If my age is, any indicator the place has always been there. From my earliest memories forward the huge white structure with the same sign on the front have read the same words to all who have passed by it. Since it is located on at the busiest intersection in Bethel, it could very well be the most seen structure in the village.
I just cannot imagine what things would be like if there was not a Ben Franklin 5 and 10 cent store there. Possibly the largest and maybe the oldest business in Bethel is one and the same.
In 1938, Gordon Smith purchased the building, which had been running as a dry goods store, got a Ben Franklin franchise, and opened the doors that as of this writing have never closed since. When Gordon retired in about 1944 his son stepped into the proprietors’ position and in the ‘60s purchased and incorporated what had been a grocery store on the corner into an addition to the Ben Franklin and increased the floor space to over 5000 square foot of space. When James was ready to retire, he passed it onto his son Tim Smith who has been the proprietor for 47 years now with no plans of stopping.
Just the passing it on from generation to generation to me shows just how much this place of business is something they take very seriously. Therefore, for 82 years the Ben Franklin sign has greeted the public with a positive approach as Ben Franklin stores were the sign of quality and caring to be delivered to the customers who enter. I learned that before that sign went up the buildings (yes there are two connected to look as one) had been serving Bethel many years before. The side that is brick had been a grocery store and the first store in Bethel that opened in 1828. The other side had been a dry goods store. Pretty safe to say Bethel has never really known their town without this sentinel resting on the corner and looking over all that is around it.
In the ‘50s and ‘60s my mom would make the trip over to Bethel to go to the new Kroger store and buy up her cooking supplies in bulk amounts as she had to cook a lot and this was back in the from scratch era. Once she finished there, she would always stop in Ben Franklin as she sewed a lot and was an avid quilter. She said this was the place that carried all of her sewing needs. (From material to thread and needles.) As for me, I wanted to go there as they always had a large display of toys with model cars in large variety. So as mom would shop to sew I shopped to play, as I would size up what I liked and then tried to talk mom into maybe buying me one. Once in a while, this happened. (My sister and brother always said that since I was the youngest that “mom always liked me best,” To that my thoughts were if it was so then I come out on top in that deal.)
However, things went and whether I got a model or a cap gun or not there was still one last stop that was a thumbs up. That was at the check out counter. You see when I saw mom heading to the counter I got right beside her as you see under the counter was a row of a candy cases. In each container was a different kind of Brachs’ candies. All mom had to do was point to say as an example chocolate covered peanuts and ask for a pound please. The clerk would then scoop out the candy into a bag that was on a scale and keep scooping until it was full. A good thing was my mom was a chocolate freak. So she would buy a pound each of the chocolate covered peanuts and raisins and a pound of the bridge mix.
Just how could you go to the Ben Franklin store and not leave in a good mood when you had three pounds of chocolates? Mom also learned that it was a long drive to home and leaving a little boy who had inherited her love of chocolate in the back seat with the said three pounds. It seemed that there was much less by the time we arrived home and my tummy kind of hurt. From then on, I got to ride up front with mom.
When I stopped in to talk with Tim, I began walking around and it wasn’t long until I felt like I was entering it just as I had left it when I was a little boy. I ask Tim if it was just my mind playing tricks or were all the items stocked in the same places that they had always been and he said absolutely they were. Not only was the store still stocked the same I listened to the ladies who work there as the customers still get treated with the same courtesy as one would recall that was the way in the years before. This place is by no means a chain store or franchise. No, it is an independent business that feels the cost of a warm greeting and a big smile along with assistance in finding what you want is a no charge item.
Along with all of that, the building exudes history from the first floor and up .Until, prohibition there was a bar upstairs over the brick side and the other side was a church. Now put all of that history under one roof and I doubt you are going to find that much under one roof very often. There really is more to tell than I can put in one story. So I will just go back to the Ben Franklin store. It is located on at the intersection of state route 125 and state route 133 and there is hardly a way you can drive through Bethel with not passing this huge white landmark with the red and white Ben Franklin sign on it.
I invite you all to stop in and look. If you recall how shopping used to be in the ‘50s and ‘60s I feel you will get the feeling that you have stepped back in time to a good spot in that time gone by. This just like the way you are treated comes at no cost either. Some things you just cannot put a price tag on you know.
Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to share stories about his youth and other topics. If you are interested in reading more of his stories they can be found in his books ‘There are Places to Remember” and’ Memories ARE from the Heart.” He may be reached at houser734@yahoo.com or mail to P.O. Box 213 Bethel, Ohio 45106.