{"id":11045,"date":"2023-07-27T16:10:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T20:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=11045"},"modified":"2023-07-31T09:52:25","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T13:52:25","slug":"wickhams-grocery-for-the-small-fry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wickhams-grocery-for-the-small-fry","title":{"rendered":"For the Small Fry"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Big Heart & Marketing Genius of Thomas P. Wickham<\/h2>\n
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Thomas P. Wickham, Sr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This summer, the Ohio County Public Library is celebrating the memory of Wheeling\u2019s once plentiful corner stores, markets, and other businesses. There are modern examples and survivors, of course (Jebbia\u2019s, Neely\u2019s, and new places like the Public Market), but most of the historic ones are long gone.<\/p>\n

Yet the nostalgia for such places is stronger than ever. We cherish their memory because they felt safe, like the homes of neighbors and friends, even as they supplied every neighborhood with food and drink, cut our hair, managed our money, employed us, and offered community gathering places to sit around a potbellied stove, play checkers on a pickle barrel, look for bargains with coupons clipped from the newspaper, sip a cherry Coke, or buy comic books.<\/p>\n

But one such store, Wickham\u2019s on the southeast corner of N. 25th Street and Warwood Avenue, went above and beyond that Mayberry ideal, offering an array of special promotions from a free circus to a dog show due to the innovative marketing mind of its owner.<\/p>\n

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E.G. Wickham\u2019s Triadelphia store opened in 1912.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first Wickham family store in the Wheeling region was opened in 1912 in Triadelphia by Edwin George \u201cE.G.\u201d Wickham. He was the older brother of Thomas Porter Wickham, who married Margaret Helms of Elm Grove in 1916 and opened a Warwood store with horse drawn delivery at 2427 Warwood Avenue. Brother Carter Wickham also worked at Warwood.<\/p>\n

According to a 1972 News Register<\/em> report, Tom Sr. once delivered groceries as far as the Valley Camp No. 3 coal mine using a horse-drawn cart and later a Model-T truck, as motorized horsepower replaced the literal kind around 1925. E.G. and Tom Sr. partnered around that time, and another Wickham brother, Joe, then operated the Triadelphia store until his death in 1957.<\/p>\n

The Wickham name might be familiar because, at the peak of operations, it appeared on five stores (including in Triadelphia, Warwood, Glenwood, and Power) in the Wheeling region under the I.G.A. (Independent Grocers Alliance) umbrella.<\/a><\/p>\n

In the same 1972 News-Register<\/em> interview, Tom Sr. recalled something most of us have forgotten or never experienced (except where revived at places like Sam\u2019s Club): food was stocked in bulk \u2014 barrels of pickles, 100 lb sacks of flour, tubs of beans, butter, sauerkraut, and crackers \u2014 all of which had to be cut out and re-packaged by retailers or their customers.<\/p>\n

When Thomas G. Wickham, Jr. returned from serving in the Navy in WWII, he and his father bought out E.G.\u2019s interest in the Wickham stores. Needing to distinguish themselves from the old I.G.A. stores, Tom Sr. , who claimed his family was descended from the Cherokee (NR<\/em>-07-19-63, p 9), came up with the well-remembered Native American chief logo and the (politically incorrect by modern standards) \u201cMe Pickum Wickham\u2019s\u201d tag line.<\/p>\n

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Later elected Clearview\u2019s first mayor, Tom Jr. and his father began, in the 1950s, offering an annual \u201cFree Circus\u201d for the kiddies or \u201cSmall Fry\u201d every August in an empty lot across N. 25th Street from the store. Everything was free, from the pony rides, to the fish pond, to the \u201cRed Ball Express\u201d and \u201cSmall Fry Special\u201d train rides, to the \u201cspace ship\u201d rides. Hot dogs and soda were on the menu, and friends and neighbors volunteered to help. The famous Osiris Temple Shrine Circus clowns often showed up to help entertain the kids. Later, the Free Circus was moved to land near the Wickham home, the \u201cTom-Mar Ranch\u201d (named for Tom and his wife Margaret), in Clearview. The event \u2014 which became known as \u201cChristmas in August\u201d with Tom Sr., of course, playing Santa \u2014 was beloved by the children of Warwood and Clearview, many of whom still remember the details with great fondness.<\/p>\n

