Floyd Jenkins | Oral History

Floyd Jenkins

OHB 0053

Owner and operator, Brook-Mays Music Company and C. & S. Music Company, Dallas, Texas. Family background; comments on Depression in Comanche, Texas; experiences playing trombone with North Texas State’s Aces of Collegeland band; duty as radar technician and infantryman during World War II; experiences in postwar Austria; teaching music in Dallas public schools and managing band department of Brook-Mays Music Company; election as president of company, 1954; history of Brook-Mays Music Company; interest in C. & S.

OHB 0051

Owner and operator, Frank Ellis Dealer in Everything, New Hope, Texas. Family background; employment with father, Frank Ellis, in general store; description of New Hope, 1920s; effects of Depression on New Hope businesses; comments on operation of credit business; food market opening; business operations during World War II; sale of business, 1946; employment as feed salesman; general store advertising; father’s use of peddling wagon; comments on Dallas fair and Mesquite trade day; comments on retirement.

OHB 0073

Founder and owner, Nathan’s Jewelers, San Angelo, Texas; and co-owner of Sterling Jewelry & Distributing Company, Dallas and Houston, Texas. Family background; description of fire at Gardner Park, Dallas; employment as secretary for Dallas lawyer Alvin M.

OHB 0058

Founder, W. L. Dinn & Company Insurance, Inc., Corpus Christi, Texas. Family background; work as ranchhand in Live Oak, Texas; employment as bookkeeper in Alice and Corpus Christi; entry into life insurance sales, 1920; land development in Corpus Christi, 1926; growth of insurance company personnel and coverage; description of administrative personnel; civic activities; views on qualities necessary to develop successful business.

OHB 0016

MASSEY, Ezrum. Founder, Denton Roofing and Metal Works. Schooling and early life; construction and other work background; service in Army and sheet metal experiences there; start of partnership in roofing and sheet metal work; equipment and supply problems during World War II; growth of sales, equipment, facilities, employees; methods of financing; problems of finding, training, keeping skilled workers; views on expansion, company success, competition; sale of business to Bomars.

OHB 0033

DAVIS, Anne. Founder (with husband Jack T. Davis) of Davis purity Bakery, Denton, Texas. Family background; Depression; purchase of purity Bakery; early learning experiences; equipment; products; commercial and institutional accounts; business fluctuations; sugar crisis; pricing; typical workday; credit policies.