Everyday Work

Service Stations and Convenience Stores

• Service stations once competed for customers with free gifts, but today a full service gas station is a rarity. The service bay has been replaced by a convenience store.
• Photo c. 1960 - 1961 (Don Sturkey) - Article: unknown. 
• Photo: 4/2/86 - Article: 4/6/86 

Vanishing Professions

• Photo (Bill McAllister) -6/5/75 - Article: 6/13/75. Biltmore Dairy Farm Delivery Truck. By 1975, home milk delivery had become more expensive than retail and fewer people were home during the day to receive the products.
• Photo: 7/19/60 - Article: unknown. Along with house calls by a doctor, this prescription delivery service has disappeared as well.
• Photo: 4/2/67 - Article: 4/7/67 (Charlotte News).  When the Charlotte News ceased publication November 1, 1985, opportunities for traditional paperboys all but disappeared.        

Beautiful People

• Photo: 11/3/59 (Jim Dumbell) - Article: 11/8/59. Like a scene from The Bride of Frankenstein, this bizarre contraption, a croquinole curler, was used for giving permanents. Salon owners such as Jeanette Harney in Myers Park had many customers who preferred the machine waves. The cost was $15.00.
• Photo (Steve Perille) - 1/3/74 - Article: 1/8/74. Four shops in Charlotte regularly offered permanents for men, including the Metrolina Hair Design. The professions of hairdresser and barber were beginning to merge.              
• Photo (John D. Simmons) - 5/27/93 - Article: 6/9/93. Downhome beauty parlors with resident “steel magnolias” have generally been replaced by upscale, high tech salons. Ms. Grace Maxwell is shown still fixing hair, her way, at 80 years of age.

Other Businesses

• Photo: 11/17/76 (Jeep Hunter) - Advertisement: 11/19/76. “There’s nothing new under the sun.” The trend for 24-hour service at local grocery stores was tried much earlier at four local A&P stores. So was working on Sundays, although hours were limited to 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. None of the stores advertised in 1976 exist today.
• Photo c. 1960 - 1961 - Article: unknown. Three Toddle Houses once served Charlotte, but all were gone by 1978. The diner waitress was a classic occupation, but now she and the short order cook are usually found at the Waffle House.
• Plagued by a shortage of skilled workers, The Radiator Specialty Co. advertised opportunities “to learn a trade.” Established in 1924 by the Blumenthals, it originally was located at 1400 W. Independence Boulevard but later moved to Wilkinson Boulevard.