HERE IS HOW I REMEMBER KAYSVILLE, UTAH By Richard Riley Bushnell 2019
My name is Richard Bushnell. I am now 75 years old. I grew up in a small western North American town nestled between the beautiful Rocky Mountains and the Great Salt Lake. This corridor of land some 15 miles wide where several small towns sprung up from the early Mormon pioneers that settled the area in the mid and late 1800’s. This particular town called Kaysville, Utah was a farming community and a fast growing bedroom community for the businesses in Ogden (14 miles north) and Salt Lake City (23 miles to the south). The new Hill Field United States Air Force Base (3 miles to the north) was a major contributor to the growth of the community as well. The only highway ran through the center of Kaysville. The semi-trucks, buses and all manner of vehicles including farm tractors and wagons, and occasionally livestock, all used this main artery through the small towns. There were no traffic lights to stop the flow long enough to allow anyone to cross the highway. You had to wait for an opening in both directions in the traffic to make your move. Sometimes you would wait what seemed like 10 minutes to safely cross the highway. This was a two-lane highway (one lane in each direction).
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We eventually had a police department that consisted of a single person, Chief, Lyle Larkin. The city didn’t have the funding to purchase a real police car so he used his own personal car which was a 6-year-old maroon and grey Cadillac four door sedan. He had one of those removable flashing red lights that he plugged into the cigarette lighter and would place it on the dashboard when he used the car to pursue speeders and bad guys. Needless to say, not too many people noticed him trying to pull them over as they would continue driving on out of town. He would turn off the red light and place the device back on the passenger seat and turn around and drive back to town feeling defeated. I don’t recall any markings on the car to indicate police nor do I recall a siren. Our first un-marked police car. Maybe we started something? We were way ahead of our time, we just didn’t know it.
Let me describe our neighborhood. (1948 – 1958 roughly) We lived on 4th east, which was on the edge of town at that time. Only a few scattered homes were further east towards the mountain. This was late 1940’s after the war when people were building new homes and starting their lives. Kaysville grew East towards the mountains. There were a few homes scattered along the foothills in Fruit Heights as well. Across the street from where I grew up was the Davis County Rodeo grounds. It was adjacent to the football field of the only High School (Davis High School) in the county at the time. Beyond the rodeo grounds was nothing but open fields, hollows and small streams. This was a paradise for a young boy with his BB gun and his dog. I spent many hours exploring the hollows shooting at anything that moved. I had a mixed breed black and white dog named Monerky. He looked like he had some Husky breed in him. Big fluffy tail and facial mannerisms of a Husky. Just not as big. He was a character and so much fun. I remember the western music of Hank Williams, Ernest Tubbs, and Hank Snow blasting over the loud speakers as the cowboys practiced and when they performed on rodeo nights. There was a Davis County Mounted Posse made up of prominent men and their horses. They all had uniforms and hats and rode with 2
great pride. Our version of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, only we wore brown outfits, not red. Very impressive. Our street was paved just barely wide enough for two cars to pass. The gravel shoulder was quite large until it dropped off into the open irrigation ditch on both sides of the road. There were no cement curb and gutter or sidewalks. When there was a rodeo, the cars would parallel park two deep along both sides of the road leaving just enough room for a car to squeeze through making it difficult and dangerous for the pedestrians and the men and their horses. I remember the Davis County Fair each August. The High School parking lots were full of displays of Army tanks, and artillery cannons. There would be large earth moving tractors, road graders, back-hoes and such. There were all types of farming implements, hay bailers, tractors, combines, plows and harvesting equipment. These large ‘Tonka toys’ were all open to the kids as well as adults to climb on them and pretend they were driving them. There were fruits and vegetables, quilts and artwork displayed in the gymnasium of the school. There were livestock at the rodeo grounds, chickens, rabbits and pigs all brought by farmers for judging with pride. The fair would go on through two weekends which was wonderful. What fun I had climbing on the vehicles. You could sit in the driver seat and move all the levers. Of course, the engines were not running so you didn’t actually move the scoops and shovels, but it was fun to move the levers and pretend. I remember another annual event, Japanese Days at the high school. Each summer the parking lot, baseball field and football field would be saturated with Japanese Americans selling their wears and trading their goods. The Japanese music was very loud each of the 12-hour days for the week. I do not remember any locals going to the area during these days of celebration. A lot of Japanese was spoken. I could hear the announcer speaking in Japanese to inform the crowds of activities and special displays and such (I suppose that is what was said, or they were plotting to take over the town. I couldn’t understand Japanese). There were still some strong feelings concerning the Japanese because of the war still being fresh in our minds. This was the mid 1950’s. 3
It seemed to be a special time and event for the Japanese Americans to remember their heritage and practice things of olden days. Most of them wore colorful traditional and special ceremonial costumes. It was very colorful. It was a little spooky having so many gathered and not being able to understand their language or music. Everything was very peaceful and they cleaned up everything after. This went on for many summers as I remember.
