(WHAS11) -This financial crisis isn’t the biggest challenge some Louisville businesses have had to face. They survived the Great Depression when stores around them closed their doors.

Downtown Louisville looked a lot different 80 years ago, but two businesses have always been part of the landscape. Muth’s Candy opened in 1921 on East Market.

“They got into the business because Rudy loved making candy. So when he got back from WWI that’s what he wanted to do was open his own candy store,” said Martha Vories, Manager of Muth’s Candy.

And Caufield’s Novelties opened in 1920 on South 3^rd St. as a photography studio.

“They took $20 and invested in tricks and jokes in the waiting room of the photography studio, and the tricks and jokes started outselling the photographs. So they closed studio and opened Caufield’s Novelties,” said Tracy Caufield Johnson, Manager of Caufield’s Novelties.

But just a few years after opening, the Great Depression threatened to close them.

Martha heard stories from her Great Aunt.

“She said she had made checks out on Saturday, and the bank called her on Monday and told her, ‘There’s no funds.’”

She told WHAS 11’s Adrianna Hopkins that the company next door had cash on hand and helped them out.

Tracy’s father told her that Caufield’s made it through by keeping people upbeat.

“The kind of things we sell, they’re fun things. They’re lighthearted things, not high ticket items. And at a time when the economy is not real good you may need something to laugh and have a good time with,” she said.

“It has few substitutes, and the cost is very little,” explained U of L Professor Jim McCabe. He says novelty-type stores tend to endure when others falter in tough economies.

“The automobile industry, appliances, construction, housing, definitely are very cyclical, so they do very well on the upside and very poorly on the downside.”

Martha says Muth’s will make it through this tough economy because of their reputation and loyal customers.

Tracy says Caufield’s rolls with the changes of demand.

They say there’s no trick to lasting 80 plus years, but at Caufield’s a little magic, never hurts.

Another thing both stores have going for them—they ship their product to places all over the nation. After all, they’ve been in business for more than 80 years - people know them and trust them.