WPA, Works Progress Administration projects

The October 14, 1935, edition of the Atlanta Constitution announced two Works Progress Administration projects for DeKalb County schools. Four classrooms had recently been added to the Westside School on Constitution Road and a new 300 seat auditorium would soon be added to the Dunwoody School. Construction cost for the Dunwoody auditorium was expected to be $9,000. Previous DeKalb County school WPA projects were completed at Eastside and Panthersville schools.

The following year, an addition was built at Brookhaven school and a canning plant was built next door to Chamblee High School. Tucker High School and Rehoboth Elementary School were also constructed as WPA projects in 1936. (University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries, WPA collection)

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a government program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 to help the country during the Great Depression by providing jobs. It was part of a group of policies, programs and projects known as the New Deal. Many public works projects were part of the program, as well as projects in the arts. Over 8.5 million people participated in the WPA.

Road building was an important part of the WPA program. Mount Vernon Road in Dunwoody was paved as a WPA project. Lavista Road from Tucker to Decatur was also constructed as a WPA project. Throughout Georgia, 85 miles of roads were paved with WPA funds, in addition to the building of unpaved roads and sidewalk construction.

WPA funds were used to purchase a bookmobile for DeKalb County in the late 1930s, where there were only two library locations-Decatur and Lithonia. Maud Burrus was using her personal car to take books around the county. Once the bookmobile was purchased, Louise Trotti drove the bookmobile, making stops at schools, gas stations, post offices, homes and other gathering places. (Historic DeKalb County: An Illustrated History, Vivian Price)

A new DeKalb County water system was constructed in 1940 with WPA funds, under the direction of DeKalb County commissioner Scott Candler. The plans included a water system to serve Decatur, Druid Hills, Emory University, Brookhaven, Avondale Estates, Clarkston, Tucker, Dunwoody, Panthersville, Doraville and the Federal Honor Farm (prison farm). A storage lake and filter plant would be constructed between Doraville and Dunwoody. This is today’s Scott Candler Water Treatment Plant on Winters Chapel Road. (Atlanta Constitution, Sept.18, 1940, “DeKalb County sells bonds for water system”)

The golf course and amphitheater at Chastain Park were also built with WPA funds. The park was originally known as North Fulton Park, opening July 4, 1940, with a celebration and exhibition match on the golf course. (Atlanta Constitution, June 30, 1940, “North Fulton club opens July 4, program set”)

Projects around Atlanta included the golf course and amphitheater of Chastain Park, seven new buildings at Georgia Tech, two buildings at the alms house (part of Galloway School), new buildings at Fort McPherson and five buildings at Grady Hospital. By 1942, the number of WPA workers was decreased, and the program ended in 1943. (Atlanta Constitution, May 1, 1943, “Georgia WPA office closes after 8 years”)

1891 Atlanta, smallpox vaccine debate

Depending on when you were born, you may have a small circle scar on your upper arm as a reminder of your smallpox vaccine. In 1972, it was determined the vaccine was no longer needed and it stopped being administered to children

Looking through cemetery records, it is obvious that many deaths around the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century near Atlanta were due to smallpox. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and the discussions regarding vaccines, I found a similarity with discussions of smallpox vaccine from about 130 years earlier.

There were people on both sides of the smallpox vaccine debate in Georgia. A September 7, 1891, Atlanta Constitution column titled “Against Vaccination” featured a lengthy letter from a citizen strongly opposed to vaccination and Atlanta’s rule that students could not attend without vaccination.

The letter is followed by an explanation and opinion by Dr. J. B. Baird, secretary of the board of health. “The more the people become enlightened, the more they believe in it and know its worth, and if wanted of its benefits to humanity, thousands and thousands can be given.”

Nine years earlier Atlanta’s Superintendent of Schools, William Franklin Slaton, stated that every child in Atlanta schools was vaccinated against smallpox. When one student’s family asked for her not to be vaccinated, she was removed from school. (Atlanta Constitution, April 28, 1882)

A notice titled “Public Schools” on August 31, 1882, informed the public that the “Office of Superintendent, 75 E. Mitchell, will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the next three days. Persons applying for school tickets must bring certificate of vaccination.”

