The last "military surplus store" in the area is closing down.....

[Harry O]

Actually, it started out in 1946 as a real military surplus store. I remember going there (and a few other surplus stores) and buying stuff (or asking my father to buy me something). Some of my early toys were rubber ID models that were made to train our soldiers what airplanes, tanks, and ships looked like. I have a really early picture of me playing with a toy sized replica of a US landing craft. How I ended up with that, I don't remember. However, I do remember that it did not float.

In later years, when I joined the Boy Scouts, pretty much all my camping supplies were US surplus. Mess kit, shovel, sleeping bag or heavy blanket. I still have the shovels (I got more than one because they were really useful) and a jack from an original Jeep (still also useful). The actual surplus stuff started petering out in the late-1950's to mid-1960's. All the other surplus stores closed down back then. Canfield's moved into hunting/fishing/outdoor stuff. Naturally, it was higher priced. Since then, Scheel's, Cabelas, and Bass Pro Shop have moved into the area. It was too much for them to stay in business. Too bad.

[Thumbcocker]

Ahh the smell of musty canvas and cosmoline. Good times.

[aephilli822]

Ahh the smell of musty canvas and cosmoline. Good times.

:bigsmyl2:

[KenT7021]

My favorite surplus store was Surplus City in Colorado Springs during the early 60's.

[Uncle Jimbo]

Actually, it started out in 1946 as a real military surplus store. I remember going there (and a few other surplus stores) and buying stuff (or asking my father to buy me something). Some of my early toys were rubber ID models that were made to train our soldiers what airplanes, tanks, and ships looked like. I have a really early picture of me playing with a toy sized replica of a US landing craft. How I ended up with that, I don't remember. However, I do remember that it did not float.

In later years, when I joined the Boy Scouts, pretty much all my camping supplies were US surplus. Mess kit, shovel, sleeping bag or heavy blanket. I still have the shovels (I got more than one because they were really useful) and a jack from an original Jeep (still also useful). The actual surplus stuff started petering out in the late-1950's to mid-1960's. All the other surplus stores closed down back then. Canfield's moved into hunting/fishing/outdoor stuff. Naturally, it was higher priced. Since then, Scheel's, Cabelas, and Bass Pro Shop have moved into the area. It was too much for them to stay in business. Too bad.

Sunset Army Navy surplus store. Everything I bought for hunting or outdoor use came from there. It eventually changed to Sunset Sporting goods. And it has been gone for some 40+ years now.

[Artful]

Sorry for your lose, I used to haunt the Surplus store also the jungle hammock that took 30 years to get over - the C rations with that brown bread/nut loaf we survived - lots of memories that the kids today will never get a chance at having.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I remember those surplus stores very well. You could buy a wooden Springfield drill rifle for a few bucks. I used to play with one. You could buy all manner of leather goods including McClellan saddles, I think they were 18 bucks.

[bob208]

my scout troop in the early 60's got a lot of surplus stuff like the canvas buckets, folding shovels and tents.

[koehn,jim]

We are lucky in my area, we still have Major Surplus, they still sell a lot of real surplus items. They don't have that much U.S. surplus but a lot of other countries military surplus.

[jonp]

Remember when you could actually buy great surplus at a reasonable price? The last Army Navy Surplus I went in had golf clubs for sale. I miss the old stores.

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=s: Oh yeah.Those were the days.A friend of mine was a surplus-a-holic.Bought a whole bundle of the wool blankets.His wife turned them into long sleeved shirts and vests,including pockets.Another friend bought two PRC 2 radios,and got them working.It helped that he was a radio tech in the Marines.We sure had fun with those when we went hunting.Sure do miss those stores a lot.That particular store even had a Higgens boat in the parking lot for sale.Was sold within a week of arriving.
Good luck.have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[Thumbcocker]

There are still out there. After watching a youtube video about it I got a Swiss M70 field jacket for $20 to my door. Liked it so well I got another for a spare and one for Mrs. Thumbcocker. Superb quality and lots of pockets ( I am a pocket junky). Midway had them in stock.

[Gewehr-Guy]

We had a good store called Huron Surplus & Guns, they used to run two full page ads in the Shotgun News , a good friend of mine helped them to close it down. They called in some dealers to buy the guns and ammo and a few other things, then the rest was hauled out to the parking lot and picked up by the garbage trucks. Huge piles of wool clothing, canvas goods leather stuff there for the taking. By the time I found out about it , was pretty much picked over. Now all that stuff would be worth a fortune.

[country gent]

Woodville Surplus here went to more retail store than military surplus as did the one in Bowling Green, not sure that one is even open now. Our biggest surpluss store is CMP North at Camp Perry now. And their prices selection isn't that good anymore, the Days of the $100.00 springfields and 17s and $169.00 Garands are long past

[webfoot10]

Millers Surplus in Riverside California in the late 50s had racks of military rifles.
SVT40 Russian semi-auto for $20- Enfields for $10.00, 1891 Argentine mausers
for $15.00. And the little Australian cadet rifles in original .310 cal,or converted
to 32/20 or 32 win. $20.00. the good old days. Wish I had saved the case of
Argentine 1891's that I bought for $50.00 for 10 rifles still in cosmoline.

[bedbugbilly]

Sadly, they seem to be disappearing. There was a good one in the city where my wife and I went to college. Bargains galore. I can remember buying her a great Air Force parka that had the fur trim on the hood - super warm for her when walking not he cold and blowy campus during winter - it lasted for yeqrw. Great bargains for such things as ftigue pants, etc. - a big help with affordable things when we were first starting out and didn't have a pot to **** in. Lot's of good camping gear too. That was 50 years ago and I'm pretty sure it closed long ago.

