Remembrance of Things Past: ‘Where’s Waldo’ turns into a historical Who’s Who of Mystic

Earlier this summer my wife took Eleanor and Naomi, our two youngest granddaughters, on a shopping excursion in downtown Mystic during the “Where’s Waldo” promotion. They visited over 20 stores, none of which existed when I was their age. They found Waldo in most of them. Later, Naomi also found Waldo under the bridge while riding on a paddleboard!

Their adventure began at Bank Square Books, which is the only bookstore in Mystic. An earlier bookseller named The Other Bookstore was in the former Friendly Shop, in the building owned at that time by Jim Allyn. Kerr’s Men’s Shop, where I worked for many years, was also in that block, as was Claire’s, a ladies’ shop that was owned by Mr. Kerr’s wife. That block burned down several years ago, but has since been rebuilt.

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