Whether the vaccine was required or even available to the small communities surrounding Atlanta, I do not know. I do know that smallpox was causing devastation to these communities.

At Nancy Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in Brookhaven, Solomon Goodwin was buried in 1849 and is believed to have died of smallpox. Goodwin was later reinterred on Goodwin land along Peachtree Road only to be later moved back to Nancy Creek Cemetery.(“The History of DeKalb County, Georgia 1822-1900, Vivian Price)

In Dunwoody, the Bennett-Rainey cemetery and Donaldson cemetery had their beginnings around the time of a smallpox epidemic. The Bennett-Rainey cemetery was referred to as a smallpox cemetery by Franklin Garrett, Atlanta historian who documented cemeteries in DeKalb County in 1931. (Atlanta History Center, Franklin Garrett necrology, 1931) Fannie Adams, Lonnie Adams, Maggie Adams, and Minnie Adams all succumbed to the disease around 1884 and 1885 and are buried at Bennett-Rainey Cemetery, a small, unmarked cemetery along North Shallowford Road.

The Donaldson cemetery, adjacent to Donaldson-Bannister Farm, includes the grave of Nuty A. Donaldson who died in 1883. She was the daughter of original owners William J. Donaldson and Millie Adams Donaldson. On her marker are the words “died from smallpox.”

Smallpox began over 3,000 years ago according to cdc.gov. History tells us that Spanish Explorer Hernando de Soto brought smallpox to Mexico in 1520. The first smallpox epidemic in New England occurred in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635.

Native Americans of Georgia were hit hard by smallpox outbreaks in 1735 and 1759.

Dr. Edward Jenner’s discoveries in 1796 led to a vaccine. Concentrated efforts by the World Health Organization to eradicate smallpox began in 1959. By 1966, smallpox was considered eliminated in North America and Europe. The Intensified Eradication Program began the next year and in 1980 the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated.

The November 25, 1974 Atlanta Constitution carried the headline, “Within a Few Months Smallpox Will Have Been Wiped Out.” They reported that 43 countries had outbreaks of smallpox in 1967 and that number had been reduced to four countries in 1974.

Ice Storm of 1973, major power outages around Atlanta

These below freezing days we have been having recently in Atlanta bring my mind back to the ice and snow storms from years past. Everyone knows these storms can bring our city to a halt. It happens so rarely, which means many of us have little experience driving in snow or ice.

The ice storm that struck Atlanta in 1973 is a memorable one for those who lived here. My family moved to a new home off Briarcliff Road in 1972. The ranch home had a fireplace, unlike our previous house. The fireplace was very useful during the ice storm, but I don’t remember exactly how many days we were without power.

A few years ago, I asked some people who were living in Dunwoody at the time about their experience. Time without power ranged from four days to two weeks. Trees and power lines had a thick coating of ice. Kathy Florence remembers pine trees bent over from the weight of the ice and the constant sound of trees snapping.

Lynne Byrd lived on Spalding Drive in the Branches neighborhood in 1973 and was without power for four days. She needed to get to her job at Piedmont Hospital. Lynne says she was able to get up her driveway in her small Volkswagen and drive on to work by not taking her foot off the gas until she got to the office.

Jeff Glaze was in the eighth grade at Peachtree High School and his family was without power for about ten days. Jeff’s uncle owned Glaze’s Hardware at the intersection of Winters Chapel Road and Peeler Road. The recently opened Winn Dixie across the road couldn’t operate because they had electric cash registers, but Uncle Glaze kept ringing up groceries because his older model electric cash register also had a hand crank.

The family lived near high tension lines that were coated with about an inch of ice. Jeff remembers, “…days when temperatures started to rise a bit, the ice would break off those lines and fall to the ground one hundred feet below. Sometimes they would hit the ground vertically and ‘spear’ the ground... it was pretty amazing to see and scary to consider what might happen if you were under them when the ice broke free.”