OUR NEIGHBORS Across the street from my home lived the Prigmore family. Gene and Leola Prigmore and their three daughters, Susan, MaryAnn and Kathie. Gene was the hardest working man I ever saw. South of their home was a large field which was part of the Rodeo Grounds. Just north of the Prigmore’s was a garden plot belonging to the Tippets. Their house was on the corner of 2nd South and 4th East. They had two boys Ronald (a year or two older than me) and Terry (a year or two younger than me) and Carrol Ann a girl my age. Going west across from the Tippets on our side of the street was a vacant lot on the northeast corner, then next was the Stevenson family home. Single mother Joy, two sons Paul and Larry and a girl Linda all older than me. Then our house which I will describe a little later. Riley and Beulah Bushnell, two daughters, Geri and Joan and a son, Richard (me). One dog Monerkey and one cat Adolf. Next to us to the South. This house had several owners over the years, 1st was the Small’s (Don’t remember names other than daughter Rosemary). 2nd Mel Manning and wife (Don’t recall her name.). I believe two girls Susan and Debbie and one boy (not sure about this). Mel was a coach at the High School. Good people, great family. Mel also worked weekends at Clover Club Foods company.
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3rd was the Ward family. Don’t remember parents’ names. They had two girls (Susan and ???) and one boy named Willie all younger than me.
Then the McGlinch family. Henry and Ella Dee. They had a combined family of Flint and McGlinch. Two very good-looking daughters. Carol Ann McGlinch and Cynthia Flint both older than me. Next was the Udy’s home. She was old and living alone. Had a chicken coop out back. I don’t recall any family ever visiting her. Then on the corner by the Rodeo grounds and the High School football field was the Key’s family. Marlow and Mildred. They had a son, Jerry and a daughter Marilynn both older than me.
Each of these homes had a large garden that stretched from the back of their home to the middle of the block. These were large and unheard of today. Our home we had Cherry, Walnut, Apple, Peach and Apricot trees. We had gooseberry, currents, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, and asparagus. Dad would always plant corn, peas, beets, parsnips, carrots, green beans and watermelons, squash and cantaloupe. Oh, and potatoes. What a wonderful meal this would make during harvest. Baby potatoes, creamed peas, baby carrots and parsnips, corn on the cob and strawberry shortcake for desert. Wonderful food prepared by a loving mother that cooked everything just right. How she did it and kept everything hot and ready was amazing. Of course, we didn’t think about the logistics and juggling she had to do at the time. She made it look effortless. We had a large weeping willow tree in the back yard that I would climb and survey the entire neighborhood. I played in the dirt under the tree making roads and bridges for my toy cars. Hours of joy did this tree bring to my youth. We had a black and white long-haired cat named Adolph. It was getting really old and I remember putting miniature marsh mellows in a row a foot or two apart on the grass. Adolph would bite one and attempt to chew it. Of course, the marsh 5
mellow would get moist and pop out of his mouth. It was fun to watch, and NO it wasn’t animal cruelty.
We had one of the driveways that consisted of two strips of cement with grass between and on both sides. I remember a large black four door Packard sedan. This was a classic with the spare tires mounted on the front fenders. There was a canvass bag full of water hanging down in front of the radiator from the hood ornament. If you were to take a trip, which we did often to Meadow (a small farming town in central Utah) where both my parents were raised. Grand-parents still lived in Meadow. We would visit them every summer. Traveling to Meadow in the summer you needed the water from the canvas pouch to replenish the radiator water as it would boil over several times before we could get to Meadow. Now it takes 2 ½ hours to make the trip, back then it was at least a 6-hour adventure. Dad with his fedora hat and his mustache looked just like the man who should be driving a black Packard. Almost like a Mafia gangster from Chicago. Dad worked at Hill Field as the manager of the re-distribution and salvage department. All the government surplus items would be sold through his department to the public. Kind of like Smith and Edwards which was a private operation that sold surplus good, some of which they acquired from my dad’s operation. He reached the highest civilian ranking at the time in pay grade (a point of family pride).
In the winter, as a youth, I remember walking the four blocks to grade school. I would walk in the irrigation ditch breaking the ice with my feet. I would sit in class with wet feet all day and then do it again on the way home. Fun boy stuff.
As I grew older, I started working at the local grocery store as a bag boy and shelf stocker. It was during these years that I started to smoke cigarettes and to drink beer (an acquired taste at the first). I had several of my friends that worked there as well. I remember on Christmas when the boss opened a fifth of vodka. I 6
thought it was pretty good. Not knowing how to pace myself I must have drank ½ the bottle before the evening was over. My two co-workers and I had planned an evening of fun, but I passed out in the back seat of the car shortly after leaving the grocery store. I remember being tossed out of the car onto my home front lawn later that night. I had one hell of a time trying to get into my house and my bed. I didn’t wake up until afternoon the next day which was Christmas day. I ruined yet another holiday for my mom. I had two close friends through Jr. High and into high school. David Clawson and Gary Loghry. I spent a lot of time with David. His mother was divorced with three kids. David had an older brother Roger and an older sister Shannon. He and I would walk home on the railroad tracks (the old Bamberger tracks from Central Davis Junior High School in Layton on Church Street). This was a long walk from Layton to Kaysville, but it was fun to be brave and walk home instead of riding on the school bus. David and I stayed friends for many years after college even though we went our separate ways. Gary and I were good friends through Jr. High and high school as well. We worked together at the grocery store. Gary was sharper in mind than I so he did a lot of cashier/checking while I stocked shelves and bagged groceries. He was a smart young man. We split up in High school as he started running with popular smart kids and I stayed with the average kids.
