A Delta Story: The Old Post Office In The Company Store

Story and Photos by Dru Duncan

" The day was dusty hot as Gladys West walked along the gravel road and past her neighbor's homes. She was on her way to the post office inside the company store, only a half mile distance. Most days, she would stop along the way and share gossip with her friends, but today she was to pick up a shipment as soon as possible. The postmaster sent her a message of the arrival earlier that morning. He would be expecting her.

    Gladys entered the company store a bit out of breath. The screen door slammed loudly behind her as she nodded to the clerk and a couple of friends. She headed straight to the post office service window without stopping to exchange conversation with anyone.

   “I'm here to pick up my grandson," she told the postmaster. "His name is David. I believe he came by parcel post.” Mr. Holt looked up over his glasses and shook his head. “Yes, Mrs. Adams. He's right here beside me. Came in on Richardson's route.” 

    Little David was indeed there and had arrived through the post safe and sound. Gladys collected her delivery and headed home, telling the postmaster that her grandson would be returned in a week for shipment back to his parents. The price of stamps was a lot less than a train ticket. . ."

Want to read more?

Go to: 2018 Summer Issue Country Rustic Magazine

There you can download the complete magazine in E-MAGAZINE form.

Note: J. B. Richardson was the first postmaster in Dell, AR. Gladys and David are purely fictional.

Article was dedicated to Marguerite Brownlee, who was postmaster for over forty years and who donated the old Dell Post Office to our historic district.  

Hope you enjoy it!

A Company Store Spring

 *Note: This article was written for the Spring Issue of Coumtry Rustic Magazine in 2018. Parts of it are fiction, but it does present the real workings of a company store. As far as I know, Granddaddy never owned a company store, although he did have farm complexes at each of his farms. The store at the historic district was originally built by Granddaddy for the black community in Dell ca. 1919. The rest of the history is true as it was related to me by Mom in the 1990s. 

Permission to reproduce must be granted by Country Rustic Magazine. Link at the bottom of the page.

Story and Photos by Dru Duncan
In Memory of My Grandparents. . .

On a cool spring morning in 1919, Earl Magers stood on the porch of his newest company store. It had only been three years since he and his wife Alice, along with his two toddler daughters, arrived from Missouri to the newly opened farm land in northeast Arkansas.

  

They came in a Springfield covered wagon, drawn by oxen on roads that were little more than logs and mud. All their possessions were in that wagon. The money from the sale of their forty acre Missouri farm was well-hidden among barrels and house goods. On every side of the corduroy road was cut-over forest land, going for as little as fifty-cents per acre. It was the only land that Earl could afford. They were moving from a place of poverty to a farm of hopes and dreams. To an untrained eye, the land was a big gamble. It was nothing but swamp, filled with stumps left by the out-of-state loggers who came through and cut the vast forests. Only a farmer could see the possibilities beyond the present scenery, but Earl knew it would be choice cotton land one day. The soil was said to be so rich a person could plant a broomstick and it would grow. Now the stumps were cleared and the acres upon acres of swamp drained. The fertile farmland was finally ready for planting. He would rely on tenants to farm his land for many years to come, since he had been able to acquire more acres than he could personally work. Earlier in the year he mapped out the forty-five acre plots. He knew then, as now, that when the weather begins to warm after a long cold winter, the farmers are impatient to get into the fields, to plant the 'White Gold' that we know as Cotton. It wouldn't be long before the season began.

Almost one hundred years later, I stand on the same porch, looking out over farmland as far as the eye can see, just as my Granddaddy did that spring day. I'm anxious to hear the giant tractors arrive to plant this year's cotton crop and to smell the sweetness of the rich Delta soil as the discs break ground. The same excited hopefulness for the coming farm year hangs in the air. Yet, as nostalgic as it is on the old company store porch, it's even more so inside.

If you have never visited an old country store, no words can fully describe how it touches the senses. The well-worn wooden floors creak underfoot. A distinct aroma of a wood stove permeates the building, mingling with the scent of kerosene and leather, produce and fresh meat. Brightly colored cans, boxes and bags line the shelves with coffee, flour, sugar, cornmeal, spices, and tobacco. In the spring, bags and barrels of crop seed line the walls, their burlap and paper bags adding an earthiness to the mix.

