My memories of "Butler Past" always go to Main Street, too. Right on with Allan's - the endless array of mini toys and plastic figurines for pennies allowed even the most broke kid to feel like they got a good score. Sure, Bill's Bargain - got my last pair of saddle shoes there. Then there were the better clothiers, like McCarren's, Jaffe's, Troutman's, and the Jay Shoppe for younger styles. Was it Arthur's Gifts by the old Eat N Park? Glad Book Nook is still there. Of course, Sugar Bowl candies! Although I grew up next to a Cummings family member, so we always had pounds and pounds of chocolate bark at Christmas time. I'll never forget as a little girl when our neighbor walked in with a lollipop-filled, candy cane-striped cardboard cylander so long he had to duck to get it in the front door. I was sure he was Santa, off duty and out of uniform, making a special stop.

Ah, the beloved Hot Dog Shop. My sister wisely put it this way: it was the only place we knew where the rich, the poor, the beautiful, the ugly, the brilliant and the befuddled all sat down together and ate the same food. AND received the same service. I haven't seen that any place else. I kept going there even after I went vegetarian.