C&E Drive-in Cafe and Moore’s Grocery in Swamp Poodle
This younger generation that has now taken an interest in the history of Bauxite may not know of a popular drive-in café that existed in Swamp Poodle in the early 1950’s.
From the ambitious efforts of two young men, Cephas “Junior” Moore and Eli Harrison, and their desire to provide a comfortable living for their families, the C&E Drive-in Café was borne.
Moore and Harrison were not only friends, but brothers-in-law who had married sisters. Harrison married Nelda Ashbrook and her younger sister,
Joyce, married Moore, making their business venture a family affair. Cephas “Junior”
Moore was the son of Rita Lee and Cephas Moore, Sr. The senior Moore’s had purchased Moore’s Grocery Store in Swamp Poodle from a relative when Junior was a young boy. Prior to Moore’s ownership, the store had been known as Terry’s Grocery Store.
Although Moore’s Grocery sat only two doors west of John Stanley’s Grocery Store, the two businesses were not competitors, but helped each other in times of need. If one sold out of an item, they borrowed a supply from the other until the item was replenished,
As a young boy, Junior Moore delivered groceries and other supplies from his parents’ store to local residents. He was aware of every dog in his delivery area, especially the dogs that were biters.
According to Moore, Mrs. A. H. Byrd had the meanest dog on Center Street, and Pete Wise had another that had apparently taken lessons from Byrd‘s pet.
The Wise dog on one occasion chased Moore through the yard at a rapid pace. Moore slammed the front gate into the dog’s face just as it grabbed a big piece of his heel through the wire fencing. That wound finally healed, and Moore out-witted the Wise dog many more times.
Another story Moore remembers well was the time he delivered feed to the livestock barn of Mr. G. B. Rogers. Mr. Rogers owned several cows, horses and mules that were kept at a barn behind the high school.
After unloading the feed supply, Moore stopped at the Rogers’ house to collect payment. After several knocks on the door with no answer, as Moore turned to walk away, he heard a mournful sound coming from inside the house.
Moore quickly opened the door and saw Mr. Rogers laying on the floor, very close to a heater that was running full blast. Rogers felt very hot and unresponsive. Alone, Moore could not lift the heavy frame of Rogers, but fortunately, was able to move the elderly gentleman away from the heater and onto a nearby bed. After the incident, Rogers was bedridden for several weeks, but did recover.
Moore recalls making deliveries to nearly every house in Bauxite and small surrounding communities, such as Swamp Poodle, Crumbia Town, Center Street and Sand Hill. His keen memory is like a map of local residences.
The Moore family lived in a small house adjacent to Moore’s Grocery Store in Swamp Poodle. After a few years of observing his predecessor, young Moore became the butcher for the meat department. He kept this job during the day and worked at the C&E with his business partner, Harrison, during the evenings and nights. Ground beef for the popular C&E burgers came from Moore’s Grocery.
Moore tells with pride that the best burgers anywhere came from the C&E Drive-in, at a price of only twenty-five cents. He did confess that to make their burgers, he and Harrison had used a secret technique gleaned from Harrison’s mother. That technique is a well-kept secret that will remain a secret until Moore decides to reveal it.
A roast beef and vegetable plate was added to the C&E Sunday menu, along with their famous roast beef sandwich.
Joyce Moore shared a memorable moment as a newly hired waitress at the C&E Drive-in. She laughingly tells of delivering a large milkshake to the car of a well-dressed customer. Being short in stature and not being familiar with how those heavy serving trays just snapped into place on the car window, Joyce missed her mark and dumped the cold contents of the order into the customer’s lap.
The gentleman was very polite and sympathetic with the upset waitress, and she very much appreciated his fine manners. In later years, Joyce often wished she had remembered the gentleman’s name so she could thank him again for his kindness and understanding.
Construction of the
C&E Drive-in was done by local carpenters who were employed by the big company in town, Alcoa. The building was located where the Bauxite Fire Department presently sits, at the junction of Stanley Drive and Highway 183.
This was a prime location for a burger joint, with a loud juke box and pinball machine that ran many hours into the night. Neighbors of the drive-in at times complained of the loud music coming from the jukebox; however, it was a popular accessory at the C&E and remained on site for the customers to enjoy.
Moore told of one memorable order received at the C&E as he and Harrison were working together in the kitchen one evening. A foreman from the local Reynolds plant hurriedly came in with an order for thirty hamburgers. He told Moore and Harrison if they could make the thirty hamburgers in fifteen minutes, he would take them. The two men worked frantically to get the order ready in such a short time.
They did meet the fifteen minute deadline for thirty burgers with only one glitch which Moore had decided to not mention. However, Joyce couldn’t contain the secret and shared the following.
During their hurrying and scurrying in the kitchen to get the thirty burgers ready, Harrison dropped one patty of meat on the floor. Hoping no one saw him, he quickly scooped up the meat patty, wiped it off on his shirt and placed it in a bun as if nothing unusual had happened.
Laughingly, they often wondered who ate that hamburger. Sometime later, Moore and Harrison also learned that in their hurried state to fill the big order, one meatless bun had been placed in the group of thirty.
The C&E enjoyed a booming business until the Korean War broke out and supplies became increasingly scarce. In addition, a large number of faithful, local customers were called to duty. These young men were high school students who had been recruited by their shop teacher to join the U.S. Marine Reserves.
When their military unit was activated and sent to war, this took away a large portion of the thriving business of the C&E. The business closed shortly thereafter.
From her first year in junior high school and through the final semester of senior high school, Joyce was a popular Bauxite cheerleader. She made many lasting friendships during those years as a cheerleader for both the Crushers and Miners.
With a slight smile, Moore tells that Joyce stole his heart from another girl. They had their first date in 1947 and dated almost two years after that before getting married. When they started their young family, they moved to Benton.
The Moore’s had four children in three years. Regina, a well-known former local bank employee, was their first born, then came twin boys, Dennis and Danny, followed by their youngest daughter, Marla, all four graduates of Glen Rose High School.
Following the closing of the C&E, Moore spent 37 years as an employee of Alcoa. He then spent ten additional years for a company installing fiber optic cables, connecting communications all over the world.
After 22 years as a light bulb inspector with Westinghouse Corporation of Little Rock, Joyce also retired. She is a talented writer in her own right, penning several popular comedy skits performed locally with good friend, Pat Wright.
Following their retirement, the Moore’s purchased a Honda 1100 motorcycle and traveled throughout the United States, from Arkansas to Oregon in addition to several eastern states. Their children worried about them on the motorcycle; however, both enjoyed their adventures and have many lasting memories now displayed in a collection of photo albums. They still cherish their many mementos, especially the ticket stub from touring the World’s Fair in 1982 in Seattle.
The Moore’s are members of Temple Baptist Church located on Highway 67 West, where he is a deacon and Joyce a proud charter member of the church.
Other than the usual aches and pains of aging and the fact that Joyce fell and broke her neck a few years ago, the Moore’s are enjoying their quiet retired life of leisure. Joyce has recovered her near-tragic fall and Junior assists her in every way.
The couple celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary on May 26, 2020. And, looking over at Junior, Joyce said, “I love him.”
These are Miner Memories and some of them are not so minor.
Ginger English articles are published the first Sunday each month exclusively in The Saline Courier. Email address: gingerclarence@ gmail.com.