Going UPtown or going TO town

Verneice Burdett Brown

July 11, 2008 10:59 pm

— Having been born and raised in Moultrie, I have so many fond memories of the town from the days past. The way it used to be, the people who made up the community, a place where if you wanted to socialize, downtown was the place to be.
“Going uptown or going to town” were common phrases heard regularly. But the meanings of those phrases invoke so many memories. Oftentimes the city people referred to it as “going uptown.” The country people, from communities all around would refer to it as “going to town.” So if you listened carefully it was pretty easy to know if they lived in the country or city, even if you didn’t know them. And it was for totally different reasons then, that the downtown area was the hub of socialization and commercialization.
Now, we are totally spoiled. Grocery stores, hardware stores, clothing and shoe stores, are generally open 7 days a week. It wasn’t until the 1970s that it was becoming more popular for stores to be open all week; even during the 1970s there was a period of time that we could not even buy gasoline for our vehicles on Sunday, during the “shortage of oil” when gas really went up (from 30 to 70 cent per gallon.)
Downtown Moultrie was visited regularly due to necessity, especially on Saturdays, because we didn’t have shopping centers and malls. Of course, there were those that could go shopping more often, but the booming business was on Saturdays. But the bulk of stores were all in the central location. You didn’t have to drive all over town to buy what you needed. The farmers and their families, their employees would work all week in the fields, and when the weekend was here, Saturday was the day to buy shoes, clothes, groceries and whatever else was needed. It was a big thing to be in town on Saturday. Even the city folk, who had worked all week, would take time on Saturday to buy all their supplies for the next week. If you didn’t shop on Saturday, you had to wait until Monday for the stores to open again, because as the Bible says, Sunday was a day of rest. It was church day. Downtown was the hotspot of the community. So everyone would eventually meet someone they knew or hadn’t seen in a long time downtown on the square. It was a family event, even a big social event for some folks.
Our city square was a mecca of shopping! On the north end, we had JC Penney’s, Warner Dress Shop, Barfields Shoes (later Causey’s), GC Murpheys, Belks, Davis Clothing, Mashburns Beauty Shop and a bank.
On the west side, there was McClellands, Eleanor Dress Shop, Braswells Jewelry, Butler Shoes, Sears, Goings Men’s Wear, Browns Men’s Shop, Rice Jewelry, and Scriebers.
On the south of the Square, was Register and Taylor Pharmacy, Neel’s, Watsons Drugstore.
On the east side was Friedlanders, The Fair Store, Top Dollar and Woolworths, along with Wilsons Jewelry.
On North Main and on First Street going further each way, you’d find Minix Drugs, White Auto, Cranford Jewelry, Bowles Photography Studio, Crystal Pharmacy, Gammages Shoes, Lazarus, the Sportsman Resturant, Harveys Grocery Store, Arwoods Drugs and many more. Until 1964, our library was even downtown.
But the most memorable and best stores in the world for kids then was Murpheys, McClellands and Woolworths! They sold toys! Murpheys and Woolworths were the most modern of the group. I can still remember the hardwood floors and the big ceiling fans that were constantly whirling in McClellands Store — I think that was the extent of their cooling system. Of course they were similar to what Wal-Mart is today, they had something for the entire family, but when you’re a kid, a new toy is the ultimate in a shopping trip, at least that’s the biggest concern for you.
We didn’t have the fast-food type restaurants that we do now. Sure we had Barbers Drive In, remember the car-hops? We had Chandlers and DairyCo, and DairyQueen. But they were all off the beaten path of the square. So when you were downtown, you could always go to Goldleaf, Sportsman or Plantation House to eat. But folks then didn’t eat out a lot, it was special occasions for most. But if you wanted something to hold you over, or just wanted to have a special day in town, Watson’s Drugs had a soda fountain, complete with swivel seats, and bar to sit at, and you could buy sandwiches, Coke, coffee or a slice of pie. Woolworths also had a sit-down type resturant where you could order a cold Coca-Cola, in a true Coke glass, and a hot dog or hamburger plate. I remember when I went to buy groceries with my mama, sometimes we’d go in there and have the hamburger plate and it was delicious, the hamburgers tasted so much better back then and the fries were always hot! Even the Coca-Cola tasted different. If you wanted a snack on the run, Murpheys had a candy counter where you could buy hot, fresh popcorn, a cold Coke (in a waxed paper cup on ice) or a hot-dog or chili dog. They also so Brachs Stars candy, and Maple candies along with others. You could buy a quarters worth of candy (it was weighed and bought by the pound or whatever amount you wanted) and a quarters worth was a bag full! It was a real special treat to visit these stores.