Later, I made friends with an exceptionally smart young man through our mutual admiration of drinking. We shared a basement apartment in Ogden for a school year of college. He went on to get his PhD in Chemistry and I dropped out of school. I paid for my beer in college by playing pool. I got pretty good at pool. My father bought a pool table for our home basement when I was a Jr. in High school so I played a lot at home prior to college. I had a troubling time in Jr. High and High School. I would never take any homework home. I passed the tests by listening to the teacher and doing work in class. I was expelled from High School my senior year for delinquency and being drunk on school property during school hours. 7
I graduated from High School with my class. I went on to college the next year. I was still working at the local grocery story (Harry’s Market). Harry Duckworth owned the grocery store and was in our ward. My mother got me the job while I was in the 9th grade. A little history concerning this grocery store. Harry sold his store to Wayne Winnegar who sold it a year or two later to Dee Smith. This was number six in the Smith Food King history of growth to over 200 stores. Smith’s was an energetic and progressive grocer. Dee Smith along with Bud Lund and Ralph Drake had us wear a red vest with a name tag and started a friendly bagger and deliver of the groceries to the customer car, thanking the customer and inviting them to come back again. These attitudes and actions were good lessons in customer service for us young boys. I remember Pete Cowan, a store manager in those early years. He stayed with them and retired after many years as their Purchasing Manager for what had grown to a six-state grocer and then later (1985?) sold to Kroger Foods.
With the money I made, I would buy custom made shirts from Lori’s in Trolley Square in Salt Lake. I was probably the only kid in high school with custom made shirts. Pretty cool. I bought me a 55 Chevy that I loved. It was slightly lower in the front and it was leaded in (No emblems or model tags). My mother helped me make a tuck-androll turquoise and white stripped naugahide seat covers, dash and rear deck and door upholstery. It was ‘cherry’. Wish I still had it. I had this car as soon as I turned 16 and could drive. I remember driving our family car one winter afternoon with my father as passenger. We were on our way to Farmington (the next town and County seat) to get my learners permit turned into a full driver’s license. On the way, the roads were snow packed and had ruts where the vehicle tires wore out the snow and the pavement was visible. A car pulled part way off the road ahead of me and I checked my rear-view mirror to see if I had anyone on my tail, which I did, so I didn’t slam on my brakes and instead I attempted to slow 8
down and move out of the ruts and go over into the oncoming lane which was empty and pass the car that didn’t pull all the way off the road when it stopped. Well, I hit the rear of that car in front of me as our car slid and the car slammed onto us from behind as it too could not stop. I was devastated and dad was upset. I didn’t get my real license for several months later when I had the courage to try to make it to Farmington. That was the only vehicle accident I have had. A total of 52 years of accident free driving all over the country. Including California, Washington DC, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and even Florida where the drivers are the absolute worst in the U.S. Not too bad a record I’d say. In college, I sold my 55 Chevy custom car and bought a brand new Chevy Corvair red and white convertible. It was a fun car. The engine was in the rear so it sounded like a city bus was on my rear bumper all the time when I had the top down. Not a pleasant feeling. It was a turbo charged engine and it beat a lot of cars dragging Washington Blvd.
KAYSVILLE MAIN STREET As I was growing up in Kaysville I remember the old down town business blocks that were changing as the city grew in size. (Two blocks of businesses) I remember the Inland Printing building where the Weekly Reflex newspaper was printed (south west corner of Main and Center Street). Mary Bowring was the reporter and main writer for the weekly newspaper. She was a wonderful, personable lady with a great sense of humor.
Across the street to the north started the main street business district. Center Street north on Main was the original Barnes Banking building. Very impressive building two stories in all. The outside of the bank had an ornate façade around the entry door. Inside were marble countertops and the cashier
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cages with bars. It had a very large and ornate safe sitting at the back where everyone could see it and feel their money was safe and secure. The bank was designed to look like a turn of the century bank with marble and ornate wood and the cashier cages. You felt like you should wear your Sunday best clothes when you came to the bank. It reminded me of the old west. There was a second-floor level to this building. The only building along main with a second level. I don’t know who or what was upstairs, maybe more banking business. Allen Blood was President of Barnes Bank and Harrold Gailey was Vice President. We called them “Hum and Haw” as they would hum and haw over any and every request as though it was a major decision to lend a person money, or to allow a high school activity announcement poster to be placed in the window. Both men were pillars of the community. Picture below of Barnes Bank at that time:
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Barnes Banking Co. building on the corner of Main and Center Street. Late 1940’s – early 1950’ s vintage photo. They grew in a single location to be the best bank in Utah. Later they built several branch banks as well as moved their main bank kitty-corner across the street and built a two-story modern bank. It had the only elevator in Kaysville. Quite a modern bank.
