May 15, 2020 Coats Museum News
Numbers were big in 1984. The largest single New York Stock Exchange transaction to date had taken place on June 21 as 10 million shares of Superior Oil sold for $423,800,000. Some 685,000 Americans were jailed during the year. Three coffeemakers purchased for the Air Force’s C-5A cargo plane cost more than $7,000 apiece. The government committed itself to $4.5 billion in loan guarantees to Continental Illinois Bank in Chicago. One of John Lennon’s guitars sold for $19,000 at auction. A good meal in 1984 – twenty-five dollars would get you a twenty-one–ounce-prime-aged steak at Joe and Mo’s restaurant in Washington, D.C. (Dickson, Paul. From Elvis to E-Mail. Massachusetts: Federal Street Press, 1999, p. 272).
In the last column you read about Grady Matthews and his encounter with either a gorilla or chimpanzee to earn himself $21.00. Today I share a story told by Earl Denning. It is not known whether this is the same animal that Grady boxed but this one was carried around to country stores in the Grove area. Earl Denning shared this story with the Coats Museum History Committee in 2003.
Earl recalled that a “barker” came to the J.A. Langdon store and had an orangutan with him. The “barker” called Earl to get into the ring with it along with other guys to try to win the bout. There was a whipping recalled Earl, not from the orangutan, but from his mama, Margaret Denning. Festus Denning gave his son one of those 30 minute “talking to’s”.
Very few of us grew up in the era that traveling salesmen or peddlers traveled the dirt roads in the Grove countryside to hawk their wares to those country folks. A peddler went door to door in some cases to sell fish, lawn furniture made of twisted limbs and vines, bread trays, medicines and household pots, pans and flavorings. Later would come the selling of encyclopedias and Bibles by young college students.
Gene Stewart recalled one such peddler was “Ole Joe Peddler.” Joe drove a Model T Ford and had all sort of things hanging from it to trade in town and country. He would trade so many match tops for Teaberry gum. Once, when no one had any match tops, the peddler told them he would trade for eggs. Gene and his cousin, D. K. Stewart, got the laying eggs from a setting hen and got ten packs of Teaberry gum and a real good bath to wash off all the lice and chiggers they got from the hen’s nest (Stewart 2003).
Some salesmen who tried to sell their goods were often dressed in fine clothes. In the fall when crops were being readied for market, often a tractor or car salesman would visit the farmers to give them a good deal on a new vehicle or a farm machine. Traveling insurance agents were a common site since some farmers had no phones or means to learn about hail, fire, life or other insurances that were available for protection.
Was this type of sales techniques replaced by offering buyers of a vacuum a special bonus if they would recommend a person for a perspective sale of a similar product? Does anyone recall a salesman preparing a meal to demonstrate cookware or a vacuum salesman dumping dirt on the rug to demonstrate that his vacuum had more suction power than the owner’s current one?
As time passed, did we sponsor glassware parties, Stanley parties, make up parties and Pampered Chef just to get something that we really did not need? I do know that as a child I indeed remember car salesmen come a knocking to attempt to sell a new truck or car to my parents.
Question- did you ever recall or hear of a female going house to house selling their wares? What about sellers of Watkins products or AVON. Isn’t it amazing how modern travel carried us to the big shopping centers to purchase our needs only to be replaced today with a few clicks on our computer?
Who would say is the best salesperson you ever encountered? Who recalls that Ann Miller could sell anything from Avon, to Tierra Glass to pretty red bows and Marie Salmon could sell even the craziest of ideas to her fellow teachers coaxing them to wear black garbage bags to imitate being “raisins” or to dress in a gorilla costume to have a “Monkey Wedding” for the students to enjoy at Coats High. Anyone remember those days at the old Coats High School?
I do think that many of those who can recall some peddlers (sounds better to say salesmen) can also remember listening to the intriguing radio series, The Long Ranger.” Later it could be seen on television. John L. Barrett was the original voice of the character and he had died at the age of 71. Do you wonder if playing the role was his day job? No, it was not. He was a lawyer. Another death that was recorded in May of 1984 was that of Jimmy Ray Pleasant, 51, of Raleigh. He was kin to Mrs. Mayton Upchurch in Coats. The same May 4, 1984 edition of the Daily Record printed that Dr. Donald Moore was reelected to the NC Academy of Family Physicians. He was required to complete 150 hours of continuing medical education over a three-year period.