When you walked the sidewalks, you would know half the people and sometimes it seemed that our parents knew everyone in town and they’d always stop and talk. When you were promised a toy and were trying to get to that store, it seemed to take forever, especially running into all those folks. But it was an exciting time, for the prices were just right. If you had a dollar you were rich, you could buy several toys on that one trip!
And when the family went to town, it would usually be an all-day trip. Buying shoes, material or clothes, just whatever was needed, it could be found downtown. If dad got tired of looking at clothes he could always find men to stand around on the corner and talk with, or he could walk down to the hardware store. If that didn’t work, he could walk just a little farther north or south of the square and look at new Chevrolets and Buicks. Mama could look at pattern books and buy fabrics from many stores to make new clothes for the family. If the kids needed new shoes, there were many shoe stores with varying prices for everyone. Mama could even go up to Mashburns Beauty Shop and have her hair washed and set, getting ready for Sunday church. Once the downtown shopping trip was over, we could walk down to Knights Fish Market and buy fresh mullet for mama to cook for our supper.
I remember my Mama talking about stores giving out tickets each week. You would tear off half the ticket, drop it in a box and keep the other half. On Saturday afternoons all those boxes would be dumped into a large box or barrel, and a drawing was held on the Courthouse lawn at the Grand Stand on the east side. Merchants would donate items for the drawing: toasters, mixers, irons, decorative items and other things. They would draw one of the tickets and if the number called out matched yours, you won a prize. Since they always had very nice prizes, it was a big draw for people to hang around waiting for the drawing that day. You had to be present to win, so the crowd was always large. Mama won quite a few prizes over the years and so she’d be in the crowd waiting for that drawing.
I remember walking around the square and hearing preachers, belting out sermons from the Grand Stand. A large, captive audience would stand around and listen as a fire and brimstone sermon was preached. And the crowd would stay and listen, reverently, and I remember hearing, “Amens and Hallelujahs” coming from people in the crowd agreeing with the sermon.
There would be a Tobacco Parade in the summer, when all the tobacco warehouses were bustling businesses. It celebrated the fact that tobacco was an industry in our community that provided a livelihood for so many. In the fall, there would be the Homecoming parade for the High School. And of course, the Christmas lights and Christmas Parade. Santa was a very busy fellow during the Christmas season, for you couldn’t go into a store uptown without seeing him. You just knew you had to behave because he was definitely watching you.
When I got my driver’s license, I had to go to the courthouse to take the test. The State Patrol officers would be there, give the test and if you passed, you then had to drive around town, turning at lights, changing lanes and parallel parking, all on our famous one-way streets, to pass the test. All under the watchful eye of the officer. It was really rough on the nerves!
Most of all, downtown Moultrie was safe when I was growing up. There were policemen who patrolled on foot regularly, and everyone knew them, and everyone knew the meter maid (oh, did I mention we had parking meters then? Talk about having to dig for change!) And you knew to watch the time, because you were sure to get a ticket if you parked overtime.
A lot of the folks, had to buy groceries on Saturday, so they’d park at Harveys (it was much easier to get a parking place there). Harveys was across from the City Hall then, and the folks would walk uptown, buy what they needed, walk back and buy groceries. Whatever items they had purchased could be put in the car or truck, and no one bothered them! No one locked the vehicles; in fact most left the windows open. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were the case today? Nowadays, items aren’t even safe in locked vehicles.
