What does this bring back?

We lived on the southern terminus of Lookout Mountain mountain, not too far from Noccalula Falls.  Falls Drug had a soda fountain where you could get hand dipped ice cream, a milk shake or an ice cold fountain drink. A real favorite of mine was getting a cherry coke. Mr. Jim Ludlum would fill the glass with soda and then pour cherry juice straight from the cherry bin. I remember stopping by in the mid-eighties and talked with Mr. Ludlum just before he sold his stainless steel soda fountain fixtures. They were all unplugged and pulled from the wall ready to be picked up by the fortunate buyer.

Mother said there was a time back in the fifties when there were drug stores on practically every corner of downtown Gadsden. Snellgrove Drug was the last to go. Mother told me that Snellgrove had another location just a few blocks up Broad Street that catered to the Court House crowd. She said that she remembered her and dad going there on dates. Dad and mom met at the Gadsden Times where they both worked. Dad was hired by Frank Helderman, Sr as a legal gun for the times - mother was a receptionist.  Mother also remembered East Broad Drug Store run by the Brannons.

McNair's Drug Store in the cotton mill village was one of my favorite places to go as a kid. Mom said that she remembered going there for ice cream when she was ten years old. She said she would eat ice cream and play in the reflection of the mirrored glass. That brought back memories for me as well. It was a dark heavy window pane and you could get on the corner of the glass and watch your appendages float in mid air. It's neat that we share the same childhood memories of the same place - being of a different generation.

Those that attended Gadsden High School might remember Graham's Drug Store on the corner of Twelfth and Walnut. The building is still there. My old friend Michael Bynum will remember Graham's Drug because The Other Door was at the same location, the entrance facing 12th. It was "Doc" Cary Graham that brought bought WETO radio (930 frequency) into town back in 1950. He ran his station from the back of his drug store until Charlie Bowman bought it out and the rest is WJBY history.

Grandfather Fred Davidson (mom's dad) was a Millwright at Dwight Cotton Mill. The Davidson family later moved to Campbell Court in East Gadsden. Mom has memories of all the different drug stores/soda fountains from west to east Gadsden areas. East Gadsden Drug on Hoke Street being one. 

I remember mom letting me go to John's Pharmacy (next door to East Gadsden Clinic) after a doctor's visit. If the doctor or dentist visit was too traumatizing - she'd let me pick out a comic book or buy me a tall milk shake. That's where I got my El Dorado comic book - never having seen a John Wayne comic book before - I was thrilled in spite of the throbbing pain.

Drug stores were everywhere back then and they weren't just for picking up prescriptions. They were places for townsfolk to go and catch up on the local gossip. Mothers could usually pick up a loaf of bread along with needed prescriptions. I remember a lot of talks with dad while parked out front of Falls Drug while enjoying a double scoop of ice cream. I don't recall dad ever going inside because he was on crutches.   I do remember many nights parked outside Falls Drug on warm evenings with the radio tuned to FM (Fine Music).  We were family of eight packed shoulder to shoulder quickly consuming melting ice cream in our Chevrolet Kingswood Estate station-wagon.

Mother told me a story about Mr. Ludlum. Jennie was meeting with girl-scouts one night and mother had forgotten that it was her night to bring refreshments.  Mother was home taking care of one of her babies that night and called to ask Jim if he'd help her. Good ol' Mr. Jim Ludlum went out of his way and fixed drinks and treats and delivered them personally to the young gathering.

There are few of these kind of places now a days. It's nice that Gadsden City Pharmacy came along to offer a little bit of that past. The old drug stores are fond memories that both our parent's generation and our generation share. Once while on the road with my parents - I guess I was about 17 years old - we stopped at a little town called Midway, Kentucky. There was a wonderful little mom and pop drug store where we enjoyed a club sandwich and a fountain drink. I have always been nostalgic for old things. The couple had kept much of the advertisements and fixtures from when they opened their little pharmacy back in the 1930's. I remember this little old lady coming to me with an original Coca-Cola tray and presenting it to me. I accepted her thoughtful gift after her insistence. She said that she didn't know how long they were going to keep their store open and wanted the tray to go to someone that would appreciate it. I've let a lot of memorabilia go through the years but I will never let go of that tray and that tidbit of memory. It was the last time I was ever in a drug store of that kind - a real drug store with a real soda fountain. Those places are of a day gone by.