DIXIE SALES MOVES IN 1916 TO NEW LOCATION AT 115 WEST MARKET STREET
In early February 1916, Dixie Sales Company moved once again as it grew, to a location at 115 West Market Street. A Greensboro Daily News article on February 23, 1916 announced the move: The Dixie Sales Company has recently moved its Rubber Tire Hospital to 115 West Market Street and the boys are delighted with their new location. This company, besides selling new tires, is equipped to make your old ones practically as good as new, provided you didn’t wait too long for the vulcanizing process. A tire is like a shoe – if repaired in time a lot of wear is left, but if neglected too long, little can be accomplished.
115 West Market Street – Jack Starmer and Frank Snyder, February 1916
Jack and Mabel had their first son, Charles, who was born on August 3, 1916. And Ellis B. Snyder, Frank and Mary’s youngest son, returned from a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy in the First World War.
In Sketches of Greensboro, North Carolina – Pen and Picture Sketches (photographs) – published by Central Publishing Company Inc. in 1917, there are pictures of F.E. Snyder and L.H. Starmer on page 40 with a small paragraph about the two owners and their Dixie Sales Company:
This place of business is located 115 West Market Street and has phone No. 1123. It is a very busy establishment indeed, specializing as it does in vulcanizing and all sorts of tire troubles. It is known as the “Rubber Tire Hospital” and nearly all automobile owners have become familiar with the place and regard it as headquarters when they desired any work done on their automobile tires. The Dixie Sales Co. handle the Goodrich and Goodyear tires which are perhaps the best on the market, certainly there are none better. This is a very complete plant. The owners of the business are Messrs. F.E. Snyder and L.H. Starmer who came to Greensboro about three years ago and have since made their influence greatly felt in the trade and in business circles generally. They are great boosters for Greensboro, always have a good word for the city, think the climate here is ideal, and affiliate as members of the Chamber of Commerce, Merchants’ Association, etc. They are both men of experience in their line of business, Mr. Snyder having been in business in Atlantic City, N.J. for two years before coming to Greensboro, and Mr. Starmer was with the Good-Year (sic) Tire & Rubber Company and Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, for two years. Both of these gentlemen are natives of Ohio. Fraternally Mr. Snyder is an Odd Fellow and Mr. Starmer a Woodman.
On March 17, 1918, the following article ran in the Greensboro Daily News: DIXIE SALES COMPANY WELL EQUIPPED SHOP, F.E. SNYDER AND L.H. STARMER HAVE ONE OF BEST SHOPS IN THE SOUTH…The Dixie Sales Company maintains in Greensboro one of the best equipped shops for tire repairing in all the south, in addition to handling a complete line of tires, tubes and tire accessories. Messrs. Snyder and Starmer by persistent and conscientious effort have built up here a splendid business and they have gained for themselves a reputation for fair dealing that is worth much more than all the valuable tires, equipment etc., which they have accumulated in their four years stay in Greensboro. Coming here from Akron, Ohio, the world’s tire center, they put their experience of years into a small beginning, offering expert service in all branches of rubber work. From a small beginning they gradually grew, until two years ago they moved into larger quarters on West Market Street. Here they have equipped a modern shop for the treatment of rubber, specializing on vulcanizing and retreading of tires. So great has their fame become that now they are receiving work from all sections of the state, and they have the knack of doing a job in such a manner as to always get future business.
Mr. Snyder, the senior member of the firm, gives his attention entirely to the sales and management, while Mr. Starmer, who by the way is a son-in-law of the senior partner, is in charge of the vulcanizing and retreading departments. Both are always on the job and whatever they undertake is done efficiently and with the utmost dispatch. Mr. Snyder has frequently remarked that he wanted to do business in such a way as to create in the public the firm impression that whatever the job, the Dixie Sales Company could be depended upon. And he makes it a rule to see to it that tires are not taken for repair unless they are actually worth spending money on.
Recently Messrs. Snyder and Starmer have purchased an attractive home on Pomona drive (Spring Garden Street in Pomona district of Greensboro), an act that was particularly pleasing to their many friends because it indicated their belief in Greensboro and intention to make it their home for all time.
