| Description | District manager, Duke and Ayres Company, Denton, Texas. Family background, description of Vashti, Texas, community and farming experiences; comments on work baling hay and harvesting wheat; employment with Cabell’s Ice Cream and the Baker Hotel while attending Burns Business College, Dallas, 1935; comments on Depression in Vashti and Dallas; history of Duke and Ayres Company; comments concerning ownership of company; employment as assistant manager of Duke and Ayres stores in Mineral Wells, Marlin, Brenham, Victoria, and Palestine, 1936-41; description of Saturday nights in downtown squares; items sold by company, 1930s; comments on sales volume and employee earnings; appointment as manager of Longview store, 1941; military service in India and China during World War II; description of Duke and Ayres stock option policy for managers; appointment and duties as district manager, 1962; comments on variety store competition in Texas; views on service decline in retail businesses; factors contribution to closure of Duke and Ayres; comments on personnel practices; views on Duke and Ayres management. |
