!  Also GI Joes and Hot Wheels (I'd love to track down a Thundershift 500 racing set at a cheap price for my nephews- I can't tell you what joy it brought me), and Matchbox cars!  About McCrory's - at one point, our former Kresge's in Staten Island became a McCrory's for a few years, and then it closed down in the 80's.

Yep, my brother and I had Big Jims, then they came out w/Big Josh, Big Jake and another one that I *think* was Big Jack?  One was black (Big Jack I think) and the others were white.   We did the GI Joe's too and do you, or anyone, remember the Best of the West collection?  We had Johnny West, Jane West, Jesse West, a couple horses and another one that I can't remember the name of, but it was a black knight I think.  There's this GREAT vintage toy store in Maryland called The Toy Exchange and it was there I found a mint Big Jim and Big Josh which are proudly on display at my house.

I kept my Matchbox cars up until a few years ago when I gave them to my nephews Jack and Sean, son of the aforementioned brother--they were pretty beat up from continual play--if I knew then what I know now about 'vintage/antique' toys.....    Anyway, I *did* keep my Batmobile and a Starsky & Hutch red Torino that I made myself, that is to say, I had a Ford car that sorta looked like the Torino so I painted it red and put the white stripe on it, before passing on the collection. 

We also had Zayre's and Ames.  Zayre's closed in the early 80's as I recall, then Ame's closed just a few years ago, maybe 2000?