Ask people on the East Side today what The Meadowlark is and, if they even know, they’ll tell you that it's the newsletter of the West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association. That’s true as far as it goes, but it isn’t the original Meadowlark. The original Meadowlark took the form of the student newspaper at Meadowbrook Junior High School, 2001 Ederville Rd. S. This location was just north of the open field at the corner of Meadowbrook and Oakland that I mentioned in an earlier post. When the cattle left I can’t say, but that field today is part of the original Meadowbrook Junior High School, now known as Meadowbrook Middle School.
Where did that information come from? From a time capsule I didn’t know I had, in the form of the May 4, 1951 issue that focused on the graduating class of 1951. In the course of six pages, this version of The Meadowlark offers a fascinating window into what Junior High was like in those days and the activities they had. Even better are the advertisements that help rediscover the kinds of businesses that existed in the area back then.
So bear with me, folks. It’s gonna take more than a little time to wade thru all this history, probably forming a substantial number of posts in the process. To get us started, let’s look at some of the ads. They are:
Moseley Refrigeration Co., 1529 E. Lancaster. Their phone number was listed as FO-4118. The advertisement stated that they were Mechanical contractors – Heating – Cooling and they were located on that part of E. Lancaster that is now known as mission row.
Trailer Finance Company. No address given, but their phone number was NO-5696. Obviously a small loan company, but I know nothing else about them. Can any of you help?
Brandon’s, 1415 E. Lancaster. Their ad states Drugs – Groceries – Household Needs, so it’s apparent they were some kind of neighborhood market along the lines of what we now call a convenience store. No more than a block from Moseley Refrigeration, which indicates that part of E. Lancaster was thriving at that time.
University Supply & Equipment Co., 1204 Ayers St. Phone number was LA-0803. They described themselves as Printers – Publishers – Lithographers, Publishers of High School and College Yearbooks. Their address puts them right around the intersection of Ayers and E. Rosedale.
Ferry’s Boot Shop, 5807 E. Lancaster, phone number LA-9435. Location would have been pretty close to the intersection of E. Lancaster and Canton Dr.
Mott’s, 3008 E. Rosedale, phone LA-5629. The ad lists them as a 5c – 10c – 25c Store. Their address puts them just west of Vaughn Blvd. and almost directly across the street from Texas Wesleyan College in that block long strip of brick buildings that’s mostly boarded up these days.
Tharp’s Grocery & Market, 2636 Meadowbrook. Their ad states that they have Quality Merchandise. Location was around the intersection of Ward and Meadowbrook, not more that a block from where Meadowbrook joins E. Lancaster.
John Morris Floral Company, Flowers For All Occasions – Three Locations To Give Better Service. No idea where two locations were, but one was on the southeast corner of Boston St. and E. Lancaster, directly east of the Valero service station.
The Chicken Shack No. 2, Specializing In Leslie’s Fried Chicken, 4400 E. Lancaster, phone LA-2319. You know, they say there’s nothing new under the sun and this ad proves it. Fried chicken businesses have apparently been on E. Lancaster since the first fried chicken moved out of the family kitchen! Incidentally, their location was just the other side of the Rand/E. Lancaster intersection.
That’s about it for this post, but don’t go away. There’s another two pages of ads to go through. By the time we’ve turned the last page, we’re going to know a lot more about life in this area during 1951. Considering the way things have been going for us lately, meaning the economy, fuel prices, food prices, etc., we could wind up wishing we could go back to 1951!
Showing posts with label groceries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label groceries. Show all posts
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Cars, Taxis, Buses and (Gasp!) Walking
If you're curious about how people got around back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it was just like it is today, only better. At least I think it was better.
Private cars, of course, but for those who couldn't afford to own a car there were plenty of other options. Taxi fares were very reasonable (dirt cheap by today's standards) and the same went for buses. If I remember correctly, bus fare was something like ten or fifteen cents on the city bus. Incidentally, instead of being called the T, as it is today, it was the Fort Worth Transit Company.