Barnes Bank on the corner, then Bowman’s Grocery Store with the awnings. This would be late 1940’s- early 1950’s vintage photo. Highway 91 running through the center of town. Just a young frontier town still in its infancy.
Bowman’s Grocery Market was next along Main Street. It had a row of large glass windows the full length of the front of the store. These windows must have been 10 feet tall so it made quite an impressive sight. As was customary at the time, all the buildings along Main Street were built connected with no space between them or alleyways. Just a solid row of store fronts. There was however, an alley 11
that ran the length of the whole block, behind the stores. This was for freight deliver and trash pick-up. Dick Bowman of Kaysville, owned the grocery store. I remember it had an old uneven wooden floor. There was fresh produce, and a butcher shop where you could buy fresh cuts of meat as well as have a special cut from the meat cooler if you desired. The meet cooler, accessible to the butcher only, was a temperaturecontrolled walk in locker where the large cuts of the animals hung from hooks. This was also where the butcher kept his bottle of whiskey he would sip on throughout the day. The butcher shop had sawdust on the floor to keep the blood soaked up so the butcher didn’t slip and fall as he worked. The sales/display counter was a large metal and porcelain framed cooler display case with a glass front so the customer could see all the cuts of meat laid out with parsley between the various rows of beef cuts, pork cuts, chicken and fish. There was a scale on this counter top where the meat was weighed by the butcher prior to being wrapped and labelled for the customer. There were several types of lunch meats and cheeses that the butcher would slice and package for sale.
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I remember the Nehi orange soda pop in bottles, the variety of candy bars and of course the Hostess cupcakes, Twinkies and slivered coconut covered Snowballs. It was the only grocery store in town. There were no convenience stores like Circle K, or 7-11, just the one grocery store. Closed on Sundays.
Years later (around 1954) the old store then became Buchannan’s Dry goods Department store. They sold cloth, batting, thread and needles and anything you needed to make your own clothes as well as they sold Levi pants, shirts, boots and such. Still had the old wooden floor. Mr. Buchannan had a red nose like W.C. Fields which made you wonder if he had been a heavy drinker at one time. They were nice people. They lived in the 2nd ward. I don’t remember any kids. This particular store front building had a foyer where you entered the dry good store or you could take the stairs down to a cobbler/shoe repair store. The ironwork and stairs were a nice and inviting entrance. I do not remember this entrance to Bowman’s, but It was there when Buchannan’s Dry goods was open for business.
Many years after Buchannan’s Dry Good closed, two young entrepreneurs, Brit Howard and Richard Bushnell (me), opened Birt and Ernie’s Soup, Salad, Sandwich and Ice Cream store. They didn’t last too long in business, but they had fun with the store and employing the local young boys and girls to operate it. Troy Howard, Brit’s younger brother (returned Missionary) was the manager.
Next along main street going north was the Kaysville Theatre with a grand marquis that hung over the sidewalk all the way out covering the curb. There was a ticket sales booth big enough for just the cashier with a large curved thick glass window and a circular hole to speak through and a tray at the bottom to slide your money into and to retrieve your tickets from the ticket girl.
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Inside was a carpeted foyer with a ticket collector that would take your ticket and tear it in half and give you back half for your entry. There was a concession counter with fresh popcorn and soda drinks and candy bars. I remember going to the picture show and sitting on the front row with my neck kinked back, looking up, watching the horror movies. They had a ‘news real’ before each movie and a cartoon after. The movies were mostly in color but the news real was black and white. Many a hand was held in this theater. Many a cup of popcorn was spilled in the aisles. This was the place to be on Friday and Saturday night. There were three or four seats on the two sides with an aisle down each side, and then the middle section 8 or 10 seats across. The floor was slanted like a stadium. There must have been 15 to 20 rows of seats. Not bad for our small town. I remember Lee Liston was one of many owner/managers of the movie theater and he was later the principle at Davis High School after Tom Davis retired. Picture of the Kaysville, Theatre:
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Next was Frost Drug Store. Eldon Frost was the pharmacist at the drug store. There was a small soda fountain and counter. A magazine rack and candy bar rack. They sold all sorts of items, toasters, irons, and of course medicines off the shelfs as well as prescriptions from the pharmacist.