Spring is the time of new beginnings for the farmer, and our old company store has seen many seasons come and go. Stories from its past seem to linger in the air. It was here that Granddaddy secured contracts with the tenants to farm his company land. A line of credit was also established so that each one was able to buy seed, hoes and farming supplies, knowing that charges would be settled in the fall when the crops were harvested and sold. Tenants couldn't plant their crops without the credit extended them. By spring, the money made from the previous fall was pretty much spent. They would live on credit until another crop was raised and taken to market.

The wives also appreciated the credit as they shopped for items such as wide-brimmed straw hats, sturdy gloves, and possibly a new, cotton everyday wash dress, since the old ones were faded and full of holes. In general, though, country people bought what they couldn't grow, shoot or make themselves. In buying seeds for the home garden, farmer's wives were particularly frugal. Throughout the growing season of the previous year, the ladies saved and dried as many seeds as possible to plant the next year. Okra, peas, squash, green pepper, tomatoes and watermelon seed were among the home inventory. At the top of their 'buy' lists were the seeds necessary to round out their own garden, seeds such as turnip, mustard and collard greens, celery, green beans, eggplant and hybrid corn. They knew far too well that vegetables would feed and nourish their families cheaply throughout the summer. Canning the extra produce would sustain them through another winter. For the farm wife, home gardens meant survival. The storekeeper knew this. In the spring, eye-catching seed boxes with their bright packets were brought to a prominent place along the aisle to tempt even the most frugal gardener. Seeds attractively packaged stimulated more interest and offered visual hope that this year's garden would be generous in produce. Seed boxes were packed according to regional interests and eye appeal, with much competition among various companies such as the Ferry-Morse Seed Company of California, the Shaker Seed Company of Pleasant Hill, or the W. Atlee Burpee Company of Philadelphia. Although the stores made little profit, the colorful open display drew the eye and imagination beyond the everyday staples.

 

The storekeeper also strategically placed more purchase possibilities among those boxes of seed. Nearby there were the pungent smelling onion sets, seed potatoes, and kitchen herbs in large crates and bins. Bee skeps stacked high were a temptation to spend a few extra dollars, knowing that nothing was better than cotton blossom honey drizzled over hot, buttered biscuits. New and shiny garden tools filled barrels, claiming to make the garden weeding more enjoyable. In the 1920s and on, a visit to Granddaddy's company store was like an adventure. At no other time was the store so well stocked with the promise of a new farming-and gardening-year.

        
Those days are gone, but Granddaddy's old company store remains the heart of our farmstead, now an historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. As in bygone days, the old store displays items appropriate for the seasons of a former time and teaches private tour groups about our Southern cotton culture. The senses are still touched with the lingering sights, sounds, and smells from decades of seasons coming and going. I often wonder what Granddaddy would think if he could see it now. Not only does the family continue to farm his land, but the history of his hard work and diligence has enriched so many others with our Delta history. I'll have to admit that many times, while working in the still, quiet of the store at the end of the day, I feel he is around, smiling and proud that after almost one hundred years, his legacy lives on.

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Letter Update: Widner-Magers Farm Historic District

Happy 2019 Everyone!

Perhaps because we were raised in a farming community, we don't realize how many people dream of walking into a farm setting as it was almost a century ago, when agriculture was the heartbeat of our nation and folks had the opportunity to own and till their own land.  Besides renovating a total of ten vintage buildings and constructing six more, for the last ten years we have played host to those who fantasize about what they believed was a simpler life. We gave them a little taste of Delta farm life by donning costumes and speaking the language of the 1930s. They have come by bus loads--from as far away as New Jersey--by car and truck, and by bikes on a hot Sunday afternoon. We have also played host to those who have returned to the area for a visit, to reminisce about those 'good ole days.'  We have hosted weddings in front of the old barn. Organizations, various Chambers of Commerce in several towns, church and school groups have visited to find out just what a living history museum is all about. They have washed clothes with a rub board, played games of the 1930s, and had picnics with food from that era. They have picked sacks full of cotton and toted them to the company store for payment in pennies—pennies usually spent on candy inside the store. They have played storekeeper, postmaster, and landowner. Folk crafts have had their hands weaving rag rugs and making brooms. Hopefully, everyone went away with a better understanding about our Delta farming history. Unfortunately, in 2017 we had to stop giving public tours due to a huge increase in liability insurance and government rulings on public places. But, we do still give a few private tours and we always enjoy people stopping by and sharing their history with us.

