F
or over 50 years McDonald Tea Room brought
thousands of people to Gallatin, MO – all sharing a
Charlie built the building by Virginia's vision
Crocker initiated a radio series on the most
and oral blueprints, and he also built the tables and
interesting restaurants in the United States, Virginia
great dining experience. When radio was a media in
chairs. But he also helped Virginia build the business.
was the first person interviewed!
its golden era, Duncan Hines ranked the Tea Room in
Night after night he would go down to the railroad
Gallatin as "one of the 10 best places to eat in
station to rub elbows with the men who plied his old
Gardens published a book of 90 of the country's best
trade, the traveling salesmen. His motive was
restaurants. They called it "Famous Foods from
America." A southern lady from an affluent Texas family,
In 1964 the editors of Better Homes and
advertising. He knew that if you wanted to pass the
Famous Places." McDonald Tea Room was selected,
word along on anything, you told a traveling
along with places like Four Seasons in New York,
salesman, in 1914. When Charlie's mother passed
salesman. And just as he figured, soon a sizable
Maxim's in Houston, Palmer House in Chicago,
away in Missouri, Virginia and Charlie moved to
number of "drummers" were finding their way to
Broadmoore in Colorado Springs, and Sun Valley
Gallatin to care for his father and to make Gallatin
Gallatin and Virginia's cooking.
Lodge in Idaho.
Virginia married Charlie McDonald, a traveling
their home. But Charlie's belle of Texas became ill
Virginia, she insisted that everyone call her
Former President Herbert Hoover tasted her
with tuberculosis after their arrival here. Virginia was
that, was the Tea Room in its prime. She "enter-
food as did Margaret and Mary Jane Truman, actress
forced to take the "open air" cure, resting in a many-
tained" people as well as impressing their taste buds
Martha Scott, baseball magnate Branch Rickey, and
windowed room that was known as Maple Shade, due
with delightful food. Wearing one of her wide-
former Missouri governor Arthur M. Hyde. Virginia's
to the large tree just outside the window.
brimmed hats, Virginia would sit in the Crystal Room,
corn muffins were a weakness of J.C. Penney, the chain store founder whose boyhood home is just 13 miles south of Gallatin in Hamilton. Gallatin almost lost the Tea Room after Virginia's death in 1969. Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards, often came up from Kansas City to dine with Virginia. At the time the great Crown Center development project was in planning, Mr. Hall considered a complete relocation of the Tea Room within the complex of stores and exclusive shops. The idea was dropped because of the negative impact
Everyone Knew Virginia!
on Gallatin's economy. At the time, Hallmark did not have a subsidiary business, such as a greeting card facility or warehouse, that could be placed in Gallatin to supplant the Tea Room. Cars with out-of-state license plates were
For seven years Virginia lay in that room.
conversing with the dining public while she cajoled
commonly seen parked on West Grand Street in
vegetables into works of art that would garnish her
Gallatin at McDonald Tea Room. Local civic and
McDonald, had built a shop beside the house now
salads and relish trays. Locally viewed as eccentric,
social clubs frequently held luncheons and meetings
housing the ailing Virginia. The shop evolved into a
Virginia did things her own way.
at the Tea Room.
Charlie quit his traveling job. His father, Sam
blacksmith, harness and carriage shop and, later, a
During ownership by Betty and Tom Cobb of
No bills were ever placed on the tables in Virginia's time. She was always in position behind a
Kansas City, the kitchen was modernized. Dottie and
grocery business by adding a line of hardware. But he
small kneehole desk, dispensing a gracious kind of
Jim Stotts of Liberty operated the establishment from
still could not make ends meet.
hospitality, and a running commentary for as long as
1979 until Dorva and Bob Jones of Kirksville assumed
grocery store. Charlie tried to enhance a meager
one cared to linger and
responsibilities.
school, Charlie decided to add a lunch counter and
listen. She soon
Eventually, some time
serve hot dogs and soups to school children. Soon,
mentally cataloged the
others were coming to eat at Charlie's counter. All the
favorite dishes of her
while, Virginia lay in her bed thinking about Charlie's
regular patrons. If she
Since the McDonald store was close to the
"The drive is worth every hungry mile for hearty helpings of pan-fried chicken,
after Bob's death, Dorva auctioned off the contents of the Tea Room.
lunch counter and his struggle to manage the family
knew you were coming,
sugar-glazed ham and pecan rolls."
affairs alone. Charlie had borrowed money from the
your preferences would
— Midwest Living, June 1988
bank and was not yet able to pay it back.
be served at your table
completely remodeling the
whether they were on
Tea Room in the style and
From this adversity, Virginia rose from her sickbed to take over the lunch counter. McDonald Tea
the menu for the day or not. It was one of those
Room made its official debut in 1931. It began in the
special touches her friends loved. In 1949 Virginia
Bud and Jean Kirkendoll resurrected the business,
grandeur of Virginia's times, only to see the building and entire contents go up in flames on July 4, 2001.
area that was commonly
compiled a cookbook
known as the Garden Room
which revealed many of
(the main entrance room).
her culinary secrets.
McDonald Tea Room except that a great cook
There really was no reason for the existence of
The north part of the
There were four
decided to go into business next door to her home.
Crystal Room was opened
printings, and in 1950 it
Virginia's success is as American as any Horatio
in 1939. Even this addition
was the only cook book
Alger story. With no business training and facing an
did not alleviate the waiting
ever to be honored as a
$8,000 debt while recovering from several years of
that people had to endure
Book-of-the-Month Club
serious illness, she triumphed.
to eat at the Tea Room.
selection. When Betty
People would wait on the patio in good weather, and
"My mother was an aristocrat in the South and never learned to cook, or even cared, until after the Civil War. She vowed then that all her daughters would know their way around a kitchen."
Virginia would serve her famous iced tea. Virginia McDonald, a Southern belle whose restaurant in Gallatin, MO, gained national acclaim by a No. 1 Book-of-the-Month cook book and radio fame (the only cook book to do so to this very day)!
— Virginia McDonald (1887-1969)
Charlie and a helper built the final portion of the Crystal Room around the lean-to that had housed
“When we walked in for lunch, the first thing we noticed was the smell: a yeasty, come hither aroma of rolls fresh out of the oven.”
Sam McDonald's original blacksmith, harness and carriage shop. It was a labor of love. The initials "V" and "Mc" were prominent in exterior masonry. Inside, the "V" pattern was repeated in the decor built by Charlie for his belle.
©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company
— A Taste of America, pp.163-64, by Jane & Michael Stern, Universal Press Syndicate 1987 The Crystal Room, for banquets and larger gatherings, showcased the familiar "V" architectural accent
HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY
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