The Owner's Box, Ep. 55.

When they weren't kidding about the "service" in the term "service station."

It's time for another "Mansfield Memories" episode of The Owner's Box, so Alex Salachi and I manned the microphones at Fulton Pond Studios to peer into the mists of old age and recall some interesting and informative aspects of our hometown's history and culture over the 70 years we've both been on this earth.

This time, Alex looks back at the many mom-and-pop butcher shops that met the unique needs of what was once a town populated mainly by Italian immigrants and their families.

And I take a look back at a town that once had only 5,000-9,000 residents, as opposed to today's nearly 25,000 -- but had more than 23 locations where gasoline was sold at retail pumps. There are only eight gas stations in the town today, five of them still at or very near to their locations in the 1950s and 1960s.

This is the audio only version of the podcast, but I have another surprise for you. In addition to the links you will find here, I will also be producing a video episode of "The Owner's Box ... After Dark" from this recording. Not only will you see Alex and me in all our splendor, but you'll also see vintage photographs of the locations and people we're talking about.

The video version will be out in a couple of days. But in the meantime, enjoy the audio version -- and let your imagination or memories fill in the blanks.