Elm Street Store: Whiskey, Brooms, Cigars
by Paula Bosse
Everything one needs…
by Paula Bosse
What more do you need in life than a gallon of whiskey, wine, or gin? And maybe some brooms. And a butter churn. The essentials. I don’t know anything about this photo, except that it does appear to be Dallas — you can see “Elm St.” on the brick wall at the left, just above an ad for Dallas cigar king P. P. Martinez. Not sure when the photo was taken — 1890s-ish? Below is a P. P. Martinez ad from 1908.
It’s hard to make out the “Special Prices” sign above the doorway, but some of the items you could purchase were rock and rye whiskey ($1.25 a gallon), port wine ($1.25 a gallon), and Holland gin (“only $1.50 per gallon”).
I had never heard of “rock and rye” whiskey until a few minutes ago. It was a whiskey cordial made with rock candy (!) and some sort of citrus or other flavor. So I’m guessing it was pretty sweet and powerful. It was often sold as a “tonic” because taxes were substantially less on medicines than on spirits. So goodbye, saloon staple, hello cough medicine! “Rock and rye” has made a recent comeback among whiskey-quaffing hipsters.
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Sources & Notes
I have no idea where I found this photo back in 2014, but it’s great!
This post appeared in a slightly different form on my Patreon page a few months ago. If you’d like to receive daily Dallas-history postlets, check it out!
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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Fellow on the left looks to be a traveling salesman. He’s so nattily dressed and has his sample case beside him!
Kind of looks like fishing poles behind the salesman on the left.
1890s sounds good to me. Note also the pitchforks behind the gent on the right.
I believe the right side of the sign notes “California Soda Water 20¢ Per Bottle”
Thanks! I could make out “California” but nothing else.
I think those are buggy whips.
The idea of buggy whips came to me too, but I was uncertain. I do think a whip would have cost more than a fishing pole, so perhaps more likely to have found space in this eclectic collection.
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