The January 3, 1973 Atlanta Journal reported that DeKalb police estimated 90% of residents were without power. Police and fire departments were inundated with calls about fallen trees, fallen power lines, and power outages.

I’ve been talking with people that lived in Atlanta during our past ice and snow storms about their experiences. The ones I remember are 1973, 1982, 1993, and then more recent ones. Apparently there was a big one in Georgia in 1935 and 1940, as well as the early 1960s. I was around in the early 1960s, but don’t remember that one. Look for my recent article in the Dunwoody Crier for more memories of Georgia ice and snow storms.

If you live in another state and are thinking those silly Georgians and their reactions to snow and ice, plus their inability to drive, you are right and we know it. Besides, it can be fun to miss work or school just because less than an inch of snow is falling!




Robert Ratonyi at Atlanta WW2 Round Table, "A Holocaust Childhood: Wounds that Never Heal"

As a survivor of the Holocaust, Ratonyi now shares his story with groups of middle and high school children, as well as adult audiences. He has presented at The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum and other venues. He wrote a book about his life experiences, “From Darkness into Light: My Journey through Nazism, Fascism, and Communism to Freedom,” published January 12, 2022.

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Ina Evans runs for District 55 House seat 1972

New post every Monday.

Sometimes when I’m looking through a newspaper archive, there will be an article, photo, or even an advertisement that catches my interest. Ina Evans caught my interest and I wanted to know more about her life.

The pages of the August 3, 1972, DeKalb New Era newspaper features ads and articles on various local political candidates at the time. One of those candidates was Ina C. Evans and the article is titled “Ina Evans Offers for House Post.”

This photograph of Ina C. Evans appeared with the 1972 article announcing her as a candidate for House seat 55. (The DeKalb New Era, August 3, 1972)

Ina C. Evans was running for the District 55 House seat. Her platform included better health facilities, tax reform and better educational facilities in DeKalb County. She and her campaign team went door to door talking to voters and distributing material.

Evans spoke to The DeKalb News Sun about her campaign, “We are hoping that voters will decide on the basis of qualifications. I firmly believe that office holders are elected to voice the needs and concerns of the community. Win or lose, I’ll be right here next year and the year after battling to put this community up front in DeKalb.”

Evans lost the race, which went to a runoff between Betty J. Clark and Sherman S. Barge. Betty Clark won the runoff, and as a Democrat who was unopposed, she won the seat.

Ina Evans was born in Gallatin, Tennessee in 1935. She graduated with honors from Mississippi Valley State College. Her resume included working as a poll monitor in the Democratic primary in 1968 and during the presidential election that year.

In 1969, she was campaign manager in the Kirkwood area for H. E. Tate, the first Black candidate for Mayor of Atlanta. Evans also worked as area coordinator for the Committee for Sensible Rapid Transit.

Evans was secretary for the Georgia Shirley Chisholm Fund when Chisholm ran for President in 1972. She was an alternate delegate for the 1972 National Democratic Convention.

Evans would later serve 14 years on the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. She worked with Maynard Jackson, first Black Mayor of Atlanta, and civil rights leader and activist Rev. Hosea Williams, founder of “Hosea Feed the Hungry.” Later, she would work in the office of Governor Jimmy Carter. (meadowsmortuary.com)

She was married to John Evans for 30 years. He was President of the DeKalb County chapter of the NAACP for sixteen years before retiring in 2016. According to a 2012 oral history with John Evans in the archives of DeKalb History Center, he was appointed to the DeKalb County Executive Committee in 1968, on recommendation of Maynard Jackson. He also worked on the Shirley Chisholm 1972 Presidential campaign.

In the 1970s, Ina Evans operated the Loving Care Day Care Center in Kirkwood.

She passed away June 30, 2021.

