By Halide Lobdell Patterson
Directly across the street from Alderwood Grade School (location across from the Lynnwood Convention Center on 196th in Lynnwood) lived George Romano, who had a shoe repair shop. In the 30’s I think most kids like me, with rapidly growing feet, had one pair of shoes at a time. So when my leather soles wore out, I would go across the street after school and sit in Mr. Romano’s shop for whatever time it took for him to put on new soles.
Both Mother and I patronized the “Beauty Shop” once it was started and owned by variously, the Janet sisters Thelma and Ethel, then Elizabeth Beam, then Mrs. Mac, to have our hair done.
When we first moved to Alderwood my Dad had to get his gas way down hiway 99 on his way to work. But once Charlie Cressey set up shop on the corner of 99 and North Trunk West (now 196th Lynnwood), that was our gas station and car repair shop then on. Good thing too, because during the war, when gas was rationed, Charlie always had enough for our family to do the extras, like going fishing on weekends, and getting to the various dances around the area.
There were the door-to-door vendors like the Fuller Brush man, and the Watkins man. For a while I remember a fresh fish truck every week. When we had an ice box-pre-refrigerator, we had to put a large sign that said ICE in the front window so that truck would stop. And our milk was brought to a box at our front gate by Mr. Olson, our milkman, who often pastured his cows across Cedar Way from our house, where Fred Meyer is today (on 196th Lynnwood).