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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
St. Joseph’s booklet stirs some memories
By Wanda Orton
Contributor Published October 28, 2009 Printed in 1958, a booklet celebrating the new St. Joseph Catholic Church is a collector’s item now. Clem Hausmann, who shared the contents, said, “I found this mint condition booklet in a box of Baytown stuff that the flood didn’t get.”
Clem was 10 years old in 1958 and remembers the newly constructed church as “a big deal in our world at the time.”
Organized in 1921, the parish dedicated the first permanent church building in 1928. Father Denis Kennedy, who became the first resident priest in 1930, conducted the Solemn High Mass when the church was dedicated June 15, 1958.
Congratulatory ads for the new church make the 1958 booklet interesting even to non-Catholics, Clem noted.
The ads stir memories of that era when most stores were “all in the family,” owned and managed locally.
For example, Warren Bunting ran the Tri-City Pharmacy # 2 in the 500 block of Texas Avenue while his brother-in-law, Jimmy Frazier, was at the helm of Tri-City Pharmacy # 1 on Minnesota Street. (We always called it Jimmy’s drug store.)
Garrett and Stella Herring operated their drug store in the heart of downtown Texas Avenue. Many Baytown Sun employees, working out of the building at Pearce and Ashbel, began their day with coffee at Herring’s.
Harry and Sadie Blum, along their daughter and son-in-law Helen and Al Melinger, owned The Style Shoppe, a women’s clothing store, next to Herring’s in the 100 block of Texas Avenue. In the 200 block Max and Natalie Altman had a clothing store for men and women while Paine Brothers, a few doors up the street from Altman’s, also had men’s and women’s clothing. Brothers Sam Paine and Leon Paine ran the business.
Moore’s Shoe Store, also in the 200 block, is where youngsters got fitted for their trustworthy Buster Brown shoes. Silas and Myrtle Louise Moore owned the small store that did a big business.
The Economy, a dry goods store on the north side of Texas Avenue, 200 block, was adjacent to Town & Country, a women’s clothing store. Abe Rosenzweig ran the Economy while his wife Dorothy managed Town & Country. The Economy served as the official headquarters for Boy Scout and Girl Scout uniforms and equipment. I remember how proud I was to wear my first uniform, a Brownie Scout dress with matching beanie, from The Economy.
Located near Altman’s and Moore’s, Drew’s store sold pottery, china, crystal and other fine gifts and was well known as a bridal registry. Some pieces have been broken over the years but I still have most of my pottery from Drew’s, circa 1954. Were they alive today, owners A.E. and Thelma Drew probably would be best known as great-grandparents of Jessica and Ashlee Simpson.
Ads placed by auto dealers take us further down memory lane. We bought our first car at Thad Felton Ford and once had a Nash Rambler, purchased from Willis Cobb. Finally we wouldn’t let anyone else sell us a car except Leonard Twardowski at Bayshore Motors, the Lincoln-Mercury dealer.
See if you recognize these other dealerships: Baytown Motors, Cadillac-Pontiac; Paul Prince, Buck; Buck Turner, Chevrolet; Higginbotham Motor Co., Chrysler-Plymouth; J-B Motors, Edsel; and Tom Condor, Oldsmobile.
The name of Gene Muller in a real estate ad took me back home to the Fifties. He sold us our first house in Lakewood.
The Koenig grocery store ad takes me back to my childhood. I ran many an errand, riding my bike from Maryland Street to the little store on Missouri Street. That’s what we always called it – the little store – remembering its modest beginning.
Among businesses from out of town advertising in the booklet was Hilliard’s Café in Crosby. I remember it well as the place where I learned how to eat crawfish, not with aptitude but with considerable appreciation.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published October 28, 2009 Printed in 1958, a booklet celebrating the new St. Joseph Catholic Church is a collector’s item now. Clem Hausmann, who shared the contents, said, “I found this mint condition booklet in a box of Baytown stuff that the flood didn’t get.”
Clem was 10 years old in 1958 and remembers the newly constructed church as “a big deal in our world at the time.”
Organized in 1921, the parish dedicated the first permanent church building in 1928. Father Denis Kennedy, who became the first resident priest in 1930, conducted the Solemn High Mass when the church was dedicated June 15, 1958.
Congratulatory ads for the new church make the 1958 booklet interesting even to non-Catholics, Clem noted.
The ads stir memories of that era when most stores were “all in the family,” owned and managed locally.
For example, Warren Bunting ran the Tri-City Pharmacy # 2 in the 500 block of Texas Avenue while his brother-in-law, Jimmy Frazier, was at the helm of Tri-City Pharmacy # 1 on Minnesota Street. (We always called it Jimmy’s drug store.)
Garrett and Stella Herring operated their drug store in the heart of downtown Texas Avenue. Many Baytown Sun employees, working out of the building at Pearce and Ashbel, began their day with coffee at Herring’s.
Harry and Sadie Blum, along their daughter and son-in-law Helen and Al Melinger, owned The Style Shoppe, a women’s clothing store, next to Herring’s in the 100 block of Texas Avenue. In the 200 block Max and Natalie Altman had a clothing store for men and women while Paine Brothers, a few doors up the street from Altman’s, also had men’s and women’s clothing. Brothers Sam Paine and Leon Paine ran the business.
Moore’s Shoe Store, also in the 200 block, is where youngsters got fitted for their trustworthy Buster Brown shoes. Silas and Myrtle Louise Moore owned the small store that did a big business.
The Economy, a dry goods store on the north side of Texas Avenue, 200 block, was adjacent to Town & Country, a women’s clothing store. Abe Rosenzweig ran the Economy while his wife Dorothy managed Town & Country. The Economy served as the official headquarters for Boy Scout and Girl Scout uniforms and equipment. I remember how proud I was to wear my first uniform, a Brownie Scout dress with matching beanie, from The Economy.
Located near Altman’s and Moore’s, Drew’s store sold pottery, china, crystal and other fine gifts and was well known as a bridal registry. Some pieces have been broken over the years but I still have most of my pottery from Drew’s, circa 1954. Were they alive today, owners A.E. and Thelma Drew probably would be best known as great-grandparents of Jessica and Ashlee Simpson.
Ads placed by auto dealers take us further down memory lane. We bought our first car at Thad Felton Ford and once had a Nash Rambler, purchased from Willis Cobb. Finally we wouldn’t let anyone else sell us a car except Leonard Twardowski at Bayshore Motors, the Lincoln-Mercury dealer.
See if you recognize these other dealerships: Baytown Motors, Cadillac-Pontiac; Paul Prince, Buck; Buck Turner, Chevrolet; Higginbotham Motor Co., Chrysler-Plymouth; J-B Motors, Edsel; and Tom Condor, Oldsmobile.
The name of Gene Muller in a real estate ad took me back home to the Fifties. He sold us our first house in Lakewood.
The Koenig grocery store ad takes me back to my childhood. I ran many an errand, riding my bike from Maryland Street to the little store on Missouri Street. That’s what we always called it – the little store – remembering its modest beginning.
Among businesses from out of town advertising in the booklet was Hilliard’s Café in Crosby. I remember it well as the place where I learned how to eat crawfish, not with aptitude but with considerable appreciation.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The Baytown Sun.