[lightman]

Yeah, I miss the smell of old canvas and cosmoline. We had a guy here that went to government auctions during the early 90's that sold the stuff out of a small store. Theres nothing like that left around here anymore.

[starmac]

I don't even remember the name of it, but when I was a kid we would go to one in Pasadena Texas. I couldn't tell you what they were, but they always had rifles in barrels for 19.95 back then.

[richhodg66]

My favorite surplus store was Surplus City in Colorado Springs during the early 60's.

There was a big one in Lawton, Oklahoma which close a few years ago. It was my favorite store there. They had a smaller one in Altus for a while and I think there was one in New Mexico someplace. Hated to see it go.

[dale2242]

Ah, Hills Surplus in Grants Pass, Oregon the 50s.
$50 M1 Carbines and 1911s.....dale

[WFO2]

Most towns with a large military base still have real surplus stores . Ft Hood is close enough to mr for a drive and they have several real surplus stores .

[mold maker]

We have a new store nearby, but it's not the same as the old surplus. Gone are the days of the great deals for young guys. Everything now is unfamiliar new stuff.
Guess I just dated myself.

[country gent]

And then there was Bannermans mail order. Pretty much everything under the sun

[RogerDat]

Harry's Army Navy Surplus started in a loft selling used shirts, jackets and pants in the late 60's or early 70's. The Ann Arbor store provided probably half the wardrobe of the college students. Later they got into a bigger location and had all manner of surplus items, shelter halves, camping gear, packs and frames from US and a lot of other countries. I still use a couple of leather ammo pouches from there. My kids play tents were shelter halves. I still have a wool Pea coat I think might be Italian navy.

They had a basement stock room and when they moved out they found the former stock boy had been hitting the C rations through MRE's up for the smokes, coffee, chocolate, and sometimes a meal. They found this out because there was a drift of opened and pillaged packages piled behind some pallets of old stock. Along with the canteen base cups and used up sterno cans he employed to heat his pilfered loot. We are talking years worth of debris.

The moved to go upscale but over time shifted to all upscale camping and sporting goods, and then were creamed by the big box stores and internet sales of same goods. I think they may still have a store over in Dearborn area, might have to drive over and take a look next time I'm headed that way.

[HABCAN]

In the late '60's Crown Surplus in Calgary had 9mm and .45ACP ball ammo in big wooden barrels.............and sold it by the POUND. There were paper bags and a metal scoop for 'help yourself'. They had a wheeled 40mm Bofors outside in the lot.........for sale. I think they were asking the exorbitant price of CDN$2,000.00 for it. A few guys I knew bought Bren Gun Carriers to use for wilderness hunting, but were put off when the tracks jumped off the bogies in sharp turns: there was a steering axle in the front, i'm told. And others bought undercarriage wheels from Lancaster bombers to make dune buggies. Them were the (innovative!) days!

[RGrosz]

Sioux City had 2 across the street from each other. they closed years ago. When I moved down to the Omaha area and was still in the USAR used to shop Cainfields all the time. I still miss the place and the stores.
Rob

[Harry O]

Originally, the Canfields store was in a very old brick building on Cuming St. at about 24th St. The building had several businesses in it. As other businesses in the building moved out, Canfields expanded. Eventually, they had the entire building. Creighton University was 2 blocks from the store. I doubt if many people from Creighton shopped there. It is a VERY expensive private school. However, Creighton started expanding in the 1980's. Whenever a property went up for sale, they bought it. Most did not even bother to go up for sale. They just got an appraisal, upped it considerably, and then contacted Creighton. Canfields was one of the last to go. They sold the building (and land under it) for an "undisclosed amount" about 20-25 years ago. They used the money to buy a shopping center with a big empty building that they moved into. It was near 84th St. and Center St.

I wondered what Creighton could put on the land. I knew from previous engineering work in the area that "Public Sewer Line #2" ran under the building. Yep, the second oldest sewer in the City ran under the building. It was built sometime in the 1880's. It was a triple-layer brick sewer line about 7 or 8 feet in diameter. And it was pretty shallow. Building are not supposed to be built on top of sewer lines (for a number of reasons), however, they may have not learned WHY you don't build buildings on top of sewers until after the building was built.

Anyway, Creighton ended up putting a parking lot on top of it, one of the few things that is allowed over sewer easements. I figure that was a pretty expensive parking lot. I wonder if Creighton knew about this restriction before they bought the property.

[10-x]

Old Army surplus is collectable, one reason its gone. Millions of GI items were made in WWII, after leand lease give aways after the war most was sold for pennies on the dollar. Can think of many on the east coast that are gone. Original owners passed, most seems had kids with no interest so big auction or worse it went to the dump. Was a 13 story one in JAX Fla. that had just about everything from WWII - Vietnam. Torn down and a parking lot now. Guy outside Petersburg Va. had M 151 tubs, M-37 cook stoves and lots in between, gone now as he passed. Then the guy in Boone, N.C. had "Ducks" he drove from Jacksonville, N.C. to Boone in 1946, converted them to logging trucks, also had tons of other GI equipment. Remember going to ones in Richmond, Baltimore , Winston Salem and many more. Worse thing is all the so called surplus knock off junk from china, rothco, IIRC. By chance you have the true old surplus better check out what it is, shame to trash a $300-$500 jacket when you can sell it to a collector and by a nice Bean or other new one. Good ole days are gone for good.