E.L. Burks Variety Stores
E. Logan Burks (1902-1991) came to Dallas in 1920 from his parents’ farm near Bullard, Texas, after attending Toby’s Business College in Waco, Texas. He found a place to live at the Y.M.C.A., as many young men did in that day. After a stint as a bookkeeper for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and other businesses, he began work for Love Field Potteries as a bookkeeper, then as a salesman. While there, in about 1925, he established a retail shop on Denton Drive at Factory Street, not far from Love Field, for the sale of pottery.
His most profitable business days were on Sunday afternoons when families would take a “Sunday drive out in the country.” He and his small family lived for a short while in the tiny living quarters in the rear part of the building, separated only by a curtain in the doorway. They soon moved to a home on Model Street, just a couple of blocks away. The shop expanded into a brick building at 7700 Denton Drive and sold dry goods and hardware as well as pottery. In the absence of air conditioning, the store had many ceiling fans that were turned on and off individually by inserting a yardstick (which had a v-shaped slot in the end) around the switch at the bottom of the fan and rotating the stick. Fresh air was provided by open transoms on one side of the building and open front doors. Some years later, “washed air” units were installed which made the store more comfortable on summer days. Refrigerated air conditioning would come when the whole store was “modernized.” The concrete floors were swept clean using a broad broom and “sweeping compound.” The counters were divided into bins by 4-inch-wide ribbons of glass, joined together with metal clips, to hold merchandise. Each bin had its own price tag that clipped onto the glass. At the rear of the counter, larger signs announced the type of items in the bins. All these components could be moved around as needed to fit the merchandise on the counter. Extra merchandise was stored behind and beneath counters, where the public did not go, and also in a storeroom in the rear of the building.
Each customer was “waited on” by a sales clerk who located all the right sizes and colors the buyer needed. The clerk then collected payment and counted out change to the customer from one of the several ornate National Cash Registers located throughout the store. Although small sacks were used, larger packages were wrapped with brown paper pulled from a large wrought iron holder mounted on the counter top. Sturdy string was used to secure the package. Years later, the store became self-serve and joined the coming fashion of having registers only at checkout stands near the door. The large enclosed windows facing Denton Drive were decorated according to the season and displayed appropriate seasonal merchandise currently for sale. Some weekends, circulars were distributed to the neighboring homes boasting of special prices on selected items. When the Dallas Morning News began their weekly TV Guide insert, it included an ad for E.L. Burks 5c to $5 Store.
As the region became more populous, the small shopping area along Denton Drive grew to include an A & P Store, Sparks Cleaners, Love Field State Bank, Airway Drug, Airway Theatre, a Masonic Lodge Hall, an office for Dr. Shelton (the company doctor for the textile mill nearby), Askew’s Café, Turner’s Barber Shop, Blassingame Hardware, a beauty shop and a Ben Franklin Store. The center became a busy one as World War II loomed. Indus-tries such as the textile mill, Tex-Lite Neon Signs, aircraft parts factories and other war related factories sprang up close by, as Love Field became more active. Saturdays were especially busy as farmers from Farmers Branch came to town to do their weekly shopping. Other customers were teachers and students from nearby Obadiah Knight Elementary School on Anson Road, factory workers and housewives. A P.O.W. camp for German soldiers could be seen during the war years behind the store, but it is doubtful any shopped there!
The store eventually discontinued the sale of pottery, but E.L. Burks 5c to $5 Store carried a wide variety of merchandise to meet the needs of its customers. The store had school supplies, household necessities, hardware, clothing (such as work clothes,) house dresses, socks, underwear, ladies’ hosiery, baby clothes and cloth diapers, toiletries and makeup, “Big Little Books,” a book rental library, fabrics (also known as piece goods), Simplicity Patterns, sewing notions, ice cream cones and candy. Shoes for the whole family were also available. However, during wartime, the number of pairs of shoes in stock was frozen, and ration coupons were required by the government from shoe buyers in order for the store to purchase more shoes to sell. Shoes were the only rationed merchandise the store sold, but many other ordinary items were in very short supply during and immediately following the war. When new stock came in, customers were waiting to buy. Also, Christmas toys and Easter baskets were popular items. For 4th of July and New Year’s celebrations, a fireworks stand was set up outside the front door and attended by Mr. Burks’ young son, Bobby. Being on a city bus route before World War II made the store a handy place to shop.
Mr. Burks was a founding member of Texas Wholesale Distributors, Inc., which enabled small businesses such as his to join together to purchase merchandise in larger quantities, therefore at a lower cost.
Logan Burks and his wife Pauline (Hill) Burks had six children. They were often teased that they were raising their own “workforce,” as all the children worked at the store at some time. Mrs. Burks also worked at the store from time to time.
In the summer of 1947, Logan Burks opened an-other store on Lovers Lane at Inwood Road next to Skillern Drug. Lovers Lane was in the throes of reconstruction, and with the lack of modern air conditioning, it was a very messy summer for the new store. By the next summer, however, air conditioning was installed, which made both employees and customers happy. Bob Burks managed the store on Lovers Lane from 1952 to 1956. Around 1960, the Love Field expansion took over the Denton Drive property. About that time Skillern Drug needed to enlarge and took over the Burks store; so a new building was built on a side parking lot and E.L. Burks 5c to $5 store moved there. The new store had a rear parking lot and entrance as well as a front entrance on Inwood Road. Therefore, cash registers were at both entrances. There was a balcony, used for office space and storage, which was accessed by a large freight elevator. Lovers Lane proved to be a popular location. The store carried a large assortment of merchandise and customers would say they liked coming in often because they never knew what new item they would find. The store thrived and remained open until 1969 when E.L. Burks retired and sold the store to Duke & Ayers
By Barbary Cotten
From Proud Heritage, Volume III by DCPA. This 352 page hardcover book is now available online.
