Post by David Sechrest on Oct 24, 2005 2:59:26 GMT -5
A little over two years ago, William Pumphrey Sr. emailed me a history of Mom and Pop grocery stores in Columbus throughout the 1930's and 1940's.
In this day and age of Village Pantries, 7-11's, and other national convenience store chains, you'll not find too many "family owned" grocery stores in any city, let alone Columbus. Those that exist today can be counted on one hand (and right off-hand, I can only think of one). It seems that today's mexican grocery stores are closest to what the mom and pop stores were like (and even in the same location as some of the old markets).
Mom and Pop grocery stores were once a thriving part of local neighborhoods all throughout Columbus. It seemed each neighborhood had at least one, and chances were pretty good that you stopped in to buy something from them on a weekly basis. During my youth (the 1960's), I remember Russell's Grocery on Center Street, owned by G. W. and Roxie Russell. Here are a few others from the 1962 phone book:
Coles IGA, 201 Washington Street
Garrison's Produce, 2041 State Street (this must be what we called "the Fruit Market")
Deitz's Northside Market, 1105 23rd Street
Dewey's Market, 1132 8th Street
Eudy's Market, 662 N. Gladstone Avenue
Ogle's Central Market, 1465 Chestnut Street
William Palmer's Market, 1625 State Street
Parker's Market, 1125 16th Street
Phillip's Grocery, 2052 State Street
Powell's Grocery, 1212 Morningside Drive
Spurgeon's Grocery, 291 N. Gladstone Avenue
Sunshine Grocery, 217 4th Street
Sylvester Brothers, 1851 State Street
Two Mile House Grocery, Nashville Road
Wally's IGA, 706 McKinley Avenue
Warner's Market, 1417 Chestnut
White Star Market, 440 4th Street
The above list isn't anywhere close to being a complete document of all neighborhood grocery stores in Columbus Indiana in the 1960's. Russell's Grocery, as I stated earlier, wasn't listed. I know they had a phone, as I can recall mom calling Roxie and talking to her. And I don't think that Russell's had closed up shop by 1962.
I remember several from the above list. Spurgeon's, Wally's, what we called the Fruit Market, and Powell's Grocery on Morningside Drive were all familiar haunts to me.
As with convenience stores today, the local neighborhood grocery supplied the same need. They were close to home, and had an ample stock of common items most households used. The "kid" business probably wasn't too bad either. Candy bars, cokes, and bubble gum were a common purchase amongst us juveniles. A pound of baloney here, a loaf of bread there. If you were a grownup, you got the latest round of neighborhood gossip, which came free of charge. They were convenient, moreso in the 1960's day and age. Families were lucky to have one car, let alone 2. Moms didn't have transportation to run to Standard or IGA or Marsh to pick something up (it wasn't uncommon for wives NOT to have a driver's license, either). So, she made out a small list and gave it to one of the kids. Most times, the note also said "charge it to my account" until payday.
The mom and pop stores couldn't compete with the larger chains and they didn't try. Their main intent was not to see if they could beat out the competition by selling lower. Instead, it was all based on convenience.
Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.
William Pumphrey's personal account and history can be found in the next post.
Posted by David Sechrest on 10.24.05 at 4:03am
Re: History Of Mom And Pop Grocery Stores
By William Pumphrey, Sr...
At the time of my birth in 1930, this country, this community was experiencing a deep dark depression. People had not lost the desire to succeed, but how? Locally there were a few professions that were considered essential such as doctors lawyers, barbers, wagon builders, etc., but these were all trades requiring education and training. There were also businesses that were handed down from one generation to the next, but even some of those failed.
Common sense dictated that people had to eat, clothe themselves, and die. Could a clue be found here to start a business? In the 1920's and 1930's, work was hard to find. Companies like the ones later started by Q.G.Noblit and Clessie Cummins were off in the distant future and at that time the products that were later produced by them were not needed on a large scale. During the period following WWI, the population of Columbus ,along with East Columbus was around 10,000. The city itself covered an area of 25 streets running North to South and roughly 30 Streets from East to West.This was convenient for a lot of reasons: lack of transportation, fuel delivery for heating, doctor visits, and other such needs. There weren't many governmental services such as police, fire, water and sewer. No garbage pick up. The words "property tax" were N/A.
