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MEMORIES
Main Avenue looking east, just west of the South Street intersection. From Gastonia and Gaston County North Carolina: Past, Present, Future, February 1936 by Joseph H. Separk.
Little Steve Lewis Arrowood, and all the Arrowoods lived not far from
The park was a great place for a kid to play when he had his trusty bicycle.
One day when Steve was just a 'youngun', around 1936 or 1937, he decided to prove his 'Superman abilities' by going airborne over the creek on his bicycle.
He pedaled up the steep hill overlooking the creek came flying back down it at breakneck speed, and went flying over the creek. His “Superman abilities” were definitely put to the test and he crashed into the creek.
The jump proved to be too far, and he was not able to make the span of the creek to land on the other side. He was knocked out, and it was not good.
Luckily “Old Man” Coletta, as Dad called him, was happening past with his ice wagon, and he either heard the crash, saw it, or saw the aftermath. However it happened, it was lucky for our little “Superman” that Mr.Coletta happened along, at just that moment.
Coletta was a man that operated the ice company and ice cream store in town. He was an Italian immigrant and started his company in 1915. [The beginning of Tony’s Ice Cream.] He had a horse drawn wagon that delivered ice in town to his customers.
In the 1921 Gastonia City Directory on page 145, there is listed, a 'Charles Carmine Coletta, ice cream manufacturer' at
Well, dear "Old Man" Coletta loaded the unconscious boy onto the back of his wagon and took him home. He apparently knew Dad and knew where to take him. So the kindly man delivered the limp bundle to his, no doubt, 'scared to death' parents.
Steve was completely 'out of it' (his words), for three days.
Imagine keeping the kid at home during that episode these days! I suppose the Doctor was summoned to the house to attend to him as quickly as possible.
Happily, he recovered, and decided that being Superman wasn't as great as it was cracked up to be and he tempered his actions from then on (somewhat).
They have completely restored Coletta's Ice Wagon and it is on display in
I worked at
Vance Brooks was the
I left there briefly in '72 and went to
Ray was the "baby" of the family, merely in his 40's, before I got there.
I learned a lot about the radio business, but more about life from those old fellows and I still look back fondly on those years.
I left again in early '73 for the "big time" in
By the way Bob Bigger was my replacement at WGNC and I think he spent about 10 years on the air there before going to the library.
I've been really blessed because my knowledge of the very specific niche of premium auditing has allowed me to still be involved part-time and I still have some of my younger friends calling me up and asking questions so I can, kind of, mentor them. All in all, I repeat, I have been very blessed. I met my wife while at WAME and we've been married almost 34 years now. Got 3 grown children, and I got my wish of getting to live in
I'll keep looking for those pictures. Don't know if there will be much to contribute but I can tell you more about radio in
Thanks again, Tim, for the website. Still hope someday somebody can find pictures of "The Egg". It was really neat.
(
My dad, Albert Rogers, had a small grocery and produce store at 1011 West Airline Avenue. He had a great display of produce but was well known for his tomatoes. When I went back for a Ashley High School Reunion, It was all boarded up. My boys loved to put pennies on the railroad track that ran behind the store and let the train flatten them. My dad’s idea of fun. It was just up from the Holsum Bakery, but you could still smell that wonderful smell. Before that store he had a store on one of the side streets a block from the bakery and on York Road. The one on York road was taken in by the road widening. (Janette Rogers Wennerstrom)
...my grandfather was Fate Adams and I loved him very much. My middle name is Adams after him. He was the best. I used to enjoy his cooking and he would take my brothers and I fishing whenever we wanted (“any day but yesterday”). I worked in his bicycle shop [A&B Bicycle Shop on Airline Avenue downtown, where the railroad trench is now located.] during the summers and used to hang out down at the lake with the Carson crowd. I remember the fish fry outings every week at his cabin in the back. I inherited his old peanut roaster he used in his shop for customers or anyone that stopped by. Here is a picture. I thought some folks might like to see it again. (Joe Sloan)
PS: James M. Sloan and Joanna are still vibrant and living in Asheville visiting Gastonia and Lake Wylie when able. I know they would want me to send their love.
