Jax Prints > Bodie Mercantile Inside by John Toeppen

By pressing up against the dirty glass and looking inside one can see what might have been for sale in 1895 or 1930.

One can imagine the response if they asked for credit, or if they has cash for a shopping spree. You might look around to see if they had the items that you came in for, or see if there was something else for you. If you were new in town you might need some supplies to fix up your residence or prepare for work. The butcher shop is next door. You might want a new appliance like one of those new electric toasters, a mailbox , some wood screws, something for your hay fever. perhaps asprin, or some laudanum, a can of pears, some flour, baking powder, coffee, some instant cocoa, a washboard, an ironing board. Borax, a frying pan, a ladle, some cups and plates. You would need a carbide light for work if you were in the mine. Can you find these items here?

And look! A telephone. This was a modern town with electricity in 1896. The wires were run as straigth as possible so that the electricity would not leak on on the corners.

You might not feel well if you lived herre or worked doing cyanide leaching or working with mercury. There were many more taverns and services available than there were churches. The undertakers had thriving businesses. Wood was valuable, and one could be legally shot for stealing firewood. All of the trees were cut for shoring up the mine and firewood was necessary for survival. The town founder died attempting to return home in a snowstorm.

After little girl heard that Bodie was a Godless town, and that she was moving there, she prayed ?Goodbye God, I am going to Bodie?.