The Moving Pictures in Atlanta

The first moving pictures in Atlanta were shown at the Cotton States and International Exposition of Georgia, held in 1895 at Piedmont Park.  A movie theater was constructed along an area called Midway Heights on 10th Street. The attraction was called “Living Pictures,” where the newly developed vitascope projector was demonstrated. It wasn’t very popular at the exposition so visitors were allowed to enter for free.  People made use of the opportunity to step inside the small theater and rest for a few minutes. It may have been destined to close due to lack of attendance, but never had to because a fire destroyed the theater space. (“Atlanta and Environs Volume II”, by Franklin Garrett)

The first movie house opened in Atlanta in 1904.  It was called The Star and was located at 36 Decatur Street.  It was successful enough for a second movie house called The Eldorado to open soon after at 146 Marietta Street.

By 1907, fourteen theaters were listed in the Atlanta directory.  They were known as “electric” theaters and were usually small store front buildings with chairs nailed together to form a row. The early films lasted about fifteen minutes. 

The Montgomery Theatre at 87 Peachtree Street opened in August of 1911, advertising a small balcony for vocal performers, an organ and an orchestra.  This was the beginning of longer films with an actual story line.  The theatre was later known as Georgian, Odeon and Tudor Theatre.

Talking movies came to Atlanta in 1928 with The Jazz Singer showing at the Metropolitan Theatre.  The Metropolitan first opened in 1911 and was located at the intersection of Luckie Street and Broad Street.  By 1929, several talking movies were shown around Atlanta, including The Virginian, starring Gary Cooper at the Paramount Theatre.  The Paramount, located at 169 Peachtree Street, originally opened as a live theatre in 1920 and was known as Howard Theatre. 

Gone with the Wind premiered at Loews Grand Theatre in 1939 with much fanfare and stars of the film attending.  The building was originally the home of DeGive’s Grand Opera House built in 1893.  In 1972, a fire burned the Loews Grand Theatre.

Other theatres included the Rialto on Forsyth Street, Buckhead Theatre on Roswell Road, Temple Theatre in Grant Park and Center Theatre (later Central) on Whitehall Street.  The old Rhodes Theatre was located on Peachtree Road next to Rhodes Hall. 

It wasn’t necessary to go downtown in the 1930’s and 1940’s to see a movie.  Theaters just outside of Atlanta included Brookhaven Theater opening in 1938, Avondale Theater in Avondale Estates opening in 1938 and Decatur Theater opening in 1940. 

The movies we associate with Christmas now did not necessarily premiere or show during the holiday season. Meet Me in St. Louis played at Rhodes Theatre in 1945, Christmas in Connecticut played at the Buckhead, Temple and Center Theatres in 1945, Miracle on 34th Street was showing at the Brookhaven Theatre in 1947, and White Christmas was featured at the Fox Theatre in 1954.   

Fred Donaldson, who was born at Donaldson-Bannister Farm in Dunwoody, grew up going to the movies in Brookhaven, Buckhead or downtown Atlanta.  He and his friends would either catch a ride or walk to Brookhaven and then if they decided to head to Buckhead or to the Paramount or Fox Theatre downtown, they would catch the trolley from Brookhaven. 

Joe Greear recalls that the first movie he saw was The Fly at Brookhaven Theatre. He describes the location. “Across Peachtree Street from the Building Supply and A & P was another cluster of businesses including a post office and a movie theater. The Brookhaven Theatre was where I saw my first scary movie-the original version of ‘The Fly’ starring Vincent Price. I was about six or seven and I remember being so scared that I couldn’t watch the end and left my seat to wait in the lobby for my brother to emerge. The Brookhaven Theatre was not an elaborate movie house like The Fox, and had only a few embellishments. Despite its simplicity it was a nice place to watch a movie and I always loved the smell of the popcorn in the lobby.” (From “Growing up on the Edges,” by Joe Greear, held in the archives of DeKalb History Center)

1965 Atlanta newspapers advertise the film The Sound of Music at Martin’s Cinerama at 583 Peachtree Street.  This theater was built in 1927 and was originally a live playhouse called Erlanger Theatre.  In the 1950’s it began showing movies and was called Tower Theatre, later becoming Martin’s Cinerama, Atlanta Theatre and then Columbia Theatre.  It was demolished to make way for a parking lot in 1995. 


