These early stores were really small department stores for they stocked every need from cement, hardware and nails to dry goods, groceries, tobacco, shoes, flour, smoked herring and candies, seeds and coal-oil, clothing ready-made and tailored, hats and caps. Each of these had a special area in the store, upstairs or downstairs.

At the turn of the century we had three such stores: V. Stock's, the Glasgow Warehouse and Peppler's. Saturday night each of them could count on his customers showing up with their eggs, Schnitz, butter, feathers, lard and poultry. What wasn't bartered for immediately, was exchanged for "due bills" a form of letter of credit at that establishment.

The Glasgow Warehouse
"In 1870 Wm. Henderson owned the site of the Glasgow Warehouse, Lots 1 and 2. In 1871 he sold to Jacob Wagner who, on his death in 1873, bequeathed the property to George Kalbfleisch. Mr. Fred Krug, after holding the property from 1874-75, sold out to Adam Falk, but re-bought it in 1884." - (Mr. John Krug's article in the 1963, Tavistock Public School History of Tavistock) -

From the files of the Tavistock Gazette we find that Mr. Fred Krug, born in Gartow, Hanover, Germany in 1843, had come to Berlin at an early age. He delivered papers by horse in the area for Jacob Teuscher, editor of Der Bauernfreund, a German language weekly, whose next owners, Rittinger and Motz, took over the subscription list of Der Kanadische Kolonist, the Stratford weekly (see Newspaper Article). In 1860 he worked a clerk in Jacob Wagner's Store, became a partner with Falk in 1872 and sole owner in 1885, and built the new Post Office and Bank building c. 1895. The Library was moved to the upper storey in 1902 from V. Stock's store. The previous post office sign can be seen on the picture at the side entrance, along with the Bell Telephone sign on the front post.

Mr. F. Krug added the present Diehl Garage to take care of the trade in eggs and poultry. In 1917 he retired and sold the three building to Henry Krug, and a local company operated the store for some time with Lewis Krug, John F. Krug, A.E. and E.A. Roth, Charles J. Kaufman and Percy Armstrong. In 1932 Lee Harris took title and sold the same two years later to Mr. Henry Leinweber. In 1947 Russell Jaggard set up a grocery store on the south side when he bought the property. Two year later Gordon Krug became the owner of the two remaining buildings and bought out the butcher business of Mr. Stefan Schoeck along with the locker refrigeration system downstairs, installed by Mr. Leinweber (John Krug's article). Mrs. Krug now rents the premises to the 5¢ to $1 Store, Neeb's Shoe Store, Krug's Meat Market, the Post Office and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Peppler's
North along Woodstock Street in the Roth block, the Peppler Brothers, William and George, had a similar store but on a smaller scale and were advertising in the Tavistock Gazette as early as 1903. In 1917 they took over the V. Stock store and continued at this stand until 1938, with John M. Wilker completing half a century in the same location. Other clerks with Peppler's were Jacob Wettlaufer and Christian Herald as warehousemen, William F. Seltzer as apprentice, Ted Wilker, after service in the Army, 1918 and Lewis Wilker. For many years Mr. Henry Peppler had a tailor shop upstairs. (see Seltzers article)

Emerson Weitzel
When the Peppler brothers moved over into the Stock store, some of Mr. Stock's clerks were not needed. Mr. E.A. Roth, Mr. A.E. Roth, Charles Kaufman along with John F. Krug, Percy Armstrong and Lewis Krug formed the Glasgow Warehouse Company but did not include Mr. Adam Weicker and Emerson Weitzel. Mr. Weicker joined Pepplers' staff and Mr. Weitzel with the encouragement of Mr. Tim O'Flynn of the German Union Cheese Factory opened his general store at the former Peppler stand in the Roth Block. Associated with him at one time or another were Henry Heinbuch, Fred Heinbuch and Clarence Neeb (1927 - 64). Mr. Weitzel continued in business until 1965, and with him there passed out of existence the village's last general store, on the spot where our history had its origin in just such an establishment.

THE OLD SHOW HOUSE
When we were kids at the time of the First World War we used to skate and play hockey in the old, old arena. It was a long wooden shed with no seats and with a small ice surface about half the present regulation size. It occupied the site of the present arena. At the west end, were the dressing rooms. In runways down each side, you could STAND to watch the hockey games and the frequent carnivals. Our Boy Scout team, which boasted such fine player as Art Berlet, later with the Buffalo Bisons, Polly Eifert, Ikey Eifert and Butch Miller, used to play the Old Timers, Frank McDermott, Bert Ratz and others of the old sports. When they grew tired, they used to shoot the puck from their goal over the cross-beam so that it would drop in fro nt of our goal and often make for a surprise score. At the west end there was a well. When the game was over, Les Harris, who used to be the caretaker, had us pump water into a huge barrel on a sleigh, then pull it to the far end and begin to flood the ice from the big barrel. We often resembled walking icicles. With the building of the next rink in 1923, the old one was used as a Show House for sheep, cattle and hogs on Fall Fair Days. Pigeons and chickens occupied the old dressing-rooms and the west end. It was finally torn down to make room for the new structure.

The Old Arena
The Tavistock Arena was erected in 1923 and officially opened on January 18, 1924. The contractors were Messrs. Zimmerman Bros. and the construction work was sub let to Conrad Forler of Philipsburg. The building was 200x85 with an ice surface of 175x75 feet.

It became the centre of village activity in winter and summer. Under Charlie Kaufman as secretary of the Rink Company, composed of men who had bought $ 100 shares to raise the $16000. the Rural League, and Town Teams, turned out some fine hockey. Each fall a Frolic was put on to raise funds to keep the rink operating. To the best of my knowledge, dividends on the original investments were seldom, if ever, declared. I think it right and proper to pay tribute to these civic-minded officials who kept the arena alive, under constant carping and criticism by the "outsiders". It is ever thus.

The roof needed constant attention and often leaked owing to the uneven expansion of so big a surface and the weight of winter snows. In 1965, it was finally declared unsafe and in 1966 was torn down.

During World War II, 1939-1945, the part at the north end, above the dressing-rooms had been turned into quarters for the local platoon of the Oxford Rifles Regiment of Woodstock. After the war, it housed here the Grosch Felt Factory, a branch of the Stratford Firm, with Miss Gladys Nutt as manager. When this firm vacated the premise, about 1950, the veterans of the area formed Branch 518 of the Royal Canadian Legion and met here, until they built their own hall on Hope Street West.

The old rink stood at the left, just off the picture. Note the remains of the Tavistock Milling Co. mill, the tank, the stack of Zimmerman's box factory, the tower of the Arlington Hotel, B.C. Ratz's livery barns, the rear of Weston's house, the horse how in the ring of cars. The C.N.R. tracks run just between the cars and the houses on the right. The bandstand has been moved from the south side of the Arena across the grounds under the trees on the right. (c. Sept. 1923)