Rural Missouri - December 2017 - 31

The Eggers and Co. General Store can trace its beginnings back to 1896 when Farrar had two
competing stores. The photo at top shows the store in 1900 when it was owned by a man
named Bueckman. He built the store and later sold it to Herman and Henry Klaus not long after

this photo was taken. Trucks replaced buggies in the photo at left, taken around 1923 when Tom
and Walt Eggers had taken over. The photo above shows the only addition made to the store
over the years. A small porch was framed in to create a parlor and more attic space.

common to a country store: items such as cans of carbide for hunter's lamps,
bluing for clothes washing, Fire Chief matches, medicine for poultry and livestock, wicks for kerosene lanterns, pipe cleaners and toothpicks.
"The store served the town," Ellen relates. "I was told that at
one point nine employees worked here. They had an egg business, they had cream. There was a Farrar Cream Association
and that was a co-op. When I was a child they had little tables
and chairs in the back and they sold beverages and ice cream
bars. They sold everything you needed."
As if Ellen's ancestors wanted the Fryes to own the store, items
once used here returned with uncanny regularity. As they remodeled the store into a bed-and-breakfast, relatives offered Grandma's dining room set and a Farrar Ramblers baseball team jersey
passed down from
family members.
At an auction, all bidding
ceased on a dresser once owned
by Walt and his wife who lived
at the store. "The auctioneer
was having a ﬁt," Ellen says.
"He couldn't understand why no
one was bidding. It was because
they wanted us to have it."
Showing off the remodeled
store and attached home, Ellen
points out items that were part
of the store. An old Falstaff beer
sign hung in the store for years.
A nightstand was made from a
shipping crate left behind by
the storekeepers. The Fryes
found the crate's lid in the attic,
marked with "Bueckman, Farrar, Missouri."
Nearly every decoration and
piece of furniture used in the
remodeling has a story and a
connection to the community.
There are three guest rooms.

Each one has its own private bathroom, something the Fryes had to work hard
to add since the store never had plumbing.
One room is named Walt's Room in honor of Uncle Walt. In the store's early
days, salesmen, known as drummers, would stay in a guest room at the
store. The new Drummer's Room has a more masculine feel to it than the
other rooms.
The third room is called the Girl's Room. This room was shared by
Ellen's mother and her sister. It is painted pink and green to match
a heart-shaped pillow made from one of her grandma's quilts.
A small kitchen lets guests make snacks or keep drinks cold.
Downstairs, a parlor, dining room and a full kitchen hosts guests
Farrar
for the traditional breakfast prepared by Steve and Ellen. Their
signature breakfast starts with locally made gritzwurst, a sausage made with oatmeal that Steve slices like bacon. With it is
served frittata, cooked apples and kuchen, German coffee cake
with seasonal fruit toppings that is a local tradition.
"If they are here for a second evening oftentimes we do a stuffed French
toast," Steve says. This treat is made by slicing open pieces of white bread and
adding a combination of cherries and two or three cheeses, then dipping in egg
and frying to a golden brown.
Everything at Eggers and Company intentionally works to make guests slow
down and enjoy their stay. There is no television or Wi-Fi, and cell phone reception drops off long before reaching Farrar. There is a wind-up Victrola, and the
hosts added a hot tub to a rebuilt summer kitchen where guests can relax.
"When general stores were really vibrant, most people lived in rural America," Steve says. "So a general store like this, and the church up the hill, were
really the pillars of the community. In many ways the fabric of America was
woven in towns like this. So while we can't ever hope to make it a general store
again, we can tip our hat to what it was and what it gave us in return."
He says almost all of the guests so far have come back to stay again. "Without exception, every person we've had in at some point in their stay remembers
a general store," he says. "There is some connection with pretty much everyone.
That's so exciting to us. It tells us we are touching people's souls, reaching back
for those fond memories."
Eggers and Company is open Friday and Saturday year round and Wednesday to Sunday from June through August. Rooms rent for $89 plus tax. The store
is also available for catered events. For more information, call 573-824-5271 or
314-706-0159 or visit www.eggersandcompany.com.
DECEMBER 2017 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP

http://www.eggersandcompany.com http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - December 2017