Before I Die Next Year, he said. (original) (raw)

Ihave been taking photos since I was twelve. But when asked for pharmacy photos I had to answer, no not a one. Little did I know I was just days from being led to a drugstore still operating that opened in 1960. That store is the Hamlin Pharmacy on Staples in Corpus Christi Texas.

I have read that the exponential expansion of Walgreen�s happened to capitalize on the legality to sell alcohol for medicinal purposes. Whether opening new stores was because of the beginning of the �milkshake� as some claim, the expansion did take place during and after prohibition. And now CVS has built a store across the street from many of Walgreen�s. Today�s concept with large discount stores that include pharmacies further blurs loyalty between the seller and the buyer of prescription drugs.

Very few people under age 30 today understand that pharmacies of the past held a position of trust in our lives. As a result independent pharmacies were deeply ingrained in our American society. In earlier times druggists purchased, dispensed and monitored what they sold.

As a child my parents traveled to Angelina County often to visit kinfolks. On a farm near Lufkin I learned to shoot squirrels with a 22 rifle and hunt quail with a 12-gauge shotgun. Over towards Pollok was a general store. While wandering the medicine aisles of this store I saw boxes of empty capsules (for animal medication). I got the idea that if I put a BB in a capsule I could make an imitation MEXICAN JUMPING BEAN. I bought a box of capsules.

Back at my grandmother�s farm the idea seemed to work but the BB was visible inside and the capsules needed protection from moisture. Painting with model airplane dope took care of both problems.

I decided this was such a good idea I could make money selling them. I went back to the store, picked up all the capsules and tried to buy them. The storeowner said he wouldn�t sell all these capsules because he had farmers with sick animals that needed their medicine too. I was embarrassed and put the capsules back on the shelf.

As I walked in the Hamlin store I instinctively went to the pharmacy counter. The owner Karl Arnold, a man of my age met me at the end of the counter. We shook hands as he explained the store had started small but over time became incrementally larger now totaling 10,000 square feet. The store was now largely miscellaneous gift merchandise, �The money making portion� Karl said.

He blew some smoke about what he was going to do with the place �BEFORE I DIE NEXT YEAR�, he said. I realized I was speaking with a man of experience but that doesn�t teach you the time of your death. Shocking statements are a good way to understand the personalities of people in a first time meeting. I knew right away Karl and I were going to enjoy our time together.

His statement reminded me of Paul Brown a guy I knew back in the early 1950�s while in the Air Force. After a night of heavy drinking Paul would say, �Today I have a bad case of polio." It would be ten years before a preventive vaccine for polio, a much-feared disease, would be available. That made his statement and Karl�s really dark humor.

I told Karl about my experience and trust of Balfanz Pharmacy in Houston. And as a child I would occasionally be sent on my bicycle to buy a quart of hand-packed ice cream. Later as an adult I ate lunch at their counter, usually a sandwich and malted milk.

Balfanz was not listed in this book but the Yale Pharmacy lunch counter was pictured. This was exactly where my mother worked during the last couple of years of the 1950�s. I was overcome with nostalgia and looked for what else the book contained.

This book COUNTER CULTURE TEXAS included Arkey Blue�s in Bandera. Arkey�s is not pharmacy at all, but a place to consume beverages and listen to music. Opening their door the dim light exposes a stairway leading to a lower level. After all Bandera is located in the hill country. The floor downstairs is covered with sawdust to facilitate dancing. That is why �do it in the sawdust� is the popular mantra about this establishment.

I asked Karl if he had ever been to Arkey Blue�s. He shook his head no. I said you really should go there - Karl interrupted - BEFORE I DIE NEXT YEAR, he said.

May 1, 2012
Copyright Ken Rudine
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