“On mission day we were aroused from sleep at 2 a.m. We had one hour to shower and shave. Showering you could skip, but shaving was a must to make the oxygen mask fit snugly against your face. Lack of oxygen at high altitude meant certain death.”

George E. King, son of Reverend James Lawrence King started King Hardware in 1882 with $9,500 in capital. He rented space for his first store at the southeast corner of Peachtree and Wheat Street (Auburn Avenue). King bought out some existing older hardware businesses: Clarke Hardware, Anderson Hardware, and Crumley-Sharp Hardware. (“Atlanta and Environs, Volume II,” by Franklin Garrett)

He created six giant paintings of exotic birds for Disney World and has created exhibits and murals for the Dallas Children’s Museum, the Smithsonian, Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, and the Fulton County Schools Teaching Museum, to name a few.

Georgia’s Governor Eurith D. Rivers introduced the legislation for the driver’s license in 1937, but only new drivers were required to take an examination. Governor Rivers received the first driver’s license in the state.

Whatever community you lived in, there was a Blockbuster, Hollywood Video or perhaps a smaller chain or independent video store. Other competitors in the Atlanta area included All Star Video, The Movie Store, National Video, and West Coast Videos. Record stores also entered the video rental business.

The October 26, 1958 Atlanta Journal newspaper printed an article titled, “Peachtree leads new south to shiny industrial future.” The article announced a new four-lane highway called Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. “North of Atlanta, slashed across the flat red plain of the Piedmont, a vibrant symbol of the new south flourishes.”