Hopedale Country Store Renovated
By Virginia Cyr
HOPEDALE - Anyone living in this town, or those taking up residence here just seem to know where "Billy Draper's" is. The first place youngsters become aware of is "Billy Draper's" which in reality is officially the Draper News Store.
It is and always has been, an important part of life for all ages. Youngsters go to the store in droves, both before and after school to fill little brown paper bags with penny candy. For some reason, though the years, penny candy has always been sought after, and even though the price has risen in some cases to two cents for each piece of candy, the store continues to offer a variety of penny candy, including Tootsie Rolls.
Adults have visited the store daily through the years to obtain the daily and Sunday paper. It is the only store in town dealing in newspapers.
The store has been purchased by the Garland family of Upton, and Sunday the grand opening of the store which has been undergoing changes at a rapid pace will be held.
Everyone is invited to stop by, browse through the store and view the many changes which the long-time business has undergone.
Grand opening hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those adults visiting the store will be served apple-cider donuts (donuts made with apple cider). Youngsters, accompanied by their parents will receive penny candy and balloons.
Arthur Johnson, who is responsible for the early shift operations at the store, will serve as official greeter for the grand opening. Johnson, who is in his 70s, is well known in the town and a familiar figure on the main street.
In conjunction with the grand opening celebration, a benefit sidewalk sale will by conducted on the lawn at the Community House, directly across the street from Draper News Store. Any non-profit organization wishing to raise money for its group is invited to attend and set up a table, from where its items may be sold.
The store is a delightful trip back though the years with pickles stored in ceramic crocks, country jams and jellies, antique toys, sewing and artists' supplies, school supplies, roasted peanuts and other similar items displayed.
In addition to the newspapers and penny candy, the store has magazines and books. Soda and milk are sold and bulk products range from rabbit pellets to lawn seed, tools and hardware items.
The tobacco, candy and newspaper selections have been expanded and include numerous additional brands and types.
Goals planned for the store are first to continue to expand as a news agency which is the store's primary function and secondly, like the early country store, to become a place which has a little bit of everything.
The owners specialize in items produced by local small business persons. Already available is milk in returnable glass bottles supplied by Town Line Dairy, donuts, breads and pies, homemade by Bill Toby of Upton, a former Draper Corp. employee and handcrafter ceramic bells and hanging flowerpots made by potter Lawrence DeJong.
Walls, ceilings, and windows have been completely replaced and the old wooden floor was sanded down to its original surface. All the shelves and racks were built-in, made out of pine. A pine counter and display windows were added. Everything was hand built for a specific purpose, including the cigarette racks, which were made of wood.
Finishing touches made this week at the store were to complete the back room, which has never been open to customers before. It had been equipped with plants and tools.
The back room has been labeled "The Barn." The old oak candy case is the one piece of furniture which remains following the store restoration. An old oak-cased gumball machine, which still dispenses a gumball for one-cent has been located by the Garlands and is in operation at the store.
An antique brass scale will eventually be used to weigh out bulk candy. The owners have stated that they wish all their antiques to be functional.
The Garlands have employed their nephew, J. Dennis Robinson as store manager. Their sons, Scott and Barry Garland are also employed at the local store.
New store hours will become effective Monday and the store will be open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Milford Daily News, October 3, 1975.
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My memories of Billy Draper's go back to the mid-fifties when I was in seventh grade. I can't say that I can recall it being called Billy Draper's. Seems to me that it was just called the paper store. The guy who ran it was named Bill, but not Draper. Bill Pierce was his name. There were a good many Drapers in Hopedale at that time who weren't related to the Drapers of the Draper Corporation, and the William Draper who gave his name to the business was one of those "other Drapers." To add to the confusion, there were Williams and Georges in two of the three unrelated Draper families, and many, perhaps most, of the other Drapers worked for Drapers.
But to get back to Billy Draper's. In the fifties, and for years before and after, that's where kids with paper routes would go after school to pick up their papers. Routes were in big demand at that time and when a kid was ready to "retire" or move on up to another job, he'd sell the route. I think the price would range from about $15 to $30, depending on the size of the route. A small route might have about 30 customers and a large one could have over 100.
I never had my own route, but for thirty cents a day, or perhaps I should say for thirty cents for a half hour or so, I was what you might call an assistant paperboy. My first job was with Dave Harris. He had inherited his route from his brother, Jimmy. It wasn't a house to house job. Instead, we'd put stacks of five different papers into a wagon and pull it up to the main door at Drapers. I remember that we sold the Milford News, the Worcester Gazette, the Boston Traveler, the Boston American, and one other. I can't remember if the Globe had an afternoon edition or not, but that might have been it.When the men would get out of work, 3:30 in those days, we'd be very busy taking money and making change for about five minutes. Then we'd pull the wagon back to the paper store, often stopping to talk with Arthur, the guy in the guard shack at the Hopedale Street entrance to the loading dock area. When we got back to the store, I'd get my thirty cents and spend some of it on a Devil Dog and a soda. Probably five cents each. The rest I'd save for my old age. I'm sure I have it around here somewhere.
Later I worked for Jack Hayes. He had a house delivery route; a big one with more than 100 customers, I think. He also had Roland Boucher as another assistant. We'd often sit at the Boucher kitchen table in his house at the corner of Hopedale and Thwing streets on Friday afternoons, and count the collection. Dan Malloy, April 2008.