Mr. and Mrs. T.C. Godwin, Jr. announced the marriage of their daughter Mary Godwin to James timothy Moore of Benson. She was a descendant of Elder Blaney L. Godwin of Coats. Elsewhere, Mary Forest, 4-H Program assistant, was planning a Bike-A-Thon for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Mark Williams, Coats High School pitcher, had tossed a no hitter against Princeton. Coats had an 8-0 Carolina Conference victory (Daily Record May 10, 1984).
Mr. and Mrs. Carlie Le Mai Cole of Coats had announced the birth of a son- Carlie Le Mai Cole, Jr. Mrs. Cole was the former Teresa Wasak. Paternal grandparents were J.P. Cole of Coats and Joanna Wasak of Erwin and Walter Wasak of Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Wilson of Dunn announced the engagement of their daughter, Pamela Renee, to James Dalton Pope, II, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Pope, Jr. Pamela was a 1980 graduate of Coats High School (Daily Record May 11, 1984).
April Knittle had won the Spelling Bee at Coats School. Michelle Adams, Ann Bass, Michelle Hammons and Amy Parrish were other students representing their classes from grade 4-8 (Daily Record May 14, 1984).
The Coats Prom named “Heavenly” was declared a great success. Two silver spiral staircases covered with stars and angel hair created a magical effect on the dance floor. Mrs. Diane Denning catered the event and Jimmy Abdalla provided the “Sound Approach”. Mark Pope, senior class president, offered appreciation to the junior class (Daily Record May 18, 1984).
Mrs. Lillie Matthews, 80, of Coats, had died on Wednesday. Services were held at Rose Funeral Home and burial was in the Neill’s Creek Cemetery. Her husband, Wright Matthews, survived her (Daily Record May 15, 1984).
The Coats Woman’s Club named the Ronald Avery Family of the Year. Mary Jo Mann was named the Woman’s Club Woman of the Year (Daily Record May 22, 1984).
Ed’s Variety Store was the Business Focus o f the Week of the CACC. The owner was Mildred J. Weaver Council. The business was located on South NC 55. (Don’t you wish more had been shared on this business and the family that operated the country store? The Weaver family was a very respected and talented family. One of the sons is a retired US Naval Commander.
Greg Stevens, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carlie Stevens and an employee of the NCDOT Planning Department, had received a Federal Highway Administration fellowship to study at Wake Technical College (Daily Record May 28, 1984).
Mr. and Mrs. Sexton Pope and Mr. and Mrs. William E. Coats announce the engagement of their daughter, Dina Pope, and son, Charles Alvin Coats. Miss Pope was a 1982 graduate of Coats and Mr. Coats had graduated in 1979.
Coats had several girls to be recognized from the Yellow Jackets to make All-Area Softball-Beth Pope, Penny Weaver, Denise Williams and Jamie Regan. Coach Dan Honeycutt of Coats was named Carolina Conference Coach of the Year (Daily Record June 4, 1984).
Wayne Penny, 69, of Route 1, Angier, had died on Friday. Services were at Rose and Graham Funeral Home and burial was in the Johnson Memorial Church Cemetery. Survivors were his wife, Cuba Penny; a son, Patrick Penny; a brother- Harold Penny and a sister-Annie Ruth Penny Stewart (Daily Record June 4, 1984). Archie was the brother to Joe Penny and Mary of Coats. He was son of Henry and Unity Penny who owned the house that was Dr. Fleming’s medical clinic. He was a member of the Penny Band that played at many events in eastern Johnston County.
The Coats High School held its annual awards assembly with the announcement of Gary Matthews as Male Athlete of the Year and Beth Pope as Woman Athlete of the Year. Receiving All-Conference in football were Freddie McDuffie, Jerry Lee, Elton Stewart, Trace Denning and Mark Langdon. Alex Turlington was the sportsmanship recipient (Daily Record June 6, 1984).
Read the column next week to learn more about the young students who graduated in the Coats High School Class of 1984.
It seems that sometimes death visits a community or family and lingers for a while. In 1973, practically every road in my community had a death. I recall we lost about eight members in our church family-my mother being one of them. My husband’s family members are noted for living longer than the average life expectancy. Most had lived into their nineties. Thank you to those who have given a memorial to the Coats Museum to honor the memory of Willie Joe Sorrell who died recently being the second brother of H.L.’s to die this year.
Our special museum volunteer-Becky Adams –was honored with a donation to the museum for the celebration of her birthday. Thanks go to the donor.
When the wind blows at the museum, one does not have to go outside to hear it or feel it. The old windows felt the result of the howling winds and blistering sun. The volunteers want to thank Tim Penny and Derrick Penny for replacing the five windows on the older museum making it more energy efficient and thank you also to those making this replacement possible.