This will be an attempt to show what happened locally in the food business, along with the help of a lot of other local people who were either directly or indirectly involved with this subject.
A few grocery stores were clustered in the downtown district and still fewer in other places of the city. In the following years during the 1920's and 1930's, 14 grocery stores were located in a 12 block area downtown. These are now called "Mom and Pop" stores, or corner grocery stores. 6 more located in what was then called East Columbus. Between 7th and 11th streets, 13 more sprang up. Some operated out of homes, and others in shotgun type buildings.
Between 14th and 17th streets, 5 more grocery stores came along, followed by 5 more between 17th and 23rd streets. Columbus held a record for corner groceries. In all, about 40 stores were doing business during the same time period and were successful for decades.
Stores then sold a variety of merchandise besides groceries. Milk and bread were available by home delivery due to lack of preserving freshness. Like today, the 3 secrets of success for a business were location, location, location. Ralph Deitz's store was across the street from the foundry. Ralph sold drinks and snacks to the workers at break time and sold them dinner in a back room of his store.
Ed Franke located on State Street at 5 points, and sold gas, toys, and anything else to make a buck. Gas back then was around 10 cents a gallon and you could buy a child's cast iron toy for a nickel. Kites,yo-yo's, marbles, and sling-shots were big sellers then. Jewelry and womens apparel drew trade.
Almost all grocers gave credit to entice business. Shorty Prather's dad's sandwich shop located on 335 Jackson Street. He bought all of his meat from Vorwalds Market. Shorty Jr. said his dad did over 1/4 million dollars worth of business with Vorwald, all on selling 25 cent sandwiches.
Ernest Stadler related to me that Ralph and Ray Deitz did over a million dollars worth of business with Stadlers Meat Packing Company, located here in Columbus. To give you an idea of the volume of business it would take for that amount of sales, you could buy 5 pounds of hamburger for one dollar. Businesses also gave stamps as an incentive to buy from them. Shorty told me about his mom getting him a brand new Wester Flyer bicycle and his grandmother a wrist watch with those stamps.
Stores also gave credit as I previously mentioned. Families lived from one week to the next on their incomes, if they had any. This worked to the detriment of a lot of store owners. I remember Palmer's Store on State Street in East Columbus being broken into and the only thing taken was bills due Mr. Palmer. The thief scattered the bills down the ally as he fled. Of course, the thief tore his bill up so it couldn't be found.
Back then, there were more poor people than those who were well off. However, they were never defeated. I can't say people worked together to solve problems.The only time large numbers of folks gathered was Sunday in church. They did, however, have something going for them and that was enginuity. My dad had a 1937 Plymouth 2-door sedan. He would remove the back seat and go to a chuch-going, farmer friend, and buy a hog. How he ever loaded that large animal into the back of that car I'll never know. He would take the hog to the farmers market, have it butchered, and rent a freezer locker. We would have fresh meat for months.
My dad did alot of fishing. When the river flooded and water flowed across the road in Azalia, he, along with many others, would pitch fork large fish as the fish swam across the road. This was God's way of providing, he would say.
During the Ohio River flood in 1937, many people were brought to Columbus from Jeffersonville and stayed in the basement of our church on 5th Street. It became their temporary home until the waters subsided.
Winters were another thing. Our 5-room rented home was heated with a coal stove. We lived in the dining room and kitchen during the winter. I could always count on keeping the coal bucket full. It was my job to take out the ashes every day, and sometimes twice a day depending on the temperature. Of course I'd be the one who went to Henry Grocery Store for needed items.
Irvin Hamlin had a store at 114 2nd Street. When he gave change, he would always drop any indian head pennies into a gallon glass jar. That jar was filled to the top with pennies. I wonder what ever happened to it. The value of those coins would be worth a fortune today
As WWII came, we experienced shortages, and rationing became a part of life. Grocers went nuts as they also had to make their purchases with ration cards and most of them were not bookeepers.