I went to Ballard's news stand on Marietta street and bought my first Beatle record. It cost less than a dollar. I still have the record!
I would go to Woolworth's and buy ten cents worth of those warm cashews that they sold at the candy counter. (Lana Shaw)
[In] the 1940s and 50s, when the air raid sirens went off all lights were turned off, even [in] the cotton mill which ran all 24 hours. In 1943, the Western Union delivery man rode his bicycle from town to our house at South Gastonia to inform Grand Ma and Pa that uncle Jake had been wounded somewhere in Germany. That was a very sad time. The sadness was relieved when, several months later, Jake arrived home via a Coley’s taxi.
Summer heat was relieved somewhat by the twice weekly arrival of the ice wagon.
While Jeter, the ice man, cut out blocks to fill the order on the cards hung on the porch post, we boys caught the chips and ate them as fast as they were chipped. Sometimes on a Friday dad would buy an extra 100 pounds, which was wrapped in burlap, placed in a tin tub, and scooted under the house out of the sun. Saturday, with the churn filled, dad would chip ice around it in the wooden tub, layer it with rock salt, and, while I sat on the freezer, he would crank out the best ice cream you ever ate.
Thanx for the memories. Next time in I'll get a copy of your books and reminisce some more.(Chuck Wilson)
I worked as a Loader/forklift driver at the Coca-Cola plant on Franklin Avenue, from 1980 to 1982, while attending Gaston College part-time. We could buy cokes for 10 cents in the break-room. There was a coffee machine in there, too, and the older men would sit in there and drink coffee, even on the hottest days in August. Across the hall from the break-room, there were two Men’s bathrooms; one bathroom was very large and had shower stalls and lockers as well as sinks, toilets, and urinals. The other Men’s bathroom, a few feet down the hall, was smaller with only a couple toilets and a sink.There was no ladies bathroom in this portion of the building as I remember. I always wondered why there were two Men’s bathrooms, and why they were so close together. One day I got to looking at one of the doors of the bathrooms, and noticed it had been painted several times. Beneath the layers of paint I could make out the outline of the words, ‘WHITE ONLY.’ As I examined further, I found the other bathroom had the word ‘COLORED’ still visible beneath the many layers of paint.
After Coca-Cola moved its operations to Charlotte, I left and went to college. I came back through Gastonia one time to stop by the Coca-Cola building, and found that the warehouse was being used to store SUN-DROP and CHEERWINE and other products. I never thought I’d live to see the day when SUN-DROP was being stored in that Coca-Cola warehouse, because the rivalry between the two companies was that intense.
Sgt. Joe D. Friday Jr.
Major Crimes Unit
Greenville (N.C.) Police Department
(Dallas, N.C. Native)
I would walk from Central Elementary School down to my Dad's Exxon station on 2nd Avenue, and he would let me walk over to the NAPA auto parts store on Franklin to pick up his parts for him. This was around 1976-77. I was only about 7 or 8 years old, I thought it was the absolute neatest thing
My Dad's gas station was on the corner of Marietta and 2nd Avenue accross from Gastonia Central (Evans Exxon), and the NAPA parts store was on Franklin a few doors down from the pawn shop. (I can't remember the name of the pawn shop.) It really cracks me up to think I would walk by myself at 7 or 8 years old. I now have a 7 year old daughter that I won't let walk to the mailbox by herself. On Thursdays after school I would walk up to York Street for piano lessons from Mrs. Byrd. I remember I would take a $5 bill to her for a 30 minute lesson. The sad thing is I don't really feel that old--it only seems like yesterday. Thanks for taking the time to listen to my moment of nostalgia.(Pamela Evans Messori--Gastonia Girl currently trapped in Southern California with Carolina on my mind.)
