On The Silly Side by Jimmy Del Ponte

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Thanksgiving…gone. Black Friday…gone. A month of hectic, frantic and desperate preparation for Christmas has begun. The commercials may tell us that prices are low, but shoppers are high-strung. You saw the news reports that showed crazed bargain hunters throughout the country acting like they were giving away wads of cash. They stood in line overnight rubbing elbows with the same people they would be willing to fight to the finish, just to save $100 on a flat screen TV, or an X-Box. You would have to pay me at least $300 just to stand outside in the dark freezing my butt off.

Back in my day you’d go into the Bargain Center in Davis Square with twenty bucks and come out with gifts for everyone. So what if the box was ripped, the item had slight water damage or it was singed and smelled like smoke? That’s why they called it the Bargain Center. Actually we old ‘Villens called it simply “Bargies.” One stop Christmas shopping!

A friend tells me, “I got my first Barbie there. She was dressed like Jackie Kennedy and it was a fire stock sale. I still have it. Her legs were scarred from the fire and I loved her just the same. She did smell of smoke for the longest time though.”

“My mother worked at the Bargain Center for a short time. I remember we bought Topo Gigio dolls there.” Remember Topo Gigio, that little mouse on the Ed Sullivan Show?

“Bargies” seemed to be the place to buy curtains. You would buy them, take them home and hang them up. The burnt odor in the curtains gave your house that outdoor, campfire smell.

Here is a touching story. I remember seeing my dear cousin Joe Gordon walking back from the square with shopping bags from either the Bargain Center, or Woolworths, or Park Snow. He had birthday presents for his son Richard. Richard’s birthday was Patriots Day, so it had to be in mid-April and I was likely down their house because it was school vacation week. I was probably 9 or 10 years old at the time. Richard was killed in Beirut in October 1983 when the Marine’s barracks were bombed. Joe passed away right after Christmas in 1994. But I can remember that particular scene of seeing him walking back up the tracks from way down near the square. With bags of gifts, in the sunshine. The memory always evokes a parent’s (or grandparent’s) love for their children.

Finally, one of the very reasons the Bargain Center existed proved to be its ultimate demise. A devastating fire so serious there would be no fire sale.

“I remember the day it [The Bargain Center] burned down. I saw the smoke pall, likely all those pairs of discount sneakers, wafting through the air from my classroom at the Southern. Bright blue, sunny and cold day. It must’ve been late ‘71 or very early ‘72.”

Dan tells us, “We may have ventured into the burned out [Bargain Center] building too (what’s the statute if limitations?). The whole neighborhood smelled of smoke.”

As I have mentioned in previous articles, I still have the green, rubber boots that my dad bought in the late 60’s from “Bargies.”

After your shopping spree at the Bargain Center you could head over to Speedy Pizza, Frascatis, or The Venice Café for a nice meal.