A local enterprising man named William Lawless had worked for Habig's wholesale food distributor business in Indianapolis for years and thought the time was right to quit and open his own warehouse here in Columbus. He set up shop in the old Fehring Carriage bldg. on 3rd Street. He carried and sold fresh produce here until the growth of his business became to much for him to handle. He hired Mr. Harry Carmichael, who had left Allison engine plant in Indianapolis where he worked as a chemical engineer. William Lawless began buying local stores in Columbus. (Harry, by the way, contributed to this effort of local grocery store history). Harry was responsable for overseeing the operation for William. William then talked his son, William Jr., another college graduate, to join the business. William Sr. bought the Roy Burns Grocery Store at 330 3rd Street and moved his office above it. By the mid 1940's, he now owned a total of 8 stores in Columbus. William Sr. was a man on the move, but as it turned out, he let an opportunity slip through his fingers. All the ingredients were there to be the first chain store in Columbus, but it did not happen (this is only my observation of events).
Harry Carmichael told me some interesting stories about war-time rationing and how a simple situation got out of hand with the ration board and nearly caused William Sr. to have heart failure. The problem came down through the ranks and it finally ended with the facts being straightened out, but it was a rough period of time for all concerned. At that time, peoples problems were not news fodder. William dealt with the prominent Irwin family because of his ability to procure fresh produce on a daily basis. I don't know this for a fact, but I would guess it cost William a fortune to transport, store, and ship produce because of the amount of labor and ice neccessary to keep the temperature just right. William proved the hard work theory as it allowed him to become a local giant, although one would have never known it. It was just his way of doing business. The old ice plant,by the way, recently went out of business. I have fond memories of that ice plant. My folks stopped there many times during the summer months to get crushed ice for picnics and family reunions.
On a personal note, I can well remember my folks buying a week's supply of groceries for around $5.00. A couple of times a week, I would run down to Henries Grocery on State and McKinley and buy my dad a pack of cigarettes. I would have been 8 years old then. In the 1930's, we had a huge garden each year. My mom would can and preserve as did nearly everyone else at that time. Columbus had a large canning factory, Morgan Packing Company.When season was in, dozens of wagons loaded with corn and pulled by horses would line up at 13th and Hutchins Ave. to be unloaded. When they ran out of sweet corn, they would can field corn. The way they did it, you couldn't tell the difference.
The food business was good to local grocers especially, for at least 3 decades. I knew Irvin and Bernice Hamlin who owned a store and put 3 kids through college. Irvin also worked for Reeves Pulley Company. He never retired. He died there. People for the most part look down on those days. I will always remember them as days that kept people occupied and the entertainment then was, for the most part, a radio in the living room, which meant your mind was busy visualizing what the radio was talking about. I mentioned earlier we did not have a large police department. The reason was simple: we didn't need one. The only crimes to speak of were out of desperation. No one would ever arrest a man for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.
People at that time took no vacations. I can remember across 8th Street bridge and along the river, most of those cottages were summer homes for local store owners. I would deliver the local paper on my bike for an extra 5 cents a week to that area. I knew each one of those merchants. They were kind and generous to a fault. Hard work does that to a person.
As an after thought, I want to mention the fact that a large percent of the old grocery store buildings are still standing. They are now breakfast houses, barber shops and antique stores. They stand as a reminder of alot of hard work.
I wish to thank the following people who were responsible for some of the facts I have put to paper. I could not have done it without them. Shirley Deitz, Sandy Roark, Bob Franke, Max Lemley, Don Lawless, Harry Carmichael, Raymond Butler, Ernest Stadler, Shorty Prather Jr.and my handy 1941 Bell Telephone book which verifies all the facts as presented here. I think it was as much fun for them as for me in remembering those days of challenge. If I've forgotten any one please accept my apology.
The following is a list of Grocery Store owners in the Year 1941. The local city population was 11,738 souls, verified by the Columbus Planning Department.
