To my dismay, I did indeed do a Main Streets for Alma, the town we visited last week in Clippings.

The problem is that I did the wrong Alma. I did Kansas, not Nebraska.

Some day we’ll see that one. For now, the Most Pertinent Alma, Bleat-wise.

Gah:

You know there was a nice old brick building on the corner for decades before someone got the idea to hide it behind sheets of metal.

Well, was there? Let us go to the internet and see if there any postcard views. There are. Details:

A record store!

One of the hallmarks of the modern small town main street is the store that has a crapton of small unwanted glass pieces in the window, signifying that antiques can be had here. The final resting places for all that stuff grandma had. It’s never sold. It never goes anywhere.

This picture was taken in 2012, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it looked the same today.

This is interesting. I mean, no, it’s not, but it was something else.

What? A bank? Possibly an OUMB, but possibly a Rural Electrification Co-Op office, or something.

Speaking of OUMB:

They didn’t even try. They didn’t have to. They didn’t want to.

This is a nice sign of vitality. A going concern, well-maintained, a testament to downtown.

Next door, a crappy way to repurpose an old commercial building.

Downsizing the windows always makes the buildings look unfriendly. And low-rent.

On the corner of the block, A-1 Appliance. The google map today does not indicate a store for this location.

At some point the name changed, I surmise.

Computer, enhance

Old folks probably remembered when it was a store that sold things people wanted.

Take out the window, and knock a hole in the wall for the AC. Makes sense.

One unit for the whole store?

The corner.

The front. As I said, google maps don’t have a pin for A-1.

It was a bank, but also something else.

Now that’s impressive.

John and C.L. Brothers, you suspect.

The ancient off-the-shelf ornamentation still enjoys its moment in the sun.

This one seems old and authoritative, as if it’s the home of the oracle the townsfolk consult in difficult times.

The arch probably didn’t have glass, ever. But perhaps once it did.

Here’s a piece of 1967:

Dr. Pepper, bowling, and a TV aerial.

No current pin for this place, either.

At the other end of Main: the theater.

The Cinematreasures entry reminds you that these stories are written by volunteers.

The Parrot Theatre is another small town theatre. It replaced an earlier Perrot Theatre (aka Crescent Theatre/Rialto Theatre) at a different High Street address which has its own page on Cinema Treasures. It is located at W. Main Street and S. Jewell Street, showing first run attractions.

The New Parrot Theatre was opened on December 14, 1933 with Jack Oakie in “Sitting Pretty”. It was designed in an Art Deco style by architectural firm Swift & Arrowsmith based in Belleville, KS. It was gutted by fire of December 8, 1968.

A new 300-seat theatre was constructed within the four surviving outer walls. It opened on April 30, 1959 with Elizabeth Taylor in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”.

A town of time-travelers, it would seem. Someone else in the comments adds more details, and notes that the fire was in 1968.

The post is dated 2021, and says the Parrot . . . is still around.

So there’s that.