Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article

October 17, 1993
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society

A & P stores part of America’s heritage

One of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company’s early retail stores was located in Terre Haute at 519 Wabash Avenue. The listing first appears in the 1907 City Directory.

This week’s historical treasure is a photograph of the A & P store given to the Vigo County Historical Society by Mary Deal. Her uncle, Clarence Deal, is the first person on the right.

Mary Deal told an amusing story about her uncle. It seems that Clarence and his brother, Melvin, unwittingly created what became a puzzle on Wabash Avenue. The two looked exactly alike, and Melvin worked across the street at Albrecht Dry Goods & Notions. When customers went from one store to the other, they would always ask, “How did you get over here?” The two enjoyed the confusion.

In the photograph, behind Clarence, are the other clerks, Tom Newton, Toby Turner and Gladys McAfee. Standing alone on the left is store manager, H.L. Williams.

Shelves on the left are filled with china dinnerware, and coffee bins are under these. A large coffee grinder can be seen between the two shelves. Coffees in the bins are labeled Mocha, Maricabo, Santos and Java. The coffee sold for between 30 cents and 35 cents per pound.

Boxes of Golden Key mixed tea are prominently displayed in the front of the store. Scales line the counter in front of the personnel.

A letter from A.R. Markle to Benjamin Lewis, a regional office manager for the A & P, states that the Wabash Avenue store was the first commercial company to use electricity in Terre Haute and the first customer of the Citizens Lighting Co., which was just being organized.

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., probably the nation’s oldest retailer, was founded in 1859 by George H. Hartford. It all began when Hartford sold a ship load of tea from the docks in New York City.

Coffee was added and both products were sold by mail orders from magazine advertisements and Wells Fargo wagons. These red and gold A & P wagons or “traveling stores” became a familiar sight along wagon routes through the country.

The outgrowth of these was the small store such as the one at 519 Wabash.

From these “branch houses,” routes were run to service outlying areas. Another Deal brother, Ezra, ran one of these routes, selling Golden Key tea and spices.

By 1912, there were over 400 A & P stores and the company had begun engaging in manufacturing operations and food tasting laboratories.

When the company celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1959, Terre Haute figures prominently in company development. The Quaker Maid, among the largest food plants under one roof in the world, was located at 300 N. Fruitridge. The Quaker Maid processed about 15 Ann Page foods sold across the nation. At the time, Charles Westrup was plant manager.

More visible to the consumer were three A & P Super Markets. The store at 1612 Wabash Ave. was managed by John Lubbenheusen; another store at Eighth and Poplar was managed by Russell Bozell; and Elmer Bennett was in charge of the store at 1168 Lafayette Ave.

The Quaker Maid was expanded in 1969, and the plant was closed 10 years later. The super markets also discontinued operations.

A new pictorial history book, written by Dorothy Jerse and Judy Calvert, will be filled with other photographs of Terre Haute history. The book will be available in November.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

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