Okay. We're gonna start now. Good morning, Robert. Good morning. It's February 12 2021. And I'm Linda Kulmann. And And, it is now about 10:05 or 10:10, and it's the other interviewer today is Rick Baldwin. And the individual who we're interviewing is our friend, Robert A. Miller, of February 12 2021. And the first thing I want to say is welcome, Miller's Hardware and long, longtime resident of Winter Park.
Correct. and we're awfully glad to, that your here today. Well I'm glad to be here.
In so many ways, we are to, and we have some
I'm not sure about that date but general questions and some specific questions and things that you think about while we're pitching to you, please feel free to talk about the things that are important to you. And because you're certainly have been a viewer of activities, and
Ok. Ok, well alright
Well nobody's gonna dispute it but. were a part of for decades. Just to giving a little background, your dad Robert R. Miller, Sold the Ben Franklin store on Park Avenue in 1940. And that's what I, that's what I
And then he started Miller's, on Fairbanks. At what point did you come on board to the organization?
Well I was in high school. And I just went to work there, you know, after school and stuff, you know,
Kinda been, just became organic,
He got in the hardware business because my sister had married Cliff Canada, who worked for Hill Hardware in Orlando, which Bumby's was the big hardware store they had to store in Orlando, and in Winter Park on Morse Boulevard,
Right.
And then Hill Hardware in colonial town was the, the other big hardware store in town. And he worked there and married my daug.. my sister. And that's when we got in the hardware business.
Interesting. I was going to talk to you about your wife that you always referred to as Mary Con. Con being her maiden name.
Yeah, Con Bruce, it was for her father, Con Bruce.
Tell me about how you met and where you met.
I had a I had a date with a. With a girl who I've been dating for years, for two years about to get married. Ken Sullivan of Warren's furniture store saw me on Park Avenue that day, and he said, I got a blind date tonight, why don't you come down to Harper's, which I never went to and help carry the conversation. And that's when I met her. And a year later we were married.
That's a great story.
It is a good story.
Yeah, and then the first place you lived after you were married. Tell us about where that was.
That was above the Beef and Bottle on Park Avenue.
And it was the Beef and Bottle then?
Yes, well,
Or Barbizon, or?
Well It was the Barbizon or the Beef and Bottle,
And that's on the corner of Canton and Park. yes, I'm not sure.
Yeah, $65 a month rent.
On the south, east corner.
On the southeast corner yeah
Yes, yes. Yes.
And you lived upstairs right?
I lived upstairs.
And um, the proctors owned that property.
That's right, Dick Proctor owned it. I have a copy of a check if you want to see it. Did I?
Yes.
Yes it's, it's in here. Oh, is it? 57$ and 10 cents.
Yeah, 57$ and...
And that was for one month's rent?
Yeah.
Ok
Did you eat downstairs a lot?
No, never ate done there. We only stayed there like. Dick was very unhappy because we'd signed a lease but I think we only stayed there a couple of weeks and we bought our house on Oneco. She had $2,000 saving and so did I. Which was a fair amount of money in those days.
It was. That's great.
Yeah. And we paid $12,000 for a house at
Yeah. Oneco and Sunset. Stevensville on the corner Oneco and Sunset.
Yeah. The house had no. The yard was not finished. There was no appliances in it. There was no heat in it. No, no refrigerator, no stove. Anything. That's the way they sold houses back in those days.
well, back up a little bit. You went to Winter Park High? What, what year did your family moved here?
Yeah. 38.
38
I think it might have been 37 or 39 depend... I'm not sure
No onebody's going to dispute you.
Yeah.
And you lived on Lyman?
mhm
Was it? My recollection is that it was next door to the taxi stand... Well was there a taxi service there?
That's correct. Yes. Winter Park.. The, the Guy Ellis?
Yeah. The Guy Ellis.
Oh, yeah. His brother owned the taxi service.
Yeah, and they lived there, didn't they?
I don't know.
You all live east of that in the house just....
yeah, that's right.
Did you go to school across the street at all?
No.
No, ok.
I started the Seventh, Seventh grade at Winter Park High....
Over, over on Huntington.
What is now the junior high school.
Ok.
So this property where you lived when you were growing up is across from what is now the Gap?
