LOOKING SOUTH ON SECOND STREET: The entrance to the Railroad Bridge from Market Street is just ahead. The building just beyond the bridge entrance housed the A&P Store on the ground floor. The front door to the store was under the porch roof to the right of the photo. There was an apartment on the floor above the store. (Photo submitted by Wayne Taylor)
Unlike most stores in Port Royal, which were locally owned, The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company operated a store in the town for about forty years. The company had started as the Great American Tea Company. However as it expanded across the nation its name was changed. Soon most people referred to it simply as the A&P. During the 1930s the company operated about 16,000 stores across the nation. The store in Port Royal was similar to most of the A&P stores found in small towns.
According to the following note, the company hired traveling salesmen: "WANTED: Man as agent for Mifflin and Port Royal and surrounding towns and country to sell coffee, laundry goods, and other groceries. Premiums given with goods. A good proposition for a hustler. Small bond required. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., 1308 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg, Pa." (This advertisement appeared before the store was opened in Port Royal.)
The Port Royal A&P was located at the foot of the Railroad Bridge on Second Street in a building that was owned by Lester Moyer. Elliott Towsey was the store manager and Darwin "Skip" Kohler was Elliott's assistant.
Unlike modern supermarkets, the customer would stand at the counter and tell the clerk the name of the first item on their shopping list. The clerk would then retrieve the item and return it to the counter, awaiting the announcement of the next item on the list. Since the stores did not have cash registers with tallying capabilities, the price of each retrieved item was written on the back of a paper grocery bag. When all items had been assembled, the column of numbers was summed and the items would then be placed in the bag as the customer paid the total.
Since the A&P was part of a nationwide chain, the company established and sold some of its own brands. A specialty of the store was the freshly ground to order coffee. As soon as a person entered the store the aroma of freshly ground coffee was immediately apparent. There were three grades of coffee, Eight O'Clock, Red Circle and Bokar. Canned goods were sold under the label of Jane Parker or Ann Page.
To accommodate the farming community, the Port Royal store occasionally remained open until eleven o'clock at night.
The Port Royal store closed about 1953. As people were moving to the suburbs, most stores failed to move with them and eventually the company entered bankruptcy. After the closing of the Port Royal store, Elliott Towsey worked in Bashore's Hardware and 'Skip' Kohler in the First National and eventually the Juniata Valley National Banks.
Prior to housing the A&P Store this Second Street building was housed a number of commercial enterprises. It had housed the Dillon Tin Shop, the D. H. Bousum Store. After Bousum's Store, Luther Dimm's store was located here and his wife Cora Dimm had a millinery shop in part of the building.
Contributed by rkohler3 on 3/7/13 - Image Year: 1940
Market Street facing east toward the Railroad Bridge. The entrance to Hackedorn's Restaurant would be just beyond the children on the left of the photo and the Barber Shop just beyond the restaurant. The building on the right at the foot of the railroad bridge is the building that contained the A&P Store. It appears that the photo was taken from Market Street about half way between Second and Third Streets. (Photo submitted by Wayne Taylor)
Contributed by rkohler3 on 4/4/12 - Image Year: 1940
SKIP KOHLER (l) and ELLIOTT TOWSEY (r) in front of the A&P on Second Street in Port Royal.
Contributed by rkohler3 on 4/7/12 - Image Year: 1940
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA A&P STORE MANAGERS: Darwin "Skip" Kohler is circled on the left and Elliott Towsey is circled on the right. (About 1940)
Contributed by rkohler3 on 2/16/20 - Image Year: 1893
ADVERTISEMENT for BOUSUM'S MARKET
Contributed by rkohler3 on 3/5/13 - Image Year: 1927
ADVERTISEMENT from 1927 PRHS Yearbook.
Contributed by ray on 3/3/13 - Image Year: 1929
ADVERTISEMENT from the 1929 PRHS Yearbook.
Contributed by rkohler3 on 11/10/19 - Image Year: 1932
ADVERTISEMENT: 1932 advertisement fop the A&P in Port Royal. (Advertisement courtesy of Wayne Taylor)
Contributed by rkohler3 on 3/11/13 - Image Year: 1936
ADVERTISEMENT from the 1936 PRHS Yearbook.
Contributed by rkohler3 on 11/2/19 - Image Year: 1948
ADVERTISEMENT for the Port Royal A&P
Contributed by rkohler3 on 3/13/13 - Image Year: 1949