Anthony Grocery, 638 Indiana Avenue
Arnholt Grocery, 521 7th Street
Battins Food Market, 305 5th Street
Norton Boyd, 527 Washington
Albert Brown, 829 Sycamore Street
Roy Burns, 330 3rd Street
Roy Burns, 558 Indiana Avenue
E.R. Butler, Orinoco Avenue
Gary Davis, 417 16th. Street
Ralph Deitz, 1700 10th Street
Ray Deitz, 1522 Sycamore
Dutro Brothers, 1458 Lafayette Avenue
Edwards Fount Grocery, 2240 California Street
Ed Franke, 608 Indiana Avenue
Frohman Brothers, 434 4th Street
Adrian George, 240 Jackson Street
George Habig, 1132 8th Street
Hamlins Grocery, 114 2nd Street
Henrys Grocery, 304 McKinley Avenue
Alex Hook, 1801 Central Avenue
Horns Midway Market, 1202 7th Street
Joslin And Son, 720 Sycamore Street
Ralph Kirby, 1519 17th. Street
Grant Kitchen, 854 Cottage Avenue
William Littrell, 1417 Chestnut Street
Luther Grocery, 1422 7th Street
B.F.Moore, 839 7th Street
H. J. Newsom, 1001 Lafayette Avenue
Nickersons Market, 1039 Sycamore Street
William Palmer, 425 State Street
H. H. Parker, 1600 Home Avenue A. R. Phenning, 1465 Chestnut Street
Phillips Grocery, 650 State Street
Pittman Grocery, 518 3rd Street
Mar Reed, 1029 10th Street
E. G. Swartzkopf, 1325 21st Street
Sunshine Grocery, 215 4th Street Thurston, 201 Washington Street
Carl Vorwald, 302 3rd Street
The stores that were owned by William Lawless were purchased from others and at this time I do not have this information.There were also stores owned by the following: the Lushers, Nentrups and Noltings, who I think owned the grocery at 13th and Chestnut.
Anyone who can update this info or make a contribution, please do as it is urgent to preserve our local history for future generations.
I have come across a Battin, Owens, and Custer, which I need dates and information on. My guess would be that these people bought existing stores, but I do not have dates or places.
Composition by Bill Pumphrey Sr.
In this day and age of Village Pantries, 7-11's, and other national convenience store chains, you'll not find too many "family owned" grocery stores in any city, let alone Columbus. Those that exist today can be counted on one hand (and right off-hand, I can only think of one). It seems that today's mexican grocery stores are closest to what the mom and pop stores were like (and even in the same location as some of the old markets).
Mom and Pop grocery stores were once a thriving part of local neighborhoods all throughout Columbus. It seemed each neighborhood had at least one, and chances were pretty good that you stopped in to buy something from them on a weekly basis. During my youth (the 1960's), I remember Russell's Grocery on Center Street, owned by G. W. and Roxie Russell. Here are a few others from the 1962 phone book:
Coles IGA, 201 Washington Street
Garrison's Produce, 2041 State Street (this must be what we called "the Fruit Market")
Deitz's Northside Market, 1105 23rd Street
Dewey's Market, 1132 8th Street
Eudy's Market, 662 N. Gladstone Avenue
Ogle's Central Market, 1465 Chestnut Street
William Palmer's Market, 1625 State Street
Parker's Market, 1125 16th Street
Phillip's Grocery, 2052 State Street
Powell's Grocery, 1212 Morningside Drive
Spurgeon's Grocery, 291 N. Gladstone Avenue
Sunshine Grocery, 217 4th Street
Sylvester Brothers, 1851 State Street
Two Mile House Grocery, Nashville Road
Wally's IGA, 706 McKinley Avenue
Warner's Market, 1417 Chestnut
White Star Market, 440 4th Street
The above list isn't anywhere close to being a complete document of all neighborhood grocery stores in Columbus Indiana in the 1960's. Russell's Grocery, as I stated earlier, wasn't listed. I know they had a phone, as I can recall mom calling Roxie and talking to her. And I don't think that Russell's had closed up shop by 1962.
I remember several from the above list. Spurgeon's, Wally's, what we called the Fruit Market, and Powell's Grocery on Morningside Drive were all familiar haunts to me.
