RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 26, 2020
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
Interesting accounts about the history of a few drug stores in the Lone Star State can be found on page 50 of the September 1929 (Volume 50, Number 4) of The Texas Druggist. In a previous issue, the publication had requested information about any drug store in Texas that had been under the same management for fifty years. One response came from T. R. DUNN. His data formed the basis for the following story, “Old Firm at Neches.” (Surnames are capitalized for emphasis. Some punctuation may be added or deleted for clarity.)
According to the material submitted, “...the drug store [in Neches] has been running under the same name for fifty-two years. On March 1st 1872, T. R. DUNN established the business and conducted the same until his death in 1917. His widow continued the business until December 1919, at which time she passed away and the children continued the business under the same name ‘T. R. Dunn.’
In November 1921, Elbert S. DUNN became the sole owner, but he continues to operate the business under the name established by his father. Mr. Elbert Dunn is a loyal member of the Texas Association and an interested reader of the Texas Druggist.”
E. H. BROWN wrote a longer, more detailed article, “The Secret of the Bonds,” which concerns a drug store in Hillsboro. Since the piece extends to page 51, only selected excerpts from two sections of the article appear below:
“T. B. Bond of Hillsboro Has Successfully Operated Drug Store since 1881
Forty-seven years in business, when the annual turnover among retail druggists is 16 per cent, leads one to the conclusion that the Bonds of Hillsboro have found some secret of success....despite the fact there are four other drug stores in Hillsboro, a city of about 7,500 population, Mr. Bond does a business requiring the services of 15 employees....
Bond’s Drug Store was established in Hillsboro in March 1881, the firm consisting of W. M. BOND and his son, T. B. BOND. Hillsboro at that time had a population of about 400 people. There being no railroads, it was necessary for the Bonds to ship their stock of drugs—pitifully small in comparison with present-day standards--to Whitney, and thence to Hillsboro by wagon over roads that were none too good.
Their first store consisted of a frame building 19 feet wide, located on the south side of the square just west of their present location. They continued there until a fire, originating down the street, burned them out. Later, they moved into their present location in a brick building with a 30-foot front where they continued until a second fire, in December 1915, again interrupted their business. For a few months, while awaiting the completion of the modern two-story brick building which they now occupy, they did business on South Waco Street. Since July 1916, they have been located on the south side of the square.
Curb Service in the Eighties
W. M. BOND, the senior member of the firm when it was founded, died early in 1927 and the business is now carried on by the son, T. B. BOND....”
An interesting aspect of the company is “...this drug store instituted curb service...long before the days of automobiles. Customers in Concord buggies, buckboards, gigs, rockaways, and other horse-drawn vehicles...stopped at the Bond Drug Store and made their purchases without entering the store. Always there was a obliging clerk ready to meet these curb customers, although the phrase ‘curb service’ was not invented until many years later.”
The section, “Departmentalization Practiced,” mentions that the drug store’s assistant manager was C. C. TITTLE.
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