Maxine Austin's Memories of Enid

Maxine Austin's View As A Child

-
Interview Date:   1/30/06. 
Interviewer:  Glen McIntire
Subject:  THE ENID DOWNTOWN SQUARE FROM MAXINE AUSTIN'S VIEW AS A CHILD
Length of Video: 48 minutes
. Written Summary: Andi Holland
-
The Downtown Square was a big part of my childhood. Dad bought a drug store and mom did the bookkeeping.  What I share are a child’s memories.  There was no such thing as a babysitter so I was at the drugstore a lot.  A child is not impressed by offices so some of them along the square I don’t recall. A child is impressed by stores to look in during the 1920s. We were living in Marshall and the ladies would come to Enid to shop.  They would agree to meet at a certain time at the Lattice House in the northeast corner of the square across the street from dad’s drugstore.  It was a pleasant place to wait. There was no air conditioning so it was cool and there were roses growing around the outside.
-
Where Bell’s Jewelry is now is where dad’s drugstore was.  From Bell’s going south next to the drug store was a five-story building.  Years later two or three of the stories were removed.  Next to that was a shoeshine parlor.  Kennedy’s department store was a big mercantile with ready to wear, piece goods, shoes, it was a women’s store.   Next to that was a very nice men’s store Meibergen and Godschalks.   Next was Hershberg’s.  It was smaller than Kennedy’s.  Mr. Hershberg was a colorful character.  He stood just inside the store and asked customers if they were treated well as they left.  I thought I was more sophisticated than to answer him, but I couldn’t beat him. Piece goods is fabric sold by the yard.  Next was the Evans drug store and next was Central National Bank.  It was a five story building on the corner of east Broadway and Grand. Dad had another drug store the Sanford-Kendrick drug store.  Above the drug store was a dance hall.  Next we are getting to the part of the square I wasn’t supposed to be at.  In high school that was the place to be.  Next was the Enid Restaurant and Supply and a movie house.  I wasn’t allowed to go there because they had rats that crawled around.  Lots of children couldn’t go there. Crossing the street to the southeast corner of Maine and Grand was a horse trough and Gensmen’s Hardware.  Doc McKay’s drugstore came later. There were some other offices and such that I didn’t visit. South side of square going west at corner of west Maine and Independence was Kress.  Coming back just to the east of Kress was the Boston Fruit Store. I didn’t get to eat there because daddy’s drug store served lunch.
-
No Dairy Queen.  No fast food.  All the drugstores had fountains and served lunch.  They offered curb service. Dr. Bruce Henson was a curb hop as a young man.  People would come honk and so there were curb hops to take their orders. Enid Paint & Wallpaper was along there and was pretty to look at.  One of those buildings was William Cromwell’s Printing Company. Crossing Independence there was a hamburger stand. Crossing Maine going north on the west side was the Johnson Furniture Company.  Later that was Anthony’s. Next was Chenoweth and Green Music store.  Daddy had another drugstore, Sanford Stone.   Going north past Broadway was the Oklahoma State Bank.  Fred Champlin ran the bank.  It had a diagonal entrance.  Later it was the American National Bank. The drug store was were the Security National Bank is.  The last drug store dad owned.  There were six drug stores around the square; Evans, Corry’s, Sour Beer.  Then there was Kline’s ladies store. Olympic Candy store had homemade candy.  They were perhaps of Greek ancestry.  Occasionally mother and I would go to the movie then stop and get some candy. The Royal Theatre was the main movie theatre.  Corry’s drugstore on Randolph was famous because they sold victrolas and Vic directors in the back.  Quite a drawing place for the younger crowd.  It was where Holden’s is now.  Enid National Bank was one of the tall buildings.  It was completely destroyed and rebuilt.  A very pompous building.  You had to climb several steps to the door.  There were elevators to the upper floors. On one of the upper floors was the General Clinic.  It later moved and became Bass Integris.  There were many doctors there; F. A. Hudson, Harry Hudson, Dr. Fred Hudson, Dr. McElvoy, Dr. Kebbler.  Mother sprang her ankle once and daddy had taken her to the clinic.  As he was carrying her down the steps of the building he fell with her.  The steps were very hazardous.
