I always wondered if toy train layouts are a little too crowded downtown to be realistic. It seems people are everywhere. Same thing in old movies. Then yesterday I was walking through the local mall and realized…Geez, it seems this area is just as dense as all those old time movies. I grew up in small towns in 1967-1974.
My question for you all is…were the small downtowns really crowded with people back then. Were they hot beds of activity unlike the sleepy downtowns we see today?
Jim H
Jim, I grew up in a small town, population 8,500, and on some days it was jammed. However, due to “tradition”, on Wednesday afternoons many of the shops around the court house square were closed. The court house was even closed on Wednesday afternoons!!!
Now this will be a surprise to many. When the county fair was held, the court house square was where all the rides and carnival booths were located. Each day parades were held that traveled on three sides of the court house square.
So if you are trying to model a small town with a town square, (Laz has one.) just about anything is appropriate from empty to jammed with a carnival. [:)]
I grew up in the 50s & our small town Main street on Friday nights, was wall to wall people !! That was before malls & you parked in front of the stores, if you found a spot ! Though we rode the bus till I was a teenager & that’s when we got a car & TV , too !! Yes, there were people everywhere then !! Took a bath every Satuday night without fail, too !! [(-D]
Thanks, John
You mean like this???
West side of downtown square, Waxahachie, ca.1938
Downtown square looking southeast along Franklin St. View is of east/south side of square during election, circa 1915
Kurt
JIM, as BUCKEYE said here is my town square…
laz57
Laz everytime I see your town square I find myself looking for Marty McFly and his skateboard!
In the 50s, people came to town to shop. Today they drive to The Mall.
In the “old days”, many places had “Sunday blue laws”, so Sundays could be pretty dead. Also, most stores did not stay open as late as they do now. Back then, far fewer woman had jobs…so they had more time to “window shop”, meet friends “downtown”, etc… Joe
Use to window shop about once a month when I was growing up then walk to and fro town, parents never owned a car. After that went to cemetary and visit graves then feed squirrels peanuts.
Those were the days.
laz57
I grew up in a medium size town in Illinois, (Rockford). On Saturdays, it was very busy downtown. The sidewalks were jammed. Parking was a real issue, sometimes there would be parking a block behind the main street. Theatres had traffic jams where parents were dropping kids off in front of the theatre then coming back to pick us up later. Saturdays most stores closed at 5 or 6. Then Sunday… nothing. or Holidays. Always very frustrating need batteries or something on Sunday forget it. My Dad would drive about 25 miles to buy a 6 pack, very difficult to buy anything. Most bars and even restaurants were closed on Sunday. Some gas stations were open, cause everyone was out for a sunday drive.
About small downtowns, I can’t comment - being from New York City. But, if you compare it to Neighborhoods, they seem to be just as crowded as they were sixty years ago.
([#oops] showing my age!)
Thanks all for your responses. Many of you know I recently relocated to England. Here the small towns are every bit as busy as the busiest layout. Every small town has a “high” street (similar to our downtown retail area). High streets are often so packed that you can not ride a bicycle or skateboard. Sometimes High Streets contain a mall, but the mall is integrated into the existing shops…not standing alone out in a field in the suburbs. Also, the shopping is compressed into shorter hours (8pm weekdays, 6pm Saturday, many shops close on Sundays except in the busier areas). One almost always has to pay for parking and even then finding a place to park can be a challenge… especially on the weekends. London has some shopping streets where the population is absolutely jam packed every day. Even when you get off the main streets the area is still very busy. Streets just off the Regent St and Oxford St in London are similar in populaton density and “closeness” to diagon (sp?) alley in Harry Potter.
Jim H
p.s. We took the Eurostar through the Chunnel to Paris last weekend. Paris streets are just as lively.
Awesome job, Laz! First the sandlot ballpark, now this. Your layout is really progressing nicely.
Jim
Jim,
Having lived in Germany for 18 months I can attest to the same thing in Germany at that time. The ‘mall’ always made me think of how the American Towns could have been if they had something similiar. In Sewickley, PA there is a Nicalodean (sp) Mall that used to be their town theater, lots of boutique type shops. I always marvelled at how Sewickley was able to maintain their smalltown appeal and maintain their shops when most of the other towns have pretty much become dead. I used to love walking down Beaver and Broad Streets looking in all the shop windows, stopping in at Isaly’s (sp) Deli for a chipped ham sandwich and pickel, then hitting the Penguin Bookstore to see what new finds I could
Nice work, Laz! Your images remind me very much of the town square in Manheim, PA, one of many small towns I wouldn’t mind retiring in. I visited there in December a few years ago, when there were strings of the old-style 15- or 25-watt ceramic-coated colored bulbs hung from one end of the square to the other. 'nuff heat being generated there to warm the air as well as our hearts!
Joel
Joel - that town square you described reminds me of the one in “A Christmas Story”.
Laz - love the town square. Will be be hanging x mas lights for the holiday season as well?
I think the Streetwalkers/Gus (“Loves His Lionels”) figures combination is a must for any small town scene. I’ll get mine as soon as my wife leaves town on business for a while. [:D]
thanks GIZ for the kudos of the town. I have to think about those Christmas lights? Sounds cool.
laz57
jimhaleyscomet - while you’re living over there in Jolly Ol’ England, don’t forget to smile for the camera as you shop…and that camera…and the one over there on the streetlight…
I think on average you get photographed 300 times per day (600 per day in London). Perhaps I should add tiny camera’s to the layout!
Jim H