By Albert T. Mueller III

It was a crisp, autumn day, two weeks before Thanksgiving in 1934.

A few leaves were still hanging on their branches for all they were worth - as were many families. The country was in the depths of a depression.

My grandfather, Albert T. Mueller Sr., had a decision to make.

He was a salesman for a national grocery distributor and had been told by his home office he must foreclose on a grocery store that could not pay their bill. He entertained the idea of buying the store, but times were tough and he had a family to support.

Grandpa was a deeply religious man, and based on what some of his customers and their children have told me, I am sure some sort of Divine intervention must have occurred and he decided to purchase the store.

Over the years, numerous people have told me that they didn't know how they would have survived the hard times if it weren't for Mueller's Grocery. Many have said grandpa would carry people when times were tough. This was long before credit cards were even thought of.

My father, Albert "Ted" Mueller Jr., started working with his dad in the early 1940s. They worked side by side until my grandfather's death in 1974. The store closed shortly thereafter.

Many students who attended Washington Elementary or North Platte High School in the '40s through the '70s made regular stops at the store before and after school. Where else could an enterprising youngster of the baby boom generation bring in a pop bottle and cash it in for a handful of cinnamon bears or a nickel candy bar?

The pop cooler was a popular spot. For a dime you could reach into the ice-cold water and have a tooth-crackling bottle of Coke. What seems like tons of penny bubble gum was smuggled into the high school and probably helped hold the walls and lockers together.

I have been told stories of how a few youngsters succumbed to temptation when they spent their money on candy or pop instead of picking up the can of green beans their mother had sent them to buy. Needless to say, their mothers were not pleased.

Many of North Platte's prominent residents lived in the neighborhood, including the Beatty's, the Maupin's, the Duffield's, the Halligan's and Drs. Hieder and Waltemath.

At that time, they lived in mansions on Third Street. Many of them had servant's entrances to their homes and that was where groceries were delivered.

I discovered that Mrs. Beatty's bark was worse than her bite. Mrs. Maupin would give me a German coin for carrying her groceries. Mrs. Nellie Duffield was one of the sweetest old ladies I ever met and she tipped a dime when her groceries were delivered.

I am left to wonder if my grandfather had a guardian angel, such as Clarence in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."

If he had not purchased the store on that November day in 1934, how many families would not have survived the Great Depression? Lifelong friendships that were formed next to the pop cooler, and maybe a few sweethearts that shared an ice cream bar, might not have happened.
How many lives would be different today?

Only those who experienced the store at 824 W. Third Street can answer that question.