August 6, 1936 - Melon Harvest, A 'New' Grocery Store and Clayton Handbook
Today's Time Warp takes us 90 years in the past to the first week of August 1936. The Clayton Market began to ship melons north on the first of the month, a new grocery store was getting ready to open, and Mr. John T. Talton was encouraged to publish an updated version of his "Clayton Handbook". Here's a closer look at how the publication and post office information was published on the front page and page 4.
All of the clippings in this article come directly from the August 6th 1936 edition of the Clayton News, available on Digital NC (1914–1969) [Hyperlink below].
https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92074049/1936-08-06/ed-1/seq-1/
Did you know that Clayton once had, "one of the best watermelon markets in the state"?
Some farmers in Clayton grew their watermelons for the Sowega Melon Growers Association of Adell, Georgia. The Southwest Georgia based association was a farmer cooperative that got established around 1920. In addition to publishing the Sowega Standard newspaper for members this association acted as a cooperative group for watermelon growers to get better prices.
This astute Clayton News journalist picked up on a local trend in 1936: increased truck based transporation of goods in and around Clayton. Here's how trucks disrupted the local watermelon market in the midst of the Great Depression.
"It is claimed, too, that the trucks are paying higher prices for the melons than is being paid at the loading station"
As "good roads" came to Clayton there was an "increasing number of trucks". This disrupted the traditional watermelon market in Clayton as truck transportation became a viable option. Some farmers began, "using their own trucks to carry melons to nearby markets" in the hopes of better prices. This new form of transportation also meant that it was no longer easy to quantify the number of melons that were shipped nor the prices that they sold for.
New Grocery Store to Open Wednesday
The grocery store set to open Wednesday August 12, 1936 is one part of a larger picture of Clayton at that time. Rather than tell the full story of this store I want to highlight how the first paragraph starts, "Right along the line of the general improvement that is so notice [sic] in Clayton these days..."
The article goes on to say, "all lighting will be concealed and arrangements are just what may be found in the most modern city stores." Roy Atkinson smartly purchased an advertisement in the Clayton News, which may have prompted the effusive praise of this journalist. One noticiable difference from 90 years ago is how much shorter the telephone numbers were!
I've not yet researched Roy Atkinson although I am familar with both Piggly Wiggly and J. G. Barbour & Sons Inc. I hope to learn more about Mr. Atkinson and "City Grocery" in 'future' editions of the Clayton News.
A Handbook of Clayton
The two publications of a Handbook of Clayton in 1909 and 1936 are such rich sources of local history that I will have to share them each in a separate article. On August 6, 1936 the Clayton News is giving John T. Talton praise for his previous publication and, "a little encouragement of the right sort".
Early August 1936 was ninety years ago and although it was a different time people in Clayton had many of the same experiences that we have today. They looked forward to ripe watermelons during peak harvest season. They attended the opening of new stores in town. They sought out information about their community and local town. Thank you for taking the time to read this edition of the Clayton Time Warp.
