Montlake - 2021 and Way Beyond by William Goodrich Bellman Chapter 10 - O'Henry's and Monroe Drug Store

I recall when the O'Henry Bar was first placed on the market. The manufacturer ran a nationwide contest to promote the bar. To enter the contest you had to buy one of the bars, which was wrapped in an entry form, then you filled in the form and placed the entry in a box at the place of purchase. Usually purchases were made at a drug store as very few grocery outlets sold candy. The more bars you bought, the more your chance of winning. In our neighborhood, Monroe's drug store was promoting the contest and the bar they had on display was the winning prize. It was a huge chocolate covered nut bar with caramel center and was at least two feet long and 6 inches around. Julie Wilmot was the local winner, and I must give him credit, as he shared the bar with those of us that were there when it was awarded him.

Julie was also famous as the only person to ride his bike up East Lynn Street hill from a standing start on 24th Avenue. This was in the days before 3, 5 or 10 speed bikes. Even today, I doubt there are many that could duplicate Julie's feat using a single speed bike.

During the winter months, I occasionally worked for Monroe's Drug Store delivering orders by bike to homes in the neighborhood. Usual orders were for prescriptions, but often just ice cream. I don't remember being paid in cash; I did receive some tips, and Mr. Monroe would sometimes give me an ice cream cone. I liked doing this, and really enjoyed riding my bike in the dark with only a flashlight to show the way. Monroes had two boys, Walt the older and Hugh (who was my age), but I don't recall that they ever helped their parents in operating the drugstore, or making home deliveries.

I recall when Kotex first came on the market. To promote the article, free samples were available in all the drug stores. Monroe Drug had a large display of these free samples, and not knowing the nature of their use, I asked Mrs. Monroe if I could have some samples. She said they were not for little boys and that she would be pleased to give some to my mother, if she would call for them. I thought a sanitary napkin was something to be used at the dining table; they turned out to be a most important invention for women. Many years later in Kennewick, Washington I became friends of Floyd Stringham, the man that invented and patented the first sanitary pad belt, and he made a fortune from that one invention. At the time I met him, he still receiving royalties on that invention thirty years later. My brother George and second wife Francis bought Stringhams' Kennewick home.