| Summary: | (5:54) Mr. Stanley describes running a grocery store in Colbert County, Alabama and tells what he did for entertainment during his childhood.This interview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archives and History staff, using funds provided by the National Historical Preservation and Records Commission.Florence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Oscar Woodrow “ Woody” Stanley April 22, 2009 Florence, Alabama Conducted by Rhonda Haygood and Patti Hannah
( Also present: Lou Letson, Mac Letson)
Clip 5 of 7
Lou Letson: But you still haven’t told them the story about the competitor you had there when you had the store, in Bethel.
Oscar Stanley: Oh, the store? Yeah. Ah, when I put in that little store out at old Bethel, it was about a quarter of a mile down below old Bethel Church and there’s a road coming in from Lawrence County, they call it Flat Rock Road, it come right, directly in to the County Line Road. Fact is, when I built the store, if the people hadn’t a turned, they’d a run into the store, from Flat Rock. Bob Wear had a store up there adjoining the church grounds and then, ah, Hardin had a store on up where the road turns to go to LaGrange School, there’s three stores there, mine and Bob Wear’s, so, Simmons Grocery, Wholesale Grocery over here at Florence, would call on us every week. They distributed a flour they called ‘ Fluffy Ruffles’ and people were already buying it and they would come by Bob Wear’s store up there with that flour on their shoulder, pass right on by me, you know. So, I, I told the Simmons’ salesman that, ah, I wanted to buy some of that Fluffy Ruffles flour. He said, “ Ah, Mr. Stanley,” said, “ Simmons won’t let me sell you that.” Said, “ Bob Wear’s kinda got it going. We call him our customer on that.” He said, “ We got same thing, just in a different bag called Shoney’s Best.” So I let him send me, probably half a barrel which’d a been four bags of Shoney’s Best and nobody knew Shoney’s Best, it didn’t, didn’t strike a chord with nobody, you know. Wasn’t but about two weeks after that till a little salesman come out of Decatur by the name of Tommy Masterson, a little fellow. And he said, ah, “ Mr. Stanley,” said, “ Mr. Byers up there at Saints Crossroads, close to Russellville, told me I ought to come down here and call on you, that he thought you was getting, getting along, going along pretty good with your store down here.” And, ah, so he started telling me what all he had and he mentioned Fluffy Ruffles flour. And he said, “ I’m running out there to my car a minute.” He went out to his car and come back with a cup and a saucer, a big milk, what do they call them, milk—
LL: Milk glass.
Mac Letson: Milk glass platter.
OS: Milk type platter. Beautiful, good- looking stuff, you know, and, ah, a bowl, two and first one thing and another. He said, “ Now, with Fluffy Ruffles,” said, “ they buy a bag of Fluffy Ruffles,” said, “ you can give them a cup.” Said, “ Then the next week they can get a saucer and then the next week they can get another cup, and another saucer.” And said, “ If they buy a forty- eight pound bag, they get this big, beautiful platter.” He had a little bit better price on it than Florence Grocery, Wholesale Grocery had on his, with the free merchandise. And, of course that, those people out, like out there around Old Bethel, now, when they got something free like that, it just tore them up. Fluffy Ruffles, yeah. Yeah, it, it really went to town. They, ah, [ inaudible] also had a, a feed that was made a Birmingham, Alabama, hog feed called Jim Dandy and it was a super feed and, ah, I bought a lot of that some. It made, made big sellers. You wouldn’t think people in the country would buy hog feed, but it made a big seller. You know, you’d think they have plenty of corn they could feed their hogs, but that Jim Dandy was a Jim Dandy seller.
RH: What sorts of things did you do as a youngster to entertain yourself?
OS: When I was in school, growing up?
RH: Um- hm.
OS: There wasn’t a whole lot to do then. I never was very good at riding a bicycle; I know that. Never did own a bicycle, but I never could ride one too good. And I’d see other kids just run them on down, or spin them around, you know, and do all kind of things with them, but I never could ride a bicycle. I was a good T Model driver.
LL: Turn them T Models around on a dime.
OS: Yeah.
RH: Did you, ah, go to the movies when you were younger?
OS: Oh, yeah, we, you know, got a chance to come to Tuscumbia’s Strand Theatre. I think, I may be wrong, but I think a movie for a kid back then was ten cents and I think it was thirty- five cents for adults. Where we lived at Spring Valley from out there on Highway 20, which is 157 and 20 now, going to Spring Valley, it’s three miles, they call it Three Mile Lane. And I walked that lane a many, a many time to come out there to Paul Sockwell’s store and hitch- hike a ride to Tuscumbia and then hitch- hike back there and then walk back. Three miles. They was two hamburger places in Tuscumbia. Ah, Jeff Willis run a— Jeff worked for Mr. Jackson in a hamburger place. He got mad at Mr. Jackson and went across the street and put him in one so there’s two, two five cent hamburger places there on Main Street, back then.
RH: Were there other special events, besides FDR coming, that, that you remember that would happen in the downtown area that people would flock to see?
OS: Ah, in, around Tuscumbia?
RH: Parades or— did y’all have parades back then much or, Fourth of July—
OS: Don’t remember too much about parades, course Tuscumbia’s always had— been renowned for parades, you know, pretty much so. But I don’t remember anything special.
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