Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Tom Hughes’ perspective on the world from Rogers in the 1930s and ’40s
Iwrote a book about historical sites in Rogers that came out in 2006, “Rogers, Arkansas, 1881-2006.” Shortly after publication, I received a long letter from Tom Hughes who at the time lived in California. He grew up in Rogers and lived here from 1929 until 1943, and again in the early 1950s. Hughes went through the book and made comments about many of the buildings and events.
At the age of 14, his family moved to Eureka Springs, but Tom followed happenings in Rogers for the rest of his life. He was a member of the Friends of the Rogers Historical Museum until recently, and commented often in emails and on Facebook about events in Rogers. His memories give a unique perspective on life in Rogers during those early years. Here are some of his reminiscences:
The Rogers Candy and Ice Cream Co., 103 W. Walnut: “I believe that in the 1930s this was owned by the Mulos family. They lived across from us on N. Third Street. His name was Tom and the son’s name was Jack. Another neighbor was Denver and Fanny Murray.”
Murray’s Shoes, 105 W. Walnut: “Of course we bought all our shoes at Murray’s Shoe store. Once I recall seeing Robert Wardlaw, a very tall man who represented a brand of shoes (Buster Brown?), exiting a specially modified car in front of that store.” (Wardlaw was the world’s tallest man at 8 ft. 4 in tall and traveled the country promoting shoes for the International Shoe Co.)
Sterlings Variety Store and Cole’s Drug Store, 119-121 W. Walnut: “In about 1942, I attended my first dance in the lodge hall located above Cole’s Drug Store. Following the dance we adjourned to the booths in the drug store. The lodge must have used a ‘shocking bench’ in its initiation ceremony as there was one sitting in the hall. Fortunately, there was no battery installed. A manager of The Sterling Store presented a program at the Rogers High School playing the saxophone.”
Stroud’s Mercantile Store, 114116 W. Walnut: “Of course the place to buy our clothes was H.L. Stroud’s. Of particular interest to a child was the system they used to transport the transaction slips and money upstairs. (The clerks handled no money. The payment and invoice slips were transferred through a tube to the office upstairs, and the change was sent back down in the tube).”
Western Auto Store, 124 W. Walnut: “One Christmas, the Western Auto Store at the S.E. corner of West Walnut & Second St. (which in later years was Rogers Pharmacy) had an Erector Set displayed in their window. I really wanted that set. It was the depth of the Depression and money was scarce but, somehow, my parents managed to buy it for me. I would have been about 11 or 12 years of age at the time. I enjoyed building things with that set even when I was in High School.”
Russell’s Five & Dime, 108 S. First Street and 108 W. Walnut: “I seem to remember a store in this vicinity (108?), which had entrances on both W. Walnut and First Street.” (Russell’s had a unique ‘L’
shape with entrances on both streets.)
Croxdale’s Grocery, 124 S. First St.: “When we returned there in 1952, Croxdale’s was located across the street on the southwest corner. Mr. Croxdale wore the first hearing aid I ever saw. He carried it in his shirt pocket and a wire extended up to his ear.”
Rogers Snooker Parlor, 209 W. Walnut St: “Benton County must have been ‘wet’ during the ’30s as I can recall a beer bar in the front of this building. Jack and Joe Musteen and I used to shoot pool there on the table next to the back door. I think it cost a nickel a game. We had to come in through the back door, not the front (because of our age). One day a couple of the men up front had a disagreement and a fight ensued. That was one of the first times I had seen two grown men fight! We decided it was time for us to leave.”
McNeil Chevrolet, 119 S. Second St: “My father’s first mechanic job was at McNeil Chevrolet. The service entrance was from Elm St. and there may have been an entrance to the upstairs from the rear alley. As a child I was quite impressed by a diploma he earned by attending a Chevrolet training school. Mr. Clint Pratt was the Service Manager.”
Sargent’s Auto Parts and Service, 322 S. First St: “My father worked there for a while as did ‘Cheese’ Atkins.
I believe that Harry Sergeant was the owner or manager. While visiting my father there, I wandered over to watch Atkins paint something. It may have been a paint striping job as he had a small jar of red paint sitting on a plate of glass. Being a curious and awkward preteen, I bumped the glass and spilled the paint. I can still see it today in my mind’s eye, although no one yelled at me.
“During WWII, patriotism was running high in everyone. In the Rogers Daily News one day there was a photo of a fellow with a burr haircut into which he had a V (for victory) shaved/ cut. I thought that was great, so I went to the garage and harassed my dad into letting me have that done at a barber shop located a few doors north of there. I apparently did not communicate well with the barber as I ended up with a burr length V and the rest bald. When I returned to the garage my dad handed me $5 and told me to go buy a hat, put it on and leave it on. My mother nearly killed both of us when we returned home.”
Union Bus Station, Ozark Super Service, Erickson’s Café, 201-209 S. Second St: “Edith Erickson was my fourth grade teacher, as well as operating the café in the bus station. My father always took us up to the newsstand to pick up The Saturday Evening Post and The Sunday Mirror newspapers. Dwight Coburn was a nearby neighbor on North Third Street and was a mechanic at that garage.”
Daily News Building, 300 S. First St: “A Linotype machine sat in front of one of the windows at The Rogers Daily News and it was fascinating to stand outside and watch it work.”
Arnold’s Café, 308 S. First St: “In about 1942, Mrs. Arnold owned an almost-new Chevrolet coupe and kept it inside the rear of the café. Her husband was in the Veteran’s Hospital in Fayetteville. She hired me at age 13 to drive her down to visit him. It was a tight fit getting that car in and out of the back of the café, but youth has no fear and little knowledge either.” (Today 308 and 310 are an apartment building named First Street Apartments.)
Cleo-Vess Bottling Company, 310 S. First St. “C. H. Hudspeth had two beautiful white horses, which he entered in parades. One was trained to drink Cleo-Cola and the other Bubble-Up.” (The bottling company was owned by C.H. Hudspeth. Their top products were Cleo Cola and Bubble Up)
Proctor Potato Chip Company, 800 S. First St: “Proctor Potato Chip was owned by Seward Pucket and his wife Twila when I went to work for them as a route salesman in about January 1952. This was the ‘Summer of the Potato Famine’ when a number of companies stopped making chips due to the lack of potatoes. Seward and Twila toured the south buying loads of potatoes. I had several housewives tell me that, since they could not buy potatoes on the market, they were substituting chips. The factory was never a showplace but (was) clean inside.”
C. Jimmy Carter, the founder and long time manager of the Rogers’ Airport, now Carter Field: “It occurred in about 1949. I was living in Eureka Springs at that time. A carnival set up at the edge of Eureka. Shortly after they opened for operation it became clear that it was going to be trouble. Several people felt that they had been cheated at the games but, as best I can recall, things really got hot when some teenager complained and he got roughed up in the process. There was a lot of milling around and muttered threats by the citizens.
“I happened to be riding to Rogers the next day and observed the same carnival setting up at the north edge of town. The remainder of this story is secondhand. I was told that the carnival set up a ring and challenged anyone to fight their wrestler. C. Jimmy Carter was a powerfully built man and, (as) I understand, had at one time been either a professional or amateur wrestler. He accepted the challenge, probably at the urging of a lot of the locals.
“As I heard it, when the fight started to go badly for the carnie (wrestler), he called ‘Hey Rube’ and his fellow carnies came running with clubs and chains. I saw Jimmy Carter a few days later and his face bore a number of marks from the battle.”
These are a few of the memories of a man who lived in Rogers as a youth, and loved the town all of his life.