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Doctor had ‘cure’ for what ailed ’40s workers
Published November 2, 2009
In his book, “Episodes: Texas Dow,” Bill Colegrove remembered that when the construction of Dow Chemical Co. began in Brazoria County, the entire county was “dry,” with only beer allowed.
This meant those who wanted something stronger had to travel to the nearest county line, “but in order to get a fifth of bourbon, we usually had to buy a case of rum,” Colegrove said, adding, “We brought the liquor home in the back seat under some groceries.”
One bright spot to the situation was provided by a local doctor who “prescribed a lot of liquor for sick people,” Colegrove said. This prescription could be filled at the drugstore conveniently located downstairs from the doctor’s office.
A line of workers a couple of blocks long could be seen around this doctor’s building after a shift ended, Colegrove said, adding the line “moved at a steady walk,” so no one had to wait too long.
“The doctor kept long office hours, and he knew you were ill because he had a stack of prescriptions already filled out,” Colegrove remembered. “The prescription cost a dollar and called for either a large bottle or a small bottle, depending on how sick you were.”
He noted the “ailing” patients would then take their prescription down some stairs that ended in front of a cage in the drugstore’s pharmaceutical department.
“If your prescription called for a small bottle, you got a pint, which cost $5,” he said, and “if a large bottle you got a quart, which cost $10.”
Customers could call out their favorite brand and pick it up. Most customers bought name-brand whiskey that Colegrove said had no prescription label on it.
There were regulations to be met, however. A customer was required to sign the register, and he could not pick up a bottle twice in the same day.
For a weekend, those wanting another bottle, “either had to get back in line and sign another name, or get a friend to pick up your second bottle,” Colegrove said.
He noted “this apparently legal operation” unexpectedly closed down one night after less than a year of land-office business.
Despite such quirks, Dow’s construction brought prosperity to Brazoria County, a bright light following the dark days of the Depression. The timing, just before and during World War II, meant, however, many items were either rationed or just hard to get.
The family’s breadwinner might be bringing home many times the amount of money he had been able to scrape out of the ground as a farmer, but there were a great many things he couldn’t do with it.
He couldn’t buy a new car or tires or as much gasoline as he might wish. His children were still limited as to the number of pairs of shoes they could buy, no matter that they wore them out long before new ration stamps were available.
And some things that weren’t rationed were in such short supply that government stamps might as well have been required. Coca Cola, which had many fewer competitors in the soft drink market at that time, was among the items virtually impossible to find.
Next week: Effect on schools
Marie Beth Jones, a published author and freelance writer based in Angleton, is chairwoman of the Brazoria County Historical Commission.
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