Some memories and thoughts on Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, I enjoy thinking back to the holiday during my childhood years. Since I grew up in Atlanta, we had a southern traditional meal with turkey, sweet potatoes, dressing, other side dishes and of course pie. My mom sometimes baked a cream cheese pound cake, two kinds of pie, and some chocolate chip cookies when she became a grandmother.

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7th grade school safety patrol program and the annual DC/NY trip by train

When Marissa Howard, Programs and Membership Coordinator at DeKalb History Center, sent this photograph to me, I thought perhaps it was a group of school safety patrol students. The group of students in the front have a sign that reads Morgan Falls, a former school in Sandy Springs I have written about before. The photograph is part of the Guy Hayes Collection in the DeKalb History Center archives.

I wondered if the groups of children may have been preparing to leave on the annual safety patrol trip by train to Washington, D. C. and in some years New York City also. I participated in the safety patrol at DeKalb County’s Pleasantdale Elementary School back in 1969 and 1970 but didn’t know the origins of the program or when it started. I also did not recall that it was associated with AAA, the American Automobile Association.

If you look closely, you will also see the name of two other Fulton County Schools at that time-Center Hill and Lakewood Heights Schools of Atlanta.  Several of the students are wearing badges and a few have on their safety patrol sash with the badge attached. There are quite a few suitcases.

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Brookhaven's years as North Atlanta

Between 1924 and 1963, the city of Brookhaven was a municipality known as North Atlanta. An 1872 Act for Judicial Incorporation, passed by the Georgia General Assembly, paved the way for Brookhaven to become the village of North Atlanta.   The act outlined the manner in which towns and villages in Georgia could incorporate. The act was repealed in 1939. 

North Atlanta was bordered by the city of Atlanta to the south and the city of Chamblee to the north, with a total area of seven square miles.  In 1924, the total population for the area was less than one hundred people, but by 1964 increased to over 13,350. 

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DeKalb History Center East Lake walking tour

Advertisements for land in the Atlanta Constitution both in 1920 and 1946 list land on Balloon Road and Dunwoody Road, both described as being off Peachtree Dunwoody Road. In 1920, all local roads were dirt. Roads began to be paved in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration.

A piece of the Balloon Road remains today. It is called Old Balloon Road, located to the east of the complex that includes Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital and the surrounding office buildings. It is no longer directly connected with Peachtree Dunwoody Road but does lead to Johnson Ferry Road.

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Frank A. Smith Memorial Garden at Atlanta History Center

Recently, while visiting Atlanta History Center, I noticed a plaque for the Frank A. Smith Memorial Garden. The plaque states “The Azalea Chapter, American Rhodendendron Society at the Atlanta Historical Society, designed by C. Gordon Tyrrell, AHRHS. Developed under the direction of Ben W. Sims, Chairman, Azalea Chapter Garden Committee, 1987.” Frank Smith died in 1985.

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Chamblee's Camp Gordon carried on post-WWI

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, but Camp Gordon, a military training camp built in Chamblee, continued for almost three years. Today, much of that land is home to DeKalb Peachtree Airport.

In June of 1919, Camp Gordon was designated a permanent cantonment. The Atlanta Constitution announced, “Thousands of soldiers who were discharged have again re-enlisted in the army in order to continue in the work they like best.” This was good news for Chamblee and Atlanta, as Camp Gordon brought people and therefore additional business and money to the area.

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Yolande Gwin in Brookhaven

Yolande Gwin was a popular reporter and columnist for the Atlanta Constitution and Atlanta Journal newspapers. She often wrote for the society pages, but also covered other stories and wrote advice columns. She started out writing for the Atlanta Georgian newspaper in 1927, then for the Atlanta Constitution from 1934 until 1961. It was interesting to me to discover that she lived in Brookhaven for many years.

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Northlake Mall of 1971 and today

New posts each Monday.