Walking wasn't done for exercise but was, instead, a perfectly normal…and safe… means of getting around. No one thought it unusual to walk half a mile or a mile to one of the few neighborhood groceries (a slightly larger version of what we now call convenience stores) and then walk back home carrying two or three large sacks (paper, not plastic) of groceries. When you needed to buy a large supply of groceries, or items that the neighborhood groceries never carried (such as candied fruit in bulk, not pre-packaged, for holiday fruitcakes) you took the bus downtown to Leonards Department Store (they had a huge grocery section on the ground floor, comparable to today's smaller supermarkets). After buying a full shopping basket of groceries (which might have cost you all of ten or twelve dollars, if that) you splurged and took a taxi home for the phenomenal sum of $1.50 or $2.00. For that price, two passengers rode and the taxi driver even helped unload the groceries from the taxi.
If you're wondering just how safe it really was in those days, consider the following. Many's the time my mother was waiting on a bus (which ran every fifteen minutes during peak periods) when a rank stranger driving down the street would stop and offer her a ride to work. That's it…just a ride to work. The person, either man or woman, was simply headed toward town and didn't see the point of leaving another person standing on the curb waiting for a bus. It was nothing more than simple consideration for a fellow human being. Once they got downtown, my mother would get out near the phone company to go to work, thank the person for the ride and go on, knowing she'd never see that person again.
Even more shocking by today's standards is the fact that when I seven and eight years old, it was commonplace for me to walk two blocks to the bus stop…by myself…ride the bus downtown and meet my mother for lunch at the phone company, maybe spend time in some of the shops downtown (particularly bookstores or newsstands), then ride the bus back home…alone. I was never bothered, assaulted, abducted or otherwise threatened by anyone. And believe me, I talked to any stranger that I happened to be near!
Oh, yeah, one other thing. Waiting for the bus out in the neighborhood was always fun because you could entertain yourself by catching and playing with Horned Toads. When the bus came, you put'em back on the ground or in the grass where you found them. And at night in the summer, fireflys were virtually epidemic. Try finding either one today!
Private cars, of course, but for those who couldn't afford to own a car there were plenty of other options. Taxi fares were very reasonable (dirt cheap by today's standards) and the same went for buses. If I remember correctly, bus fare was something like ten or fifteen cents on the city bus. Incidentally, instead of being called the T, as it is today, it was the Fort Worth Transit Company.
Walking wasn't done for exercise but was, instead, a perfectly normal…and safe… means of getting around. No one thought it unusual to walk half a mile or a mile to one of the few neighborhood groceries (a slightly larger version of what we now call convenience stores) and then walk back home carrying two or three large sacks (paper, not plastic) of groceries. When you needed to buy a large supply of groceries, or items that the neighborhood groceries never carried (such as candied fruit in bulk, not pre-packaged, for holiday fruitcakes) you took the bus downtown to Leonards Department Store (they had a huge grocery section on the ground floor, comparable to today's smaller supermarkets). After buying a full shopping basket of groceries (which might have cost you all of ten or twelve dollars, if that) you splurged and took a taxi home for the phenomenal sum of $1.50 or $2.00. For that price, two passengers rode and the taxi driver even helped unload the groceries from the taxi.
If you're wondering just how safe it really was in those days, consider the following. Many's the time my mother was waiting on a bus (which ran every fifteen minutes during peak periods) when a rank stranger driving down the street would stop and offer her a ride to work. That's it…just a ride to work. The person, either man or woman, was simply headed toward town and didn't see the point of leaving another person standing on the curb waiting for a bus. It was nothing more than simple consideration for a fellow human being. Once they got downtown, my mother would get out near the phone company to go to work, thank the person for the ride and go on, knowing she'd never see that person again.
Even more shocking by today's standards is the fact that when I seven and eight years old, it was commonplace for me to walk two blocks to the bus stop…by myself…ride the bus downtown and meet my mother for lunch at the phone company, maybe spend time in some of the shops downtown (particularly bookstores or newsstands), then ride the bus back home…alone. I was never bothered, assaulted, abducted or otherwise threatened by anyone. And believe me, I talked to any stranger that I happened to be near!
Oh, yeah, one other thing. Waiting for the bus out in the neighborhood was always fun because you could entertain yourself by catching and playing with Horned Toads. When the bus came, you put'em back on the ground or in the grass where you found them. And at night in the summer, fireflys were virtually epidemic. Try finding either one today!
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