Rexall Drug Store – 1965

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The Rexall Drug Store was owned by the Knapp family and run by Carl and Jan Webster. It was open seasonally and was located on Greig Street across from what is now the Krenzer Marina store. It became  Natures Children from 1975-1993. The building has since been torn down and the property is owned by Krenzers now.  Photos courtesy of Dick Ransley.

 

 

Above photo: Popeye the Sailor

 

Above Photo: Big Jim and little Jim pose in front of the Rexall Drug Store (1965). Big Jim is Jim Swan brother-in-law to Henry Newport.

 

This store was originally the Bassage Store and Carl Webster was named to run it in June of 1916 as mentioned in the June 11, 1936 (page 9) issue of theRecord in their Twenty Years Ago column:

 

 

Memories:

 

Frank Grosz remembers the “shocker” inside the store. It was a 1 penny machine that you pulled two handles and it would give you quite a shock! He liked to have the “city kids” on vacation hold onto him while he paid his 1 cent! It also had a soda fountain counter.

 

 

The original Rexall Drug Shocker! Photo courtesy of Rusty Schryer who owns it!

 

Fred Clevenger also remembers the shocker: I remember that it was at the counter; put a penny in it and hold one brass handle turn the other and it would Shock you and you turned it to see how much you can take

 

Kevin Herrick remembers: Yep, when it was natures children, they had a machine on the counter. You put in a penny and hold the handles, and as you pulled the handles apart, you would get a slight electrical shock. The farther apart the handles got, the more of a jolt you got……..test of either courage or stupidity, can’t remember which, but in hindsight and knowing me and how many pennies went in there, it was probably stupidity!

 

Candice Murszewski remembers: One cent candy!!!

 

Marcia Fowler remembers: Mr. and Mrs. Webster. Used to get 5 cent ice cream cones. What a treat to walk downtown and stop there.

 

Laurie Hayden remembers:  My dad used to take me for a vanilla ice cream soda, especially when I felt like things were just overwhelming. He always seemed to know when that little visit to Websters would cheer me up.
Bob Boise remembers: Great Old Fashioned Ice Cream Sodas served in real glass tall soda glasses!

 

Kay Pennycoff-Gwilt remembers: Mr Webster was the nicest man. Always made everyone feel welcomed!

 

Dawn Cole remembers: Best chocolate ice cream sodas ever!!

 

Lynn Murray remembers: Loved it !! I think I still have a couple 70’s magnets with their sticker on it. Always gave free candy.

 

Gail Wackerle remembers: Carl Webster & his wife operated it. It was open spring til fall. It had a soda bar , served milkshakes, delicious phosphates, lime cherry you name it. Had medicine over the counter stuff, it was wonderful. Comic books, you name it. A place to set, with round tables & the Coca-Cola chairs, newspapers, gifts, postcards, film and cameras. Just great. When Helfers Krenzers Marina burnt so did the drug store.

 

Stephen Francis Ferola-Pope remembers: I remember that place very well! Mr Ransley use to be the Pharmacist! I use to go there all the time as a kid!

 

Delores Johnson remembers: The drug store had the best hot fudge sundaes in SP. 

 

Patty Parsons remembers: So many marvelous memories of that drug and sundries store. A joy. The onyx soda fountain was the best. Who knows where it originated, but it shone like a precious jewel. Rare and beautiful, it covered the back of the store and I can still conjure the magic of Nancy Proseus Campbell dispensing life sustaining treats from it. Lime phosphates were my absolute favorite and I still cherish them whenever I can find an old soda fountain. Almost every night we walked to the drugstore, stopping to take a ride on the merry go round next door (where Krenzer’s boats now rest) if we could convince our parents to swing for the few cents it cost. They had us do odd jobs to save up for the treats of uptown Sodus Point. It is a wonder that any local boys survived adolescence after testing their budding manhood on the electric machine to the right of the door. What was that thing called and who could have thought that charging electricity through your bodies was a fun idea? But the boys ( and I suppose an occasional brave girl lined up to drop a penny in and try it. The Websters were the best and seemed to have any treasure that a kid could want in that tiny store. Carl Webster’s facial birthmark taught all of us to never fear a disfigurement. There was so much kindness behind it. And if we had poison ivy or painful sunburns or bee stings, he was right there with soothing assurances and a solution.
When the store caught fire that winter and my parents had to tell me that the soda fountain had been destroyed and the Webster’s would no longer be able to rebuild it as it had been, I cried. The feelings of being in that repository of wonders remain.

 

John Pitts remembers: Great photo, with Mr. and Mrs. Webster out front. They were really nice people, an icon of my childhood, like Pam, and all of us from “The Bar” gang. Remember reading comic books with Pam’s brother Doug (“Skip”) back on the magazine rack in the front corner

 

Ella Larsen remembers:  I remember going there with my mother and getting the red licorice dollars. My mother used to say the pharmacist was always elderly and she remembered him when she was young. Mom was born in 1917.

 

Judy Tuck remembers: I have fun memories. We stopped there for bags of snacks on the way to the beach.