Georgia’s Governor Jimmy Carter was invited to preside over the ribbon cutting ceremony of Northlake Mall when it opened in 1971. The newest mall for the Atlanta area was located near I-285 where Lavista Road, Henderson Mill Road and Briarcliff Road meet. Governor Carter designated it Northlake Mall Week in Georgia. Designating a special week for a mall is an indication of how important malls were at the time. (Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 6, 1971)

The Atlanta Constitution reported that the mall was a joint venture of Frank Carter, Ewell Pope of Atlanta, Trammel Crow of Dallas, Texas and Monumental Properties of Baltimore, Maryland. Frank Carter said plans for the mall had been evolving over several years following the success of Greenbriar Shopping Center.

Northlake was built on over 80 acres and included 100 merchants and over 1,000,000 square feet of space. That made it the largest mall in the metro area. The original anchor stores were Davison’s, Sears, and J. C. Penny’s.

A list of 1971 merchants included J. P. Allen, Baskin Robbins, Brooks Fashions, Butler Shoes, El Chico Restaurant, Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour, Florsheim Shoes, Hot Pants of Northlake Mall, The Limited, Merry Go Round, Muse’s, Record Bar, Spencer Gifts, Wicks N Sticks, Zachry and many more.

Beyond the mall was office space, which all together included 225 acres and a 17-acre lake.

Once Northlake Mall opened, it was the closest mall for my family. Looking over the list above brings back many memories. I remember having dinner at El Chico with my family and enjoying birthday parties at Farrell’s Ice Cream.

Who could forget the Merry Go Round clothing store in the era of bell bottoms and other 1970 styles? Hot Pants of Northlake! I don’t remember that one, but also fitting (no pun intended) for the time. Every mall had a record store, so of course Northlake had a Record Bar. Andrew of New York hair salon also was in the early mall.

The Atlanta Constitution October 6, 1971 issue, opening day for the mall, featured pages and pages of advertising and articles about the big stores and specialty shops of the mall. There were details about how to get to the mall from all directions using the “Perimeter Expressway” and articles about the plentiful parking.

Early malls had places to eat but not food courts. That phenomenon came along later.

Emory Healthcare offices at Northlake Mall, photo by Valerie Biggerstaff 2023

Back side of Northlake Mall, formerly part of Sears, today Emory Healthcare. Photo by Valerie Biggerstaff, 2023.


Like other malls around Atlanta, across Georgia and across the U.S., Northlake mall has evolved with the times. Stores have come and gone and many malls have a great deal of empty space. However, some of Northlake’s empty space is now occupied by Emory Healthcare.

An article in the October 2021 Atlanta Journal Constitution told of plans to convert much of the closed shop space to office space. The mall was 50 years old in 2021. New owners ATR Corinth Partners had purchased the mall in 2016.

Representative Bill Mitchell was there along with other state, county and city officials. He said he used to come to the mall frequently but had not visited in years.

Emory was happy with the location of Northlake, close to I-285 and Marta. This is another example of the evolution of malls in the Atlanta area. Malls are being repurposed for the needs of today, obviously a much changed world since 1971.

Christmas memories include The Twist

In this post, I recall some of my own personal holiday memories. Return to pasttensega.com for new posts about local history each Monday.

When I think back on Christmas when I grew up in neighborhoods near Atlanta; along N. Druid Hills Road, Chamblee Tucker Road, and Briarcliff Road; a few memories stand out.

My father was in The Optimist Club and we always got our tree from the lot where he worked a couple of nights each year. Selling Christmas trees was a fundraiser for several organizations back then. I remember the Christmas tree lot being at Chamblee Plaza on Peachtree Boulevard (formerly Peachtree Industrial Blvd.).

Another memory was the big, extended family Christmas party that was held each year on Christmas Eve. That was especially fun for me, because I got to spend time with cousins I didn’t see often. Some years that was the only time I saw them.

The party was held in the basement of a great aunt and uncle’s home, packed with people of all ages. Of course, as a child you enter a room full of relatives you don’t see often and get lots of hugs and and a few face pinches!

Everyone, adults and children, had one gift because we drew names. Santa Claus would often make an appearance during the evening.

