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The official closing of Jackson Hardware in Brundidge today (Saturday) is much like losing a longtime family friend.

Most all Brundidge “senior” adults will remember Mr. Hatcher (Jackson) sitting with his buddies on the hardware’s window ledge eager to share the “news” with everyone who came along the sidewalk.

The hardware’s wood floors squeaked when you walked inside and floor fans hummed as they turned to keep the air moving in the summertime and a potbellied stove offered a small place of warmth in the winter time.

The Brundidge Main Street hardware was the go-to place for home and farm needs.

Lawrence Bowden, a long-time Brundidge resident, said Jackson Hardware was the Sears and Roebuck of its time so foot traffic in and out of the hardware was steady.

Lawn mowers, wheelbarrows, red wagons, bicycles, tricycles lined the sidewalk. Inside, the hardware was kid-friendly with roller skates with keys, BB guns, pocket knives, fishing poles and lines, Bowden said.

“There was this is big, tall rotating metal bins of nails of all sizes,” he said. “Customers could pick, choose and sack the nails they needed. You won’t see nail bins like that anymore.’  Jackson Hardware had keys, locks, nuts, screws, washers, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, belts, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts, to name a few.

“Miss” Maureen Jackson, started displaying china dinnerware in the hardware’s large front window for  “engaged” girls to pick out their “china” and Miss Maureen would put each girl’s name on a card so ladies could look in the window and see who was getting married and what kind of china they had picked out and then come in and buy it for the “shower.”

Christmas time was a busy and exciting time at Jackson Hardware. Store hours were from the time the time first customer walked in until the last customer walked out.

A real Christmas tree with bubbling lights entertained all ages while their purchased Christmas presents were gift-wrapped with hand-tided bows and a “Merry Christmas” and blessing from Jackson Hardware.

“There is no idea of the number of people who have walked through those doors,” Bowden said. “Far too many to count.”

It has been a long time since Jackson Hardware stocked caskets to be available if necessary. It has been a long time since ‘current’ changed how the hardware was stocked and what was sold.

But, Bowden said he was around to see the major changes in the hardware when “current” came to town.

“In the early days, Jackson Hardware, like most hardware stores of the times, sold mule collars, plows, chicken feed and icebox refrigerators.  But, when electricity became available, the hardware stores changed and have continued to change as the world changed. That has made it possible for small town hardware stores to survive and will continue to survive.”