"Cream Fluff" and a Big Spring Showing

March 21, 1949, Menasha Record

These ads are a testament to how pervasive the businesses were around Main Street in former years.  Car dealers, appliances, cleaners, the local dairy...they all once commanded the attention of the Menasha buying public.  Over time, with the more acceptance of auto travel and the lure of discount prices in large big box stores away from the downtown, the Mom and Pop era eventually eroded into the conditions we face today, sparse downtowns and sometimes what planners called "food deserts" where there isn't even a local grocery to shop at.