Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Main Street Sleepy Eye

This is my first blog!! 
Just wanting to get things rolling and off to a good start.  I thought I would start this blog for those of you who would like to learn a little bit more about your hometown - AKA - Sleepy Eye... So perhaps I thought I could let go and reveal to you - who ever is watching a few spare moments - to speak my mind.



 Here's a postcard of Main Street, Sleepy Eye.  Things sure have changed throughout the years since Sleepy Eye was first established as a Village.  We now have our streets paved for one thing and we do have alot less buildings for another.  Some times change isn't always for the better.  Often times change can be for the worse, depending on how you look at it.  Back in the late 1800s early 1900s we had a little over 1000 to 1500 residents in Sleepy Eye; if we take a look back at some of our other early photos of the day, we see that the streets are extremely filled with residents going from shop to shop doing local business.  Residents didn't leave town to do their business, they didn't go and find a Wal-Mart or Target in the next town... what they did do is stay loyal to their the local businesses we had in town, which meant the local businesses were staying busy and had the up-to-date items that were required for the "times".
 
One nice thing about doing business with businesses is they knew your first name, knew your mom and dad, and if you forgot your wallet at home you could still go home with your merchandise and just bring your money in the next day because "your word" went a long way.... Today this wouldn't happen out of town...However, if you are local enough and do business often enough with some of our local businesses that "old charm business loyalty" still holds up today....  I have at least run into this trouble a few times where I have forgotten I had no check blanks in my checkbook here in town... a local store where I do, do business often has let me go home and get my checkbook and come back the next day.  It can be embarrassing at times.  It's nice to know this loyalty is there if it is really needed.

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