Yes...
Was the Gap,
That's correct.
until it closed recently. Right, ok.
Yes, they were. There's an alleyway that runs and they were East in the alleyway. The second house east.
Ah, right.
And the little the little elementary school was going on there. But you started at 7:30.
Yeah, I never went to the elementary school. I missed it by one year.
And...
It was 45 in my high school class when I graduated.
And you're the oldest surviving class member?
I think so.
Okay.
There's one or two that moved out of town that I don't know about, but I presume that I am.
And, what year is that?
45.
And you joined the Navy
Then I was in the Navy for a year.
Yeah,
And then I went to university to Orlando junior college for two years.
Yes.
Then I went to University of Florida for two years.
What did you study?
Economics.
Very good. And you came back and went to work at the store?
graduated with honors.
Good for you!
And, and Bob, you you got out you you graduated from high school in 45. You spent 46 in the Navy.
Yeah.
And when did you Mary Con marry?
52.
Okay, so s....
I think that's right. I'd have to think but I think that's right.
And you all lived on Oneco for quite a while.
Yeah,
Ok, ok.
Then we moved down to Lake Knowles.
You moved from an Oneco to Lake Knowles.
Yeah.
Where you lived the rest of your life.
Well, till I moved to the towers. Yeah. Actually, I lived there about the same amount of time that I've been at the towers. So I've been at the towers 22 years or 23 years.
Unbelieveable... Who was the principal at the high school?
Layman.
Robert Layman?
Mhm.
Ok, ok.
Major Nidy was my ma... My math teacher, you know, there was no, it was no, there was no men around because they're all in the service.
Right.
But he had been retired.
That was Bob Nidy's father? N-I-D-Y?
I'm not sure. I thought it was....
And he worked in costruction.
Yeah, yeah. They would all, the uh, shuffleboard.
Yes,
yes.
Yes. Yeah. Okay. Who else? The Proctor family, do you remember where they lived? They were your landlords.
She lived on Cherokee lane.
Eve did?
Eve did for a while. That's that one block. Do you know where it is?
I do know where it is, yeah. It connects Old England with Georgia....
Georgia, that's right. Most people don't, most people never heard of it.
Old England with Georgia.
Yeah,
Okay, that's Cherokee Lane.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay. And the Proctors owned, the whole lot?
Yeah.
They had Proctor shops.
Yeah, I think so, Dick had a shoe shop too at one time.
And Eve lived to be about 100 didn't she?
think so. She remarried, What was her married name?
I can't remember.
She, she remarried. I think there's a little plaque up on on in the park up there. It's just about that big square and you have to really look to find it that...
yeah...
That says something about her. You will really have to look to find it because I found it a couple years ago.
okay.
I don't know why I was looking for it.
Would you walk to work? How did you go to work? Would you drive the truck?
You mean when I lived up there?
When you live, when you lived on Oneco?
Well, I only lived there such a short time. I, I don't know. I didn't walk I don't think....
Yeah...
I think I probably had a car.
The hardware store had a truck.
Yeah. Volkswagen bus. Yeah,
yeah,
yep.
And when you lived on Lake Knowles you'd drive your truck back and forth to work.
Yeah.
Ok, Ok. Did most of your customers walk in? Did you. Did they walk in and find you and you deliver things to their home.
Yeah, we did. We did free delivery back in those days.
Yeah. Yeah. And uh...
Times have changed.
Yeah,
They have. I know that you've always had house accounts at Miller's.
Yes.
Which is, um, a real blast from the past today.
Yes, yes, it is.
And when I was growing up, my dad used to take me to Miller's all the time.
Yeah.
And um. We always charged things and I assumed everybody in the world did that up and down, because that's what we did up and down Park Avenue, but today, I think it's amazing that today that still holds true. Do you? Do you have? Are there fewer accounts today?
Well I don't think he has any anymore. I think he's got it out completely.
I know one that he has.
Well, he has for businesses, but he doesn't have any for
for personal.
For personal. The credit card has just simplified that you know, Yeah
Yes. But it was a wonderful thing. And it was a wonderful service.
You know, we sent it out, my wife send out 1000, 1100 statements every month for like 50 years.
I mean, everybody....
Typed, written, hand done, and she paid each a quarter just to stamp the envelopes.
