Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 44 of 264
two hundred sixty four pages : ill. ; page 23 x 18 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
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PAGE TWENTY SECTION A
AMARILLO PTTNDAT NKW8 AND GTjOBE, AMARU.LO, TEXAS
OOI.PtTN anntvct^ary fpitton, inn«.
Oldest for
Furniture
Oldest furniture store In the Pan-
handle Is Green Bros. Co.
And In this store today are two
fixtures, a safe and a desk, no
amount of money could buy.
The safe blocked debris, allowing
C. R. McAfee, president, and generaj
manager, to escape with his life
when an adjoining wall came tum-
bling down to wreck the store.
The desk was purchased more
than 30 years ago. In a corner of
the store, surrounded by modern-
istic and beautiful desks, the old
roll-top is crammed with personal
papers, including the first bank
book ever issued to Mr. McAfee.
About the time Mr. McAfee pur-
chased the desk the late J. T. "Jim"
Grpen was a clerk in a dry goods
store at Corsicana. His brother, the
late C. L. Green, wanted to get him
out of that business.
So the late C. L. Green in 1907
bought what was known in those
days as a racket store, filled with
pots and pans, just to get a loca-
tion for a furniture store in Ama-
rillo.
It was a low "squatty" building
on the west side of Polk Street in
the 600 block.
Grpen Brae. Co., official name of
the firm, was incorporated, March
1907.
In 1911 the brothers built what
Three Narrowly Escaped Death Here
HERE'S ALL THAT WAS LEFT of Green Bros. Co. store when it occupied the
Central Building and after it was wrecked by an adjoining wall, toppled by a
strong south wind. On that fateful morning, March 27, 1020, three persons, C. L.
Green, C. R. McAfee and Miss Frankie Gober, narrowly escaped with their lives.
The adjoining wall, 30 feet from the store, was all that had been left standing
after the fire that destroyed the Olympic Theater.
went on uninterrupted until j stock and is active in the manage-!
ness
1923.
By 1923 a new building, twice as
large as the,old one, was erected
Is known now as tlip Central Build- ; at Slxth Avenue and Taylor Street,
Inc. occupied by City Drug.
"Jim" Green died in 1917
C. L. was ill in Arizona.
and
C. R McAfee, an old friend of
the brothers in Corsicana days, was
In the real estate business at Can-
yon.
"I first went to Umbareer and
leased a section of land, which in-
cludes the present site of the new
Buffalo Dam." related Mr. McAfee.
"I had a wild dream about getting
rich in the cattle business."
However, upon the death of "Jim"
Green and at the insistence of C. L.
Green, the Canyon real estate man
bought a third interest, May l, 1917,
in Green Bros. Co., and became
general manager.
On the morning of March 27,
1920. occurred the freak accident
which demolished the furniture
store and part of the merchandise
and only by a miracle were no lives
lost.
A few months before the accident
the Olympic Theater, which was 30
feet south of Green Bros. Co.—with
a vacant lot between—burned, leav-
ing only the four walls standing.
Three of these walls were torn
down, but before the fourth wall,
nearest Green Bros, could be lev-
plied a high south wind caught It
squarely and toppled It over on the
furniture building.
Two feet thick and twica as high
as the building Just 30 feet north,
this mass of brick hurtled down
with such force that It was only a
matter of seconds before the entire
building collapsed.
* # •
At that time—about 10: SO o'clock
—C. L. Green, C. R. McAfee and the
bookkeeper. Miss Frankie Gober,
were In the office, which was locat-
ed on the south side. It was only
because the now highly-prized safs
momentarily held up the roof that
these people were able to escape
with their lives.
The store was rebuilt and bus!-
SOME PLAINS
HISTORIANS
(Continued From Page 18)
wrote a thesis on the Greer Coun-
ty Boundary Question In 1919.
The Vandale Collection
On the whole the people of West
Texas and of the Panhandle have
some cause to be proud of their coun-
try. of its rapid achievements and
remarkable progress. They should
not forgPt these quiet students who
are trying to preserve the records
so that the future generations will
know something about the experi-
ences of their forebears. These his-
torians should be encouraged by all j
and assisted by those who have ma- j
1 crisis. Historians do not expert i
much monetary reward for their j
labors. If their work nas any per- j
manent value, they usually put into !
It more than they get out of It. !
They could not do the work that is j
necessary if they were not moti- !
vated by love for the work rather j
than by a desire for money.
Every school in the Panhandle |
should havp all these Plains books
In its library. The citizens should
encourage the work by purchasing
them for private librarips. I may j
add that one of the finest collec-
tions of Texas books in this country I
Is in Amarillo, in the home of Mr.
Earl Vandale. There are probably j
other collections almost as good, but
I have not had the pleasure of see-
ing them. The establishment of li-
braries, public and private, of mu- j
seums and colleges are an expression
of cultuural development of a pio-
neer country. 7hp historians have j
contributed generously to that cul-
ture and the fact that they began
their work on the heels of the first j
pioneers has pnabled them to save ;
much of tlip heritage. The people
of the Panhandle, of West Texas, of j
the Plains have as much right to j
be proud of their historians as of
their wheat, oil, and prize bulls.
Lone Star
News Stand
the present site of the company.
When the site was purchased a
few years before the building was
constructed the little white house
of Lon Marrs was where Green
Bras. Co. vault now stands, there
was a tinshop on the corner and
across the alley, where The Globe-
News office now stands, was a
j church.
In 1927 C. L. Green died and Mr.
McAfee bought the balance of the
company stock.
Lane McAfee returned to Ama-
rillo in 1933 soon after his univer-
; sity work had been compfeted and
; became associated with his father.
