Source: Lawrence County Historical Society Journal
Website : http://www.lchsar.org
In the 1920s, Warner Drug Store in Hoxie always had a piano in the back for jam sessions and singing. A combo of local talent developed into a fine orchestra. Emerson Richardson on the piano; Dr. Glover Clay, clarinet and violin; Dick Payne, trumpet and trombone; Lucian Warner, saxophone; Earl Thomas, drums; and Conley Groves, banjo.
Many amusing things were always happening in a drug store. A loyal customer asked one pharmacist if he had any “principal meal”, noting the perplexed look on his face, the customer handed him an empty bottle which had contained capsules of vitamins and minerals. After listing the ingredients, the label directed the buyer to take one capsule after his “principal meal.”
Lucian Warner purchased Cooper Drug Store in the 1940s at the death of Rennard Cooper. The drug store and soda fountain were downstairs. The upstairs housed doctors, dentists offices and a laboratory. The store was run by Lucian Warner until May of 1961. In later years, his daughter Lucia remodeled the upstairs into apartments. Luther Goings operated Goings Pharmacy on the street level.
Early Drugstores those were the Days
Before television, air-conditioning and the prosperity of the 50s, drug stores served as social gathering places for people in the community. In addition to operating prescription departments, and modern soda fountains, they also had juke boxes, electric pianos and small pool tables. Every drug store had tables and chairs to accommodate everyone.
Curb service was provided in the depression years of the 1930s. E.G. Phillips, an employee of Cooper Drug Store, recalls this story: “A woman pulled up in her car and I went out to wait on her. She ordered a cherry Coke, which was 5 cents. I made the cherry Coke and took it out to her car on a tray, with straws, a paper napkin and a glass of ice water. After a bit, she honked her horn and I went for the tray. She asked for a blank check, so I returned to the store and got her a blank check. She wrote a check for a dollars and I went in and cashed it and gave her 95 cents. This made four or five trips to her car for me. The she took the change and went next door to Wright Bros. 10 cents store and did some shopping with the 95 cents.”