Next was the Larkin Café. Larry Larkin was the owner and the cook. He could cook. Good food, morning, noon and night. He was a large man that worked in the kitchen all day. He had a glass eye. The food was good and likely seasoned with some drops of sweat from Larry. It’s all good, who cared. There was a long counter the full length of (depth) the Café along the South wall. Then there were two rows of booth seating north of the counter to complete the seating. The locals would sit at the counter if there were only one or two of them, and if more friends came in, they would move to a booth. Families, groups and who know who frequented this Café. Good times, one of the old time great meeting and eating places to gather with friends. Needless to say, there were seats that were for the locals that frequented the cafe on a daily basis. Unwritten law of the land. Do not sit in someone else’s seat if they will be coming in before you leave. Larry had a brother named Lloyd (actually there were 5 boys. Bud, Howard, Larry, Dell and Lloyd). Lloyd ran the family farm and operated the bar down stairs beneath the Cafe. Lloyd was a wiry 5’ 6’’ cowboy. No fat on them bones. He was wired so tight that if you accidentally brushed against him as you walked by as he sat at the counter, he would fling both arms and nearly knock the two patrons on either side of him off their stools. Now I can’t prove this, but I know for a fact that some of the good old boys would purposely goose him or poke his ribs to get a reaction from him as they ducked for cover. Down Stairs under the café with a separate street level entrance, was a dim lit bar. The bar had a cement floor, one booth and a bar with four or five stools. There was a back room behind the bar and a stair case that led up and outside into the back alley. 15
I used this quick escape route on occasion when Lyle Larkin (cousin of Lloyd and the brothers) the city policeman would come down stairs to check on who was in the bar and to make sure his cousin didn’t serve minors (21 legal age). We called the bar the ‘snake pit’. I was 17 years old at the time, starting my drinking addiction which produced many great times over the years. I remember several times I had to slide my beer in front of the person sitting next to me, so I had nothing on the bar in front of me. Or if I had time I would run behind the bar and through the back room, up the stairs and out into the back alley. The long descending stairway from the street entrance gave a person time to determine who was coming down the stairs a few seconds before the face of the person was visible. I remember one winter when Lyle Larkin stomped the snow of his feet at the top of the stairs and then the snap buckles of his goulashes caught together and down the stairs he fell head over heels. Nothing hurt other than his pride. We don’t dwell on such …..ha ha ha. He was tougher than nails. I remember several times when my friends would come to the bar, we would start wrestling around. One time my friend put out his cigarette on the tip of my nose. This was a week before high school graduation. I had to walk, across the stage at graduation with a black scab on the end of my nose. Such good friends.
Back up stairs on main street was Charlene’s women’s clothing store. It had some nice women’s clothing. She would find special clothing item for mom and my two sisters. The styles were dressy and a little colorful and stylish for Kaysville. She helped to bring Kaysville into the modern age. She was a unique individual that everyone liked.
Then next was the Western Auto Store run by Carl Racker. This was a store that had everything from car tires to baby-binkies and all kinds of small items for the repair or do it yourselfer. Like a small Home Depot, an Ace Hardware store with a Sears all combined.
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Then next continuing north along main street, the dry cleaner where mom worked. It had a small room at the back of the store where my mother could sit and crochet until a customer would come in. All the laundry was marked by stapling a numbered small paper tag on the item. All items were sent out to the company facility to be washed or dry cleaned. Usually it took three days and then the clothes would be brought back and put on a rack until the customer would come in to pay and pick them up. The front of the store had two small counters and a cash register. People would spread their clothes out on top of the counter and mom would tag them and place them in a bin under the counter. I would come to the dry cleaners after school when I was in grade school and be with Mom until it closed at 6:00 pm. I remember hiding under the counter when a customer would come it.
Next heading north was the U. S. Post office. Wooden floor and quite small area. Had a counter and window where the clerk would take your mail or package and weigh it. There was a north wall of small brass mail boxes (must have been 60 or so boxes) with a dial on each that you would turn to the numbers of the combination to your mail box. There was a small window in the door of the mail box so you could see if there was any mail before you went to the trouble of going through the four-number combination sequence to open the door. Each mailbox was only four by five inches square so there were a lot of mailboxes. The mail was not delivered to each house in Kaysville for many years. There were some Rural Routs for the farmers where the mail delivery person would deliver mail to the outlying areas.
Continuing north, it seemed that there was a beauty shop run by a Japanese lady next as you proceeded north on Main Street.
There was a small store next. I believe it was Sanders Glass where they sold replacement glass windows, mirrors, and picture frames.
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Next was Chick’s Barber shop. All the men would get their hair cut at Chick’s. Chick Schofield was the owner. He had two or three chairs and there were one or two other barbers working so sometimes there would be three people getting their hair cut and several sitting on the chairs along the wall waiting for their turn. The conversation varied from gossip to politics, weather, crops, anything and everything. It depended on who was in the shop as to the gossip topic. There were magazines to read while you waited. You could get a shave if you wanted. A hot towel would be wrapped around your face as you leaned back in the leather and chrome barber chair, then foamy lather would be applied generously with a small brush. The shave was done with a straight razor about 3 ½ inches long. The barber would sharpen it with a leather strap. When the shave was done another hot towel was used to wipe off the remaining foamy lather and then the barber would take a bottle of aftershave and pour some in his hands and rub it all over your cheeks, chin and neck. Smelly stuff this was. Chick had a good business.
