In March 1947, there were 57 cafes/restaurants within the posted limits of Johnson City (excluding those eateries in five and ten stores, drug stores and ice crème parlors). Some of the better-known ones, depending on your age, were Dixie Barbeque, Melody Lane, Guy’s Café, Derby Grill, Eddie’s Steak House, Long’s Barbeque, Market Street Café, Lucky Grill, Peerless Steak House, Spot Steak House, Dinty Moore’s and Patio Grill.

From 1908 to 1940, it was not unusual for a Johnson City family to anxiously travel to the railroad station to greet the arrival of their newly purchased mail order prefabricated model home from Sears, Robuck & Co. (formerly dubbed the “World’s Largest Store”).

 In 1948, Johnson City was Tennessee’s fifth largest city with a population of 31,508. “The Hub of Tennessee,” as it became known, had experienced a population growth since the turn of the century: 1900, 4,645; 1910, 8,502; 1920, 12,442; 1930, 25,000: and 1940, 25,322. In 1948, officials provided some remarkable statistics about the city. It had a trading population in excess of 250,000 within a radius of 25 miles. Retail sales two years prior hit $26.9M.

I have fond remembrances of patronizing several “mom and pop” grocery stores in Johnson City during my youth. The earliest one I recall was the Red Store in the late 1940s (Bert Weems, later W. Howard Stewart, located on W. Market at W. Watauga).

It is always intriguing to scan through old pamphlets from yesteryear that offer household hints and work savers to help consumers beat the high cost of living. They vividly reveal how life has changed over the years. One publication from 1957 gives helpful advice for operating an automobile. I have paraphrased the comments for brevity:

Today’s column is a collection of blurbs taken from the Johnson City Chronicle in mid August 1927. The city’s population that year was 25,000, with a trading population estimated at 200,000.   

The late Sue Carr Eckstein once shared with me a massive scrapbook that had belonged to her father, Paul Carr. She also gave me a photograph of Carr Brothers employees that accompanies this column. My research dates the photo to about 1922. The business, owned by brothers, Paul and Sam Carr, was located at Oak and Millard streets. Earlier publications list it at First Avenue and Millard Street, but that was before Oak Street was renamed from its former Carnegie street designation. 

Jim Bowman provided some treasured memories about his employment at King’s Department Store at S. Roan and E. Main in the late 1950s. Bowman further talked to three long-time employees of the firm: Louise Curtis; Ellen Sells whose husband, Sam Sells, owned the establishment; and Rose Cooper) to tap into their reminiscences. Another source of information was an interview of Mr. Sells conducted by former Press writer, Alice Torbett, just prior to the store closing in 1984.

Today’s column is the fulfillment of a column that was initiated with Beverly Smythe Jackson just a few weeks before her passing this summer. Her parents, W.F. Burgess “Shorty” and Florence Smythe, once owned Smythe Electric Company in downtown Johnson City. Three grandchildren of the storeowners, Senter Jackson, Susan Wilson and Carol Burleson, shared treasured memories about the business. Mr. Jackson furnished me with three old city directories containing references to the store’s beginning.

A March 24, 1940 Johnson City Press-Chronicle newspaper clipping alleges, “Bluff City Probably Had Section’s Pioneer Plant - Hat Factory Operated in Sullivan Before Area’s Present Industrial Centers Developed.”