THAT CORNER: Larry Combs of Limestone, N.Y., called to fill in
some of the gaps at the intersection of East Main Street and
Bolivar Drive. We’ve been writing about that corner as it relates
to the Firestone store which recently closed up shop.

Larry tells us the grocery that was at the southwest corner was
the Market Basket. In the 1950s, there was a Tastee Freeze next
door and, in fact, it was the first dairy bar in town to sell
soft-serve ice cream.

At the southeast corner was a Pennzoil gasoline station. Also in
that sector was City Motors and, next to it, a Coca-cola bottling
plant.

On the northeast corner, there was a Kendall station. Next to it
was C.C. Brigham Studebaker dealer. Moving down the block, we have
the roller skating rink. “Lines on Friday and Saturday night were
out the door,” Larry tells us.

He also had some information on Ruth Brothers. When it teamed up
with Ernie Williams, the store became Tool & Toy and was once
located on Bolivar Drive near the existing overpass and, later, to
where Worth Smith is now situated. At that point in time, he says,
it became a Sentry Hardware store.

Reminiscing on those times, Larry notes, “We did all our
shopping here,” meaning, in Bradford.

“It used to be so busy on a Friday night that cops would be out
directing traffic,” he said.

On the subject of this same corner, we heard from former
Bradfordian Mary Fairbanks of St. Augustine, Fla. “The name of the
grocery store across from the Ruth Brothers store was ‘The Market
Basket.’ I remember buying weekly groceries there for my mother as
a teen in the late 1960s and I was allowed ,30 which usually
supplied us nicely. Today, I can easily spend ,30 in one day!”

ONE MORE: Hal Harmon of Bradford also called recently to talk
about the old Firestone store, relating a particular story about
when it was located on Congress Street. As a young man of 16, he
purchased a deer rifle at that store. Without parents on hand, he
went to the store, picked out the rifle he wanted, and paid for it
“on time.” We’re not sure which of these elements dates the story
most but, perhaps, the concept of paying “on time” rather than “on
credit card.”