Four Responders Reflect on Frick’s Downtown Music Mart

 My recent Music Mart article brought response from four people, Robert Bowman, James Edens and two people identified only as Mr. A and Mr. B. 

A bright spot of my early college years was working part-time for Henry and Mary Lou Frick at the Music Mart at 403 S. Roan Street, just up the block from King’s Department Store.

The July 5, 1888 edition of The Comet newspaper contained a bold headline: “Promptly at 8 o’clock last Friday night, the electricity was turned on for the first time and for Johnson City, night turned to day.”

York Trivette, a lifelong resident of Johnson City, has something priceless in his possession - an 8”x10” mildly colorized glossy photo made in 1942 that reveals a large clock from Hart’s Jewelers, a business that opened in 1923.

In a previous column, I reviewed an April 7, 1960 edition of “Tri-Cities Shopping News & TV Guide” that featured an article about the early history of the city. Page 2 contained a column titled, “Norton’s Notions.” As I read it, I began to realize the writer was the well-known businessman of the city’s past – J. Norton Arney.

The “Tri-Cities Shopping News and TV-Guide,” a 16-page weekly publication, was published every Thursday and sold for a nickel. The staff included M.S. Lusk (co-owner), Harlan P. Milhorn (co-owner/general manager) and Douglas J. Ingells (editor/publisher).

The late Tom Hodge of the Johnson City Press introduced his readers to early businessman, Fred Hoss, numerous times over the years. Fred wrote an article for the Johnson City Chronicle on Sunday, May 21, 1922 titled “Henry Johnson Realized His Dream.” Since the city founder married Mary Ann Hoss, daughter of John Hoss, perhaps Fred was a descendant of that early family.

In 1958, a Junior High School classmate and I went to Tri-Cities Airport to research for a project about the operation of the facility as part of an assignment for Ms. Viola Mathes’ 9^thgrade Civics class. We put together a poster that was later displayed during a PTA meeting.

Local historian Alan Bridwell interviewed Stella Lent who fondly recalled the years she lived in Johnson City and her love for working at the John Sevier Hotel.

A favorite pastime of my youth was going on a leisurely weekend outing with my family to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The crowds then were sparse compared to those today.