My Dad worked at the Railway Express Agency and pulled those heavy cargo carriers and drove a truck before he was promoted and transferred to
My mother worked for Akers Motor Lines for what seemed like a hundred years. I went to North Elementary [later named Wilson], Grier Junior High (we had moved), and Ashley [High School].
Loray was always my church – grew up, saved during a revival, Dad and I baptized together the same service, and married by Yates Campbell. We had to cover a box with white material to have him stand to be seen as Daddy was 6’6” and others tall. Can you imagine Yates baptizing Daddy? Now that took faith. (
My father, Max Graham, was a manager of the A&P for over 40 years.
There was a bakery uptown on Main Street (Pat-A-Cake Bakery). My grandfather's second wife worked there, and she would bring home cakes and pies. We would visit, and she would give them to us. Sometimes we would visit her at work, and she would let us sample something. The bakery was past Miles Restaurant before the traffic light. The A&P was across the street from it and a little farther east. (Cathy Carpenter.) Miles' Restaurant had the best hot dogs! (Lana Shaw.) Woolworth's had a snack bar with ballons you could pop, and what ever amount was on the paper inside is what you paid for a banana split. (Debbie Clark) The Sunrise Dairy dairy bar operated across West Franklin Avenue from the city's original Harris (later Harris-Teeter) Supermarket. Besides wonderful ice cream treats, they served great sandwiches. A life-size (or larger) cow stood in an adjoining room in front of tall windows. (Jeane H. Moore.) Shoney's stood on the southeast corner of East Franklin and New Hope Road. Their trademark "Big Boy" statue was probably the most stolen piece of outdoor artwork in Gastonia. They made the greatest hot fudge cake in town. (Jeane H. Moore.) The Gastonia telephone exchange was "UN," (86), which was pronounced "University." It was only necessary to dial the next five numbers when calling anyone in the city. The Rhyne Dairy farm was where TJ Maxx is now located. At that time, you looked down on the pasture as you rode by on New Hope Rd. or Franklin Ave. This was before the days of Shoney’s Big Boy. Shoney’s was one of the few places young people went in Dollar Days packed Uptown Gastonia with shoppers; Christmas decorations stretched across Main Avenue and adjoining streets and shined brightly from Thanksgiving night until New Years; Shoppers dressed to go Uptown; Ice cream was served in Dixie Cup bowls atop stainless steel pedestals at Sweetland's on Main Avenue;
You could get vanilla Cokes at the Moss Drugs soda fountain; Santa Claus and His reindeer rode on a conveyor at Nolen Concrete on East Main Avenue; Stars shined from the Firestone Mill tower at Christmas until 1992 (They are back!); The bright sunlight was welcomed after a Saturday matinée horror movie at the Temple (later the Center) Theater on Main Avenue; The Leon Schneider Department Store radio jingle was "Let's go to Schneider's; buy the family clothes at Schneider's; 233 West Main Avenue, in the middle of the block...." Three "dime stores" (Eagle's, Woolworth's, and Kress) were located on the south side of the 100th block of West Main Avenue, across the street from Matthews-Belk Department Store. That was indeed a "super block." You could buy ducklings and brightly-colored chicks in front of Eagle's dime store before Easter; One dollar would buy ten comic books at the Marietta Newsstand; Everyone went to Matthews Belk; A four-sided clock stood in front of Citizens National Bank and chimed each passing hour; John's Toy and Hobby Shop opened in the LPT Building on the northwest corner of West Main Avenue and South Street; There was a miniature water tower on the ledge over the entrance to the Realty Building advertising that McLean Tank Company had offices inside; Tom Holland operated a barbecue drive-in on the west side of Bessemer City Road (Tom's Barbecue) just above that road's intersection with West Franklin Avenue; At that intersection once stood a restaurant topped with a large marquee advertising movies playing at the Monte Vista Drive-in on Myrtle School Road. Gastonia's Beacon Drive-In (never affiliated with the one in Spartanburg, South Carolina) stood at East Franklin Avenue at Willow Street. The kitchen was incorporated into the main office of Carolina State