When I was a kid and my Dad was the SE Regional Salesman for Pepsi Cola, they had this saying: Pepsi Cola came to town Coca-Cola knocked him down Seven Up picked him up Took him to Dr. Pepper

My grandfather, in Calvert, Texas, opened a dry goods store in 1901, after he graduated from business college in Galveston. He left Galveston just before the big hurricane of 1900 destroyed the school and killed the owner and his family. My grandfather's father had a grocery store, but started out as a cobbler in 1868 when he arrived from Prussia. The stores were in the same block. My grandfather's boyhood friend, and brother-in-law, was a partner in the dry goods store until about the days of the Depression, when the BIL opened a grocery store in the back part of the store. The store burned 3 times and was always rebuilt on the same corner. It was a family business, and my father worked in and ran the grocery store in the back. The last time it burned was in 1950, the coldest night we ever had. It got down to 7 degrees. The fire whistle blew and blew that night, but the firemen didn't want to leave their homes. Finally they started leaving. When they turned on the water, it froze into huge plumes that remained into the next day. Fire departments from the other area towns came to help. Our own firemen finally went out when Central (telephone operator) called all the firemen and told them where the fire was. The only thing that saved the whole block is that they had built in a fire wall the last time the store was rebuilt. My uncle went home and his fire fighting clothes were frozen stiff. They stood up alone where he took them off on the back porch. A woman whose husband owned the Western Auto by the picture show across the street, came out and served hot coffee and sandwiches to the fire fighters. My sister continued sleeping, I was up, with my mother, scared and not knowing what to do. My mother got hysterical. She didn't know whether to be sad that my dad wouldn't have a job, or happy because she wanted to move to where her parents lived. Anyway, the next day, my dad put on the fire department's asbestos suit and went into the ruins of the building, which was still smoldering. He picked up the two heavy safes from the store and brought them out. It would have been impossible for anyone to lift those safes, but I guess the adrenalin was really flowing. Then he started bringing out whatever he carried. They had huge hams in the meat section of the grocery store that he brought out. He also brought out cases of orange, red, and various flavors of soda water. He also brought out some canned goods, a couple of scales. but most everything else was destroyed. He put pieces of the concrete from the front of the store in our back yard, along with one of the scales, that no longer worked. Those hams that got the extra smoking were really good. We ate them for a long time, and also drank the bottled soda water. I don't think we could read the labels anymore, and most of the bottles were smoked. We just went by what color the contents were. Some of the best ham and soda water ever! It took a few years to rebuild the store, but they moved the safes to a building across the street where the store operated until the new building was ready. The grocery store was not rebuilt, but the back firewall was left standing. In between there, an elderly man built a barbeque pit and sold barbeque on Saturdays. It was sold from the family in 2000 as an antique store, but now a potter has bought it and has an gallery and pottery studio in there. Now, remember, it took only my dad to bring those safes out of the burned building, one at a time. But, to move them across the street, it took lots of really strong men and a flat bed truck. My mother and grandmother had a fit about my dad putting on that asbestos suit and going into that building. The more people told him he couldn't do something, the more determined he was to do that thing! He liked for people to think he was strong, too. When I was small, there was a Delaware Punch bottling plant across the street from the dry goods store. We were happy that the owners came to our church, and sometimes brought samples for everyone! They didn't stay open long as the people moved on. I think I have heard this little rhyme. Cecelia > When I was a kid and my Dad was the SE Regional Salesman for Pepsi Cola, > they had this saying: > Pepsi Cola came to town > Coca-Cola knocked him down > Seven Up picked him up > Took him to Dr. Pepper >