There was a time, in this American life, when waiting for a package to be delivered to our doorstep was akin to being able to come downstairs on Christmas morning.

Some of that excitement was demonstrated in Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man,” in a now-famous selection called “The Wells Fargo Wagon.” Set in River City of 1912, townspeople line the streets as the much-anticipated wagon enters town, loaded with goods they had ordered.
“O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin’ down the street.

Oh, don’t let him pass my door!

O-ho the Wells Fargo

Wagon is a-comin’ down the street

I wish I knew what he was comin’ for.”
These were the days of early 20th century, when towns were still relying heavily on deliveries from the more populated and industrialized areas such as Chicago, or the East Coast. It was the height of the catalog era, when you could browse Montgomery Wards or Sears catalogs for a dizzying array of products. The Main Streets eventually grew and brick and mortar stores came to be built, offering goods right in your own community. Eventually, hardware, clothing, jewelry, shoes and groceries all found their place on Main Street and, eventually, car dealerships, TV and radio stores, and all manner of general merchandise.

Nothing has probably impacted our shopping experience more than the use of the Internet. It gives us access where we had none before. But in reveling in that ease, I wonder if we haven’t also entered the era of “Be careful what you wish for.”

According to CNN Money, 2017 will surpass what was considered the worst year — 2008 — for retail store closures, when 6,163 stores shut down. With only half of this year gone, 5,300 stores have already closed. Bankruptcies are up 32 percent from a year ago. Names like Gander Mountain, Gordmans, Macy, the Limited, Rue 21, even Nieman-Marcus — are closing stores, or filing for bankruptcy (some of these are restructuring bankruptcies).

And for those whose doors are closed permanently, there is the loss of jobs. In small communities, it is particularly onerous. I live in Osage, Iowa, just a short journey south of here. When I first moved to town in 1998, there were two grocery stores, two hardware stores, two pharmacies. Today, those numbers have been halved, and I still consider myself lucky to have them at all. I recently heard some gift shops are planning to close, too. The increase in store closures helps to suck the life out of small communities, whose prospective residents want services and amenities. I suspect it is a problem that, once it gets a foothold, starts a downward spiral that is hard to slow.

Benefits of shopping on the internet cannot be ignored, obviously. It is manna for those hard-to-find items. Ironically, it may be robbing us of what were once easily-found items, making me wonder how far we’ve actually come.

It’s true that the vast online inventory is great (How many can say, “Wayfair” or “Amazon”). It is so vast, in fact, that small town brick and mortar stores cannot compete. Those things that we were once able to buy in town are now having to be ordered online. In some cases, that quick run into the store to pick up something now takes days, or at the very least, a drive to another town.

It is especially galling for things like clothes, or shoes. And if you are buying those things on the internet, you just have to take it on faith that items will fit, be the right color and that they will be delivered in a timely fashion. You also hope your identity isn’t stolen. And how many times do you enjoy filling out that shipping information? Ugh.

And if you have to send an item back, you better hope you qualified for free shipping.

As more stores stock smaller and smaller inventories, are we slowly finding our way back to the days of the Wells Fargo wagon, with fewer choices and fewer options for a “hands-on-the-merchandise” shopping experience?

Jeez, when I think of it — well, it just used to be a lot easier to shop.

The internet is not going away, and thank goodness; I cannot imagine life without it.

But in terms of shopping  I can’t help but feel that while it seemed as if we gained something with all that ease of shopping on the net, in the end, we’ve really lost.