Visits to the Rauscher Brothers’ Grocery Store in International Falls, Minnesota, owned by Uncle Joe and Uncle Nick Rauscher were more interesting for me as a child than visiting these relatives in their homes. Joe and Nick were brothers of my grandmother Rose Rauscher Bloomfield. There were lots of interesting things to look at in this old-fashioned store that was not set up to let you help yourself. The store-room in the back part of the building was filled literally to the ceiling with candy and cigarettes that the Rauscher Brothers sold at wholesale. For me it was an awesome and breathtaking sight.

Visits to Rauscher Brothers were also very lucrative. Joe always gave me a whole box of individually wrapped candies. In a store that didn’t belong to your great-uncles this box would have been behind glass, and you would have asked to buy a piece or two. It made me feel very special.

The special feeling and the good candy made it worth the price that I had to pay for it. Uncle Joe would stand next to me and put his arm around my waist. Then, while talking to my Dad, he would tickle me. Although I knew it was coming, I would always jump, and Uncle Joe would laugh. I hated being “goosed,” as Dad called it. But everything has its price – even in family circles.

Uncle Nick was the quieter of the two brothers, and I don’t remember at lot about him. I know he always asked my Dad for a cigarette when we were there. Nick was normally a non-smoker but enjoyed puffing with Dad while they chatted in the back of the store. In earlier years he had been a pipe-smoker.