Masten Variety
Est. 1889 as Hill General Store
There was a slight step, and the heavy door with the plate glass window squeaked mightily as it swung open, albeit a bit stiffly, as this door had been greeting guests well before I, or even my mother, had been born. The bells on the door would clatter and announce our presence. Walking into Masten Variety, Five and Dime store was a familiar and welcoming feeling, like being greeted by one’s grandparents. In fact, the store held a bit of magic. Mixed in with a slightly musty smell, and some dust, the wooden floor creaked and groaned as I’d peruse the aisles. I knew the shopkeeper knew exactly what aisle anyone was in, as the floor seemed to emanate even the slightest step.
We’d save up and buy marbles, playing for keeps as we shot our aggies, clearies, and cat’s eye’s. Sometimes we’d hope we could afford a “paper” airplane made of flimsy wood, with wings and a tail that fit together by aligning and sliding each piece into a small cut out slot. Everyone came in to buy Tootsie pops, hoping we’d unfold the Tootsie pop wrapper and spy the young Indian (Native American) wearing the head dress, shooting his bow and arrow at the star. We knew that wrapper, if you brought it back in, was worth a free Tootsie pop.
My earliest recollection of Masten’s was as a five year old child in the early 1970’s, although Five and Dime shops were the rage in the early 1920’s. These stores had many common household goods, as well as candy, clothing, gifts, novelties. Some had soda fountains and ice cream. Everything cost only a nickel or a dime. In the 1970’s Masten’s still graced Oak Harbor, like an old sentinel standing watch. It wasn’t the most popular store in the 1970’s, but being that we didn’t have a lot of money, it was a treat to go into Masten’s and be allowed to pick a small toy. Inflation had done away with the five and dime price point, but to me as a young child what graced those shelves was priceless. Even then, I knew Masten’s was special, and again, that familiar feeling of a grandparent or old friend took hold the moment I’d cross that threshold.
Masten’s was in the day, the go to store. In the 70’s it’s time was waning, and competition won out eventually as larger, newer, and better stocked stores came into Oak Harbor. Lest we never forget Masten’s and how it graced Oak Harbor for many years, before being retired and dying away, just like a lost loved one or grandparent. Memories tug at my heart for this silent sentinel that has watched the very face of our town change and grow as it succumbed a slow death. Our memories live on in familiar recollection for what was once Masten Variety Five and Dime.