In the days when downtown Columbia was all of Columbia, Woolworth’s dime store and Hays Hardware were on the south side of Broadway, with a small shop in between. There was another dime store, Kress’, on the east side of the business and on the other side of the street and The New York Store on North Ninth. However, area farm families did most of their shopping, swapping and visiting on Broadway. Any Saturday afternoon they could count on finding their friends congregated on the sidewalk around Woolworth’s and Hays Hardware.

After old man Hays’ death, the store name remained the same, and his son, Kirk, took over until his death. Next, a nephew, Harold Hickam, was the owner for several years. He and Hazel had no descendants, and his death ended the popular Columbia business.

At least two downtown stores, Miller’s Shoe Store and Hays Hardware, had shelves or drawers from floor to ceiling on their walls. In order to get the merchandise down, there was a track near the ceiling and one or more tall wooden ladders on rollers so the clerks could climb up to get what their customers wanted. The drawers on Hays’ wall had little metal pulls on the front and also tags describing their contents. Dad would ask for some special buckle or snap for his mules’ harness, and the clerk would roll the ladder down to a certain spot and climb up to the appropriate drawer.

Tiny things were in the highest places, and big drawers were near the floor. Milk buckets, oil lamps, clocks, etc., were kept on shelves that were also reached by a rolling ladder. Miller’s Shoe Store had a similar ladder for reaching its thousands of shoe boxes. Those ladders fascinated me. I yearned to roll one along and climb, as the clerks did. One of those ladders, or a similar one, was used at Red Barn Antiques later, but I was too embarrassed to ask Darlene Bryan for permission to roll it and climb it.

Larger hardware pieces were stored around the sales room. Oil lanterns hung from the ceiling and could be retrieved with a long pole with a metal hook and nob on the end. Mineral salt blocks were stacked on the floor, and harness hung in various ways. Leather of harness and saddles gave the room a special smell that would shout “Hays Hardware” to even a sightless customer.

People crowded into Woolworth’s and Hays’ on rainy days but usually “held open house” out on the sidewalk. News was passed from family to family because many had no telephone or daily paper. The raucous laughter and back slapping ended long before sunset, and I don’t know if Hays had a regular closing time. But farmers in wagons, surreys, buggies and on foot left for home in time to do their feeding, milking and other chores. Those in cars or trucks also headed home before dark because even gravel roads could be muddy and slippery, and a flat in the dark was no fun.

After the deaths of Hazel and Harold Hickam, the merchandise was sold, and Hays Hardware passed from the Columbia scene. Jackie Slater’s antique and art shop moved into the area, complete with roller ladders and a huge old elevator that served three floors. I often sat on that elevator, making little clay people, which Jackie later sold in her shop. The Woolworth fire changed that, but that’s a tale for another Tuesday.