Just about everybody in town had an There wasn't alot of people, I mean 1100 residents
We had a lot of em, yeah, there wasn't a lot of account. people in Winter Park. was pretty much the town. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, it's pretty amazing. Because people didn't come from Orlando much to shop. Did they?
No not too much.
It was really a homegrown...
But we did draw. I never understood why. But we drew from out of town a lot. For some reason.
Interesting.
I never quite understood why.
Maybe you had unique merchandise...
I guess. I don't know. They wanted to come to Winter Park.
Bob...Going back to the, to the Navy.
To the what?
Going back to the Navy.
Yeah,
I look at my generation, your one generation ahead of me. And they say the most influential things in your generation was the Great Depression. You know, the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. And then World War II in that that, set the frame for your youth. And then so many veterans went on to school and the GI Bill got an education and raised our generation. You're called the greatest generation.
Yeah.
What do you remember about the Great Depression about, about the, the Mr. Roosevelt came to Winter Park a time or two I think. Do you recall any of that?
I do not. I remember Truman came through this, they used to have a thing here where, at what is now the soccer field.
The animated magazine.
The Animated Magazine. I remember Truman came to that.
Who? Truman did. Okay. Okay. FDR came here in 1936. They said.
I don't th..
Well, you wouldn't have been here yet. Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay. And how did how did World War II influence your life? How did his presidency? Did you all listen to the fireside chats?
Oh, I'm sure we did, many things he did for me, he paid for my college.
Through the GI Bill.
The GI Bill all except for my last semester. I think I hadn't paid for it.
Okay,
And we got $65 A month or $61 a month. Cash.
Okay,
Which I basically lived on.
Well there was a whole generation and went to the university education on the GI Bill.
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Yeah
God yes.
Yes. And um, when you came home from the military, what was Winter Park like?
It was small.
It was sound asleep?
I think I've been trying to remember whether there was one or two stoplights in news. And I don't remember which was the first one whether it was the one on Fairbanks and Park. Or whether it was New England and Interlachen. Those were the first two stoplights that I remember.
And the, the growth was out Temple drive, out where Oneco where you live. That's where the growth squirted first.
Well se the, the who was it? Those bricks are all laid out there whose streets were all laid out by the the. What was the name of the work project?
Kale?
WPA? Workers Proje...
Yeah, the WPA, yeah.
Those were all laid by them.
That's what I understand.
I heard that Huntington Avenue in front of the high school is so wide because somebody shipped too many bricks to build it as a narrow street and they wanted the men to have work so they built a wide street.
I never heard that one. But it makes sense.
Makes sense doesn't it.
Cause there's no reason for it.
Yes, yes. And Ahiks Garage. When did they come along?
Well, I don't know, they were always there.
Yeah.
Yeah. And Dallas Bowers was across the street from the hardware store.
Yes. Yeah,
That's where the rich kids Parked their Packards and things in the summertime when they went, you know, Rollins was a playboy school like it was...
Sure...
strictly a playboy school...
Sure, who was the mayor of the city? That you... Greene Ray Greene.
Ray Greene.
Ray Greene.
Okay, was he longtime mayor?
I don't know.
Who was the police chief?
Buchanan
Okay. He served for years and years and years. Didn't he?
Buchanan was a, I don't know, I don't know if you've heard some of the stories about him but.
I've seen some of..
I grew up with Buchanan yeah. it was hard being a teenager
Buchan, Buchanan was chief of police and he went into service. And when he came home the law said you had to give the man his job back.
Okay.
And, and some of the people in Winter Park as I remember this now. This is they didn't want to do it and dad held up for.
Yes,
And he got he got his job back. Then when dad died, we had like every police call on one report because... There was more than that but, that was all was in
both of them the funeral procession. I'll never forget it. And who was Ray Culifer?
He was president of the..
He was number two. He was his lieutenant. I think, wasn't he?
Oh your thinking of that one.
Yeah.
The names familiar. But I don't know.
Do you remember Smitty that rode the motorcycle?
No. (Ininteligible)
Okay. Okay. And how about the Christmas parades? Coming down Park Avenue? Were you ever in that?
Yes.
Were you Santa?
No. We had a we had an employee that had an old International Harvester truck.
