When we were in Lexington, NC last week, I saw an Army/Navy store on Main Steet. It had a child’s shirt in the window. This wasn’t an Army/Navy Store like I remembered.
As a boy growing up in Beckley, WV, one of my favorite places to visit when we went downtown was the Army/Navy store.
In the 1950s, Army/Navy surplus stores experienced a massive boom following World War II and during the Korean War. Shelves were packed with authentic “Government Issue” surplus gear, including wool blankets, fatigues, helmets, compasses, knapsacks, mess kits, gas masks, and ammo boxes.
Items were sold very cheaply. Blankets, tools, and mess kits were under a dollar, and you could get a parachute for about a quarter.
Everyday and recreational buyers found and used the surplus equipment and clothing for outdoor use and camping. The stores popped up in nearly every major city and small town across the United States, often filled floor-to-ceiling with durable, practical goods.
My sidekick, Billy Richmand and I would prowl the aisles of the store and caress each item – bayonets, military grade canteens, belt buckles with brass, ammo belts, knapsacks, leather holsters, and literally everything you’d find in an Army barracks except for the rifles and ammo.
It was a boyhood nirvana.
We didn’t play a lot of baseball or football at the time. We were really too young. Instead, we played “Army”, pretending we were defending a bunker, or we played “Air Force”, perched on the limb of an old oak tree and sending imaginary bombs towards the Japs below. And we could only dream of having real Army equipment on hand like we saw at the Army/Navy Store.
There are still a few Army/Navy Stores around, but they are certainly nothing like they were after the War.