Numbers were big in 1984. The largest single New York Stock Exchange transaction to date had taken place on June 21 as 10 million shares of Superior Oil sold for $423,800,000. Some 685,000 Americans were jailed during the year. Three coffeemakers purchased for the Air Force’s C-5A cargo plane cost more than $7,000 apiece. The government committed itself to $4.5 billion in loan guarantees to Continental Illinois Bank in Chicago. One of John Lennon’s guitars sold for $19,000 at auction. A good meal in 1984 – twenty-five dollars would get you a twenty-one–ounce-prime-aged steak at Joe and Mo’s restaurant in Washington, D.C. (Dickson, Paul. From Elvis to E-Mail. Massachusetts: Federal Street Press, 1999, p. 272).
In the last column you read about Grady Matthews and his encounter with either a gorilla or chimpanzee to earn himself $21.00. Today I share a story told by Earl Denning. It is not known whether this is the same animal that Grady boxed but this one was carried around to country stores in the Grove area. Earl Denning shared this story with the Coats Museum History Committee in 2003.
Earl recalled that a “barker” came to the J.A. Langdon store and had an orangutan with him. The “barker” called Earl to get into the ring with it along with other guys to try to win the bout. There was a whipping recalled Earl, not from the orangutan, but from his mama, Margaret Denning. Festus Denning gave his son one of those 30 minute “talking to’s”.
Very few of us grew up in the era that traveling salesmen or peddlers traveled the dirt roads in the Grove countryside to hawk their wares to those country folks. A peddler went door to door in some cases to sell fish, lawn furniture made of twisted limbs and vines, bread trays, medicines and household pots, pans and flavorings. Later would come the selling of encyclopedias and Bibles by young college students.
Gene Stewart recalled one such peddler was “Ole Joe Peddler.” Joe drove a Model T Ford and had all sort of things hanging from it to trade in town and country. He would trade so many match tops for Teaberry gum. Once, when no one had any match tops, the peddler told them he would trade for eggs. Gene and his cousin, D. K. Stewart, got the laying eggs from a setting hen and got ten packs of Teaberry gum and a real good bath to wash off all the lice and chiggers they got from the hen’s nest (Stewart 2003).
Some salesmen who tried to sell their goods were often dressed in fine clothes. In the fall when crops were being readied for market, often a tractor or car salesman would visit the farmers to give them a good deal on a new vehicle or a farm machine. Traveling insurance agents were a common site since some farmers had no phones or means to learn about hail, fire, life or other insurances that were available for protection.
Was this type of sales techniques replaced by offering buyers of a vacuum a special bonus if they would recommend a person for a perspective sale of a similar product? Does anyone recall a salesman preparing a meal to demonstrate cookware or a vacuum salesman dumping dirt on the rug to demonstrate that his vacuum had more suction power than the owner’s current one?
As time passed, did we sponsor glassware parties, Stanley parties, make up parties and Pampered Chef just to get something that we really did not need? I do know that as a child I indeed remember car salesmen come a knocking to attempt to sell a new truck or car to my parents.
Question- did you ever recall or hear of a female going house to house selling their wares? What about sellers of Watkins products or AVON. Isn’t it amazing how modern travel carried us to the big shopping centers to purchase our needs only to be replaced today with a few clicks on our computer?
Who would say is the best salesperson you ever encountered? Who recalls that Ann Miller could sell anything from Avon, to Tierra Glass to pretty red bows and Marie Salmon could sell even the craziest of ideas to her fellow teachers coaxing them to wear black garbage bags to imitate being “raisins” or to dress in a gorilla costume to have a “Monkey Wedding” for the students to enjoy at Coats High. Anyone remember those days at the old Coats High School?
I do think that many of those who can recall some peddlers (sounds better to say salesmen) can also remember listening to the intriguing radio series, The Long Ranger.” Later it could be seen on television. John L. Barrett was the original voice of the character and he had died at the age of 71. Do you wonder if playing the role was his day job? No, it was not. He was a lawyer. Another death that was recorded in May of 1984 was that of Jimmy Ray Pleasant, 51, of Raleigh. He was kin to Mrs. Mayton Upchurch in Coats. The same May 4, 1984 edition of the Daily Record printed that Dr. Donald Moore was reelected to the NC Academy of Family Physicians. He was required to complete 150 hours of continuing medical education over a three-year period.