Right.
Single failure, single testing. It would go put put put put.
Okay,
and I have a picture of me driving down, in that thing.
Is that where the name of putt putt came from?
I don't know, but it..
Must be.
That's the way it went.
Yeah, must be. And do you remember when they started decorating Park Avenue?
Not particularly no.
No?
Now, you mean the Christmas cards?
Yeah.
I sort of remember the first. I Can't remember what I want to say the first show up there the art show. Yeah the art show. That was in 59. Yeah I have a couple of the rigid, not. Not the first year but I have a couple of the big things that they've made.
The big posters?
Yeah.
Yeah
And how about Fleet Peoples?
He lived on the corner of what Palmer and Phelps?
Yes, yes. Yes. Yes. You made deliveries to the house, I guess.
I don't remember.
Did you swim the lake for fleet?
No I never did. Fleet was not my favorite person.
Okay, okay. All right.
What was his son there was something about his son too?
Mikko?
Yes, Mikko,
Mikko. And I, yes. And I'm, Bob, you're making me reach way back into the back here.
Well what about me?
yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Your generation was said to be more strategic commercially than any generation that had gone before it really has come afterward. And small business retail activity dominated the business side of the community.
Oh yeah.
But you had to have a better strategy. And Millers had a Do you know how many items of inventory you have,
No, I don't.
millions? thousands? Hundreds of thousands?
No. Well, it's not as big as it used to be. Steve could tell you. But that, that came by after all the computers.
Yeah.
I never knew.
Yeah. You'd have to go count them would you.
Yeah.
And it was a well respected store. Yeah. Yeah. But Miller's, Miller's was a was a community institution.
Yeah.
And that wasn't an accident. And how did you sense what people wanted to buy?
I don't know. Put it out there. And if it's sold buy
get more of it. Was Maurice Parker, a friend of mor... yours?
Yes, he was, God I haven't thought of Maurice in a long time. What was the other one though?
Rylan?
Rylan Cox?
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, everyone, they, they used the hearse. That Winter Park hospital they didn't have an ambulance and they used the
Use the hearse.
The hearse as an ambulance.
And Maurice always. Maurice always taught us find out what people want. Give them a lot of that. Find out what they don't want. And don't give them none of that. And I always thought maybe Millers kind of had a strategy like that.
I don't know, we we just sort of grew. I never knew quite why. Well, the big thing was we owned the land. That's I.
I remember his name, Yeah, There was a colonel when you remember,
well, he owned what is. What was the water park laundry is a shoe shop. Have you been by it lately? They just painted it yellow and everything. It's a big shoe shop just in the last couple of months.
I, I cant reth...
You have to see it It's really beautiful.
Oh, Okay,
But uh, he owned that, and a fellow man that worked for me said Bob, you ought to buy that. Well I don't, why would I ever want it, and, he says, well you never know what unless you go and talk to criminal when you see it or sell it. So I went over talking to the Cornel Winn and see if he would sell it to you. So I went over to talk to the Cornel, and I said Cornel is the laundry for sale? coin operated laundry,
right.
He says no, but you want to buy it? I said well I might? I said how much you want for it? He said whatever. It's a pretty small you can have it. And that's how I bough it, it was that, it was that simple.
Did he finance it for you and you pay cash?
No I think I paid, no, I took a mortgage on it I think.
Yeah. Okay.
I have a few of those.
Who was the President, the first president of Rollins that you remember?
I don't know that I remember them. Holt?
Hamilton Holt.
I don't really know. I never knew him. Who was his daughter that married Colemans Becky? Rebecca?
Becka, yeah, Becky I think.
I knew them.
Yeah, Yeah.
They were good customers in the store.
Did you know Hugh McKean?
Yeah. Okay. Any...
Everybody eventually came in that door.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's mostly true, and I'm not bragging on that, yeah. Yeah, that's more or less, that's true.
Did you know Harold Ward 1?
No.
He died. 1954. I think so you must...
I don't think I ever knew him.
And his, and Harold Ward, Jr?
Oh yeah, I know him.
Yeah. He was in
We were on the hospital board together.
Yes. Were you? How many years? Were you on the hospital board?
While you were when you got one you were on for nine years. Okay.
