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The Crane Food Store in 1936 was one of five in a chain of stores. One each in Wink, Odessa, Monahans, Midland and Crane. The meat market man was Ben Webb, the checker was Quay Hamblett, who had a brother, Roger Hamblet, who worked for Gulf Oil Company. The produce man was Albert Byrd who was choir director at the First Baptist Church over on the east side of town. The back of the church lot was next to the barbed wire fence of McElroy Ranch. A short time later a landing strip was bladed out next to the fence on ranch property. I remember Wance Martin coming in to land there and cows were in the way. He circled around until they left. The wind changed and his Porterfield airplane wound up standing upright with the propeller on the ground. I think at the time he had two hours flying time logged. This was in 1938. Vance Martin ran the service station for years that is now Exxon. At the time it was an Humble Oil Company station. |