Then And Now

When I was a little girl, there was a wonderful store in Minneapolis called Berman Buckskin. I don't remember that much about it now, but I loved going there with my family. That was where we bought Breyer model horses.

Here are some highlights (from a January 19, 2008 story found at www.startribune.com):
1899: Berman Brothers Fur, Wool and Hides is founded by brothers David, Ephraim and Alexander Berman.
1946: Wearing fur is unpopular after World War II, and the store is reinvented as Berman Buckskin, with fringed deerskin jackets and Indian motifs marketed to tourists.
1979: W.R. Grace & Co. acquires Berman Brothers. Lyle Berman (grandson of David) becomes president.
1988: The 163-store chain is sold to CVS New York Inc., (previously Melville Corp.) for $220 million. Melville merges Berman with its Wilsons House of Suede, forming Wilsons the Leather Experts Inc., the name that exists today.
The building was built in 1895 and demolished in 1994. The Federal Reserve Bank now sits on the location of the Berman Buckskin store. It's sad that neither the company nor the building exist today.

The main thing I remember buying there - Breyer model horses - has changed since then. Breyer horses are still being made and produced. Every July, there's a BreyerFest held at the Kentucky Horse Park. Many famous horses and riders show up to meet fans and the riders will autograph models of their horses.

But when I compare the horses I had as a little girl (or others from the same time period) to the ones being made now, there seems to be something lacking. The older ones seem to have been made with more attention and care. The newer ones don't seem to have the same quality. They feel more like they were made on an assembly line. It could just be that the older ones are a connection to my childhood. I will admit, though, that there are two newer horses I would love to own someday: 1) Adam Cartwright's horse from Bonanza and 2) the newest Gypsy Vanner Horse model.

On the other hand, since I have old and new Breyer model horses side by side on some shelves, it's not necessarily a case of my memory cheating. I'm not saying the new models are bad or that people shouldn't buy them; it's just my opinion that the older models are better.Other fans of Breyer model horses are free to disagree with me. I won't hold it against anyone who thinks the newer models are better and I hope none of those people will hold it against me for thinking the older models are better.

If I had a time machine, I'd go back one more time to visit Berman Buckskin in downtown Minneapolis and experience once more a store I loved as a little girl. . .