The General Store is almost complete. I added a small addition to the side of the building which will become a dry goods storage area which will include bushels, sacks, and barrels. Dry goods storage was almost universally unheated with bare earth floors at the time, as abrupt temperature and/or humidity changes caused by indoor heating could easily spoil the contents. Speaking of which, I added a stove, stovepipe, and bed to the back room for the owner's comfort.
On the "sales floor", I added some built-in shelving to display some consumer wares and a small sales counter. I plan to add a large Swedish flag to the back room wall in homage to my own retail job at a certain Swedish furniture store.
Lastly, this is the first 100% scratchbuilt structure - the Chicken Merchant. It's a big guess, but meat and animal by-products would have been in high demand locally. Even with the railroad's ability to deliver consumer goods far and wide, meat and food production was still fairly localized in the West, even by the early 1900s; so I figured I needed some food sources for Canyon Diablo. The chicken coop itself is based on a real design from 1910 - it's large enough to accomodate a good amount of poultry and a small storage area for feed and tools. It's elevated and screened to keep out predators - Coyotes were (and still are) a problem, and it's possible Mexican Gray Wolves would have roamed this area of Arizona at the time. There will be a fence as well.
The shack is just big enough for the proprietor to sleep and eat in. Naturally though, he puts his time and energy into keeping his livestock, which is why the coop is larger and in better condition then his own dwelling.
1 comment:
These buildings are amazing, such incredible detail! They really are a feast for the eyes.
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