There were two or three small shops between Chick’s and Ursula’s beauty shop. She had a good clientele and seemed to be busy all the time. I never went inside it was too scary with all the women with hoods over their heads with electrical wires. The smell and the talking were non-stop and loud. The window display was always full of signs for discounts and specials. There were bottles of shampoo and conditioner and perfume and other items on a rack that you could see through the window. Not a place for a young man.
On the corner was a Buick automobile dealership and auto repair garage. Later it became a self-serve laundromat.
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Across the street north on Main was a service station, and then the parking lot for the grocery store which was Harry’s Market, then Winegar’s, and then Smiths. Wayne Winegar had this store and one in Layton. He was a county commissioner. Tom, his son was my age and after college he took over the Layton store and continues the business for 30 years. Harry’s was owned by Harry Duckworth. He lived a block away from us. He had two sons Larry and Mike and daughter Debbie. I started to work at this store when I was in Jr. High. Several of my close friends came to work there as well. We would steal cigarettes and beer when no one was looking. At the rear of the store, I remember the beer, soda pop, milk, butter cooler. It had four class doors the customer cold open to pick out their items. There was a single door from the back room of the store into the cooler. We would restock the cooler by placing fresh items on the racks and pushing the older products forward. This cooler was a great place to watch the girls. You could see up two of the five aisles all the way to the front of the store. I remember watching several hotties.
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As the store would close, we would sweep and mop the aisle, cover the produce, and take all the trash out the back door and burn it in an incinerator. This is when the cigarettes and beer would leave the store as we cleaned up. Working with the public, I learned how to interact with people and how to be responsible for sections of the store. This was a good job for a young boy. I was the fastest and best bagger in all 7 counties. The store was sold to Dee Smith. This was number six for Smith’s. Now they have 200 or so, as they grew and eventually sold to Kroger’s. I remember Dee Smith, Bud Lund and Ralph Drake, Pete Cowan.
Just north of the market was Stewart’s Gift shop. LeConte Stewart was an art professor at the University of Utah as well as a world-renowned artist. He painted pictures of old barns and rolling foothills of our local mountains. His art works were sold at this gift shop along with many beautiful items for home decorations and children’s clothing suitable for christening and baptisms. I remember that I bought my mother a beautiful set of porcelain quail birds for her china closet with my very first paycheck from the grocery store. My mother and Zipporah (Zip) Stewart (LeConte’s wife) became good friends as well as Zip treated me special every time I came into the shop.
Next door was Major’s Bakery. They made breads and cookies and the aroma was salivating. I remember a chocolate swirl cookie they made that was my favorite. They had an electric bread slicer that had probably 24 blades that would move up and down as the loaf of bread was pushed into and through the blades and sliced for the customers. This was a revolutionary machine. Neater than sliced bread, literally.
Years later the bakery closed and the building remained empty for years until Hugh Lazenby bought it and turned it into a bar called The Long Horn. It had four booths and a long bar with 10 bar stools. It also had a pool table in a small room just off from the bar. This became the local watering hole for many years. So now 20
there is still only one bar in Kaysville because the Snake Pit closed many years earlier. No business to sustain it. Next on the corner was the Tingey’s Cold storage. Deer hunters would bring their deer in to be skinned and cut up into various packages of meat. The local farmers also would bring their pigs, and cows in to be cut and packaged.
Across the street north. (200 North Main). The Tingey’s Frozen Cold storage frozen food lockers. This was a small cinderblock building that had individual lockers where customers could store their frozen produce and meat food items.
The Hot Spot Drive Inn was just north. This was a small drive-in burger and malt business. I remember they would buy their sugar from the grocery store in 100pound bags. I would carry the bag to their drive-in and they would give me a big root beer in a frosted glass mug. It was very good. What a treat on a hot summer day after carrying the heavy bag of sugar that distance. I believe the owner lived in Fruit Heights. Crossing the highway to the East. There was a Chevron service station auto repair business on the north east corner. A father and son ran the business. They could fix most anything, I doubt the father ever had clean hands. The years have gone by and continuing East on 200 north. The new Post office building was built in the 1960 (?). Larger than the old post office. Sheffield was post master.
Then about 1965 the new and expanded Bowman’s market. This store had linoleum flooring and fluorescent lighting in the ceiling. They had coolers for soda pop, and they sold many more items than they did at the old store.
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Store front with banners in the windows of items on sale this week.
Next was the Clover Club Foods potato chip manufacturing plant. The smell of the fresh potato chips could be enjoyed all over town. This business grew to cover a 13-state area in its hay-day. Clover Club was the main business in Kaysville. It employed many of the town women and men. It was a great place to work.
