The Minnesota-based chain struck a broad populist chord in its public persona. The ads proclaimed that the stores were “cut-rate,” back before that became a criticism for “cheap and low-quality.” Snyder’s called its stores “drug-a-terias,” a concept defined as a place where “you serve yourself or have a clerk help you.”

The West Seventh store, by the way, was never affiliated with one of the chains.

“When I started in 1980, there was Snyder’s, and that was about it,” Johnson said.

Liggett was out by 1950, which is a reminder that chains come, and chains go. Snyder’s was sold to Walgreens in 2010, after 80 years in the game.

A drawing of the rebuilt Snyder’s Drug Stores was part of a 1948 ad in the Minneapolis Star heralding the grand opening of the “World’s Finest Drug Store.” (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Of course, drugs were the main attraction. The products of the 1920s, mostly unfamiliar to us today, were displayed behind big plate glass windows for people in the neighborhood to see and buy. They included Carter’s Little Liver Pills, Doan’s Kidney Pills, Beecham’s Liver Pills, Nuxated Iron, Bromo Seltzer, Musterole, Maltoleum — and aspirin.

But drugstores also sold household goods, and Christmas ads featured toys. And it was the go-to place for buying greeting cards, cosmetics and television tube testers. In fact, people probably visited the drugstore more often for things other than its stated function.