As with convenience stores today, the local neighborhood grocery supplied the same need. They were close to home, and had an ample stock of common items most households used. The "kid" business probably wasn't too bad either. Candy bars, cokes, and bubble gum were a common purchase amongst us juveniles. A pound of baloney here, a loaf of bread there. If you were a grownup, you got the latest round of neighborhood gossip, which came free of charge. They were convenient, moreso in the 1960's day and age. Families were lucky to have one car, let alone 2. Moms didn't have transportation to run to Standard or IGA or Marsh to pick something up (it wasn't uncommon for wives NOT to have a driver's license, either). So, she made out a small list and gave it to one of the kids. Most times, the note also said "charge it to my account" until payday.
The mom and pop stores couldn't compete with the larger chains and they didn't try. Their main intent was not to see if they could beat out the competition by selling lower. Instead, it was all based on convenience.
Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.
William Pumphrey's personal account and history can be found in the next post.
Posted by David Sechrest on 10.24.05 at 4:03am
Re: History Of Mom And Pop Grocery Stores
By William Pumphrey, Sr...
At the time of my birth in 1930, this country, this community was experiencing a deep dark depression. People had not lost the desire to succeed, but how? Locally there were a few professions that were considered essential such as doctors lawyers, barbers, wagon builders, etc., but these were all trades requiring education and training. There were also businesses that were handed down from one generation to the next, but even some of those failed.
Common sense dictated that people had to eat, clothe themselves, and die. Could a clue be found here to start a business? In the 1920's and 1930's, work was hard to find. Companies like the ones later started by Q.G.Noblit and Clessie Cummins were off in the distant future and at that time the products that were later produced by them were not needed on a large scale. During the period following WWI, the population of Columbus ,along with East Columbus was around 10,000. The city itself covered an area of 25 streets running North to South and roughly 30 Streets from East to West.This was convenient for a lot of reasons: lack of transportation, fuel delivery for heating, doctor visits, and other such needs. There weren't many governmental services such as police, fire, water and sewer. No garbage pick up. The words "property tax" were N/A.
This will be an attempt to show what happened locally in the food business, along with the help of a lot of other local people who were either directly or indirectly involved with this subject.
A few grocery stores were clustered in the downtown district and still fewer in other places of the city. In the following years during the 1920's and 1930's, 14 grocery stores were located in a 12 block area downtown. These are now called "Mom and Pop" stores, or corner grocery stores. 6 more located in what was then called East Columbus. Between 7th and 11th streets, 13 more sprang up. Some operated out of homes, and others in shotgun type buildings.
Between 14th and 17th streets, 5 more grocery stores came along, followed by 5 more between 17th and 23rd streets. Columbus held a record for corner groceries. In all, about 40 stores were doing business during the same time period and were successful for decades.
Stores then sold a variety of merchandise besides groceries. Milk and bread were available by home delivery due to lack of preserving freshness. Like today, the 3 secrets of success for a business were location, location, location. Ralph Deitz's store was across the street from the foundry. Ralph sold drinks and snacks to the workers at break time and sold them dinner in a back room of his store.
Ed Franke located on State Street at 5 points, and sold gas, toys, and anything else to make a buck. Gas back then was around 10 cents a gallon and you could buy a child's cast iron toy for a nickel. Kites,yo-yo's, marbles, and sling-shots were big sellers then. Jewelry and womens apparel drew trade.
Almost all grocers gave credit to entice business. Shorty Prather's dad's sandwich shop located on 335 Jackson Street. He bought all of his meat from Vorwalds Market. Shorty Jr. said his dad did over 1/4 million dollars worth of business with Vorwald, all on selling 25 cent sandwiches.
Ernest Stadler related to me that Ralph and Ray Deitz did over a million dollars worth of business with Stadlers Meat Packing Company, located here in Columbus. To give you an idea of the volume of business it would take for that amount of sales, you could buy 5 pounds of hamburger for one dollar. Businesses also gave stamps as an incentive to buy from them. Shorty told me about his mom getting him a brand new Wester Flyer bicycle and his grandmother a wrist watch with those stamps.
