Barling Garage, Meeteetse Wyoming

Gamble Store, Casper Wyoming

This is the painted sign for the Gamble Store, in downtown Casper Wyoming.  This building is now occupied by other establishments.

Gambles was a department store. As the sign indicates, the stores offered a wide range of products, although as I don't ever recall this business operating here, and therefore don't know, I have to wonder how this range of products was offered in a relatively small retail space.  Anyhow, the Minnesota based company expanded from an initial store in that state in the late 1920s to being the 15th largest retailer in the United States by the end of the 1970s.  In the 1980s, it was so large that it attempted to take over Brooks Brothers.

Since that time, the company's fortunes declined.  A descendant company still exists, but it does not operate under the Gambles name as a storefront name.

Opal, Wyoming

Old painted store side in Opal, Wyoming. This was a fairly substantial structure, in what was an isolated small town, and as the sign indicates, the store included groceries amongst its offerings. Gasoline and Oil were also advertised, as can be seen. A tiny super store, in its day, or a substantial general store, if more properly considered.

Cars of the past

This building serves as the VFW in Lead, South Dakota. It was obviously a fine car dealership, however, offering Hudsons and Terraplanes.

Today, small dealerships of all types are in danger. It hardly seems possible that once every small town had several, let alone that there were so many manufacturers.

Also discussed on Lex Anteinternet.

Gustavsen's Garage

This building was built in 1921 and has served a variety of businesses over the years. The signs that remain show the various uses. On the east side of the school is a sign for Great Northern Tool and Supply which apparently had an entrance from the side or the back of the building. The west side of the building advertises a business that stored for sold furs.

In addition to these businesses, for many years this building has been used as an automotive repair facility. This started many years ago, perhaps as long ago as the 1920s or 1930s. It was operated as Gustavsen's Garage for a long period of time, and up until very recently, the painted Gustavsen's sign was clearly visible of the front of the building. The building, which is being renovated to include an automobile museum, in addition to an automotive repair has recently been sandblasted, and the Gustavsen's sign is now gone.

Also of note here, Wyatt's Garage, which was a classically styled gas station. Today it is a tire store, but it was build as a full service gasoline station at this location, which was on the Yellowstone Highway. Another classically styled building across the street was a Lincoln-Mercury dealer for many years, prior to the dealership moving across town. The combination of these buildings gives a good glimpse at what the West Yellowstone Highway District looked like in its heyday, prior to being bypassed by more modern highways.