The inside of H.O. Blodgett's Hardware store
(H.O. is standing in the middle).
Click here to see an enlargement
Blodgett - Pierce Family --- Family Stories
H.O. Blodgett & Son
by Edward McClenathan
My grandfather, Harry Orange Blodgett,
founded H.O. Blodgett & Son 49 West Main Street,
Fredonia, NY. When I was a high school student,
I would visit the hardware store on my way home
on my way home coming down west hill. The store
was orange. I was told that was the hardware
color. Perhaps it was. I notice that Home Depot
uses orange.
I loved visiting my grandfather and his son Rolland after school. Gramp Blodgett was a pipe
smoking FDR Democrat in a Republican town. He had a George Washington demeanor, with the
integrity to match. Gramp's store helped many family members survive the depression and after.
Ethel, one of his daughters who worked at the store, was so skilled she could cut panes of glass
by hand.
By today's standards, the store was really old fashioned. It had fancy oak display cases along
one wall and zillions of tiny drawers on the other. Each drawer had tiny parts wired to the front.
It would leave you wondering what the part was and how it was used. Tacks, spikes, roofing nails
were scooped out of huge lazy-susan metal bins and sold by weight. Elsewhere were hoes, rakes,
rolls of chicken wire and other farm equipment beyond counting.
Uncle Rollie would always welcome me with a cheery "Great day for the race, the human race". He
was a master jokester and story-teller. He could do tricks, making coins disappear and quarters weep.
Sometimes he would let me wait on a customer and ring up the sale on the old-fashioned cash
register. When you pressed down each key, the money denomination would pop up in the display -
ka-chink … ka-chink.
Thanks to the wonderful aunts and uncles from the union of Mabel Walden and my grandfather,
my cousins and I were blessed with wise role models, warmth and affection, for which we remain
eternally grateful.
Ed McClenathan is the son of Ruth Alzora Blodgett and Clarence Edward McClenathan Sr.
and the grandson of Harry Orange and Mabel (Walden) Blodgett