 Hi, my name is Cindy Colesberger. I am going to show you a picture of me when I was four years old. I am 63 now. I'm going to tell you the story about Hills Department Store, which was where the Meade Public Library stands. It was a three-story building that had an elevator inside with an elevator lady that ran the elevator. You didn't run the elevator yourself. It had a creaky metal door on it. So when the gate closed, it went eek. And the lady had a braid that wrapped all the way around her head. And she'd say, what floor, please? And I used to curl up in the corner because she looked so stern. And she would scold me or something. So I stood in the corner next to my mother and I'd say, can't we use the steps, please? And the people would say, second floor or to the basement. And then the elevator would start with a jerk. And we'd go up or down. And then we'd get to the floor. And the gate would open again. And it'd go eek. And then you'd get off the elevator. And the lady would stand there very stern, waiting for the next group of people to get on the elevator. But later in life, I got to know that lady. I was a nurse for 43 years. And I took care of the elevator lady in her last days. Shopping can be a great adventure. And it's something that we all love to do. But the way we shop in the places we shop have changed a lot over the years. In the 1970s, when I graduated from high school and had my very first job at People's Store in Sheboygan, I don't know that many people would recognize that kind of shopping today. It certainly had nothing to do with jumping online and buying something on the internet. If you came into People's Store, and you generally did that if you wanted something to wear, it was a women's clothing store. And you were greeted at the door. And personal attention was key. Every customer was treated well. And was cared for once they entered that store. You were helped to find what you needed. You'd be asked what you were looking for. And you generally would share, oh, maybe a dress or some sportswear, or perhaps even a wedding gown. If you needed a fancy dress or a coat, you went to the second floor. If you needed a wedding gown, you went to the mezzanine. And if you needed sportswear, or if you were a teenager looking for something fun to wear, you shopped on the first floor. And your sales clerk would help all through the process. You probably shopped there all the time. And you were known probably by name. You'd have a charge account. And you'd write the slip. You didn't even have to have a credit card. You just put it on account and paid the bill once a month. And if you tried something on, and it didn't fit quite right, maybe those sleeves were a tad long, or the hems needed to be put up, or you needed it taken in or let out, we'd call downstairs and go to one of the other alterations ladies would come upstairs. And with pins, they would do magic. And with their needle, they would do the job. And perhaps a few days later or a week later, or if it was an emergency, maybe right away, your piece of clothing would be fitted to perfection. And it would be packed with tissue in a lovely red people's bag or box. And if it was Christmas, you might come in and ask one of the girls to try something on so you could see how it would fit your sister or your mother or your friend. There were even evening events where men would come. This seems very foreign now, but the sales clerks would try things on to help them make selections for their wives. Again, it's a very different way of shopping. But it was fun. And for me in my first job, it helped me get to know people, to understand how people like and want to be treated, what customer service is all about, and how to really do a good job at what you do. Hi, my name is Linda Smith. I would like to tell you children about the big store that used to be in downtown Sheboygan, Pranging Department Store. It started in 1881 by a young man named Henry Karl Prange. He originally came with a family who wanted to do farming, but the doctor told him at a young age that he would never be able to do farming. So he went to work as a clerk. And for 10 years, he worked in a store, the big general store downtown. But when he came time in 10 years when he wanted to buy a partnership in, the man did not want him to buy in. So he started his own store with his sister, Eliza, and brother-in-law. Then when it was started, they sold things from coffins to cradles. They sold everything. And then another interesting thing about their store was that everybody who worked there spoke German and English because there were a lot of people who spoke German around here. So later on, by 1923, it was the largest department store in Wisconsin, the absolute largest one. Let's see. What else do I have to tell you? Sorry, my mind went blank. But anyway, I can tell you my experiences when I was a little kid. We would go to Prangies, and in the middle of the store was this huge elevator, the, excuse me, escalator. But my mother was scared of the escalator. It would not go on the escalator. So we always had to go to the backside of the store to the elevator. And it had a lot of floors to it. I remember we would go down the basement. And that was the economy store, which we would call the economy store now. And you could get good bargains there. And we spent a lot of time there. Later on, when I was a young mother, the