In this final installment, we will take a look at the Jackrabbit Annual ads for the downtown area of Forney, Texas, 1961—1962. Will we notice many changes, and does it still seem to be large enough to be an “all-supplying” Community?
Thinking back to those days when I was about eleven years old and, by then, traversing the community area streets and “close-in” county roads on my 2nd bicycle, which Santa had picked up from the Montgomery Ward Store at Big Town Shopping Mall, I remember several “good” places to shop, or at least “look around.”
Jack Venner’s Grocery was on the north side of Main Street just about right in the heart of downtown and had an awning covering the front entrance and wooden floors throughout the building, which made it hard to enter without someone hearing the footsteps. This is where I sold most of the “pop bottles” I collected for the “deposit of two cents” as I rode my bicycle—and I knew where most of the “bottle throwers” disposed (weedy ditches) of these valuable commodities!
At the back of the store was the meat market, where “Pappy” the Butcher always had a wisecrack or joke for youngsters and sold liver and shrimp to Grandpa and Dad when they took me fishing. I never really liked the “fragrance” back in that area!
And, the store had an icefilled cooler full of various types of “pop.” My favorite was NEHI ORANGE, and second was GRAPEETTE. But, I had to settle for ROOT BEER if my Dad was buying—that was his favorite, and I guess he just assumed it was mine, too!
Near the check-out counter was the gum and candy counter, and I could take ten or fifteen minutes to choose the best deal the few times Mom let me splurge “on the spot” and not just buy a package to take home for dessert.
Oh, yeah, Mr. Venner had a popular and beautiful daughter (Melissa), a year ahead of me in school and the girlfriend of Johnny Wortham.
Ashworth’s .05 to $1.00 Store was not far away on Bois d’Arc Street a little to the right of where Lawyer Gray’s office area is now. You talk about a great store. Mom could give me .25, and I could stay in there for an hour or two trying to decide what treasures to buy; it took even longer if I had to spend my own “bottle money.” I remember one Saturday in August that I bought a wooden paddle with a rubber ball attached to it on a very long “rubber band,” one of the greatest toys ever built—and only a nickel. (Mrs. Criswell, my favorite 2nd Grade Teacher, had an old one she used for a “paddle” to help persuade recalcitrant students to learn some manners!) I also bought a “jacks” (also a nickel) set in a little sack so that when none of my male friends were around in the neighborhood, I could play on the front porch with the girl across the street, who would then agree, in return, to play the card game of “war” with me, using the deck of cards for which I had also surrendered one nickel. And, nice boy that I was, I spent the final dime for a bottle of “Blue Waltz” perfume, which Mrs. Ashworth assured me would be my Mom’s favorite—and it was! She told me so!
Wait, I cannot close this remembrance section without mentioning Feagin’s Café. Oh, my, grilled cheese sandwich, French fries, and a 6 ½ ounces bottle of Dr. Pepper, if Dad was in one of those “really good moods.” Sometimes he allowed the two of us children to sit at the counter, and every once-in-awhile, I was allowed to put a dime into the juke box, which allowed my Sister, Ann, and me to each choose one song. I liked “The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance,” and Ann liked any song by Ricky Nelson, such as “Hello, Mary Lou, Good-bye Heart.” If you inserted a quarter, you got six songs—what a deal— and sometimes a “rich guy” would put in a quarter and select only two or three, and then we youngsters would see who could get there first after he left so that we could choose the remaining songs!
Oh, those were the days, and most of the Themer family spending stayed right in dear ol’ Forney, Texas, protected by the “Law East of Dallas,” Bondie Richman.
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