TIMES GONE BY
Dear Jerry,
Just read the Panther Tracks #27 about the new name, Jalamanders.
I had to stop and look in my jewelry drawer, to see if my pin was still
there. We were a part of the that square dance club, charter members along
with several others. Curtis Thompson and some others did the calling. We
all had square dance dresses alike and all the men had vests to match.
The first dress and vests were a turquoise blue, and I believe we had enough
people for about 4 squares. I still have my dress and the vest, and I have
my pin and Bob's. They are a round disk, a little over two inches, with
rhinestones all the way around the yellow dish and printing in blue; JALAMANDERS
is at the top and our names in caps in the middle, and JAL, N. M. at the
bottom. There is also a figure of a man and woman, arm in arm. Of course,
all the ladies had petticoats galore so the skirt would stand out really
full. We had fun!
Love you, Glenda
Mystery of the M & J Cafe... 03/11/99
In the Panther Tracks newsletter of March 4th, I posed the following question:
"Perhaps some of you "Old Timers" can help me out. I seem to have had a brain synapse misfiring the other night which presented a single image in flashback. The image was that of a round, black-faced clock, with glowing pink and green neon lights surrounding it. Along with that image were the words..."M & J CAFE." That's it ! No more ! I'm convinced that in my early childhood in Jal, there was an M & J Cafe; but I can't remember anything else. Was it real? Did I dream it? If it was real, WHERE was it? WHO owned and ran it? WHEN did it exist? As I say, it's going to take someone a little older than me to clear up this snippet of memory. If you can answer any of these questions, please email me at:GPhil@ix.netcom.com." ---Jerry
There were eleven responses. Five people presented some informative comments on this bit of Jal History.The rest, like me, were a bit confused...ha.
First of all, to you confused people...the M & J WAS NOT The Midget Cafe (with attached ice house) on north main, run by Emma Davis.
David Bays:
Wasn't that the cafe on the corner of
Highway 18 and the Carlsbad highway?
I remember a very small cafe on the southwest corner of that intersection,
with a Gulf station on the northwest corner.
Loyce Reid:
Jerry, You really hit a memory nerve
with the M & J Cafe. Yes, there was such a place. It was on the southwest
corner of the intersection of the Andrews and Eunice Highways, and was
the IN spot for Jal high-schoolers around 1947.
John Anderson:
I went to school at Jal during the 1940s.
I worked there (the M & J) for a short time, but cannot remember who
owned it. My dad, Walt Anderson, was at one time part owner of the service
station across the highway.
Glenda Brown Moore:
Dear Jerry, Your dream was real. The
M & J was across from the Gulf station. It had several names and owners
over the years. I remember that the southbound trains coming through Jal
would stop behind the Gulf station, and the engineers would go eat at the
M & J.
Joelene Bowington Swanner:
Jerry, You are right, there was an M
& J Cafe. I use to work there. I don't remember who owned it, but it
was out on the highway across from the Gulf and Chevron stations. I remember
the clock and how it was arranged. It was my first job, in 1946 or '47.
There was a loud juke box and roughnecks were always coming in from the
oil field drinking coffee. Some of the songs on the juke box were "
There's a Green Light" , " Bowlegged Woman", and "
Bubbles in My Beer." I'm sure I could think of some more if I tried.
The tips were good and I made a lot of friends, including Pat Allen, Leon
Hobbs, and Ferrell Mosley,( my first husband ).
The cafe as I remember it was an old building and not very well kept. Altho
I don't remember the owner's name, I remember what he looked like and that
he thought I had too much fun working. Ha!Ha! I had about five minuets
to get to work from school and I worked 'till midnight. My last class in
school was study hall. I use to go to sleep every day during that period
and Mr. Walker would come to the door and yell , "Bowington , this
is study hall not rest hall; if you would go to bed at night you wouldn't
have to sleep in the day time."
Those were fun times with lots of fond memories. If anyone else sends any
info. on this I would be interested to know some of it. I have forgotten
a lot of those times, but it's fun to reminise. I hadn't thought of the
M & J in years. Hope this helps, Joelene
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Thanks to everyone who responded, helping to clear up the Mystery of the
M & J Cafe.
My brother, Buddy, corroborates this information; and my sister-in-law,
Doris Swain Phillips, reminds me that at a later date the M & J was
owned and operated by her aunt, Verna White; and was at that time known
as the Crossroads Cafe.
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To you people who have not yet signed up for the Panther Tracks Newsletter...
SEE WHAT YOU'RE MISSING ? Ha. Sign up soon and be a part of our next email
discussion. This was fun......and educational !!!
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ADDENDA: 03/12/99 From: Roxie McMahan Swain
I don't remember the M & J but I do remember the Crossroads Cafe. When Harold and I were first dating and after we got married we used to go dancing and then go there at 2:00 in the a.m. for breakfast. Usually Tom and Cheryl (Reid) West or Stan and Brenda (Wilkerson) Morris were with us.
Anyway, a little history according to Yvonne Redden. A lady from Alabama
built it and ran it first and at one time she owned the Cactus, so that
might be Maxine Lay that Morris referred to in his Cactus Bar article.
Different owners through the years were Sadie O'Neal, Hazel Bean, Ray Todd,
Verna White, and Rosemary Gilbert.
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From: Morris Whitworth 03/13/99
Hi, .....About the clock and the cafe. About
the time this all came about they had a waitress over there that looked
like Dolly Parton's mother. Now I hope that I never get so old that I would
waste my time ogling a clock when there was a good looking girl available.
That is just another instance showing that people notice what interests
them.
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From: Sandra Fulfer Peugh '65
Jerry, I just now got around to reading the mystery of the M&J Cafe, and there is a point or two that I would like to add, if you are interested, and I am sure you are since you asked about it. My mother and dad bought the cafe from Gerald and Ila Mae Young and ran it from March 1, 1956 until Dec. 31, 1959. It was called Billie's Cafe at the time.
My brother, Perry, who is younger than I, and I washed dishes there in the summers. At that time the land was owned by Barney Hubbs. I don't really know who owns the land now. My parents sold the cafe to Norman and Rosemary Gilbert. I worked there again between my junior and senior year, during the summer, and at that time it was owned from some people who lived out of town, Kermit, I think, but I cannot remember their names.
Anyway, I thought you might be interested in knowing this. I think it was known as the Crossroads at that time, also.