Dinner was always pot luck with everyone bringing their specialty dishes or desserts. There were tables filled with casseroles and congealed salads, fried chicken and ham, delicious cakes and pies. My favorite-my grandmother’s sweet potato pie. She always made two!

Some time during the evening, after the greetings, a large meal, and presents, some of the family would play Christmas songs on the piano and organ. There were some talented musicians in my family, including one of my great aunts and my grandfather. Both of them could play by ear, sitting down and playing just by knowing the melody and the chords that went along with that melody. I was jealous of this ability, especially since I took piano lessons for twelve years of my life, needed music in front of me to play, and still missed a note here and there.

Those of us who gathered to listen to the music also sang Christmas carols and other songs being played.

Another memory from this same holiday gathering in the early 1960s is of a room full of people doing the Twist as Chubby Checker was played on the radio. I remember a line of cousins, aunts, uncles, my mom and myself all doing this same dance. In 1960, Chubby Checker released the single The Twist, which had previously been recorded and released by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. Then in 1961, Checker released Let’s Twist Again. That is the one I recall best and the song I believe was playing that Christmas Eve.

And of course I remember (but not very clearly) riding the Pink Pig, but I have written about that in previous posts.

Santa always wrapped presents that were left under our family Christmas tree. One thing puzzled me. Why were they wrapped in the same wrapping paper as the paper my mom and dad used?

Tuggle Dairy of DeKalb County

New posts every Monday morning.

In an Atlanta Constitution article from November 11, 1940, “Tuggle Dairy is a Showplace on Briarcliff Road,” this DeKalb County dairy is described as one of the most modern in the county. The dairy was run by C. C. Tuggle and his two sons, A. C. Tuggle and R. W. Tuggle. DeKalb County had many dairies during this time period.

C. C. Tuggle began in the business when he was a boy, following in his father’s footsteps. The one-hundred-acre dairy farm had an address of 3200 Briarcliff Road.

The dairy had 150 cows in 1940, mostly Jerseys according to the article. A new and modern pasteurizing and bottling plant had recently been built. The volume of milk product each day was about 300 gallons. Milk was sent to restaurants, homes and hotels across Atlanta.

An advertisement on the same page as the article describes the product as “Grade A Natural Raw and Pasteurized MILK, rich in vitamins and food value, especially good for babies, delivered at your door. C. C. Tuggle Dairy, 3200 Briarcliff Road, N. E. Atlanta, phone number VD 1952.”

The dairy also manufactured its own ice in a recently built plant. Readers of the article are invited to visit. “If you are careful about the milk you use-and you ought to be-drop out along Briarcliff Road some day and inspect this new and unusually sanitary dairy. Mr. Tuggle or his courteous sons would be glad to welcome you and show you through an ideally clean and sanitary dairy.”

In 1953, another article about C. C. Tuggle Dairy Farm appears in the Atlanta Constitution. Just a few days before Christmas, a story titled “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year from C. C. Tuggle.” The dairy is run by A. C. Tuggle and R. W. Tuggle by 1953.

Once again, the modern methods and equipment of the dairy are lauded. “Hundreds of families, markets, institutions and hotels in Atlanta and vicinity are served by the C. C. Tuggle Dairy fleet of modern trucks.” Visitors are welcome to Tuggle Dairy to watch the handling of milk, pasteurizing, bottling, washing and sterilizing bottles.

The 1953 article refers to an address of 2370 Briarcliff Road, which today is near where Briarcliff Road meets Sheridan Road. The earlier article address is along Briarcliff just north of Clairmont Road. The distance between these two locations is almost two miles.

Were these two separate locations, were there two dairies named Tuggle or is this just a matter of addresses changing over the years? These are questions I don’t have the answer to yet. If you know more about Tuggle Dairy, please write me at pasttensega@gmail.com.

Rich's Pink Pig, again

One of my favorite subjects as Christmas approaches is the Pink Pig at Rich’s downtown Atlanta.

Those who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s recall the Pink Pig downtown. Many recall when the ride was a monorail that rode above the toy department, so that children got a good a look at all the toys available. Some remember an elevator that went upstairs to Santa’s igloo.

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