[78-L] White Oak Grocery in Waco

[Cary Ginell]

Just read a draft of an article written by Leslie Wolfenden on the ramshackle White Oak Grocery, a building that, to the casual motorist, appears to be just another run-down pit-stop on the road between Waco and Fort Worth, Texas on Highway I-35. It turns out that this building used to be the White Oak Dancing Pavilion, home to Milton Brown, Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell, and other performers who played for dances there between the 1930s and the 1950s. Wolfenden is trying to preserve the building because of this historical significance and she interviewed me about its association with Milton Brown in the mid-1930s. The Brownies played there often whenever they went to Waco, often booking double band dances with Bob Wills & his Playboys to help the struggling Wills, who had just started his band, along. After Milton Brown's death on April 18, 1936, the White Oak was the first place the Milton-less Brownies played, four days later, on April 22; a performance that served as a memorial wake for the late singer. 

I'm providing some photos from my biography on Milton Brown to go with the article, and she was also fortunate to speak with Roy Lee Brown, Milton's surviving younger brother, who just turned 90. Roy Lee provided me with valuable connections, memorabilia, and insight when I wrote my book. 

The article will be published in a forthcoming issue of the SCA Journal, an organization devoted to the study of buildings, artifacts, structures, signs, and symbols of the 20th-century
 commercial landscape. The SCA offers publications, conferences, and 
tours to help preserve, document, and celebrate the structures and 
architecture of the 20th century: diners, highways, gas stations, 
drive-in theaters, bus stations, tourist courts, neon signs, and a lot 
more. Visit them at www.sca-roadside.org. It's quite a fascinating site and well worth looking into, in case you know of any structures that have played a similar role in the histories of other musical acts in the 78 era. 

Cary Ginell