Stores also gave credit as I previously mentioned. Families lived from one week to the next on their incomes, if they had any. This worked to the detriment of a lot of store owners. I remember Palmer's Store on State Street in East Columbus being broken into and the only thing taken was bills due Mr. Palmer. The thief scattered the bills down the ally as he fled. Of course, the thief tore his bill up so it couldn't be found.
Back then, there were more poor people than those who were well off. However, they were never defeated. I can't say people worked together to solve problems.The only time large numbers of folks gathered was Sunday in church. They did, however, have something going for them and that was enginuity. My dad had a 1937 Plymouth 2-door sedan. He would remove the back seat and go to a chuch-going, farmer friend, and buy a hog. How he ever loaded that large animal into the back of that car I'll never know. He would take the hog to the farmers market, have it butchered, and rent a freezer locker. We would have fresh meat for months.
My dad did alot of fishing. When the river flooded and water flowed across the road in Azalia, he, along with many others, would pitch fork large fish as the fish swam across the road. This was God's way of providing, he would say.
During the Ohio River flood in 1937, many people were brought to Columbus from Jeffersonville and stayed in the basement of our church on 5th Street. It became their temporary home until the waters subsided.
Winters were another thing. Our 5-room rented home was heated with a coal stove. We lived in the dining room and kitchen during the winter. I could always count on keeping the coal bucket full. It was my job to take out the ashes every day, and sometimes twice a day depending on the temperature. Of course I'd be the one who went to Henry Grocery Store for needed items.
Irvin Hamlin had a store at 114 2nd Street. When he gave change, he would always drop any indian head pennies into a gallon glass jar. That jar was filled to the top with pennies. I wonder what ever happened to it. The value of those coins would be worth a fortune today
As WWII came, we experienced shortages, and rationing became a part of life. Grocers went nuts as they also had to make their purchases with ration cards and most of them were not bookeepers.
A local enterprising man named William Lawless had worked for Habig's wholesale food distributor business in Indianapolis for years and thought the time was right to quit and open his own warehouse here in Columbus. He set up shop in the old Fehring Carriage bldg. on 3rd Street. He carried and sold fresh produce here until the growth of his business became to much for him to handle. He hired Mr. Harry Carmichael, who had left Allison engine plant in Indianapolis where he worked as a chemical engineer. William Lawless began buying local stores in Columbus. (Harry, by the way, contributed to this effort of local grocery store history). Harry was responsable for overseeing the operation for William. William then talked his son, William Jr., another college graduate, to join the business. William Sr. bought the Roy Burns Grocery Store at 330 3rd Street and moved his office above it. By the mid 1940's, he now owned a total of 8 stores in Columbus. William Sr. was a man on the move, but as it turned out, he let an opportunity slip through his fingers. All the ingredients were there to be the first chain store in Columbus, but it did not happen (this is only my observation of events).
Harry Carmichael told me some interesting stories about war-time rationing and how a simple situation got out of hand with the ration board and nearly caused William Sr. to have heart failure. The problem came down through the ranks and it finally ended with the facts being straightened out, but it was a rough period of time for all concerned. At that time, peoples problems were not news fodder. William dealt with the prominent Irwin family because of his ability to procure fresh produce on a daily basis. I don't know this for a fact, but I would guess it cost William a fortune to transport, store, and ship produce because of the amount of labor and ice neccessary to keep the temperature just right. William proved the hard work theory as it allowed him to become a local giant, although one would have never known it. It was just his way of doing business. The old ice plant,by the way, recently went out of business. I have fond memories of that ice plant. My folks stopped there many times during the summer months to get crushed ice for picnics and family reunions.
On a personal note, I can well remember my folks buying a week's supply of groceries for around $5.00. A couple of times a week, I would run down to Henries Grocery on State and McKinley and buy my dad a pack of cigarettes. I would have been 8 years old then. In the 1930's, we had a huge garden each year. My mom would can and preserve as did nearly everyone else at that time. Columbus had a large canning factory, Morgan Packing Company.When season was in, dozens of wagons loaded with corn and pulled by horses would line up at 13th and Hutchins Ave. to be unloaded. When they ran out of sweet corn, they would can field corn. The way they did it, you couldn't tell the difference.
