In 2006, my wife and I drove into Delhi, New York, while taking a “trip back in time” to Oneonta, where we met 40 years ago while attending college. Delhi, a small town with a rich agricultural history, is about 20 miles south of Oneonta. My wife spotted an interesting item in the window of a hardware store on Main Street, so we wandered in. I took one look and ran to the car for my camera.
I asked the owner, “Is this a store or a museum?” He laughed and replied, “A little bit of both, I guess.” With its oiled floors and its amazing stock of nearly every hardware item known to man, Dubben Brothers was irresistible. The building was built in 1869, and it’s been a hardware store for over 100 years. This sketch of the building is on the store’s website. Used with permission.