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The Panda<\/h2>\n
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Marla Crabtree was one of those children. She remembers \u201cthe pony rides and the \u2018go fish\u2019 booth. A helper would yell \u2018boy\u2019 or \u2018girl.\u2019 I was handed a fishing pole with a clothes pin on the end of the line. The helper would throw the line over the top of the booth. After a few seconds, there would be a couple tugs on the line. The helper would make a big deal out of how you caught a fish. I pulled the line over the top of the booth, and there was a brown paper bag clipped to that clothes pin. The bag was filled with candy, a few toys, and a paper Indian chief headband to wear. I was amazed at that\u2026 Fast forward to the present day when the Wickham\u2019s were having an auction of the contents of the house here in Clearview (our property adjoins the Wickham land). I was walking in our woods one day and saw several full trash bags. I opened one of the bags and found maybe one hundred of those Indian chief paper headbands. Kind of bittersweet for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Panda\u201d identified!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About the Free Circus, Marla also remembers \u201cmen being dressed up in furry animal suits. One in particular I recall was a man in a panda suit with the big black eyes. I had to take my sister to the circus. I was probably seven, and she was three. That panda scared her so badly that I had to take her home. I was happy about that because I didn\u2019t have to babysit her. She was screaming so horribly.\u201d Interestingly, the panda appears in a contemporary newspaper photo (at left). He was with the Osiris Shrine Clowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh!\u201d Marla exclaimed when shown the photo, \u201cCan you just imagine how this would scare a child? Why a panda? I still don\u2019t care for pandas, even though it got me out of babysitting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Marketing 101<\/h2>\n
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The Free Circus proved to be a massive success (attendance of more than 1000 was reported in 1953), helping Wickham\u2019s to stand out in the competitive small grocery market arena as the \u201cthe store that Always Remembers the Kiddies.\u201d In fact, the circus won top honors in a 1953 nationwide contest among 5000 small retailers. In light of that success, Tom Sr. conceived of additional clever promotions for the store, including a \u201cBurlesque Dog Show\u201d;\u00a0 an \u201cOle Fashion Day\u201d during which staff would dress in 19th century clothing; a pumpkin carving contest near Halloween; and free sled rides \u201cFor the Small Fry\u201d during winter.<\/p>\n

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Tom Wickham\u2019s 1933 basketball squad.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As early as 1933, Tom Sr. sponsored a basketball team in the Wheeling-Register Independent Basketball tournament. The team advanced to the finals, losing the \u201cuproarious\u201d championship game 35 to 33 to Wheeling Corrugating. From 1935 tp 1940, Wickham\u2019s sponsored a community marbles tournament in the same vacant lot across from the store where the circus was offered. All participants were treated to a \u201cmoving picture show\u201d at the Lincoln.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGrandpa was ahead of his time in terms of marketing,\u201d said Margaret Wickham St. Germain, daughter of Ronnie (who also worked at Warwood) and granddaughter of Thomas Sr. \u201cHe made many of his own signs, using a printing press he kept in the store\u2019s basement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just to prove that Tom was genuine in his love for the Small Fry, and that not everything was a promotion to inspire them to beg mom to take them to Wickham\u2019s, Tom and family offered a free movie night, showing films for all of the neighborhood children who wanted to attend in the basement of the Wickham house. The popcorn was free too.<\/p>\n

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Free movie night. Thomas P, Ronnie, and Margaret near the projector.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the early 1970s, the Wickhams closed the old store, opening a new Convenient Food Mart next to McNamara\u2019s Drugstore on N. 18th Street in Warwood. Tom Sr. retired, hoping to have more time for his fishing and photography hobbies.<\/p>\n

The Wickhams promised to keep all of their staff and hire more.<\/p>\n

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Shared Memories:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\u201cI remember walking to Wickham\u2019s from 21st street when I was in junior high to buy a pack of Lucky Strikes for my mom (she quit smoking a few years later!) \u2014 and a pack was 50 cents!!!! And, who remembers Florence and Margaret who worked the cash registers and delivered groceries to your home if\/when needed? Florence also sold Quality Street candies in a tin, ribbon candy and jelly candies (among others) at Christmas time!\u201d ~ Fritz Neumann Guthrie<\/em><\/p>\n

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Clipped logo from a green Wickham\u2019s bag, 1969 vintage, from a scrapbook in the author\u2019s personal collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFlorence would visit homes with her case of samples, sit & have coffee with Mom while taking her order. And she ALWAYS gave us kids a sample. You could call in your grocery order, Margaret & Florence would take them, always said \u2018alright\u2019 after each item \u2014 then it was delivered same day! AND remember you could buy on \u2018time\u2019 between paydays\u2026 NO interest! They were wonderful people!\u201d ~ Rudie Thompson<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cRemember the ledger? You paid monthly for your groceries. Bernie Ehni cut meat to order and you used a \u2018grabber\u2019 on a big stick to get cereal?\u201d ~ Heidi Kossuth<\/p>\n

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Sources<\/h2>\n
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Doepken, Kitty Jefferson. \u201cIt\u2019s Christmas in August \u2014 in Clearview!\u201d Wheeling News-Register<\/em>,\u00a0 Friday, August 26, 1960, p. 19.<\/p>\n

Interview of Margaret Wickham St. Germain (by phone), Thurs., July 19, 2023.<\/p>\n

Interview of Marla Crabtree (by text), Wed., July 26, 2023.<\/p>\n

Johnson, Gene. \u201cWickham Family to Open New Store: From Pushcart to Modern Business\u201d Wheeling News-Register<\/em>, Sunday, October 8, 1972, p. 26.<\/p>\n

Wheeling Intelligencer, <\/em>Tuesday, April 23rd, 1940, p. 9.<\/p>\n

Wheeling Intelligencer<\/em>, Tuesday, September 22nd, 1953, p. 20.<\/p>\n

Wheeling News Register<\/em>, Thursday, September 11th, 1947, p. 17.<\/p>\n

Wheeling News Register<\/em>, Friday, July 19th, 1963, p. 9.<\/p>\n

Wheeling Register,<\/em> Thursday, March 2nd, 1933, p. 9.<\/p>\n

Wheeling Sunday Register<\/em>, Sunday, February 19th, 1933, p. 29.<\/p>\n

All photos courtesy Margaret Wickham St. Germain.<\/p>\n

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