Information galore in 1950s phone directory

If you have ever had to pack up a loved one’s home, especially if you lived in that home with them, you will understand the difficulty in letting go of memories by letting go of stuff. When it gets too difficult, out come the totes and in goes everything you just can’t deal with at the time. Fast forward a few years and those totes sit untouched. Were those things really that important?

Some of them are but the years have softened the heartache and you know it’s time to let go. You’re going to find precious items, but mostly you’re going to find that your heart was overshadowing your brain when you packed those boxes up.

One of the items saved that will go to the genealogy library is a 1950 McCook-Culbertson Telephone Directory from Northwestern Bell. It’s funny what you forget in these days of cell phones, but the only place you could call from McCook without additional charges was Culbertson! You had two levels of long-distance rates to choose from: Station-to-Station or Person-to-Person. If you chose the Station rate, you were expecting to talk to whomever answered. The rates were also different between weekdays (which included Saturday) or nights and Sundays. As an example, my mom could call her parents in Dalton for 90 cents during weekdays or after 6 PM the rate dropped to 75 cents for three minutes. All these calls went through a telephone operator when you called for “Long Distance”.

The directory is fascinating when you look at the listings. I always go to the school section and in 1950, the first of the baby boomer generation would have been starting elementary school. McCook appeared ready because they had three elementary locations: East Ward, West Ward and North Ward. Junior and senior high were still housed where Central Elementary now sits and the original high school building. McCook’s pride, the Junior College, had a building called the Auditorium, located on the present campus, 1203 East 3rd, which also housed the Superintendent of Schools. Few will remember that the McCook Public School system directed the college at the time. What I didn’t recall is a Vocational Agri Farm Shop which is listed as being at 301 East M Street. It would be interesting to see if anyone does recognize that location.

The Tri-Sate Livestock Commission, or today’s West Sale Barn, existed in its’ present location, but the McCook Livestock Exchange, Wacker-Elliot & Wacker’s East Sale Barn on South 6th Street, has been gone for decades. Johnie Stickilman and Harry Showalter were the Ringmen plus Art Leitner and Chas. Macy were auctioneers.

Cafes are always a draw for me too. It had been years since I thought about the Highway Café which sat at 105 East B Street though I now remember going there with my dad. A more likely stop was the Bus Café located right north of the depot where the cinnamon rolls were a welcomed treat when we picked dad up after work. I don’t remember the Pine Grill at 802 East B or Coney Island at 501 West B, they may not have survived long enough for my childhood days, but the Chuck Wagon, located on the hilltop 5 miles east of McCook, was a stopping place when we were on our way home to Indianola.

Fishers Ice Cream shop, 106 East 2nd, survived into my childhood but I have no memories of McCook Ice and Packing, distributors for Fairmont’s Ice Cream, 102 West 3rd, Swifts Ice Cream, 124 West B or McCook Ice Cream Company, 308 West B, boasting bulk packaging, novelties, sherbets, and Birds Eye Frozen Foods.

To close, here’s a list of the grocery stores in 1950: Anton’s Grocery, D & S Market, Deforest Market, Fred’s Market, G Street Market, Hillcrest Grocery, Hinky Dinky, Koetters’s Grocery, Lewis’ Corner, Loper’s Cash Grocery, Moore’s I.G. A., South McCook Grocery, U & R Market, Wagner Grocery, and White House Grocery. Talk about convenience, no one needed a car to pick up a loaf of bread in those days!

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving, hopefully with family and friends, but as one of my favorite songs goes: “If you can’t be with the ones you love, love the ones you’re with!” The genealogy library will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.