Bank, which later merged into Southern National Bank. Southern National Bank later merged with BB&T and more recently vacated the building when the current BB&T was built at West Franklin and York Street. The building, along with the Beacon kitchen, now houses attorneys' offices. The crosswalks at the busy intersection of West Main Avenue and South Street were outlined with brass oval plates embedded in the asphalt and bearing an advertisement for Pepsi Cola. The Piedmont and Northern Railway (P&N) streetcar ran down the center of Franklin Avenue from Webb Street on the west end of the line to the Groves Mill on the east. The fare to ride was a nickel. Milkshakes at Kennedy's Drug Store were seventeen cents. While talking to my future wife on a very busy day, I filled an order for seven shakes with seventeen of the frozen treats. (From Jake Keller, who was once a Kennedy's "soda jerk.") There was a small mechanical Santa Claus in the window of Morris Jewelers during the Christmas season. The Christmas parade kicked off the Christmas shopping season uptown. Many businesses and organizations sponsored beautiful floats. The display windows at Matthews Belk Department Store featured elaborate mechanical displays during the Christmas season. (Blanche Glover Ellis) Sweetland's Restaurant was one of the most popular after-school gathering places for students from Gastonia High School. (Blanche Glover Ellis) Coke floats and milkshakes were among the favorite soda fountain treats at Sweetland's. "Three Centas" and "Spindle City Colas" were bottled in Gastonia: the "Three Centa" at the northwestern corner of Gaston Avenue and North Firestone Street, and "Spindle City" on the east side of Linwood Road near the Fifth Avenue intersection. Both buildings still stand. The Spindle Center Fair came to town annually in the early fall. The fairground was located at the present site of Akers Center on East Franklin Ave. Students in the City Schools received free tickets for "school day," and schools dismissed early on that day. (Blanche Glover Ellis) The Trenton Mill on West Main Avenue was a thriving community. Everyone knew everyone else, and it felt like one big happy family. [This situation was probably true of all the mill villages in the city. Please send us your memories of others.] There was a big clock at the old bus station (Union Terminal) on West Franklin Avenue uptown. (Irene Justice) The Woolworth lunch counter served delicious hot dogs, hamburgers, and club sandwiches.(Irene Justice) Uptown Gastonia was hopping all week long and then closed on Sunday so everyone had to go to church. (Irene Justice) Among the notable newsstands were the ones at South Street and Main Avenue, Marietta Street at Main, and in the lobby of the Main Post Office. Cowboy movies played every Saturday at all the uptown theaters. Gastonia was a baseball hotbed. The training ground was on the streets of the mill villages, where the bat was often a broomstick and the ball was a ball of twine from the mill. (Blanche Glover Ellis) Tony's Ice Cream operated a West Side location. (The building still stands!) Long Avenue (only two lanes before the railroad trench) was an "avenue of churches." It was the original home of First Presbyterian Church, First Baptist Church, Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, and Saint Michael's Catholic Church. You could get into the Webb movie theater on South Street for a dime. Beautiful homes lined West Main Avenue. The Beatles arrived in the Neon pigs ran across the roof of R.O.'s Barbecue (They're back, although a local sign ordinance requires that they stand still--what else is new? Contact City Council and demand that they FREE THE PIGS!) You could watch Cokes being bottled through a plate glass window at the Coca Cola plant on West Franklin Avenue.
Daddy and John had a 'breakfast club' that included Sherrif Dwight Beam, 'Doc' Sanford (Sanford's Cafeteria), Jimmy Brown (owned Caldwell's drug store), Bill Williams from the Gazette, Fate Adams, Virgil Sommers, Bob Greene, Bain Jenkins, Lester "Biscuits" Robinson and others---sometimes they'd meet over at GRALON [the farm that Max Graham and John Long owned together near Dallas] and other times over behind Fate Adams house. (John Graham)
Sisk Barber Shop was located between Piedmont Motors and Smith Chevrolet on West Franklin....with Curt's Radiator up the hill behind it.