Mr. and Mrs. T.C. Godwin, Jr. announced the marriage of their daughter Mary Godwin to James timothy Moore of Benson. She was a descendant of Elder Blaney L. Godwin of Coats. Elsewhere, Mary Forest, 4-H Program assistant, was planning a Bike-A-Thon for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Mark Williams, Coats High School pitcher, had tossed a no hitter against Princeton. Coats had an 8-0 Carolina Conference victory (Daily Record May 10, 1984).
Mr. and Mrs. Carlie Le Mai Cole of Coats had announced the birth of a son- Carlie Le Mai Cole, Jr. Mrs. Cole was the former Teresa Wasak. Paternal grandparents were J.P. Cole of Coats and Joanna Wasak of Erwin and Walter Wasak of Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Wilson of Dunn announced the engagement of their daughter, Pamela Renee, to James Dalton Pope, II, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Pope, Jr. Pamela was a 1980 graduate of Coats High School (Daily Record May 11, 1984).
April Knittle had won the Spelling Bee at Coats School. Michelle Adams, Ann Bass, Michelle Hammons and Amy Parrish were other students representing their classes from grade 4-8 (Daily Record May 14, 1984).
The Coats Prom named “Heavenly” was declared a great success. Two silver spiral staircases covered with stars and angel hair created a magical effect on the dance floor. Mrs. Diane Denning catered the event and Jimmy Abdalla provided the “Sound Approach”. Mark Pope, senior class president, offered appreciation to the junior class (Daily Record May 18, 1984).
Mrs. Lillie Matthews, 80, of Coats, had died on Wednesday. Services were held at Rose Funeral Home and burial was in the Neill’s Creek Cemetery. Her husband, Wright Matthews, survived her (Daily Record May 15, 1984).
The Coats Woman’s Club named the Ronald Avery Family of the Year. Mary Jo Mann was named the Woman’s Club Woman of the Year (Daily Record May 22, 1984).
Ed’s Variety Store was the Business Focus o f the Week of the CACC. The owner was Mildred J. Weaver Council. The business was located on South NC 55. (Don’t you wish more had been shared on this business and the family that operated the country store? The Weaver family was a very respected and talented family. One of the sons is a retired US Naval Commander.
Greg Stevens, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carlie Stevens and an employee of the NCDOT Planning Department, had received a Federal Highway Administration fellowship to study at Wake Technical College (Daily Record May 28, 1984).
Mr. and Mrs. Sexton Pope and Mr. and Mrs. William E. Coats announce the engagement of their daughter, Dina Pope, and son, Charles Alvin Coats. Miss Pope was a 1982 graduate of Coats and Mr. Coats had graduated in 1979.
Coats had several girls to be recognized from the Yellow Jackets to make All-Area Softball-Beth Pope, Penny Weaver, Denise Williams and Jamie Regan. Coach Dan Honeycutt of Coats was named Carolina Conference Coach of the Year (Daily Record June 4, 1984).
Wayne Penny, 69, of Route 1, Angier, had died on Friday. Services were at Rose and Graham Funeral Home and burial was in the Johnson Memorial Church Cemetery. Survivors were his wife, Cuba Penny; a son, Patrick Penny; a brother- Harold Penny and a sister-Annie Ruth Penny Stewart (Daily Record June 4, 1984). Archie was the brother to Joe Penny and Mary of Coats. He was son of Henry and Unity Penny who owned the house that was Dr. Fleming’s medical clinic. He was a member of the Penny Band that played at many events in eastern Johnston County.
The Coats High School held its annual awards assembly with the announcement of Gary Matthews as Male Athlete of the Year and Beth Pope as Woman Athlete of the Year. Receiving All-Conference in football were Freddie McDuffie, Jerry Lee, Elton Stewart, Trace Denning and Mark Langdon. Alex Turlington was the sportsmanship recipient (Daily Record June 6, 1984).
Read the column next week to learn more about the young students who graduated in the Coats High School Class of 1984.
It seems that sometimes death visits a community or family and lingers for a while. In 1973, practically every road in my community had a death. I recall we lost about eight members in our church family-my mother being one of them. My husband’s family members are noted for living longer than the average life expectancy. Most had lived into their nineties. Thank you to those who have given a memorial to the Coats Museum to honor the memory of Willie Joe Sorrell who died recently being the second brother of H.L.’s to die this year.
Our special museum volunteer-Becky Adams –was honored with a donation to the museum for the celebration of her birthday. Thanks go to the donor.
When the wind blows at the museum, one does not have to go outside to hear it or feel it. The old windows felt the result of the howling winds and blistering sun. The volunteers want to thank Tim Penny and Derrick Penny for replacing the five windows on the older museum making it more energy efficient and thank you also to those making this replacement possible.