Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't tell me how much they enjoyed visiting T.W.'s country store. Although it was sold in the first week of 1978, T.W. Jones' General Merchandise is still fondly remembered by all who shopped and stopped there. Whether the customers were regulars, formerly local or just passing through once, they all loved T.W.'s wit, hospitality and service.
In 1946, Daddy bought the store from a distant cousin, Delaware Jones. T.W.'s sister Madeline was already working there, so Daddy's already had trusted and experienced help. He quickly expanded the inventory and brightened the walls and ceilings with white paint. My mother, and all four of us children spent immeasurable hours behind the counters. Many of Cofield's most pleasant high-schoolers served as clerks.
Late 1950's color slide made by my brother Doug "Monet"
Jones,
who pioneered the "shake-and-click" style of photography.
The green 1954 Oldsmobile used to belong to W.H. Basnight.
His customers were mostly housewives, farmers, loggers, carpenters, shipyard workers, teachers, mechanics, feed mill workers and small business owners.
It was gathering place for kids, teenagers, young adults just starting familes and seasoned parents. In the evening, the men spend hours around the heater before leaving with the groceries. Their first purchase, made upon entering, was usually a pack of cigarettes, a soda and a pack of Nabs. Long discussions drifted over cigarette smoke. Friends, visiting from out of town, never failed to stop by and spend time.
T.W. sold the store and retired in January of 1978. Some of his customers wept.
Eunice James, clerk in 1956.
Tupper
W. himself,
talking with Kelly Gatling - 1977
STORE ITEMS
Fresh, salted and frozen meats; corned herrings, mullets, herring roe, work clothes, work shoes and boots, hardware, kerosene, molasses, household papers, ice cream, candy, 10 cent toys, comics, 1 bullet or shotshell, medicines, greeting cards, chicken feed, garden seeds, can foods, coldcuts,tools, tubs, milks, round cheeses, batteries, light bulbs, cigars, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, chains, ropes, fruits and vegetables, paints, motor oil, comic books, fishing lines and hooks, sewing thread, needles, electic cords and attachments, fuses, pocket knives (we were always "out of stock" when a tipsy person asked for one), pocket watches, apple sauce, Samuel H. James' North Carolina White Corn Meal, eggs (sometimes taken in trade from customers in exchange for groceries), school supplies, medicines (remember Black Draught?)
SUPPLIERS
N.S.
Godwin, Barnes and Sawyer, W.H. Basnight, Ahoskie Meat and Provision,
Davis and Company. Maola, Double Cola, Pepsi, Coke, Sunbeam, Dandy, Wise
and Gordon Potato Chips, Lance
CLERKS
Althea Pope, Eunice James, Sherline & June Jones (sisters), Madeline & Vivian Mountain (mother and daughter), Theresa Herring, Doris Mitchell, Doris Manley, John Pope; and T.W.'s wife and children: Clairo Robbins Jones, Douglas, Howard, Laverne and Marvin Jones.