Searcy, AR

This is a picture of the old Plaza movie theater which was located directly across Spring Street from the Mayfair Hotel in Searcy Arkansas, White County, about 50 miles from Little Rock.

According to my friend who supplied this picture, it was run by a Mr. K.K. King, who also ran the Rialto Theater which was about two blocks away. This Plaza was mostly for "B" movies, and cheaper to get into. He does not know the date of the picture. I have been in this city for about 41 years and it was a scene that I never saw. When I got here it was the location of a nice dress shop. Perhaps some of my readers can explain its demise and why and how.

Having two movie theaters in such a small town seems strange now, doesn't it. But probably no stranger than having five screen theaters in one building as we do now. Our old Rialto is still running.

This old hotel is still in Searcy AR and still being lived in. I don't believe it is a hotel anymore but more of a permanent home for people and office space for businesses. It is within walking distance to our Spring Park, where people used to go for herbal water treatments.

We had a delightful "Yankee" who came in and bought it many years ago. He made himself a very fancy living area in the hotel. He became loved by everyone in the town despite his accent. When he sold it to someone else he had quite a few collectibles from it which he passed on to people who would appreciate them.

My favorite comment from him was this, "Baabrra (he couldn't say Barbara), your house is about the only one that is so full of junk that I think you'd appreciate this teapot from the Mayfair because you'd display it." I still do. He's gone now but will never be forgotten.

Another picture of the old days in Searcy, White County Arkansas. I really love this one. The ladies all have on hats and are dresssed just as alike as the girls dress today. I can assure you everyone had on some sort of hose. And they had on sensible shoes, no needle pointed spikes that would ruin their feet before they got old. (Well, maybe some were already old in this picture.)

Skirts would have all been the same length. I can remember my mother wondering what skirt length would be in fashion that year. The experts dictated and the ladies followed their orders. No pants were worn by the ladies.

Here's what my friend Don says about the picture. He let me borrow it for this blog.

Searcy Garden Club Breakfast & Hat Show. This fashionable gathering took place in Spring Park in the mid 40s..
Shown are (left to right): Seated on the front row - Mrs. S.J. Allbright, Mrs. Pyatt, Mrs. Hal Minnis, Mrs. Jim Wiseman, Mrs. J.H. Deener, Mrs. Hays,
Mrs. J.T. Cone; Back row - Mrs. Leon Head, (minister's wife), Mrs. W.H. Shaefer, Mrs. H.M. Thompson, Mrs. A.H. Royston, Mrs. Harrah Fisher,
Mrs. May Branch, unidentified, Mrs. C. Norman Guice and Mrs. A.J. Neel. The girl seated in front is unidentified.

Being identified by the husband's name carried on over until at least the late 60's and 70's. I can remember having my own picture in the paper and I was not Barbara Duncan....I was Mrs. Rodger Duncan. I even donated money once to my university and the check was in my name and said nothing about the spouse. Evidently they had to do a little research to find out that I was actually Mrs. Rodger Duncan so they gave Mr. & Mrs. Rodger Duncan credit for the donation!!

All you ActiveRain ladies, aren't you glad we have our own identities now!!! Lots of things have changed for the better!!

Look at these eager children! This is a photo made in front of Searcy High School, the old one that burned down. Once again, correct me in comments if I am wrong. This photo was provided by my friend Anita. Searcy AR is a progressive city of approximately 20,000 residents. I don't know any of the children and don't know the year but I love looking at the clothing worn by the kids. I can almost assure you that none of the jeans were bought with a "worn" look built in. They were probably worn by brothers or sisters and handed down. Fascinating look at the past, isn't it?

Here's another treasure from the old picture stack of Searcy Arkansas White County photos. It's an old filling station with two young boy scouts and two adults. The boys are holding a tire and an inner tube that may require repairs. Do you remember tires with inner tubes that had to be taken out and repaired? I remember people talking about tubeless tires as if they were some miracle. I guess they were. My friend, who supplied the photo, has this to say about it.

Here is everything you want to know about the picture but were afraid to ask: It is taken at the Friendly Esso station: Spring and Pleasure St. Phone # 911. (the other Esso station in Searcy was 99 Esso, across the street from the Rendezvous Cafe, phone #99.

The older man is my uncle Jack Harrison, owner of the station. The other man is Jim Robbins (Benson's bro.) and I'm not sure WHY he was there, he may have been station manager. The boys are Billy Cook and Nelson James.....they are collecting old tires for a Boy Scout project, something for the war effort, I'm sure. this picture was taken before 1945, maybe a lot earlier.

Uncle Jack was killed in the war, in l945. Billy Cook is the son of W.B. Cook, owner of The Economy Market, prominent groc. store in Searcy. Their "rival" groc. store was The Sanitary Market. Bill went on to become high in The National Guard, and his unit from Searcy was the one that escorted the Little Rock Nine to and from school.

I love, and I hope your readers do to, the sign that says "when green light is on, the bathrooms are clean" or something to that effect.

Thanks, Anita, for letting us use this photo.