Okay. And Mr. Bush financed the construction of the hospital. And did you know him? Well, down he went.
I remember when he came to town...
what year about, about would that have been?
It must h
The hospital was started in 1955.
Yeah, I have some pictures of the hospital in here. Smile on a picture of Steve. My wife in the hospital?
Yes. Was Steve born there?
Yeah. He was about 30... 30 or 40th baby born?
Yes. They say Dr. Price did the first surgery there. Did you know Dr. Price?
Very well.
Yes. What do you remember about him?
Very, very nice man. Very nice. And he was and I never understood him and dad with a fever. Two of the most opposite people I've ever dealt with very, very good.
They were good friends for their whole lives or their whole lives. What do you remember about Dan? Dangerous Dan?
What can you say? He was in my high school class?
Yeah. Was he really? Yeah. Okay.
Well, we were sort of mixed up there because people leave in the class already to go into war to be drafted or just see. I enlisted in the Navy. I didn't want to be drafted. Right.
Okay. Okay. Who was the Worshipful Master the Masonic Lodge?
I have no idea. Where you remember that I was a DeMolay at one time, but
DeMolay. Yeah,
But I don't really remember anything about it.
What were the big social clubs around with the Rotary was there a Rotary? or Kiwanis, the Winter Park Kiwanis was...
Honestly zero because I was a member of Kiwanis. I don't, I don't know what Rotary was here that far back, but it wasn't long after that. And they were.
Where did the Kiwanis Club be? Was a lunch meeting wasn't it?
Yeah. It was up here on Horace Boulevard. The that they just tore down.
Where the lot new Libary is?
Yeah.
And there was a little restaurant along there.
No, there was a city owned building there. Okay.
Okay. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah, yes. Yes. They tore that down. Yeah, Kenneth Murah. Rachel Murah
was trying to think of his name the other night, I could not think of Ken Murah's name.
Dr. Yarda Atkins was the nurse and anethicist that assisted Dr. Price with that, with that first surgery, do you remember Yarda? And her name was Yarda. She had a brother here. He was World War II vet. He was a general. You know, was it Atkins? Do you remember name like that? Well, my memory is failing.
Bob, I have some questions. Just a couple of questions about Miller's itself.
Okay.
It's expanded a number of times,
eight or nine times
About eight times have been added on what is the most unusual thing that ever happened to you while you were attending the store
I got a call one day saying some woman said somebody was driving your truck out on a low my average speed. And she said I thought you ought to know about it. I sure appreciate you calling me and I'll talk to the person... which was me.
that'd be you.
Funny Little things you remember?
Yeah. Yeah.
You have no eye view anywhere in that store. So if somebody wants to pick something up and take it, it's sort of easy to do that with the entrance and exit.
It is now... originally we had there was no counter that was over 4 ft tall so we could see the whole store.
I see.
That came from my dad. My dad, because I worked in the five and 10, We had the Ben Franklin 5 and 10 store. The original hardware store was more or less laid out like the five and 10
so you can see everything. Yeah,
And It wasn't near as big as it is now.
Right?
See when we the original building there were where the offices were destroyed. Turn left, a lot of people dont really know thats there. That was the original building.
Right?
and that building is a hundred and some years old. And then we rented this edge. rented this one. I didn't bring that picture with me. I of the store. I have a picture of the store back in 19... What would have been 1945? 1946... Anyway, we, we enlargeing we kept enlarging
Right.
That building was was originally three different stores. There were 16, 3 16 foot stores and Gillespie's big, big market. Do you remember them?
Which one?
Gillespie's
Yes,
they have the parking at their grocery store?
Yes,
that's where he Bush bought all these foods.
Okay. Okay.
And then we eventually took over that. The second one that they built, what is now the main port of Millers Hardware just halfway back just Half as deep as it is now we took half of that.
right Then we went you took the other half of that. And then eventually we enlarge it all the way back towards where it is now. Okay. Okay.
Bob, Was there a difference in the trade in the wintertime versus the summertime? Or was it
I don't remember there being much difference
because so many stores
They closed Wednesday afternoon, do you remember that?
Yes
the dress shops, all closed for winter maybe the fancy dress shops on Park Avenue.
