Wilson Produce was owned and operated by Robert W "Bob" Wilson. Bob opened the first store in 1939 at 115 North Main....north and across the alley from the Motley Hotel. The produce was associated with Wilson & Company ....no relation....in Altus. This was a time just after the great depression and during World War II. Area farmers relied on the sale of milk/cream, eggs and poultry for extra income. During the very early years, hides were also purchased. The Produce sold feed and in the spring, baby chicks.
Saturdays were the busiest days, as most farmers and families came into town to sell their milk and eggs, then shop in the many stores that graced the main street of Hollis.
In 1948, Bob closed the produce on Main. He moved to Childress and worked for Gates Creamery for several months. He returned to Hollis and on March 5, 1949, opened the new store at 111 West Jones. It was a new and more modern facility. It contained a poultry processing area. Local farmers would bring in their poultry to be processed and sold or taken to the local locker. The holiday season was a super busy time!
Later the processing plant was expanded. Poultry was trucked in from Arkansas and Central Texas to be processed. Bob sold to local grocery stores and restaurants and then established a route in the surrounding area; Dodson, Wellington, Memphis, Childress and Quanah. Customers came in daily to buy fresh poultry. As this part of the business grew, the produce part was waning, as times were changing�..farmers did not rely on milk and egg money as before.
By 1957, the sale of fresh poultry and eggs was the primary source of business. Bob made the decision to close the produce. In March of that year, he moved to Amarillo, Texas. Wilson Produce became a wholesale business. Eggs and fresh dressed poultry were purchased from an Amarillo based plant. Bob expanded his route south along highway 287 and continued to serve his customers in and around Hollis twice a week until 1968.
Bob moved to the Haltom City-North Richland Hills area of Fort Worth. He lived there until his death in 1996, just 19 days short of his 91st birthday. He was born in Montague County, Texas, near Saint Jo and came to Harmon County at the age of 16. He always considered Hollis and Harmon County his home. Bob loved and respected the people of this area.
Wilson Produce Memories
By Glenda Wilson Cheverier
I was two years old when my Daddy, Robert W. "Bob" Wilson opened Wilson Produce in Hollis....so, you might say, I grew up in the business. I can close my eyes and see the old produce on Main Street, I can smell the sour odor of the milk and cream....kept cool, until picked up or delivered to Wilson & Co. in Altus. For most years Daddy owned a truck, so I was a passenger and helper at an early age.
I loved the spring time when dozens of baby chicks were delivered for sale to local farmers...what noise all those chicks made...They were pretty stinky too! When delivery of the big bags of feed was made, I would count the colorful bags and pick out my favorite patterns...flowers, strips, and such. Best of all, I would spend hours playing on the stacks, climbing mountains...I pretended. Then I would go home all itchy from the chaff of the feed. Mother would scold as I was put in the bath. That only worked until my next "mountain excursion". I never learned to "test" the cream/milk, but did learn to calculate price and do the book work. I learned to "candle� the eggs...testing the eggs by light to see if they were good or bad...when baskets or crates of eggs were brought in for sale.
After the poultry processing plant was built, before the holidays, I would go with Daddy to the local farms to purchase hens and turkeys, as Daddy would buy from local farmers before going out of own. Later in my teens, I learned to really cut up chicken...the old fashion way...with a "pulley bone"! I learned to drive at 14 and 15 delivering boxes of chickens and eggs in our old pickup truck. I remember how "grown up" I felt, the first time Daddy didn�t "have time" and let me make a delivery to Wellington...all by myself!
This has been a great experience...time goes by and we put so many of our memories on a "back shelf". It was good to remember and share.....!
Glenda Wilson Cheverier