We have also taken our Delta history on the road and continue to do so. We have taught workshops in rag rug weaving, broom making, Native American herbs, open fire cooking, and other crafts at Arkansas  Parks, particularly  at Parkin Archeological State Park. We have taught workshops for Arkansas Northeastern College. One year the youth from an ANC summer program came to the farm, learning the how-tos of making movies. John has participated in digs with the Arkansas Archeology Department of the University of Arkansas. He has also been a member of their organization. We participated in the Delta Made Products for several years. The Widner-Magers Farm Historic District has been a member of the Association of Living History, Farm and Agriculture Museums for fourteen years, an organization where we were able to share a little of our Southern history.  Our barns were featured in the AETN production Back Road Barns in 2016. We have appeared in numerous issues of Delta Crossroads magazine and Arkansas Living. The old grocery store was the location for the cover of Joe Chipman's CD Keeping It Delta. And you may have seen several billboards from that same store porch.

The groups visiting our farm have been many but we have reached larger numbers of people through our four blogs. Since 2017, I have concentrated on getting our Delta story out through them. The Country Farm Home has had several million people visit since its start. It has also been awarded one of the Top Fifty Farmhouse Blogs in the country.  The Duncan Farmstead blog is running close behind it. It is the place where I sneak in history with present day happenings at the farm. From Our Old Country Store blog, we have filled orders for John's Rag Rug Looms, which have been shipped all over the world--to such places as England, Canada, Italy, Australia, and Africa. In fact, in Nigeria, the ladies have built a cottage industry with their rugs made on John's looms. I also share other folk crafts at this site, and we periodically sell other items.

Dell, Arkansas is our fourth blog. There is probably more interest at that site from all over the USA than there is locally--from people whose families once lived here.  Little by little, I share stories and information about our unique little community’s past history. All through the years, I have continued my research and collecting of information but have had little time to share even a small part of what I have.

Well, I guess you get the picture by now. We've been busy. After all, there are only two of us and John has retired three times now! Most of all we have represented your heritage locally, nationally, and internationally.

Now we are beginning a new phase, the last of our mission and in preparation and anticipation of turning the farmstead over to the state or an organization with the same vision that we have had.  There is a lot of work ahead. It won't happen overnight. It's been through the kindness and interest of others who have donated to our project that has insured that the history of Dell and the surrounding communities will never be lost. We intend to make sure of that.

I have another project going on, too. In 2018, I began writing our Delta stories for the national magazine Country Rustic. The stories have been quite a hit. I will continue to write again this year, plus our farm will be featured in each issue for a year beginning in the Fall of 2019. This is a wonderful opportunity, along with the blogs and workshops, to inform more readers all over the country about our rich history. Cotton has become a huge farmhouse decorating element and people want to know more about the farms that produced it.

So as you see, we are not quitting. We are just slowing down a bit. There is plenty more to do. And, we will continue to collect and keep any history of the area, family histories, and donations. Each will be documented and kept safe here at the Historic District.

We both want to thank every one of you for your support, interest and donations through the years. Hopefully, the future will be just as fruitful. We moved back from Virginia to preserve the community’s heritage and we will continue to work to that end. . .

Thanks again!

Dru and John

The Mission of the Widner-Magers Farm Historic District is to promote and celebrate the unique agricultural experience of the Mississippi Delta in Northeast Arkansas, through the research and preservation of the farm buildings and early 20^th century farm life; and to provide educational opportunities to experience 20^th century farm life and folk culture.  

Websites and Blogs

widner-magers.org

https://duncanfarmstead.blogspot.com/

http://dellarkansas.blogspot.com/

https://thecountryfarmhome.blogspot.com/

https://ouroldcountrystore.blogspot.com/ 

http://stegenevievejournal.blogspot.com/ (new)