There was a Ben Franklin store in Illinois where my materal grandparents lived. They carried a great assortment of things to interest me. I bought my first embroidery pieces there. The most vivid memory was about 1951 or 52 we were in Illinois for Christmas I was spending the night with my cousin Vicki at her house.They had a 10 foot Christmas tree that had an electric train around the bottom. The tree sat on top of a tunnel and was covered with both antique and hand made ornaments. About midnight the tree came crashing down. At midnight thirty we were in the car going to the Ben Franklin to meet the owners who let us in to buy new ornaments for the tree. We all got home including the owners of Ben Franklin and proceeded to re-do the tree. Fortunately Santa was late that night and we got the tree finished before he came. This story comes out every year when my cousins and their children put up the tree. Sad to say the Ben Franklin and my cousin Vicki are no longer with us, but the memories survive.