He now owns a large portion of the
ment as secretary-treasurer.
The "backbone" of the personnel
of Green Bros. Co., is made up of
its oldest employes, two of whom
have been with the company for a
score or more of years.
Jess Walters has been with the
j company for 22 years; J. T. Mclver.
20 years; Theo Tacke. 18 years and
| D. A. Park, 16 years.
| Ford Walters, son of Jess, became
; associated with the firm in 1936
t and Charles Lawler in 1937.
Also in 1936 a drapery and slip
cover department was installed with
Miss Beaulali Walker in charge.
ring Store
B
ALMA McGOWEN THOMPSON
Folks used to come a 150 miles
to do their shopping, the first dry
goods merchant in Hereford de-
clared. Twice a year they'd buy in
great quantities—syrup and flour by
the barrel and cloth by the bolt. The
residents of Tucumeari bought in
Hereford then, he added.
"Most of the time during the
nv i shopping seasons," N. E. i Ncs-
ter) Gass continued, "it was hard
f~r people to find places to sleep,
And Green Bros. Co., oldest fur- so I'd let 'em make their beds down
nlture store in the Panhandle, is in my store. I slppt upstairs above j
growing with the country. It: has j the store, and if I happened to be
developed one of the finest furni- ' going to a party I'd leave my store j
ture stocks from the pots and pans kpy with somebody staying there j
of an old racket store. and tell him to have the last man in |
to lock up. . . . No, I never did have
anybody take anything."
Mr. Gass laughed aloud at the
recollection of an Incident this
question suggested.
"One time, after I had built a
small house at the back of the store
—one Sunday afternoon, while I
was just hanging around the house
—I saw Rat Jowell, the sheriff, and
two other men entering my store
through the back door. Naturally, I
wondered what was iaklng place, so
I went over to investigate.
"In answer to my question, old
Jowell said, 'Keep your shirt on!
Wp'r" just crawlin' In to take a
bath—we 'idn't want to disturb
anybody.'
"You see, in the store I had a
barhelor stove." Nester explained,
"ideal for heating watpr. And also
several extra large wash tubs that
simplified the problem of baths in
those days."
* • *
The West was not lacking in so-
cial graces in those day.*, Nester de-
clared. "Why, we often went many
miles to a party; would have to start
by 3 o'cloc in the afternoon to get
there on time. The hostess fed us
three times—supper when we arriv-
ed, a midnight lunch, and break-
fast before we started home. . . .
I remember one especially enjoy-
able party over in the northeast
corner of the county at the home
o.' Mrs. George Day. who lives in
Amarillo now."
Mr. Gass was one of Hip fortunate
young men generally nominated by
the women leaders of the social
circle to escort newly arrived girls
to their first party. She always
accepted, of course, because there
was only one social circle, embrac-
ing all the countryside within rea-
sonable riding distance!
Before he came to Hereford in
1898. Nester's father, D. R. Gass,
owned stores at Hale Center and
Tulia, and NPster often rode horse-
back across the country between the
two stores.
"There wasn't a fenre belwpcn
Hale Center and Tulia then," he
said. "We'd just start out, in the
right direction, pick out. a big bunch
of grass straight ahead, then ride
toward It. That way, we'd be able
to keep a fairly atralght course
across the prairie.
"When I first cama here," ha con-
tinued, "there was nothing in the
country but big herds of cattle. It
was a cow country, all right, and
many of the pastures contained fif-
teen and Ifi sections. At one time
there were more cattie shipped
fr>m Hereford than any place In
Texas. Sometimes there would be
five to ten herds of 2,000 head each
camped around here waiting to be
shipped."
Hereford used to be called "Wind-
mill City" because of the great num-
other town in the Panhandle, he ad-
ded.
"In our first store," he said, "we
carried everything from matches to
windmills. It was not until 1903
that we entered the dry goods busi-
ness exclusively."
Mr. Gass married Miss Pearl
en
mui uty uetauiio ui wio b11-""
ber of windmills there, more than 1 Henslee of Canyon In 10*5.
GREEN BROS. STORE
mrnw
8
! !'•'# 1
jj-^ ■ ,*-.V .
V''/;
It wji in 1923 (at the time this picture was taken] that the present spacious
home of Green Bros. Co., oldest furniture store in the Panhandle, was com-
pleted at the southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and Taylor Street. Thi- stora
has been developed from a low "squatty" building on the west side of Polk
Street in the 600 block, which was filled with pots and pans when the late C. L.
Green bought it in 1707,
Charm m
home furnishing is not
accidentally achieved. First, the furni-
ture must be distinctive in character . . .
graceful in design . . . suited to the
house in which it is placed. Then, of
course, the floor arrangement, the color
scheme, and the selection of proper floor
coverings and draperies are important
in effecting an inviting liveable interior.
For thiry-one years Green Bros, has ren-
dered a dependable home furnishing
service to Amarillo and the Panhandle.
Th is firm has become known as a source
of authoritative style information and
fine furnishings.
m
m
- , , V • 4 :'v
Established l!M0
AMARTLLO'S POPULAR
PLACE TO BUY:
MAGAZINES
• NEWSPAPERS
• CIGARETTES
CIGARS
CANDIES
TOBACCOS
COLD DRINKS
• Etc.
EXCEPTIONALLY
COMPLETE STOCK3
IN ALL LINES
-603 Taylor Street, Amarillo, Texas
I 18 East 7th St.
MARY RUTH BURNS, OWNER
PHONE 2-MM
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Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938, newspaper, August 14, 1938; Amarillo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299921/m1/44/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.