store had a problem. The main water main broke and ruined some of the foundation. So they were in the process of reconstructing the store when a fire broke out. And you know what? They think somebody set that fire. They really thought that. So now that was in about 1984. And now today, that store is called Yonkers. And it's right across from the library and the water fountain. When I was a little girl, my mom would take us to Prangies. And a lot of times we would go downstairs because that was called Prangie Way. It was kind of like a separate bargain store as opposed to the rest of the higher class upper store. Now my mom was scared of the escalator. So we could not go on the escalator. And we'd have to go to the side of the store to the elevator. And we'd go down in the elevators. But we kids, while she was shopping, sometimes would find a reason to go upstairs on that escalator. And we would go up and down on it. In 1984, when I was a young mom, the store had a problem. The water mains broke and ruined the foundation. And so while they were reconstructing it, a fire broke out. They think of somebody set the fire. They don't know. But anyway, that destroyed the building and they had to start over and they built a new store. And it became Yonkers after it was up. And then after Yonkers now, it is Boston store. Did I pull that again? Yeah, but Ron's looking at me like I blew it again. Okay, the place I'm going to talk about today was a magical place when I was a child. It's called a high hack potato chip company. Back in those days, there was a place in Sheboygan that actually made and packaged potato chips. And they had a store where you could go in and buy bags of potato chips. They didn't have any of these giant sized bags like you buy in the store. Now that you take home, they were all small packages and they were all packaged in wax paper. And everything was cheap in those days. As a kid, I just love to go over there because they had penny candy in the store. And if you had a nickel, you could buy a whole bag of broken potato chips when they packaged them, they would keep the broken ones on the side and they would put those in a paper bag and you could buy a small paper sack of potato chips for a nickel. And if you didn't have a nickel, you could for a penny, they had all different kinds of penny candies, little candy bars and candies that I can't even think of names of. There were just such an assortment. There was a thing, there was a strip of paper with little dots on it. That one strip of that was a penny. There were little candy bars like people hand out for trick or treat. Nowadays, you could buy one at Emford, a penny or two cents depending on which side you wanted. It was just a magical place. And of course, nobody had money in those days. And you never had treats at home. You didn't have a box of candy bars at home. You didn't have a bag of chips at home. And if you had an extra nickel, that was the place to go was the potato chip shop. Get that bag of broken potato chips. You could share them with your friends and you were a hero then. I don't know whatever happened to the place but sometime in the early 50s that went out of business. And I just brings back fond memories just thinking about the place. I just loved going there. Hi, I'm Evelyn Prevenis. I remember when the circus used to come down to the lakefront in Sheboygan, down where the marina is right now. Every morning when the circus came, all the kids would be down there bright and early to watch the big tent go up. The elephants would pull on big, big ropes and pull those big poles up to the center. They were so high we could hardly see the tops. And after the poles were put up, then men called roustabouts would go around the tent with big sledgehammers and pound in the stakes to hold the tent in place. Then they would go inside and they would put up the circus rings and all the seats for the people and the trapeze rigging and all the things that was needed for the circus. If we were lucky enough to have money for a ticket, we would go into that big tent for the greatest show on earth. The ringmaster in his red coat and top hat would announce the big speck, the big parade to go around the whole tent. All the animals would be coming in the horses, the elephants, the lions and tigers in their cages, they would be pulled around. All the performers would be coming in all dressed up in their beautiful costumes. The animals would be decorated too. They would have special harnesses or colorful blankets on them. They would go around while the big circus band played special circus music. And then the show would begin. We would over the circus acts, the trapeze artists flying through the air or the acrobats tumbling on the ground or the lion tamer in the cage with the lions and tigers and watch the elephants. And of course the clowns. The clowns were so funny. We enjoyed them so much. And while the circus was going on, especially the evening show, outside, there were other tents that would be taken down. They would take down the cook tent where all the circus people were used to eat or the side shows or even the tents where they would keep the animals. They would be packing those up, taking them to the next town. And the next morning when we would come down to this place where the circus had been, everything would be gone. It had disappeared just like magic until the next year.