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Headquarters building on 2nd North and Fairfield. (1980’s)
Clover Club had plants located in Kaysville as well as Boise Idaho, Greeley Colorado, Denver Colorado, Colorado Springs Colorado, Albuquerque New Mexico, Phoenix Arizona, Salt Lake City, Utah and Los Angeles, California Hod and Clover Sanders started the business in the back room of their small home in Kaysville. They employed some great people over the many years of business. The business grew and was known for quality and integrity.
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This is the first plant located next to their home on 1st North and about 48 East in Kaysville, just ½ block East off main street. Their home is to the right of the factory. (twin Gables)
I worked there from college age to midlife crisis for a total of 23 great years. I learned a great deal about working with and managing people. The management team of Bob Sanders, (oldest son of Hod and Clover), Wendell Maxfield, Verl Walker, Ken Brown, Joe Kment, Earl DeMussey, Ray Barkley, Ron McCormick and many others. It was a wonderful experience to learn and grow from such fine people. Mary Bowring after retiring from the Weekly Reflex was the editor of “The Clover” magazine, an in-house publication of Clover Club Foods Co. She would take pictures and write articles about the employees and the new markets being opened by the sales department. She traveled to each of the plant locations and did a great job of highlighting our employees. Many of the magazines are saved and are presently in the Kaysville museum (Library). Clover Club Foods was truly a ‘family’ business. Hod and Clover were the down to earth, kind and generous people that exemplified the city and the company.
Vintage delivery trucks (1950’s) Looks like a 4th of July Parade. Clover Club was sold to Borden’s Corporation, stripped of assets within a couple of years and was sold to the Country Crisp Snack Foods Company owned by Myron 24
Walker family and sadly several years later went out of business. Myron’s wife Olene Walker was the Governor of Utah prior to their purchasing the business from Borden Corporation. They were a great family who tried to bring Clover Club back to the peak of the snack foods industry in the Western part of the U.S. Hod and Clover Sanders, two of the best people you will ever meet, and Myron and Olene Walker also two very fine people. Some great family history with these two families and all the people they employed and lives they touched over the years.
There is a new modern Kaysville City Library and a nice park where once stood the headquarters and factory on the corner of Fairfield and 200 North in Kaysville. Only memories of the many years of Clover Club and all the good people that worked there remain as the years pass and so do the good people. Across the street coming back west on 200 north. There was a large metal building that was Ace Hardware, then Thompson Marine for several years. Then Ralph’s Hardware and Building Supply store (Ralph Lewis a great man). Later it became Sanders Glass.
Next heading west down 200 north, was a small home. Don’t know who lived there or any early history. Years later Brit Howard had his real-estate business. He was the Mayor of Kaysville about that same time. Possibly the youngest Mayor at the time. His father, Don Howard was the Fire Chief for many years through this period of time.
Next was a small block building that had many small businesses over the years. Don’t remember what is was originally. Was a State Farm Insurance business for many years.
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Then on the corner was Thompson Marine (the original location) on the south east corner of Main and 200 North. They had a good boat sales business for many years. Now there is a 7-11 store and a Taco Bell.
A traffic light was finally installed at this intersection making Kaysville a real town. The freeway was built west of town in the early 1960?? It took all the passing through traffic off main street. What a blessing and what a shame. Business suffered with the building of the freeway‌.so it is said. I wonder how many people actually stopped to shop in Kaysville when main street was the only road north and south going through the county. The Interstate Highway was built several blocks west of main and took all the truck and car traffic away from our main street. In the early days you must remember this small town did not have any traffic lights. The highway went right through town on Main Street and you took your life in your own hands trying to walk across the street from one side of Main to the other. So, our first traffic light was on this corner 200 North Main. It was a big deal.
Going south along Main Street on the east side of main from Thompson Marine was a set of apartments. Then the old Clover Club plant, later converted to Kaysville Builders Supply, then became the Loan office of Dell Larkin Finance.
On the corner of 100 north and main was the Davis County Co-op gas station. Years later it was the Spears Plumbing business. The entire main street block from 100 North to Center Street was city owned. There was a native rock building that housed the library, the city offices and the city council room. City Hall and library Building. Very impressive and official looking. Picture of the old city building and old library: 26
On the East side of this block ( 1st East ) was the Bamberger Rail Road tracks and a small railway station and platform. This railroad ran from, Salt Lake City to Ogden serving all the small towns in between. Too bad they closed it down in the 70’s. It would have been a good commuter rail today. Years later the Bamberger Rail Road tracks were taken out and the small station removed. The city built a real modern (at the time) building to house the volunteer fire department. The fire department had grown over the years and it now had two engines, a water tank truck and a four-wheel drive rescue vehicle used to gain access to fires, and the lost or injured people in the foothills above town.