In the February 17, 1919, Greensboro Daily News, the following news bulletin was published: Mr. L.H. Starmer, manager of the Dixie Sales Company, returned this morning from a business trip of several days to the northern markets to purchase tires for his firm. While away he visited New York, Boston, and Akron, Ohio.
This Picture Of The Snyder And Starmer Extended Family was taken on Christmas Eve, 1919 at 2516 Spring Garden Street (at Longview Street.) The house is still standing as of 2014. Emmett, Ellis and Mabel are siblings. Blanche is Emmett’s wife. Mary Diggs Snyder is the wife of Ellis. Mabel Snyder Starmer is the wife of Jack Starmer and is pregnant in this picture with James Ernest Starmer who was born on April 19, 1920. Eleanor is the daughter of Emmett and Blanche and was still living in the early 2000’s in Nevada. Charles is the first child of Jack and Mabel Starmer. This house at 2516 Spring Garden was still in the Snyder family in 2014.
A New Location As Dixie Sales Grows, Changes Its Name for a Short Period And Adds New Services
During the week of February 2, 1920, the Snyder’s and Starmer’s moved Dixie Sales again, from 115 West Market Street to 300 North Elm Street, at the northeast corner of Elm and Church Street, only a block away from Joseph Leahy’s second location, and across the street from the O’Henry Hotel. In this white brick garage and warehouse, Dixie took on the full lines of Goodyear and Firestone tires, and Texaco gasoline and motor oil. Offering a multitude of free services, one could drive through and receive service advice and consultation, plus tire air, all at no cost. Dixie Sales would operate here for about two years. Ellis Snyder and his older brother Henry Emmett Snyder were both working in the family business at this time.
In January, 1920, a series of ads in the Greensboro Daily News and the Greensboro Record announced the upcoming move to 300 North Elm Street and also a name change for the business:
OUR FRIENDS ARE CROWDING US OUT OF OUR PRESENT QUARTERS… We will be forced to our larger home opposite the O’Henry Hotel upon its completion about February 1 (1920) and will have room there for the great expansion of our business we confidently expect during the New Year.
Here, in the building erected for Penney and Long, we will have superb facilities for service, and we are pleased to announce that in addition to our tire service we will be prepared to give oil, gas and accessory service. Under our new organization the style (new name) of our firm will be: Dixie Sales and Service Co. Inc. Each department will have its own head, with a competent man responsible for oil and gas service, an experienced man in charge of tire repair work, of retreading and vulcanizing; in fact we have prepared to render the motorist a service unexcelled. We are not attempting to create the idea that by service we mean giving something for nothing. Our conception of service is doing a good job at a fair profit, selling reliable goods at a fair price, giving good advice to customers. We believe in the square deal policy, we believe it makes us customers and makes us friends to treat our patrons squarely, to advise them frankly, and we believe you are willing to pay a fair profit to us for this kind of service.
Dixie Sales and Service Co. Inc., 300 North Elm Street at the corner of Church and Elm Streets
In the January 18, 1920, edition of the Greensboro Daily News the Snyder/Starmer vision for the new business plan and location was elaborated on: WE ARE COMPLETING OUR PLANS FOR A GREATER SERVICE TO MOTORISTS…Within a short time now we expect to move into our splendidly arranged new home opposite the O’Henry Hotel, where we will offer a complete service to motorists. Our gas and oil service will offer the public an especially convenience, arrangements being such that you can drive in one entrance and out the other. Elm and Church streets are wide, and our station has been built with an idea of plenty of room. You won’t have to crowd in to get your gas and oil.
We will departmentize (sic) our business when we go into our new home, and for the information of the public we are giving some of the details of the management and purposes of these departments.
Mr. M.D. Barnes, whom you probably know already, will be in charge of the oil and gasoline service. He is no doubt the best fitted man for this particular line of service in the city, having spent over six years at the business.
Mr. L.W. Parrish (Lonnie) will have charge of the vulcanizing and tire repair service. Mr. Parrish has been with us for three years and has learned to give tire service and do vulcanizing according to our standard, so we know he is well equipped for his place.
