OCTOBER 1 - GALLUP, NM

MONDAY

OCTOBER 1, 2012

 

As a child, Russ had a View Master

three dimensional slide viewer.  He

remembers one disk with pictures of

Montgomery Wards building in Gallup, NM,

so he wanted to see if it was still there.

 

We drove into Gallup to explore, and had

a wonderful day of nostalgia

via the REX Historical Museum,

 Richardson Trading Company,

and Coal Street Pub.

 

The route we took into Gallup was

the Old Historic Rt. 66.

We parked our truck on Old Historic Rt. 66 near 4th Street,

and visited the REX Historical Museum first.

 

 

As we walked in the door,

there sat a Switchboard with the

cables, just like I had used

in Grade School, when I

helped out in the Office

in 1948.

 

 

This Coal Skuttle brought back lots of

memories too, since our family

heated our home at 829,

with Coal and had a Coal bin in

the basement.  We used the coal skuttle

to take pea coal upstairs for the kitchen stove.

This newspaper headline,

heralds an event I was too young

to understand, at the time,

and before I had learned to read.

 

 

 

The COAL STREET PUB

won my heart!

Our family has a history of remembering

our travels by the food we have had,

and the restaurants we have eaten in.
 

The restaurant chef very quickly accommodated my

request to serve the Philly Cheese Steak

without any bread.

Their Sweet Potato fries

were unadorned and light as a feather.

Russ was equally pleased with his

Jalapeno Burger and fries.

If we lived in Gallup, I can tell you,

we would be regulars of the Coal Street Pub.

 

Take a look at the decor.

 

 

Family photos.

Transportation photos from the 1940's and 1950's.

 

 

1950's military uniform and clothing.

.

 

 

Former

Montogomery Ward Building.

 

Another memorable stop was to

check out Richardson Trading Company

on Old Historic Rt. 66.

The nephew of the original owner,

Mr. Richardson is now 92 years young,

and offered to pose with us for a picture.

We bought a silver cross with a Turquoise

in the center for me.

The business will celebrate its 100th birthday next year.

 

 

Our Clerk gave us quite an education

regarding what it means to be a

Trading Post and Pawn Shop

in Gallup, NM.

 

There were cases and cases full of Turquoise Jewelry,

much of it had been pawned, and gone past

the six months for claiming it,

by paying the interest on the original loan.

In effect, the Trading Post is a repository

for valuables for the folks in that area,

who need small amounts of money

to make it from pay check to pay check.

 

They may pawn something

(Guitars, guns, jewelry,

saddles) on a Monday, and depending

on the amount of the load,

pay interest until they pick it up,

perhaps on pay day.

If they borrow less than $100, the interest

is low.  Over $100, a higher rate is charged,

because they might not come back for the item,

and Richardson's gets stuck with it,

and the loan does not get paid back.

Richardson's has to keep the item for

six months, so they are in effect like a Bank

or Warehouse.  They have over 1,400 saddles

in storage right now.

 

 

 

After we made our purchase at Richardson's

we walked throughout the Old Historic District

and took pictures of the

many Murals on buildings.

 

 

 

This one honored the Navajo Code Talkers.

 

 

This one honored Native American Trading.

 

There were at least eleven murals,

as well as three or four smaller

archs on one building.

 

I told Russ that I was so happy we had

taken the time to explore in Gallup,

and would recommend it to

folks on our blog,

as a place worthy of a day of your time.

 

If you do visit Gallup,

be sure to take in at least the three

places we enjoyed.

We missed many other spots,

and could have used another day there.