Monthly Archives: November 2014

Piercy – Baker Realtors

1 Reply

cherokeeboatco

cherokeeboatcoback

Piercy – Baker opened this office in 1953.  It was at 1701 Ft. Henry Drive at Brooks Circle.
Behind it are, as you may have noticed, Cherokee Boat Company and Motor Sales Company of Kingsport, both presided over by Myrtle C. King, with Clifford V. Bryant Sec Treas.  John L. Mitchell was in charge of boats, motors and fishing equipment at Cherokee, while Mrs. Anna A. Hester was asst. sec trucks at Motor Sales.  That building is listed as being on Eastman Road. The Pot O’ Gold, then just a delicatessen, presided over by James A. Brockman, was at 1713 Ft. Henry Drive.
The postcard picture was taken by Fred W. Stanley of Johnson City, printed by our old friends Dexter Press on West Nayak NY.  Inventory number 73775.
Interestingly, it appears that Kingsport was recovering from a snow storm when this picture was taken. Note the wet asphalt and, to the left, what appears to be leftover snow.

Skoby’s

Leave a reply

skobysfrontside

skobysbackside

I picked this card up at a flea market recently for 25 cents.  it was published by Creed Studios in Bristol and measures 8-3/4″ by 3-1/2″.  This had to have been published before 2005, when Skoby’s left the Barger hands.  The card was printed by Dexter Press in West Nyack NY.  ID number is 78651-D

I miss Skoby’s.  I didn’t eat there often, but I always enjoyed it when I did.  The Back Room was rather a middle-class dive, but the restaurant’s food was excellent.

I miss the old Peerless, too.  At one time, it was in the same class as Skoby’s.

Porterfield City Feed

Leave a reply

porterfieldfeed

This is 469 West Sullivan Street.  In 1959, this was Porterfield City Feed Company, next to City Poultry and Egg Company.  CP&ECo was on the corner of Sullivan and what was then Island Street (It’s now Mission Street).  The buildings are currently derelict.

When I was a kid, I had a paper route in downtown Kingsport.  One year, the Kingsport Times-News, then located on Market Street, held some sort of contest and I ended up winning a certificate for a turkey from CP&Eco, just in time for Thanksgiving.  It was, as I recall, a mingy turkey, but it was quite welcome, since my stepdad wasn’t having a particularly good year.  My stepdad never had a particularly good year.

Pen staff, Kingsport Inn

Leave a reply

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I rescued this pen staff (it’s just one; I rotated it so you could see the whole graphic on the staff) as the Kingsport Inn was being demolished.  A buddy and I, we both lived downtown, went over one evening to explore the building.  It was partially razed, but the lobby and some of the rooms were still accessible.  There was no security that we saw.  We wandered around and looked at stuff.  I remember finding a room rate card, but it’s been lost in one of many transitions.
To use this, one would insert a steel nib, dip the pen in an inkwell, and sign your name with a scratchy flourish, or not. Really, casual handwriting has hardly improved.