Mr. Snyder and Mr. Starmer will have charge of the tire and accessory sales, also a general charge of the whole organization, and will be on the job every minute to see that the whole organization is kept up to the highest efficiency.
We have the best location in the city for a service station like ours and we have the best organization that can be found anywhere. Our men are all picked men, each a specialist in his particular line.
We will sell only the best of everything in our line and therefore can see no real reason why you would want to be elsewhere. We are going to look for you.
Dixie Sales Company Rubber Tire Hospital
A SECOND DIXIE SALES LOCATION OPENS CALLED COLUMBIA BATTERY STATION
On March 4, 1920, there was an announcement in the Greensboro Daily News that Dixie Sales and Service would open a second business location for the sale and servicing of batteries. In the March 4, 1920 edition of the Greensboro Daily News, the ad for the Columbia Battery Station read as follows: ANNOUNCING – THE OPENING MONDAY (MARCH 8, 1920) UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF THE DIXIE SALES AND SERVICE COMPANY OF A THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED AND FULLY STOCKED COLUMBIA BATTERY STATION.
The ad continued: This station will be maintained at the former location of the Dixie Sales and Service Company, 115 West Market Street, and will be under the direct management of Mr. Ellis B. Snyder. We will carry in stock a full line of Columbia Batteries and cater to all classes of Auto Ignition and Electrical Work. Battery service will be the feature of our business, and we will be equipped to render every class of battery work. Columbia Battery Station. Management of Dixie Sales and Service Company, 115 West Market Street, Greensboro, N.C.
Columbia Battery Station at 115 West Market Street
On March 7, 1920, there was a small business announcement in the Greensboro Daily News about the opening of the Columbia Battery Station: COLUMBIA BATTERY STATION OPENS HERE. Dixie Sales and Service Company to Operate Exclusive Battery Service Station on West Market. A fully equipped station for the sale of Columbia batteries and for general battery, Motor ignition and electrical service will be formally opened tomorrow morning by the Dixie Sales and Service Company.
The Columbia Station will be in the former location of the Dixie Sales Company, 115 West Market Street, and will be under the direct management of Ellis B. Snyder. Chief of the service department will be Stacy Calhoun, one of the best battery men in this section.
Mr. Snyder, who has been in the naval service for the past several years, is an experienced battery man and is especially trained for auto ignition and electrical work. He is a son of F.E. Snyder, head of the Dixie Sales and Service Company, and a young man of considerable energy and pleasant personality.
On the same Sunday, March 7 edition of the Greensboro Daily News, the following ad ran: COLUMBIA BATTERY STATION OPENS TOMORROW – 115 WEST MARKET STREET – A THOROUGH BATTERY SERVICE AND SALES ROOM – UNDER MANAGEMENT DIXIE SALES AND SERVICE – Monday morning in the building on West Market Street which we formerly occupied, we will open an up-to-date and completely equipped Columbia Battery Sales and Service Station. This battery station will be under the general management of Mr. Ellis B. Snyder, who is experienced in battery work and in all classes of auto ignition and electrical work. Mr. Snyder will be assisted by a corps of trained battery men, chief of the battery service department being Mr. Stacy Calhoun, who is well known and regarded as one of the best battery service men in the city.
We Will Do All Classes of Battery Work and Will Sell You the Columbia Under a Straight One Year Guarantee –
When we sell you a Columbia Battery you are given a straight guarantee for one year. If the life of the battery is affected through any factory defect before the year expires same will be replaced by an absolutely new battery, with no allowance made for the period in service.
COLUMBIA BATTERY STATION – Of Dixie Sales and Service Company – 115 West Market Street – Ellis B. Snyder, Manager.
Columbia Battery Station, 115 West Market Street – Ellis Snyder at Far Right
Ernest Starmer Born
James Ernest Starmer was born April 19, 1920 to Jack and Mabel Starmer in Greensboro.
