Old Allen Yearbook Ads Tell a Story

The next time you dust off your old yearbook, flip to the advertising section in the back of the book. There is much to learn about your community when you scan the ads for businesses and restaurants that supported their local schools “back then.”

I recently pulled out a stack of Allen High School yearbooks and compared the ads over a 15 year period. Then I cornered Ronald Rodenbaugh and Bob Curtis, two long time Allen residents, who helped me piece the yearbook ads together.
It was no surprise that many of the ads in 1959 and 1974 were for restaurants. The biggest difference was that most of the eateries in 1959 were in other towns. There was Hays Café and Motel, and the Dairy Mart in Plano. Then there was Wood’s Café, Baker’s Drive-In, and the Jiffy Dog Drive-In in McKinney. Allen did have The Café run by Ruby Ruth Masters and the Angel Drive-In.

Ten years later Allen teenagers were frequenting the Royal Drive-In and the local Dairy Queen but a run to Pizza Casa on 15th Street in Plano was not unusual. A favorite sport in Allen for many years was Gentry’s Steakhouse which was located where McDermott and Main Street now intersect. For many years McDermott ended before the cemetery and traffic came down Main Street to cross the bridge. Gentry’s was demolished when McDermott was extended to the east side of Allen. One other local option was Stuckey’s. The building’s shell can still be seen on northbound Central Expressway but the last nut roll was sold over 25 years ago.

Local grocery stores were big supporters of Allen High School. Cundiff’s ran ads for their meat and vegetable market on Main Street in the early 60’s. Bolin’s Grocery was located at the southeast end of downtown and then became Crawford and Moseley’s. A modern grocery store called the C&M Food Mart was built just east of the railroad tracks and served as the town’s main store until it burned in the 1980’s.

One of the longest running ads was sponsored by The Allen State Bank. Bank president Dudley Robertson opened the ban in the former Bank Exchange that was located in part of the Rodenbaugh’s current building. They later built a new bank at the top of Main Street where the travel agency is now housed. J.D. Goodman was another regular with ads for used cars, firewood, financial services and automotive services. It probably helped that his wife Joyce was the high school business teacher and yearbook sponsor for many years.

Since Allen was a fast growing community, it seems logical that building and construction companies showed up frequently. Businesses like J.L. Dement Builders, Lynge & Stacy Lumber, Enloe Excavation, Strong Builders, Stratton Builders and Alton Boyd –contractor all literally helped build Allen in the 1960’s and 70’s.

For such a small town, there was no shortage of gas stations. Ads for downtown service stations included Holt’s Automotive (Mobil) and Terrell’s Conoco. Annual ads also featured Bill Alexander’s Shell Station (SE corner of 75 and McDermott) and the Texaco Station that sat next to the Royal Drive-In at Allen Drive and 75.

The current C&B Barbecue helped pay for a few yearbooks over the years as Bill’s Superette, Woody’s Superette and then the Sak ‘n Pak.

Allen’s two oldest businesses were also the AHS Eagle Yearbook’s longest running advertisers. Whether they were hawking transistor radios, televisions or 8-track players, Rodenbaugh’s TV and Appliance Center sponsored ads in the yearbooks since they opened in 1962. Not far behind them in longevity was the Allen Flower and Gift Shop operated by Caroline and Jim Kerr.
As the yearbooks grew enormously in the 90’s, advertising was dropped but a trip down memory lane can still be found in those old Allen annuals.