No, I haven't fallen off the earth. I just haven't had anything worthwhile to write about while trying to stay cool during these "dog days" of summer here in the mid-South.
I did run across some huge postcards that were used in the family business way back in the 50's! These were picture postcards showing the building and some of the showrooms of the famous Botto Toy Company - otherwise known as V. F. Botto & Co.
Now for a little history lesson. The "F" in V. F. Botto & Co. was my grandfather. It seems that he and a Bianchi were partners in a wholesale liquor business prior to prohibition. Hmmm! Guess what happened when that passed? So, old man Bianchi and old man Botto got their heads together and decided to go into the wholesale tobacco business but the would do so separately. By gentleman's agreement they divided the city right down, I believe, Madison Avenue with Bianchi taking everything south of there and Botto taking everything north.
Years passed and along came children. My father went into the business as a salesman and traveled the city (north of Madison) calling weekly on all the grocery and drug stores. They had branched out into drug sundries such as hair creme, toothpaste, aspirin, etc. along with cigarettes and cigars as well as snuff and chewing tobacco. More years passed and V. F. died leaving my father to run the business. This happened in the late 30's.
Shortly thereafter came WWII. My brother went off to fly B-24's over Italy and Germany. The business blossomed as my father managed to secure all the military installations in the Memphis area - such as the 4th Ferrying Group, etc. These installations had first priority in securing tobacco products as well as candy. They would order way too much and it became my father's patriotic duty to dispose of the surplus! This left our business being the only one in town that had these products. Consequently, business boomed!
After the war, my brother took on doing what my father had done prior to the war - selling our products to drug and grocery stores. Business no longer boomed but rather shrunk since all the wholesalers now had access to all the tobacco and candy products they could use. The competition was fierce.
I was in high school at this time but worked in the business after school and on Saturdays. The space that we occupied on Adams St. across from E. H. Crump Insurance Co. (now occupied by the 100 N. Main Bldg.) was too small. The Railway Express wanted to sell their building. A deal was struck and the business moved into this vast space - by comparison.
The Railway Express built this building as a 4 story building located on Court Square. The City of Memphis ran out of money so they levied a tax on all buildings over 2 stories tall. The Railway Express didn't go for this and wanted to be grandfathered in. The City refused. So, using "
Italian logic" they removed the upper two floors!!
There is a business phenomenon "If you buy a warehouse that is too big you will fill it up"! My father discovered that there were things he could buy in "carload" lots a bit cheaper than buying them in small lots. Yes, we filled up the entire basement of this building in short order! After working out of this building for a few years we began to stock and sell inexpensive toys that you would find in a drug store in those days. This worked fine for a couple of years but the druggists thought we were selling to anyone who walked in. The people they saw in the store were actually customers year 'round but who didn't stock toys - such as many small groceries. We began to loose most of the drug store business. A decision was made to go into the toy business in a big way and let the chips fall where they may. This was the evolution of Botto Toy Company as it was known.
A local artist of the day, Sam Chamberlin, painted these scenes on the delivery trucks. The figures on the sign were outlined in neon and appeared to be moving.
Rolling advertisements.
This was a large room upstairs that held a huge variety of toys. We didn't have anything in great depth but we did have a huge selection.
This shows you what greeted you when you came into the store. These were an assortment of stuffed animals. The giraffe was later joined by a lion and a tiger, both of which roared!
This was a room full of toy guns. It was flanked by similar sized rooms, one for dolls and the other for toy musical instruments.
Hope you enjoyed the tour.
