Freestone County, Texas History - The A&P Store in Wortham Submitted by Wanda Willard Smith on 17 May 2006: A&P Store in Wortham The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company had its origin in New York City in the mid-nineteenth century as a small store specializing in coffees, teas, and spices. Expanding its merchandise, it soon began to move into other cities and small towns across the country. One of the first chainstores with its own brand names, the A&P eventually became a fixture in the American landscape. Just when the A&P opened in Wortham is not known. A guess would be the early 1920s when the discovery of oil made Wortham a boomtown almost overnight. The store was located on Main Street a block west of the railroad next to the U. S. Post Office. Across the street to the north was the First National Bank and to the east T. E. Longbotham Hardware. By 1929 the manager of the Wortham A&P was Mr Dave Mitchell. The following summer, Mitchell hired my father, R. D. Willard, as his assistant manager. In the summer of 1931, when Mr Mitchell was promoted to the larger A&P store in Cleburne, Texas, my father became the manager of the Wortham store and remained in that position until after World War II when the A&P closed many of its small town stores and began to open supermarkets in larger places. When the Wortham A&P closed, my father opened his own business, the RDW Food Store, in the same location. A&P district managers made unscheduled visits to the stores on their routes. Rules were strict. Hours were long. There was a dress code. Local managers and clerks were required to wear white long-sleeve dress shirts, black ties, trousers, and shoes. No radios were allowed. This rule occasioned a humorous incident in the early 1930s. My father had hired a local boy, Johnny Murphy, as one of his clerks. Johnny had a beautiful voice and was a great whistler as well. One day, as Johnny was sorting merchandize in the back of the store and whistling a popular tune as he worked, the district manager walked in the front door. Hearing the music, he began to reprimand my father for having a radio in the store. Dad told him he had no radio and called Johnny to the front to prove it. Customers entering the store were met with a mixture of aromas: ripening bananas, apples and oranges (shipped in wooden crates in those days), tomatoes, onions, carrots, greens, field corn (in season), all arranged near the entrance. Displayed around the front counter were cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, candies, chewing gum, mints. Farther back, bread, rolls, and cakes lent their sweetness to the air. And then there was coffee. Although the A&P sold several national brands of coffee, it featured three of its own: Eight O’Clock, Red Circle, and Bokar, the roasted beans ground to order in large stainless steel grinders. Eight O’Clock coffee usually outsold them all. Near the front entrance was a metal cooler (with a “Dr Pepper” logo on the side). A hinged, two-part lid covered an assortment of soft drinks in a bed of chopped ice: Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, Nehi sodas in various flavors, Strawberry, Orange, Lemon, Grapette, Cream Soda, and many others. Coca-Cola was sold in six-and-a-half ounce bottles; other drinks about the same. Larger sizes and metal cans were in the future. In those days, the bottling companies delivered their wares in compartmented wooden crates holding twenty-four bottles. But most people purchased only one drink at a time, drank it while standing by the cooler, and left the empty bottle to be returned to the bottler. At the back of the store were a glass-front refrigerator for milk, butter, and eggs and a refrigerated meat case for bologna, salami, ham, ground meat, steaks, chops, etc. But I don’t remember butchering done in the store. The Jitney Jungle and Jess Bell’s Meat Market provided that service. A hand-turned slicer and a pair of scales were on a back counter. Nearby sat a wheel of Wisconsin cheddar (“rat cheese”) which was cut in wedges as a customer ordered, weighed, and wrapped in wax paper. Bulk crackers were also available. A few of these and a slice of cheese made up the lunch of many workers. Others preferred crackers and a can of sardines. Stacked on shelves along both sides of the store were canned goods, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cereals, bottles and jars of condiments, jellies and preserves. A number of these carried A&P labels: “Ann Page,” “Sultana” peanut butter, “Rajah” salad dressing. There were laundry and bath soaps (no detergents in those days), other staples and household items including mops and brooms. Kerosene oil, in a dispenser near the backdoor, lent its own strong odor to the place as did “store sweep,” a red-dyed sawdust-like product, that was sprinkled on the floors each morning as an aid to settle the dust when sweeping. There was little self-service in those days--no shopping carts or baskets. Sometimes a customer would choose fruits or vegetables from the bins, but usually the manager or a clerk would select items and bring them to the large wooden counter (built in the shape of an inverted “U”) near the front of the store. Purchases were rung up on the cash register, paid for in cash or by check. Strictly a cash operation, the A&P extended no credit. In those pre-plastic days, groceries were carried in paper sacks or perhaps empty cardboard cartons (if available). As a courtesy, if necessary, packages would be taken to the customer’s car. A memorable event for A&P employees and their families was a “Round-up” held in Dallas in 1933 or ’34. A large warehouse near Maple and Cedar Springs was turned into an exhibition space to display new products and marketing techniques. One marvel was an automatic bread-slicing machine that not only sliced the loaves but wrapped and sealed them in cellophane. To feed the crowd long tables, ladened with unimagined varieties and quantities of food, had been placed down the length of the building--all you could eat--free! In those depressed times such abundance was not a part of our everyday existence. Another “freebie” was a door prize my mother won: a small stainless steel mayonnaise jar. It stood on our table at home for years. This was my first trip to Dallas, a real city with skyscrapers. The tallest, visible from miles away, was the Magnolia Building. To me, it was as exotic as Oz! Wanda Willard Smith [If you go into the following website you will see "beautiful downtown Wortham"! The first building on the left was the old A&P. The U.S. Post Office is still next door--and the old First National Bank building is directly across the street: http://www.glade.net/~blindlemon/wortham.htm ]