They sure did. Yeah. Yeah. And the antique stores and some of the gift shops closed.
Yes. Yeah. Yeah,
I do remember that. But your store didn't. I mean, it just kind of ran along
Oh Yeah, we never closed
Yeah, yeah. Then also you said the business was study as well.
Oh Yes. Yeah.
Did you buy drugs from O'Brien's pharmacy? Or Taylor's to
Taylor's is the only place I ever worked.
Yep.
Except For myself in my dad.
Yes.
I worked there. They had the drugstore there's it was a Rexall drugstore but it was Taylor Edward's.
yeah, Bill Edwards
Bill Edwards
And Bill Taylor
and I worked there as a soda jerky and delivery boy.
How long did you work for him?
I think just that one summer,
okay. Okay.
Bill Edwards (uninteligible)
Hold on just a minute. Bill Taylor was the finest guy you ever met?
Yeah.
Yeah. And his wife was named Elizabeth Taylor.
He had a daughter.
Yeah. And she was beautiful.
I just remember picking her up and sending her off to school with soda pop.
And what was her name?
I have no idea.
I'll think of it in a minute. And Bill Edwards was married to Margaret.
Yeah. (Uninteligible)
Did he? Yeah. Okay.
He's had a few friends throughout childhood.
Is there a story behind that?
No, I just... I just know he did or or I've always thought he did.
Just get that out there.
Well, I think one up was a gal to work for him.
He was just trying to help her out.
I did, I just wanted to help.
When you were growing up, The colony of course was here.
It just opened when I moved to town.
Right? It had been the other theater that was down down the street
Yeah, what was it.. it reopened
Baby Grand
it reopened it once or twice.
The Baby Grand did?
Yeah, it kinda didn't last long
It didn't last Yeah. So it entertainment for a young couple young married couple living over the Barbizon. What you're young Harper's apparently is open.
My my friend built the umm... high school friend going to Fairbanks. Fairbanks it was a bar. That was my watering hole.
That was way out of town
that was sort of out of town.
Yeah. The FBI.
The FBI.
So movies and
movies was a colony where you when I was a kid, we went to the you went to the movie on Saturday morning for a nickel and saw a double feature.
Yeah. Watch topics. So yeah, yes. Yeah. Who are your favorite movie stars? Yeah. Yeah.
Gene Autry
Yeah.
And it was air cooled in the summertime.
I don't remember that being warm. It was either cooler.
It was yeah, that was their big opening feature.
Air Sure. Yeah.
Was it? I don't remember that.
Yeah. Air cooled.
Air cooled.
And Barton's was next door.
It was electric.
Electric sold appliances and things like that. And then they left in the sea scouts met in that building for a while.
Yeah.
(uninteligible) Park Avenue wasn't the thriving... it is now...
did you play golf up at the country club?
No.
Never did never got into that.
Never really played golf unitl I joined the Orlando country club.
Okay. Okay. Did you know Red Winderweedle?
Oh, yeah.
Did he do your legal work? was that?
Jimmy Campbell? Was he still around?
Not that I know of.
Do you know him? Well, he was married to. He was married to a
I don't. Winderweedle. And he'd had you know, the two French houses on Park Avenue North Park and I think they've torn em both down now those Chateau like houses. Yes.
He lived in one of those.
Okay.
His dad was a colonel in the army and he moved around a lot. They called him Pete, I called him Pina he was
Okay. in the high school band. Okay,
I was in the high school band.
Who was the bandleader
Prasek. He was a retired military.
Okay. Did you play at football games? Did they have mighty Wildcats football team? Did you play any sports?
No, not at all.
Okay. Who was your favorite teacher?
I had an English teacher and I can't remember her name. thought she was the best teacher I ever had. And I remember the worst teacher I ever had, Mrs. Parks.
Mrs. Parks
for two years in English, and that's the reason my English is still there.
Her name was Alice Park.
That could be, that sounds familiar?
Yeah. Yes. Did you ever have Catherine Baldwin at Winter Park High?
I don't believe
she taught English at Winter Park High School.
No, that is who I had I can't think of that I thought was the best teacher I ever.
You were born in Pennsylvania. Do you have a birth certificate?
Yeah.
My dad was.
I think I do.
