Snapshots of History by Mike Avitt

This week’s photo was taken in the late 1980s in the building that used to house C. R. Anthony’s Clothing Store. This building, at 108 S. Taylor, was turned into a make-shift museum during Ayr Days and the Preservation Partnership took this opportunity to gather and preserve local history. Shirley Hickman used this museum to solicit photos for her “Ayr Views” articles.

I was recently asked for a photo of Anthony’s clothing store. I was unable to find an adequate photograph. When my photo collection numbered around 100, I was fairly well organized. That is not the case today.

Lee Timby, William Timby’s youngest son,  sold the building at 108 S. Taylor to John Freeland in the year 1944. Lee’s father had the building erected in 1897. John took four years to renovate the building and move Freeland’s Department Store to this location in 1948. Freeland’s started in 1891 as a dry goods (mostly clothing) store. By 1948, the store also sold appliances and household items. John and his mother Marge had grown Montgomery Edward Freeland’s business into a highly respected and modern enterprise. And, yet, the end was near.

The June 23rd, 1949 edition of the Record-News announces the sale of Freeland’s Department store to W. A. Cash of the W. G. Woodward Company of St. Louis, Missouri. The Woodward Company had a chain of about forty clothing stores in the upper Midwest and Northwest. John Freeland retained ownership of the building and Art Schmidt was hired as the new manager. Woodward’s opened in July 1949.

Art Schmidt was still the manager in January 1956 when Woodward & Co. sold a controlling interest in their business to C. R. Anthony Company. C. R. Anthony was headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK and was operating in 19 states. The name Woodward’s would continue to be used at the present. The name was changed to Anthony’s on July 12, 1957.

On August 1, 1963, Fred Roberts succeeded Art Schmidt as manager of Woodward’s. Mr. Roberts had previously managed a store in Columbia, Missouri. Fred and his family took up residence on the newly established Sunset Lane.

The next manager was Jim Olsen, a native of Elk Horn, Iowa. Mr. Olsen arrived in December 1964. He departed in May 1967.

That’s when James Clary, a native of Bethany, Mo., became manager. I remember Mr. Clary because he would come to the pool hall on his lunch break and play snooker with Arlen Hughes. Mr. Clary was transferred to Louisana in February 1976. I didn’t find who replaced him.

On June 6, 1977, the east side fire took out Gambles Store, Anthony’s neighbor on the north. Anthony’s building survived the fire but some smoke seeped in. On June 10, four days after the fire, Anthony’s had a fire sale on smoke-damaged clothing. Four days! My brain is struggling with insurance adjusters, paper work, and corporate clearance. Doesn’t the four day closure seem unbelievably brief?

Anyway, the fire sale continued into August. Anthony’s closed for good in early August of 1980 with very little advance notice. Tom Morris was the manager at the time. There were three full-time employees when the store closed: Pat White, Nola Swietlik, and Lorene Combs. And that was the end of Anthony’s in Mount Ayr. The next occupant of the building was Plaza Furniture.