The food business was good to local grocers especially, for at least 3 decades. I knew Irvin and Bernice Hamlin who owned a store and put 3 kids through college. Irvin also worked for Reeves Pulley Company. He never retired. He died there. People for the most part look down on those days. I will always remember them as days that kept people occupied and the entertainment then was, for the most part, a radio in the living room, which meant your mind was busy visualizing what the radio was talking about. I mentioned earlier we did not have a large police department. The reason was simple: we didn't need one. The only crimes to speak of were out of desperation. No one would ever arrest a man for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.
People at that time took no vacations. I can remember across 8th Street bridge and along the river, most of those cottages were summer homes for local store owners. I would deliver the local paper on my bike for an extra 5 cents a week to that area. I knew each one of those merchants. They were kind and generous to a fault. Hard work does that to a person.
As an after thought, I want to mention the fact that a large percent of the old grocery store buildings are still standing. They are now breakfast houses, barber shops and antique stores. They stand as a reminder of alot of hard work.
I wish to thank the following people who were responsible for some of the facts I have put to paper. I could not have done it without them. Shirley Deitz, Sandy Roark, Bob Franke, Max Lemley, Don Lawless, Harry Carmichael, Raymond Butler, Ernest Stadler, Shorty Prather Jr.and my handy 1941 Bell Telephone book which verifies all the facts as presented here. I think it was as much fun for them as for me in remembering those days of challenge. If I've forgotten any one please accept my apology.
The following is a list of Grocery Store owners in the Year 1941. The local city population was 11,738 souls, verified by the Columbus Planning Department.
Anthony Grocery, 638 Indiana Avenue
Arnholt Grocery, 521 7th Street
Battins Food Market, 305 5th Street
Norton Boyd, 527 Washington
Albert Brown, 829 Sycamore Street
Roy Burns, 330 3rd Street
Roy Burns, 558 Indiana Avenue
E.R. Butler, Orinoco Avenue
Gary Davis, 417 16th. Street
Ralph Deitz, 1700 10th Street
Ray Deitz, 1522 Sycamore
Dutro Brothers, 1458 Lafayette Avenue
Edwards Fount Grocery, 2240 California Street
Ed Franke, 608 Indiana Avenue
Frohman Brothers, 434 4th Street
Adrian George, 240 Jackson Street
George Habig, 1132 8th Street
Hamlins Grocery, 114 2nd Street
Henrys Grocery, 304 McKinley Avenue
Alex Hook, 1801 Central Avenue
Horns Midway Market, 1202 7th Street
Joslin And Son, 720 Sycamore Street
Ralph Kirby, 1519 17th. Street
Grant Kitchen, 854 Cottage Avenue
William Littrell, 1417 Chestnut Street
Luther Grocery, 1422 7th Street
B.F.Moore, 839 7th Street
H. J. Newsom, 1001 Lafayette Avenue
Nickersons Market, 1039 Sycamore Street
William Palmer, 425 State Street
H. H. Parker, 1600 Home Avenue A. R. Phenning, 1465 Chestnut Street
Phillips Grocery, 650 State Street
Pittman Grocery, 518 3rd Street
Mar Reed, 1029 10th Street
E. G. Swartzkopf, 1325 21st Street
Sunshine Grocery, 215 4th Street Thurston, 201 Washington Street
Carl Vorwald, 302 3rd Street
The stores that were owned by William Lawless were purchased from others and at this time I do not have this information.There were also stores owned by the following: the Lushers, Nentrups and Noltings, who I think owned the grocery at 13th and Chestnut.
Anyone who can update this info or make a contribution, please do as it is urgent to preserve our local history for future generations.
I have come across a Battin, Owens, and Custer, which I need dates and information on. My guess would be that these people bought existing stores, but I do not have dates or places.
Composition by Bill Pumphrey Sr.