My dad was born in 1912. And for him to go in the army. He had to get a statement from Rodman Layman principal at the high school, attesting to his age.
Well, I remember you fought back remember there I had a terrible time getting a birth cirtificate. It took me two months to get one
Rodman Layman had a second job certifying people's date of birth as a high school principal. Because there weren't documents of course then.
Bob, Are there any thoughts that you have about the changes over the decades in Winter Park?
No, I think we're, of course, just a great place to live and always has been.
And still is isn't it?
And it's still is
it still is. Yeah,
I think I think I was. My generation had the best of all of it.
Yeah.
When we were kids, we didn't do it. We didn't worry about drugs or going out. We went out rode our bicycles all night. Yeah.
Yeah.
Nobody worried about this.
Yeah. Yeah.
or gave a damn
they'd already gone to bed
See in the morning. Well, do you have anything you'd like to comment on that We didn't ask?
Well, I'll think about it tonight.
What do we need to do round two?
Two o'clock in the morning?
Yeah, seriously?
No, I don't think so. I think my dad almost moved to when he moved to Florida. He was either going to go into hardcore fitness or the five and 10 minutes because he thought neither one of them would go broke keep going broke during the Depression.
Interesting.
And...
in Pennsylvania,
in Pennsylvania. The butler brothers you want to do Ben Franklin, fiber gym franchisee with behind it? They offer true talents Coco. Coco or Coco Beach, I'm not sure which when you're parking in College Park, and I've always been thankful that he didn't pick Coco Beach
Bob where did you take your family on vacation?
Well, North Carolina and my wife and I did a lot of cruising. We'd love to cruise we took 60 sub Cruise's.
fabulous.
Yeah. I just I just love being on the water.
Yeah.
Although I never was in the Navy, I just punched a typewriter for..
Where did where did the cruisers leave from?
Well, the most fantastic one was to Antartica.
Wow,
to the Drake Passage,
right.
And To the RTT Research Center by the police.
Did you see some penguins?
Oh God. Yes,
yes. Yes.
I'm a birdwatcher that I've seen that. I've seen the 667 species of birds in my life. I've traveled all over the United States, just in United States looking for birds.
Fabulous. Yeah. That's one thing I didn't know about. It
took you to places you would never you never heard
what doctor did you go to?
Muser
Doctor Muser? And what dentist did you go to?
Wilkins, The old man.
Yeah, he had Don and John. They were both
Yeah. and I went to Don too.
Yeah, okay.
He's still alive. I think
Is he?
I saw the other day boys wife died was this was a year or so ago. So I don't know whether he's still alive or not.
He would be at 76
I have no idea, I don't know about that.
where was Dr. Musers office?
On the corner of Knowles Avenue and what's the other street? It goes down to there? one block north of New England.
One block north of New England? Welborn.
Welborn Yeah. I think it was
right in there. Okay. What was the big man? Where'd you buy your clothes? Toggery, Al Beasley.
Toggery. Al Beassley.
Yeah. And Nancy was his wife.
Yeah, Nancy was his wife. Good old Al.
Yeah, yeah. Yes. Yeah. That's an important piece of Winter Park history.
He had a black tailor, which was very unusual in those days at least, you remember?
I Don't!
He did all your clothes and everything and that was very unusual.
What do you remember about Hannibal square?
Police? Police Chief told me never to go their day or night.
Yeah.
He said Don't you ever drive through there day or night.
Right. Basically, you stayed on this side. They stayed on. Yeah. It was a very segregated town.
always very segregated.
Yeah.
I don't know if it was right.
Do you remember any of our governors?
If you told them even their name, I will.
Yeah. Yeah.
Did you know Bob Langford?
Yeah.
Lots of luncheons over at the Langford. I bet
No, I never did. I was never a member of that club he had. What did he have a club over there..
He had a swimming club?
The one Yeah, but he had another one too
The dinner club.
Yeah. It was called the town club.
Like my business partner who was an alcoholic spent half of his life over there.
so there was...
That was interesting. He was my business partner and he had been.. divorced my sister, but we still were business partners.
Thats good enough
such is life
such as life.
I paid him. I paid him a million dollars. We were partners if you wanted out, and I paid him a million dollars. And a year later he was broke.
I hope it was a good year.
