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In our research and interviewing, we are constantly discovering new and fascinating stories about the people who have lived and are currently living in our Southside Neighborhood. We are also fortunate to have many of these people sharing artifacts with us and giving us "leads" to even more and more impressive folk who have been very influential not only in Johnson City but also in national and international circles. It is becoming an all consuming "hobby" and one that we want to begin to share with you so you, too, can become as excited as we are. Maybe you can uncover some new and intriguing stories to share - or maybe you already have one!
The first of many stories to come involves the Model Mill and is told to us by Anna and Sara Thomas, 409 West Pine Street. During the depression years, their Mother, Mrs. Frank Thomas, was trying to help bring in some extra money to support her family. (Many women in the era were trying to help keep body and soul together.) Mrs. Thomas began baking cakes and selling them to friends and neighbors. During the Christmas holiday alone, she would sell over 100 cakes. She used flour made at the model mill. The manager of the mill heard (by way of the "grapevine") that one of her cakes, a white cake with white frosting, was a particular favorite of the customers. One day, he came to her house and offered her $15 for the rights to her recipe, and she sold it to him! He went right back to the mill and proceeded to have his newly acquired recipe printed on all the smaller bags of Red Band Flour. At that time, the Model Mill distributed it's products to many surrounding states. It even had two of it's own trucks that delivered to the small country stores such as the ones you would find in the coal mining towns of Southwest Virginia.
The Model Mill is a whole story in itself - one that becomes more intriguing with each new discovery! It was built by George L. Carter in 1909 and started into operation that very same year. We have found that, in addition to flour, they also produced feed, seed and meal. Every batch of flour was tested in the Mill kitchen thereby enabling Mr. Carter to use his patented slogan "Kitchen Tested". It was such a good slogan that Washburn-Crosby Mills, a huge and well-established business, in 1931, paid him the grand sum of $1 million for the Model Mill in order to obtain the slogan and the right to use it as their own! In 1933, General Mills bought Washburn-Crosby Mills and continued to operate the Model Mill under that name until 1937 when they changed the name to General Mills.
In 1946, General Mills added a household appliance division to it's sales line and produced kitchen appliances such as a toaster, a mixer, an iron skillet, a popcorn popper, a deep fat fryer and a pressure cooker. It is very probable that these appliances were sold commercially in such stores as Carder Hardware in the 100 Block of West Market Street in Johnson City. They closed this division in 1951 and ceased making the small appliances. It's an interesting fact that these appliances were also given to the Mill employees as part of their safety awards program. At the conclusion of any safety campaign, employees qualifying for the award could choose from 3 or 4 different appliances offered. We learned this from Cline Holtzsclaw, miller for 42 years at the Mill. Occasionally we will display artifacts depicting the scope of operation of the Model Mill and how it related to the everyday life of many people - not only locally, but who knows - even worldwide! We encourage you to come to our Southside Neighborhood Monthly Meetings to learn more.
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