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Jack Burney, now retired, lives in
Davidson with his wife, Anne, and their Sheltie. He worked in downtown
Charlotte for a total of 25 years at three different companies, in
addition to summer employment. |
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Downtown
Charlotte in the 40's...
a short look at the Charlotte
Downtown of Yesteryears
by Jack Burney
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In the heyday of
radio the WBT downtown studios attracted visitors from afar to see such
attractions as the Briarhoppers.
It was in the early 40's that I worked in
the - now defunct - Wilder Building at Tryon and Third Street as a Page
Boy at CBS-owned WBT. One of my jobs, wearing a CBS uniform, was to tour
these visitors. There were special listening booths separated from studios
by double glass windows where visitors could see and hear their favorite
performers live! The Charlotte of 60
years ago was tightly focused on Downtown and this is what I remember
about the Downtown of that time.
By 1940, Charlotte's population was only
100,000. But in those slower times there was a vibrancy to Downtown that
was exciting for those who worked and shopped there.
Six theatres offered
a variety of cinema choices [TV signed on in Charlotte in 1949].
I so well
remember eating in the basement level of Kresses [5 and 10 cent store]
located on the Square and eating their blue plate special for 35 cents.
There were special treats in every block near
Independence Square. On North Tryon, there was National Shirt Shop and
Liggett's Drug Store right on the Square, Iveys Department Store with its
windows draped on Sundays, Efirds Department Store with the area's first
escalator, Woolworths with access to Belk.
Montaldos which had valet
parking and emitted exotic scents from the store front, Andrews Music,
Brodts Music [just off Tryon on 5th Street], Carolina Theatre where we
youngsters would sit in the balcony and sometimes toss spitballs to those
below, Public Library, Barringer Hotel and numerous apparel stores for
women.
South Tryon had newsstands,
jewelers like upscale Garibaldi & Bruns, men's clothing stores such as
Brown's and Tate-Browns where I shopped for adolescent clothes on the
third floor, Hice-Williamson café where waiting customers stood behind
patrons on stools at a small counter where you chose a person who appeared
to be finishing, Tanners where customers stood to eat sandwiches, peanuts
and drink orange juice or grape juice], Imperial Theatre [air
conditioned!], Tryon Theatre, Broadway Theatre which had stage shows.
I remember Kale-Lawing and Pound & Moore which competed with
office supplies,
Thackers Restaurant which catered to patrons who sought good food served
in a modest style [many groups met regularly in their second floor private
dining rooms], Western Union, well before email, Oasis Temple, YMCA, Latta
Arcade and The Charlotte Observer.
The Charlotte News, the afternoon paper was
located on Church Street. During one period, I delivered the News on my
bike.
On West Trade, there was Ed
Mellon Clothing where I worked one summer on the mezzanine at the other
end of the pneumatic tube system used by sales clerks to send customers'
money for purchases. This was before national credit cards, Parker-Gardner
Music where customers could go to the second level to listen in private
booths to the 78 rpm records they were considering for purchase - pianos
were located on the main floor.
S & W Cafeteria which had a fountain
and free scales near the entrance, Oriental Restaurant, Charlotte Theatre,
Ship Ahoy Restaurant where I played piano upstairs on many occasions as
customers danced to the music of our small band, Holly Smith Photo just
off Trade on Church Street where our high school dance orchestra made 78
rpm recordings on the second floor.
The Selwyn Hotel which had a barber shop
in the basement and a good restaurant, Charlotte Hotel where we often
played for dances on the second level ballroom, plus many small cafes
between the Square and the Train Station.
After playing dance jobs at
night, we would often grab a snack at one these restaurants in the wee
hours of the morning. On East Trade, I
remember entering the Belk Department Store main entrance, across from the
State Theatre which seemed to concentrate on Western movies and serials,
and in the second block, were pawn shops. East Trade was [and is] on a
fairly steep hill just before intersecting Tryon and was considered a
somewhat less desirable location for merchants.
As high school students in the mid-40's, we often
walked or took a bus after class from Central High ( now Central Piedmont
Community College) to go downtown to socialize and shop.
Memories of the '40's in
Downtown are special to me. I wonder how many persons will one day have
such fond recollections as they think back to the Charlotte Downtown of
the 2000's! |
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