HARRISVILLE - Although a penny can't buy much theses days there is a place where it still has buying power.
At Berdine's Five and Dime, a penny can buy penny candy, except during the summer months when they don't carry it because the store does not have air conditioning, and rubber bands, priced at a penny a band.
Karen Harper, manager of the store on North Court Street, has been working there for 27 years. She said the store stocks items people remember but have not seen for years.
"People come in here and they are amazed to see things from the past," she said. "We have items you can't find anywhere else."
Harper said that ranges from tin toys, to handmade glass Christmas ornaments from the Czech Republic.
"Last year we didn't have many since the man we buy them from in the Czech Republic moved and we weren't able to get a hold of him to make an order," she said. "We are in contact with him again and I'll probably place an order in the next two weeks."
Harper said many of the tin toys come from China, like many other items, but they are available from Germany at a higher cost.
"They cost a lot more, about $30 to $50," she said. "We carry them around Christmas time, but we only have a hand full. A lot of people don't see them as in investment so we don't have many."
Harper said there are other items such as Rosebud salve, Watkins vanilla, Fels-Naptha stain remover, lye soap, embroidery supplies, wash boards, cloth books for toddlers, drinking birds and Dick and Jane books carried at the store along with a wide assortment of kitchen items.
"We have an ornery boys corner where we sell gag items, like black soap and itching powder," she said. "We have some educational toys also, so they can play and learn something at the same time."
Harper said the store, which celebrated its centennial in March, has been in its current location since 1915. She said its original purpose was to be a lodge but it was bought for the store and it has been there ever since.
Prior to 1915 the store was located across North Court Street.
Entering the store is like going back in time, from the wood floors, wooden display cases and candy counter and tin ceilings, is a from an era before uniform department stores and big box retailers.
Harper said items in the store range from the penny items to 19 cents, 50 cents and a couple of dollars or more. At the main counter there is an antique cash register, which is no longer used. Harper said she uses a calculator and a log book beside the old register to keep track of the day's sales. She said the reason they don't use the old register is because it has its limitations.
"It's doesn't keep track of the sales well and it has a limit of a $3.99 total," she said. "It would make selling some items hard. We have a few sales more than $3.99, occasionally we might have $50 or $100, but not often."
On a recent afternoon the store had a number of customers looking over the store's unique assortment of wares.
Linda Richards of Vienna said she makes the trip to Harrisville on occasions to look over the store and to find items found no where else.
"Two years a go I built a doll house and the furniture for it was very expensive," she said. "It was hard to find. I came here and they had several items, and they were inexpensive so I bought the rest I needed here."
Deidra Fleak of Pettyville said she is an occasional customer and remembers going to the store years ago. She noted it has not changed much over the year.
"We used to go camping a lot at North Bend years and come over for picnics and we'd stop here," she said. "This store brings back a lot of memories for me and others.
"They have things you can't find anywhere."
Fleak was with a first-time customer William Fleak. He said he was impressed by the store and its selection.
"I've seen things here I haven't seen in years," he said. "They have things you won't find anywhere else."
Harper said the store was run by two generations of the Berdine family, but is now owned by Eleanor Six, whose sons Dean Six and Stuart "Bub" Six, took over the store in November 1981.
Prior to the Six family's ownership, Harper said the store was known as Berdine's Variety Store, but they changed the name back to Berdine's Five and Dime shortly after they bought the store.