I remember when I was growing up, going to town with my mama, daddy, or grandmother. The little kids always stayed with the grown-ups, but once you got a little older you could venture out on your own. I remember going to town with Mama on Saturdays. She’d always go to the beauty shop, and I’d get bored, very bored. Of course we’d go shopping afterward, but it seemed such a long time to wait. But when I turned 11 or 12, I was allowed to go to stores by myself. I thought I was grown! It was always with the warning, “You be careful now.” Daddy would always make sure I had money to buy something I wanted. At that age, I had discovered perfumes, makeup and clothes! I’d go to Murpheys and buy a perfume in a blue bottle, called “Evening in Paris,” it smelled awesome! Then I’d buy new nail polish, and then off to the purses and clothes. I could go into shoe stores, clothing stores and pick out my own things. I could go to fabric departments, find a pattern, be able to read the pattern and buy the things needed for a new outfit. My mama was a wonderful seamstress — she didn’t even need a pattern to make a dress — but there were so many pretty patterns and styles. Between my grandmother and me, she kept busy sewing new clothes for us, even making some for herself along. She also did sewing for the public, so I had learned the fabric department routines at an early age. But it was just as exciting getting new homemade clothes as buying store bought clothes. And to be able to pick out your own, was the ultimate.
As I grew into my teens, downtown was still a big thing. We’d still go to town on Saturday, Mama would get her hair done, and I’d go shopping. By then I could find the clothes I wanted and put them on lay-away, take the receipt home and Daddy would give me the money I needed to get them out. That worked out really well when my mama was in the hospital and I had to get school supplies and clothes one year on my own. And I think my daddy was thankful he didn’t have to trudge through the stores, waiting for me to find what I wanted.
It was a different time and a different place. In todays world I’d be a nervous wreck, if I knew my child was walking around town on their own. Now I wouldn’t want them to even walk around in the store alone. But then, so many of the store clerks knew everyone, people on the street knew everyone and kids were taught to respect others. If you didn’t behave, you can bet that your parents would find out, and the next time you went you were guaranteed to behave. We were taught that if you didn’t have the money, the item stayed in the store. There wasn’t a problem with shoplifting, at least not like it is today. We were taught the Ten Commandments. When mama said, “Don’t go further than Belks,” you didn’t go past there. You listened to Mama and Daddy or even Grandma if you went with her. If you went with a neighbor, you listened to them. There were these wonderful things in society then that were called Honesty and Trust! Another was RESPECT!
As I grew older, stores I had grown up with began closing and moving away from downtown. It was really sad to see them go. There was a closeness in the community then that hasn’t been the same since. Stores moved far and wide, scattered among areas they thought would bring better business. Downtown died.
It’s nice to see stores moving back into those buildings. But it will never be the same. Too much time has passed, society has changed, economic times have changed and the closeness that was held together by the square cannot be recouped, which is sad. No matter how many stores move into those buildings, the state of our society will not allow it to go back to those days.
It was common in high school to hear fellow classmates always talking about leaving Moultrie because there wasn’t anything to do. I never had the desire to leave. After I got married, I moved away for a short time, but I missed home, so we came back. Moultrie is home, and the memories it has given me, outweigh the “nothing to do” by a mile. Just walking around the square, looking at the magnificent Courthouse, those beautiful trees, reminiscing about the stores brings back so many happy memories. These past years have created more memories by seeing my children in parades around that ole square, taking my grandchildren to see Santa on the square. It is still creating special memories for our family.
It bothers me to hear people constantly complain that there’s nothing to do here. Of course we all need more competition in our stores, so we all eventually go out of town to shop. And other towns may have bowling alleys, game rooms and such, but when you talk to young people in those towns, they also complain, “we have nothing to do here.”
It just goes to show that our society is spoiled. Growing up in Moultrie is something I am very proud of. No, we may not have had all the fancy things to do, but I grew up in a town that was safe. I grew up in a community where we knew our neighbors and when you met them on the square on Saturday, you still took time to greet them and have conversations. We knew we’d be in church on Sunday. It is totally different now. But bringing in new things to do isn’t the answer — people get bored quickly and they will always complain. In order for our community to come together, to become better and safer, we all have to go back to the days of caring, respect, discipline, honesty, integrity, friendliness. In other words, it’s the people who have to change, people have to want better for themselves and their family. You can not depend on others to make the world a better place, or a happier place, it first has to start within yourself. Then we can hope that our communities can go back to a place of feeling safe for our children to enjoy growing up there. Even if they complain, “Mom, there’s nothing to do here.”