The Luther Anderson Family and the Leader Grocery Store

The commercial business establishments in Gowrie included several grocery stores, two hardware stores, one movie theater, several gas stations, four car dealers (one in conjunction with a farm implement dealership), two farm implement dealers, one lumber yard (although the Farmers’ Coop also marketed building material on a small scale), one jewelry store, a bakery (off and on, it seemed to lapse periodically and them revive), a couple of meat markets, the post office of course, two doctors, one dentist, two banks (one of which failed during the Depression), two drug stores, and an assortment of smaller miscellaneous shops and businesses.

Early on the two main grocery stores were the Leader store, which my parents patronized for the most part and the IGA store (Independent Grocers Alliance). The present day single grocery store in Gowrie grew out of the Carr grocery store which started up probably sometime in the 1930s. The Leader store was located near the west end of the business district, sort of off by itself and this disadvantageous location may have contributed to its demise in the Depression. A more likely factor in my opinion was the lower level of business of the proprietor. In addition to the grocery part of the store, it had initially also a dry goods section and this was still operating in the later 1920s. This part of the store was the first part to dwindle and die.

The store was owned by Luther Anderson, but most of the actual work in the store was done by three of his children, all unmarried at the time. Marion and Pearl served as clerks and Duane was the delivery person (using a small Model A Ford panel truck). Home delivery was a feature of the Leader store and this feature may have been the deciding one in my mother choosing to use it. She would simply call up the store for what she wanted and within a couple of hours the order would be delivered at the back door step.

For my parents, feeding a growing family was a very significant cost, the figure sticking in my mind is $40/month which was about one-third of my father’s monthly pay of $125/month. Service at the Leader store as at the IGA store was not self-service. One approached the counter, the clerk would take the order, assemble etc. The grocery bill was carried on credit, at least in the case of my parents and was paid once a month I suppose.

The Andersons were active in the Lutheran church with both Marion and Pearl singing in the choir. Duane was the only son and the youngest of the children. I can recall once when we had moved to the farm that my mother instructed me to go to the Leader store for some item at the meat counter. Duane was in the store and when I asked him for the item he replied rather despondently that they were out of it. I’m sure at the time the store was in the last stages of operation and it wasn’t too long before it went out of business.

I mentioned that the Leader store did at one time have a dry goods section. I can recall when the closeout sale was held and my mother bought several items that she would use in her sewing for the household. Although my mother did sewing she did not like to do it but felt that the family economy dictated that she needed to do so. I believe I forgot to mention when I was describing the businesses in Gowrie that there was one clothing store which also sold shoes. And there were two barbershops, one with four chairs on the main street and the other with a single chair in one of the old hotel buildings in the town. When I was young they were not inhabited by travelers but by permanent residents.