Muscatine

I agree his wife always looked mean, she never had patience with us kids like Ernie did.

Speaking of bars....there used to be a nice saloon in the building where Tony's Tropicals now resides.  It was also C and K Sports for a time, but before that there was a bar....I think both upstairs and down.  Can't recall the name of the place (I'm sure those brain cells are long gone), but remember it was a nice place that didn't stay open too long. 

It was called "The Cannery" and the basement bar is where bands played, even though so small.

OK, I remember now.   Herb Freeze's wife's name was "Mick".   I'm sure it wasn't her real name, but everyone called her that, including Herb.

How about the "candy store" on Climer street near old McKinley school?  At least that's what we called it.   It was owned by an old couple whose name was Wilmering.   The store looked inside like it had not been changed since the "old days".    Of course it was the 50's and 60's when we went in there.   After they went out of business, (sometime in the 70's?) there was an auction there.  I missed it, but heard that they sold stuff off the shelves as antiques.   But when I was a kid they had a huge selection of penny candy.   Sounds something like Earnie's place.

I liked the bubble gum that came in the gold dollar shape.  You had to peel off the foil to get at it.   Of course, I also liked the baseball card bubble gum, but I traded for cards rather than bought.   Probably like everyone, my Mom threw out all my baseball cards (including a lot from the 50's + comic books) when I was in the service.  I didn't care at the time (when I got back), but now days realize she probably threw away a lot of money.