Business and Change

If you walked down the streets of your community one hundred years ago, the shops would look quite different from those that are there today.  Instead of large supermarkets or department stores, there were many small shops.  Things that are now made in large factories were often made and sold in small shops.  For example, a tailor made clothes for people who could afford it.  A blacksmith made horseshoes and iron tools.  A store that sold shoes may have also made them.

In other ways, businesses may not have changed so much through the years.  For example, a small grocery store may have been owned by a family for many years and changed very little in that time.  A dry goods store may have become a large, more modern department store.

Find a business that has been in your area for at least fifty years, and ask the owners to help you learn how businesses have changed by answering the questions below.

1. What is the name of the business? _____________________________________
   
   
2. How did the business get started in your area? ____________________________ __________________________________________________________________
   
   
3. What products or service did the owners provide when they first went into business? _________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
   
   
4. What products or services do the present owners provide? ___________________ __________________________________________________________________
   
   
5. How many people worked in the business when it started? __________________
   
   
6. How many people work there today? ___________________________________
   
   
7. What main changes have taken place in this business since it began? __________ __________________________________________________________________
   
   
8. Make a list of ten stores in your community that could not have been in business one hundred years ago because they sell things that were not used then.  (Clues: at that time, there were no cars and little use of electricity.)

Store                                                                                                   Product it sells

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Courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society