My father would take me inside the Citizens National Bank and show me the vault. My father worked at this bank for over 30 years in the trust department. His name was Robert N. Rosebro. I remember also that the clock outside did chime on the hour, and it made you notice that you were downtown Gastonia. My Mother used to shop at Helen's and while she was there picking out clothes, I would amble around the town and look into the shops. Every Christmas we had great parades that went downtown with "Santa" always in the rear! You could get cotton candy, hot dogs, and all the goodies when the parade came at Christmas. It was a great place to grow up and I will always have great memories of this great town. (Anne Rosebro Blanchard)
We bought Slaw Burgers at R.O.'s and Black's on 321 South. The slaw was so good we would order Slaw Burgers, just a bun and slaw. If I remember right they were 15 cents, but I could be wrong. Someone mentioned The Beacon Drive In at Willow and East Franklin Avenue. It was also named The Rebel at one time. Coletta’s on Willow was run by Alice and Tony Coletta. About every day we would walk from Coletta’s to Lineberger Park to go swimming. After I got my driver's license, I could venture out of my area. I had a friend who lived on West Main Avenue with his Grandmother, Mrs. Eldridge. She ran a boarding house, and I remember some very interesting people there. My Dad worked at Roy's Jewelry on Main Avenue. He was the watch repairman and also did some sales. I later joined the Gaston County Life Saving Crew. It was then located on West Second Avenue. A lot of memories there: Ernest Dow, John Stepp, Red King, Floyd Barrett, and no one can forget Mike Jordan. (Barry Adair)
I Attended the grand opening (1956) of the new National Bank of Commerce on Franklin Ave. I was eleven years old at the time and it seemed as if the crowd, gathered in the open area under the building, was enormous. I was there with my Mom and my younger sister. There were some entertainers on a raised stage. I remember my Mom telling me that Vaughn Monroe was there, but I suspect that it was just someone singing some of his songs, since Monroe was too big a star to be appearing at a small town bank opening. [Actually, it was Vaughn Monroe, and his appearance demonstrates how important such an event as the opening of a new bank was in the 1950's.-ed.] When the performer sang one of VM’s big hits, "When the Saints Come Marching In", some people in the audience began to complain loudly that the song was "sacrilegious", but the protesters were far outnumbered by people who were enjoying the music. This was all very exciting and obviously memorable for an eleven year old – I’m sixty-three now. (Martin Smith)
I used to shop at the Diana Shop for my clothes. I would go to Raylass's and get shoes. Then I would shop at Kress' s for all my underclothes. I would go into Sweetland's and eat and play the little juke boxes that sat at each table.......My first date with a guy was there with a boy who worked at Rustin Furniture. I would still have enough money to go see a movie at the Center or Webb Theatres......and make it home on the bus. (Cathy Carpenter)
The bakery was right beside the tracks near Main Street (Holsum Bakery). I would walk from where Sears was and Plej's Textile Outlet (the old Trenton Mill), and you could smell the bread. It smelled so good. The bakery was right beside the railroad tracks on Airline Avenue before you get to NAPA (Genuine Parts). The train depot was right down below it. I could sit there all day and watch people get on and off the train. Bakery workers would give my friends and me bread sometimes if they were outside smoking. (Cathy Carpenter.)
The Boyce Weavers Knotter pictured on the Carter Traveler Company (located on Linwood Road between West Second Avenue and West Franklin Avenue) neon sign looked like a "rat on a ring." (See a picture on the "Spindle Center Scenes" page.)
Big WAYS radio (61AM) was first called New WAYS. (Lana Shaw.)
MORE TO COME! SHARE YOUR MEMORIES TODAY!
Send us your memories of old Gastonia from the 1930's through the 1970's. Send them in the following format: "I remember when...." to trentoncreativeenterprises@charter.net. Selected ones will be displayed (anonymously, unless you wish otherwise) on this page. Preserve these perishable treasures in an imperishable form...by sharing them.
