Icebox or a Fancy Fridge with a Touch Screen?

While it’s not the best quality photo of Oswald during the early 20th century, it is the only one with a horse in it! I was always fascinated by this photo, as horse-drawn vehicles are a novelty in this day and age. Though there were relics—growing up in the Historic District of Naperville, my Grandparents’ house had a horse-hitching post out front!

Naperville History

This past weekend at my Grandparents’ house, I spent time with my Dad, Oswald’s previous owner, and his dad, Oswald’s 4th generation owner. With the very warm weather we had in August, my Grandfather reminisced about him and his older sister following the ice trucks around town in the 1930s. As the workers would cut off ice blocks for people’s iceboxes, they would pick up and eat the ice chips that scattered about as they chipped off 20 or 30-pound blocks.

To go from ice ’powered’ refrigerators to today’s freezer/fridge combos with ice and water dispensers, and now even screens and cameras—what an evolution my Grandfather has seen in his 93 years! When he owned the pharmacy from 1977-1991, he made Oswald’s Naperville’s first ‘computerized’ pharmacy in the 1980’s—it didn’t sit well with his father-in-law, my great-grandfather Harold Kester who ran the pharmacy from 1953-1977. Swapping typewriters out for computers and printers was just too much for him. While he was an extremely intelligent man, I understand being born in 1909 doesn’t quite correlate with computer literacy. Though my older brother Wil tried very hard to teach him how to use the internet in the 1990s!

Updated Software

With the help of our accountant, my Dad and I just upgraded our accounting software to an ‘online’ version vs. the ‘old-fashioned’ desktop version. Technology continues to march on, and we’re always doing our best to keep up! Even if sometimes it’s not the easiest transition. Whenever there’s an internet/power outage, you temporarily long for the past when all the devices of business (and life!) were not so ’connected’. That’s when a manual cash register and an icebox sound best!

We’re gearing up for the holidays, as you’ll see in our main aisle with Halloween candy, gifts, and decorations. The kids are back in the school and the weather finally seems to be cooling off. Make sure to visit our website and sign up for your flu and/or COVID-19 vaccine appointment!     ꝶ