John A Brown

[Doug Loudenback]

What would be at 215 NW 1st today... Leadership Square?

Yes.

[bornhere]

I was wrong about Enid. It was in downtown OKC. I found it... on your blog, ironically enough. It's the building that once housed the Britling Cafeteria.





I hijacked your thumbnails... hope you don't mind.

[Doug Loudenback]

Ha! What a hoot! Great sleuthing, even amazing! Even the signage is the same!

[ddavidson8]

Looks like it would have been an interesting place to have dinner. What a cool cafeteria.

[bornhere]

Apparently they were a regional chain based in Birmingham, Alabama.

[Doug Loudenback]

And, here we have it, thanks to bornhere: 221 NW 1st in 1938 & 1951:

[Doug Loudenback]

The complete article is finally done: Doug Dawgz Blog: John A. Brown's

Enjoy!

[jbrown84]

Great article Doug. I think the most fascinating pictures were the ones of Penn Square. I'd never seen any from that era. It sure looks different now.

Also interesting: Della Brown died on my exact birthday, and Brown's sold in my birth year.

[PapaJack]

Doug:

A totally awesome article.

My memories of John A Brown's came back to life, flooding me with a longing for the past. Then I realized how grateful I am to have experienced it firsthand.

Thanks for the journey.

pj

[SoonerGirl26]

The JAB store in Capitol Hill had a photography studio where we went to have our high school senior pictures taken....and all the royalty pictures too.(football queen, etc.) There was a JC Penney's on one side and Langston's on the other side....it may have been an C.R. Anthony store before Langston's...really don't remember. I think it was the Penney's store that my mom went to where she traded in her S&H green stamps. That's back in the days when Capitol Hill had all kinds of stores: Emmer Brothers, Peyton-Marcus, Jack & Jill Children's clothing, OTASCO, TG&Y. Capitol Hill Hospital was nearby, too.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Great article, Doug.

I only wish I was old enough to have experienced Brown's/

[ddavidson8]

Great job Doug. You're an asset to this board and the City in general. I really respect your love and hard work.

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks, everyone.

[rondvu]

The old John A Brown estate is on the market for $3,6500.000. Doug will you buy it and make it the OKCTalk clubhouse?

Featured Homes for Sale in Oklahoma City

[Doug Loudenback]

No problem. Let me see how much is in my pocket ... uh oh ...

[sgray]

I've noticed okc's trademark parking meters in these photos...ha ha!

No really, it is cool to look at all of this. Wish we had a site where it could be sorted on a timeline for people to look at. All that i've seen are a few old city shots from back in the day.

[ddavidson8]

Holy crap that house is beautiful.

[redcup]

My best friend and I spent almost every Saturday downtown when we were in High School.
We went to Harding. We would take the bus that stopped at NW 34th and Shartel on Sat. morning. We would start our day at JAB's. It was esp. great around the holidays. We would check out the sales in the basement. We then walked to Anna Maude's for lunch and then on to the library. That always included a stop at Jerry's used book store that was catty corner from the library. Jerry was a blast. She had great stories and really knew her books. She moved the bookstore to Mayfair (Aladdin's). I was surprised to see her there when visited there a few years ago. Occasionally we would take in a movie at the many theatres there and then take the bus home. All in all it was a full day.

[jbrown84]

The old John A Brown estate is on the market for $3,6500.000. Doug will you buy it and make it the OKCTalk clubhouse?

Featured Homes for Sale in Oklahoma City

The OKCMOA should buy it and make it a branch museum, like the Austin Museum of Art has a branch at a suburban estate.

Austin Museum of Art: AMOA Visitor Information

[southernskye]

The OKCMOA should buy it and make it a branch museum, like the Austin Museum of Art has a branch at a suburban estate.

Austin Museum of Art: AMOA Visitor Information

Laguna Gloria is the Museum’s original home not the other way around.

[Generals64]

Hey guys:...don't forget the John A Brown's in Capitol Hill. Cub Scout/Boy Scout heaven.
Stairway and all along with an elevator and operator.....

[jbrown84]

Laguna Gloria is the Museum’s original home not the other way around.

So...?

I'm aware of that, but I don't know why it matters.

[Generals64]

I know this is an old thread but, I bought some fixtures from the Crossroads Dillards last week only to find John. a. Brown on the bottom of the fixture....thought that was pretty cool....there are still memories of JAB in OKC>>>>

[The Old Downtown Guy]

One of my memories of the downtown JAB was their Christmas window trimming. Around 1962, their windows on Main Street all had bare tree branches in them covered with christmas lights and the branch was cut to come into contact with the store front glass. The branch began again on the outside of the window glass suspended from the overhead canopy forming a lighted arch along the sidewalk . . . simply beautiful.

Michael

Pray For World Peace . . . pass it on

[USG '60]

As was mentioned earlier in the thread, JAB was involved in the sit-in movement. My mom worked in personnel so I always got to work there holidays, summers, etc. One day I heard about what was going on at Katz and Kresses or Kresges (which ever it was) so before going to the Lunchonette in the basement to eat I walked through those two wiggling my way through the crowds gathered. On the 2nd day to do it, when I got back to eat I saw the black kids in line, but not being served. While still approaching the line from a side angle and trying to decide what to do, the check out lady saw me and signaled me to come on by the line and get in. I nearly felt like I was defying and order but would have been embarrassed to eat if they weren't so I very shyly got to the back of the line and just stood there. No one. white or black spoke to me and I felt as conspicuous as hell and was glad when my lunch hour was over so I could get back to work and out of a spotlight. I don't remember where I ate after that but I only did that once. At the time, at 16, I was without moral outrage, I was just doing what I thought was right. In retrospect I think it was all quite honorable of me, and a part of me feels slighted by history since nowhere in the literature (so to speak) have I ever seen my presence acknowledged. Oh well, I've lived this long without it so I specks I'll do just fine in the future. Or, just maybe, THIS has registered it in the history that there was this little white kid who only looked about 12 taking and embarrassing stand. A few years later I got REALLY active in the movement and THAT is a matter of record. And that is the rest of the story.