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On the south side of this block were several homes and the original fire station which consisted of a cinderblock structure large enough to park a small firetruck inside. It was a volunteer fire department with only the one fire engine. When the siren would go off it was loud enough that you could hear it from anywhere in the surrounding areas. The farmers and a few businessmen were the volunteers. They would converge on this small garage and pull the fire truck out so others could get on board and turn on the red lights and siren and off they would go. The siren would sound and volunteers from the main street business would run across the street to get the fire truck out and heading to the fire. It was almost ‘keystone cops’ funny to see men running out of the café, or the drug store and sometimes the barber shop to answer the need for firemen. They were all trained and part of the volunteer group of firemen. You had to watch yourself crossing the street as firemen would speed in their cars and pick-up trucks to get to the fire station and jump on to the single firetruck.
On the South East corner of Center Street and Main was the Howard Cloward’s Conoco service station. This was a full-service gas station. You would pull up to the gasoline pumps and a young man would come running out of the building and ask what octane and how many gallons did you want to buy. He would then set the pump to dispense that amount of gasoline and he would open your gas cap and pump the gas. He would check your tire pressure and he would lift the hood on your car and check the oil level of the engine and at times he would check the water level in your radiator. He would then wash your windshield and clean the outside rear view mirrors, then ask if he could do anything else for you. He would then take your money for the gasoline. Didn’t have credit cards back then. Full Service. No self-service was available. No one could conceive of doing all these things for oneself. I remember the gas used to be 19 cents per gallon when I started to drive. That would be in 1958?
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Can’t leave this story without mentioning Lyman Blood. He was an adult man that was retarded. He would be somewhere on Main Street most of the day every day. One time I remember him standing on the corner with his hands behind his back. Rocking back and forth in his large denim bib coveralls and looking around as though he was wondering about the meaning of life. He was harmless and had a very limited vocabulary. Everyone knew him and would patiently wait for him to cross the street in front of them. He didn’t move too fast. He was an icon with his large stature, big pot belly and the way he walked and then he would stop ever so often and look around as he swayed back and forth with his hands behind his back. He had a unique face like and old man with large weathered features. It was a large face with a built in spitter. He would spit through his teeth by only opening his lips just a little. It was amusing to see him and then a spurt of liquid come shooting out of his mouth. He only spit when no one was near. He was probably a good shot and maybe, just maybe, he would hit a bug on the sidewalk.
Kaysville was a great place to live and grow up. No one locked their doors to their homes and as a kid you could play outside after dark and no one would hurt you. You could leave your bike on the front lawn at night and it would still be there in the morning. Life was full of innocence, freedom and safety. That may have been the last generation to grow up with that degree of freedom. As the towns grew in population, so did the amount of bad people increase. It sure was a different world back then. Now Kaysville has 8 traffic lights and a police force of 10 or so, and a modern fire station with four bays and full-time firemen. Sadly, now however, just be home before dark, pick up toys and bikes from front yard, and lock your car and house doors. Kaysville is still a great place to live and to raise a family. Good values, and good safety. Good neighborhoods and no slums or poor sections of town. Way back then, there were two LDS wards. The 1st Ward was all who lived west of the highway (Main Street) and 2nd Ward for those living east of the highway. Now there are 47 wards in Kaysville/Fruit Heights area. 29
What great memories. This was a wonderful time to live. It seemed you knew everyone in town and they all knew you and your family. Some good family names that built the City of Kaysville, and Fruit Heights, Utah.
Alphabetical order. As per my memory of the people that I knew. Ashbaker, Barnes, Bass, Bean, Bingham, Bishop, Black, Blamires, Blood, Bowman, Brough, Brown, Buchannan, Burton, Bushnell, Butcher, Carroll, Chappell, Cheney, Clawson, Cloward, Cottrell, Cullimore, Daley, Davis, Day, Dredge, Duckworth, Edwards, Ellison, Ense, Egbert, Etchel, Felt, Flint, Foote, Frost, Gailey, Galbraith, Garrett, Graham, Granger, Goseland, Green, Hamblin, Harvey, Hatch, Heywood, Higgs, Hill, Hollist, Horne, Howard, Jensen, Jones, Jost, Keys, Killfoil, King, Larkin, Layton, Lewis, Little, Mann, Manning, Marsden, Maxfield, McCormick, McCullough, McGlinch, Nickles, Parker, Perkins, Phelps, Phillips, Pilkington, Prigmore, Rampton, Rasmussen, Raymond, Richins, Roche, Rose, Rushforth, Sandall, Sanders, Schofield, Sheffield, Small, Smith, Sparks, Speers, Springer, Stevenson, Stewart, Strong, Swan, Talbot, Telford, Thompson, Thorderson, Thorne, Tibbets, Tingey, Walker, Walters, Warren, Weaver, Webster, Whitaker, Whitesides, Woodward, Woolsey, Yost, Zollinger, and so many more great people that raised their families and flavored the community.
For those great people that I have not listed, please forgive me, my memory is not as goods as it once was. You all built a great town (two towns). A great heritage and sent many a young person out into the world to do good things and make a difference. Truly blessed to be part of these two great communities. Walk through the Kaysville/Fruit Heights Cemetery and say hello to many great people.
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