-
Going east on Randolph was the Sour Beer drugstore.  Next was the Enid Dine Café, actually a cafeteria.  I loved the cafeteria! Monaker Photograph Studio and on the second floor was the Nettler Sisters shop.  They did custom pleating, knitting, crochet work.  I had an accordion pleated skirt.  Going east was a men’s store, Batterton and Tagge, Dr. Tagge’s father.  Lowenhaupt’s ready to wear was next.  It had a men’s side and a women’s side.  That is where my parents bought me my first fur coat when I was going to college.  Woolworth’s came later in my childhood.  After graduation I married and moved to Chickasha. In very early childhood we lived in Marshall.  Wolf’s men’s store was L shaped.  The men’s department entrance was on Randolph.  The Women’s entrance was on north Grand.  Mother bought clothes and hats there.  Montgomery Wards was there later.  Originally Garfield State Bank was on the corner. Garfield State Bank went into bankruptcy during the Depression.  On the east side of north Grand was the Enid Business College.  An important and helpful place.  When our children were in high school we had them take typing there.  I wish my parents had.  Across the street to daddy’s drug store. At that time Broadway was not a through street.  Streetcars ran around the square.  The fare was 5 cents.  The streetcars went to Phillips University through the square west to Tyler then 2 blocks south to Oklahoma and west to where the Oklahoma Floral Company is.  There was a turn around there. In that part of town was the Geronimo Automobile Plant.
-
Back to the square – The center of the square was the Courthouse that burned.  It was three or four stories and quite an elaborate and imposing building.  The post office was where the library is now.  After the Courthouse burned there was considerable discussion about Broadway becoming a through street.  You might say it was a burning issue!  The square was actually a rectangle.  There were gardens in the square.  A pleasant, hospitable gesture and made Enid a pleasant place to shop. The Oxford Hotel was one block north of the square on Grand and Maple and served meals on Sunday.  It was the big place on Sunday.  The drugstores served meals at noon and maybe sandwiches in the evening.
-
Back to dad’s drug store – in 1918 my parents moved from Marshall and opened the drugstore.  It had a lunch counter and sold prescriptions featuring professional pharmacists.  My dad was a professional pharmacist and an officer in the National Federation of Retail Druggists.  He received that award much later.  Daddy’s policy was to hire people to do every job the store required including his registered pharmacists.  The people who worked the lunch counter gave him distress.  They were not reliable and not well educated, but the counter brought in a lot of traffic.  In the store there were cosmetics, the fountain and prescriptions. There was no mall, all the mercantile businesses were around the square.  The Saturday night activity was to get a good parking place by one of the drug stores and window shop then come back and honk for curb service and have some refreshment.
-
The chocolate ice cream sodas were something.  Daddy was very particular about that.  They were excellent!  Ice cream, chocolate then more ice cream and chocolate then the carbonated water. It was a different world.  Quite remarkable that in 1923 only 30 years from the opening, the buildings were made of good material, good architecture and style and a lot had been accomplished in those 30 years.   In 1927 the Convention Hall was built.  Mrs. John Curran grew up in Boston.  She tried to bring good things to Enid.  We had good things too, Mary Gardener, the Opera star, Mrs. Zemabol the stage star, Sir Harry Lauder, the Scottish entertainer, Galla Kurshee, the metropolitan concerto.  We had good things thanks to her.
End of tape
-
We are currently locating more stories, more history and more photos of the Enid Businesses. Please continue to check in as we will continuously update this page as we acquire new material. Thanks to Maxine Austin (deceased) for sharing some of her personal memories and Andy Holland for her written summary.

-