This was Mr. Canada. What was his first name?
Good.
Good Canada.
He didn't have an enemy in the world. Everybody loved him. He was a great person.
Sounds like he bought too many drinks for people.
That's a lot of drinks.
He lost it on the stock market too I think I'm very good friends of his daughter. Relative I have we have lunch together every Sunday.
Oh, you do? How wonderful. Bob, What year did you sell? I mean, did he sell to you his his portion of the partnership? Or what decade was it?
oh it was way back. I don't know I would say probably the fifties.
So it was it was quite a while.
Oh, yes. Well, he's been dead a long time.
While he drank 1,000,000 dollars worth of liquor in one year! 1950's million! Well, Bob, if if for some reason you think of things that we didn't cover today, we can certainly do part two and
Well, I think you've done a pretty good job
make a list of any things you think of.
I've got a question about the prom you had or was it homecoming at the was a It's the golf course now.
Yeah, we had. Well, our original problem was at the Women's Club. And that shows you how small the class was you know.
Yeah.
And then we used to have dances down at the that the golf course there were walkers but that building was half the size it is today. That was before they added all those back rooms.
Yeah, yeah, just the front room
was just that front room was all that was there.
Yeah.
And the whole high school class would fit in there right?
Yeah. Well, we did
you said there were 45 in your class?
What was your golf pros name here.
I remember when they said what was during World War One. Did they put sheep on?
Yes.
On the grass now.
Did you know The Winter Park telephone company the Galloway's?
Yeah Jo Al Co.
Jo Al Co
You know the history of that. Joe, Al, and Carl.
Joe Al and Carl. Yeah, yeah.
I remember. Westinghouse right after the war with appliances first came up. They came in and bought a double oven. Westinghouse range from us. The old man. The next day she bought she bought everybody in the store a great big angel who could keep the cheap beat
How about Ray and Pearl Trovillion?
I just remember her as being the caterer around town but I never really was OC with re
he did that map of the city that
yes
still around.
Yeah.
How about RC Baker? Was he the big banker?
You know? He had to he had the Men's store then Winter Park federal was..
Winter Park Federal
was on the second floor.
Oh, is that where it started?
That's when it started.
Okay he had Baker's and then the SNL upstairs.
Yeah.
I didn't know that. Right there at Welborn, where Dr. musters office was right.
Yeah. And there was a table supply store on Park Avenue, which was a grocery chain...
Okay,
At one time and the post office was on Park Avenue at one time.
Yes. Up where... just right over here.
Yeah. When I was driving the there was a packing house where the post office is today.
Yeah.
Winter Park Citrus
Was that Gentiles'?
Yes. Yeah. I dated the Gentile girl one time. They were the rich people.
Yeah. They were from Orlando. Yeah. Yeah, I think so too.
They did there. Was that like sort of the way that the country club currently?
Yeah. Yeah.
And I wish I should bring up because I can't remember the girl's name very, very recently. She lived on they live on Palmer. Her dad was convicted of fraud or something?
I don't remember that.
thinking the Hunters?
No, no, no. Oh, he worked for me.
Oh, did he?
had his first job with me. The first job I gave him was cleaning the bathroom. He never forgets it every time I see him.
Every time you see him he remembers that?
He remindes me you had me cleaning your bathroom.
Probably the best thing ever happened to him.
I just went through his son's yesterday for my dental work.
did you know Herman J Heidrich?
No. They had the big place out on the 441.
the dog at the horse track out there.
Yeah at the horse track.
Do you remember when Colonel McCoy crashed his airplane?
Not Really. Yeah. But you know,
right there at the track, Ben White raceway.
Supposedly That was a big scandal about that came up later wasn't there?
I didn't know I don't remember.
He supposedly the engine failed or something. But actually he was he was doing the things he shouldn't be doing with that airplane when he crashed.
Okay, hit the Ben White raceway.
Ben White Raceway Yeah, yeah. And I remember when they did that what they call the Silkies Yeah, you know the horses I remember when they used to race them around and there was a restaurant out there that was you Sulkies but there was a restaurant right there
Sulkies! that was real famous. Well known too, I think they had one in DeLand? It was here.
It was a high end cafeteria.
It was a high end cafeteria.
Cafeteria Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.