The town general store was a one-stop shop for life’s necessities, selling everything from groceries and animal feed to socks and chamber pots, while items not kept in stock could be ordered by mail and delivered to the store. It was also a social center where families made an outing of a visit, friends met, children played together, news was exchanged, and in many small towns the general store also served as the post office. Built about the 1880s in New Prague, Minnesota, the Mach Daylight Store took its name from its large glass front windows that let daylight into the business.