Two Page Article On Dixie Sales And Service In July, 1920 Issue Of Motor World Magazine
In the August 1, 1920 issue of the Greensboro Daily News, an article was written about the Motor World magazine story on Dixie Sales Company. SELLING SATISFACTION IS NEW MERCHANDISING – How the Square Deal For Every Patron Has Built Up Dixie Sales and Service Co. – A Motor World Story
The July (1920) number of the Motor World magazine devoted to motors and all the things that go with them, carries a full two-page story of the Dixie Sales and Service Company of Greensboro, with large illustrations of the elegant quarters of the company, opposite the O. Henry hotel, together with photos of F.E. Snyder and L.H. Starmer, proprietors. The story is built on the proposition, the soundness of which the Dixie people have proved, that satisfaction, after all, is the commodity a merchant must sell if his business is to be successful.
How the Dixie company sends its air tank truck three times a week down into the wholesale districts and inflates tires it has sold to the wholesalers, and how it sends the truck twice a week down into the business district, watching for its tires on every car that needs attention is related in the story. The firm’s belief in the value of publicity is set forth and examples of its wide-awake advertising cited. A sample of one of its advertisements is reproduced, as follows:
“We are responsible. Business is a personal matter. You can’t get away from it. Somebody has to be responsible for quality. The deciding factor in every deal is, (sic) Who’s responsible? We are responsible for everything we sell you, whether it be tires, tubes, blow-out patches or what not. And the fact that you know we’re responsible, and everybody else knows it, too, is the only thing that keeps our business good. But this responsibility of ours would be an awful load – a liability rather than an asset – if we didn’t buy our tires from people who are just as responsible to us we are to you, and who always send us goods that we can stand back of.”
The Dixie people started in Greensboro in 1914. Messrs. Starmer and Snyder came here from Akron, Ohio and established a vulcanizing business. Business wasn’t very good then and they had to get down to fundamentals. They did the best work possible and charged reasonable prices. They took a personal interest in the tires of their customers. They have worked out these propositions:
“Try to give better service than the other fellows give.”
“Meet our customers with a smile and make them feel that they are among friends when they drop in to talk to us about tires.”
“Gain the confidence of our customers by giving them the very best advice that we can, the kind of advice that we would appreciate if we were in their shoes.”
“Never make a promise that we cannot fulfill, and if we do promise anything, make good, even if it costs us money to do so.”
The Motor World story puts the company first among southern enterprises of its character, and cites the fact that in addition to its big local business, it is doing vulcanizing for many other points, and commanding patronage over a wide southern territory – all because of the square deal and the judicious publicity that told the world about the Dixie style of doing business.
Consolidation And Move To 109 South Davie Street – Name Reverts To Dixie Sales Company
In the first week of March, 1921, Dixie Sales moved to 109 South Davie Street. A February 28, 1921 Greensboro Daily News ad announced the following: REMOVAL NOTICE – We are going to combine our Vulcanizing Department, now located in a part of the Penney & Long Service Station, and our Battery Station on West Market Street, and in order to do this we were forced to seek larger quarters. We will move into our new location at 109 South Davie Street the latter part of this week, where we will be in position to service our patrons much more efficiently. We have purchased mold for vulcanizing giant pneumatic tires, and other equipment for the enlargement of our Vulcanizing Department.
Effective with our removal, the name of the firm will revert to Dixie Sales Company, which was formerly the name of this concern.
On March 6, 1921, a Greensboro Daily News article announced the move of Dixie Sales Company to 109 South Davie Street: DIXIE SALES COMPANY IS NOW IN ITS NEW HOME – Successful Local Concern Established t in Larger Quarters on Davie Street.
The Dixie Sales company, which has operated its tire and sales business in the Penney and Long building, and its Columbia Battery station on West Market Street (115), will open tomorrow morning in the commodious new home at 109 South Davie. The new home has been made distinctive by its bright yellow front.
This company, long one of the most successful automobile accessory houses of this section, has increased its equipment, especially for vulcanizing and retreading tires. The large moulds (sic) required for retreading the big pneumatic truck tires have been installed, and the company is now one of the few in the state quipped for this class of work. The retreading department is under the management of Lonnie Parrish, who has received special instructions at the Goodyear factory.
It was at this new location that a horrific accident occurred on January 4, 1922. Newspaper accounts and pictures, along with first-hand accounts from Jack Starmer, supply what happened on that Wednesday at Dixie Sales.
109 South Davie Street
From the Left: Unknown, Jack Starmer, his wife Mabel Snyder Starmer, Henry Emmett Snyder,
unknown, unknown, Ellis B. Snyder. Mabel, Emmett and Ellis were siblings.
Disaster Strikes On January 4, 1922
Shortly after Dixie Sales moved to 109 South Davie Street, J. Ed. Albright, a master plumber and steamfitter, installed a new compressed air tank in May of 1921. The tank was kept pressurized and used to fill tires with air.
After the 1921 Christmas holidays, Jack Starmer noticed a small leak in the new tank. He called Mr. Albright’s establishment and requested that it be repaired as soon as possible. Ed Albright came in person along with a young man, A. S. Lowe, who had recently finished his apprenticeship. They arrived at 9 AM on Wednesday, January 4, 1922. Without warning, while the two were at work, the tank violently exploded, tearing the head of the tank off the tank body. It struck Mr. Albright square in the face killing him instantly. The tank hurtled towards the front of the building, crashing through the office wall and barely stopping when it reached the front wall.
The concussion which shattered windows in the surrounding buildings, also demolished the interior of the shop. Jack Starmer, who was at the rear of the shop, saw the two at work just seconds before the blast. Jack was uninjured.
Frank Snyder, who was working in the office, stood up as soon as he heard the blast and began moving towards the door. This reflex nearly cost him his life, as the tank missed his head by inches as it flew through his office wall. The chair he had been sitting in was totally destroyed. Mr. Albright’s body lay crushed beneath bricks and debris. Amelius Lowe was thrown from the tank and was seriously injured. Dorothy Haden, a nurse who lived about a block away heard the explosion and came to offer her assistance to Mr. Lowe.
There was a large hole in the roof and debris consisting of inventory and office materials were scattered through the building. An employee of Ed Albright believed that Mr. Albright turned the pressure too high while searching for the leak, putting too much pressure and force against a weak part of the tank, which then burst causing rapid depressurization.
Manufacturer’s Criminal Negligence Said To Have Killed Ed Albright
In a January 6, 1922 Greensboro Daily News article, the brother of Ed Albright, charged the manufacturer of the compressed air tank that exploded with criminal negligence. In summary, the article went on to say: Mr. Albright (brother of the deceased) for many years an instructor in the mechanical department of Georgia Tech in Atlanta, arrived yesterday and shortly afterwards went to the place where the accident happened and made a thorough examination… Mr. Albright claims that the head of the tank was not even brazed (a form of soldering) when it (the tank head) was represented as having been welded. The head was merely stuck in place according to Mr. Albright. He further declared that had his dead brother known that the tank was not welded, he would not have been up there working on it. Mr. Albright declared that he would do all in his power to punish those guilty of such criminal negligence. He explained the difference between brazing and welding saying that five tanks can be brazed while one is welded therefore the manufacturer by merely sticking the head on a tank is making more money. He said that the tank was invoiced to his brother as welded and as a seamless tank, and thinking that this was as represented, the victim (Ed Albright) of the accident started to his work on Wednesday morning with never a thought of such a horrible climax.
A headline advertisement in the Greensboro Daily News announced “DIXIE SALES CLOSED FOR INVENTORY AND REPAIR – OPEN MONDAY AS USUAL.” And they did reopen four days later.
Front Page Newspaper Photo of Crowd Gathering at Explosion Site
Frank Snyder Jumped up from his desk (far left of picture) at the sound of the explosion and in doing so,
was nearly struck in the head and killed by the pressurized tank flying through the air.
Damage to the shop where the pressurized tank was located.
In 1921, a year before the explosion, Dixie Sales Company dissolved its status as a corporation. The company became a co-partnership between Jack Starmer, Frank and Mary Snyder, and their son Ellis Snyder. In 1952, the company did re-incorporate itself according to North Carolina laws.
Early 1920's Line Card
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