Part V, Oklahoma City during the 1940s: Oh! What a Beautiful Morning

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Sep 2, 2003 by Journal Record staff

1947

On Sept. 27, a year after ending service to Guthrie and El Reno, the Oklahoma Railway Co. ended its trolley service as Car 227 made the last northbound trip from Norman to Oklahoma City.

On Nov. 14, Kerr-McGee completed the world's first commercial offshore well drilled out of sight of land. The Seale well flowed 30 to 40 barrels of oil an hour.

Mark R. Everett succeeded Gray as OU medical school dean. He held the post for 20 years, overseeing a 10-year building program that started in 1948, when it was taken off probation.

WKY built the world's tallest antenna. But over the next decade, as television's popularity brought an end to network radio, WKY turned to flipping records, competing with KOMA as a big top-40 music station in the '60s and '70s.

In 1947, Jess Cowan launched Cowan Printing Co. in Bethany. In 1982, the firm became the first in Oklahoma City to use a Heidelberg perfection press. Now owned by Boyd D. Cable, it has 15 employees.

In 1947, the Oklahoma Publishing Co. made the first aerial home delivery of a daily newspaper.

Ed Mooney launched a tobacco shop in the First National Center. Bud Scholtens bought the shop in 1977, retaining the name Ed's Pipe Shop. It is now the Tinder Box.

In 1947, Earl Nailon started The Sportsman's Club west of Oklahoma City around a 30-acre lake made from an old Dolese sand and gravel pit. Originally dedicated to hunters and fishermen, in the '60s and '70s The Sportsman's Club adapted to metropolitan club needs as the city grew around its position, adding swimming pools, tennis courts and other facilities.

The Odom Drive-In and Northwest Highway Drive-In theaters opened in Oklahoma City in '47, joining the ranks of the budding outdoor movie screen industry serving America's increasingly motorized society. The metro area would see 15 large-screen theaters dotting the landscape over its history. Most would themselves be history by the end of the '60s.

In 1947, the Sisters of Mercy bought the former Oklahoma City General Hospital at NW 12th and Walker, assuming its $850,000 debt from three physicians. They renamed it Mercy Hospital.

1948

On May 27, Citizens State Bank opened at 601 NW 23rd St. It was considered Oklahoma City's first suburban bank, as it was the first one outside of downtown. Under President C.R. Anthony, the bank ended June with assets of $1.7 million. Within three years it would record assets of $13 million, becoming one of the nation's fastest-growing financial institutions.

The First National Bank of Oklahoma City acquired the Tradesman's Bank from E.A. Walker. This deal made First National the first Oklahoma bank to record more than $200 million in assets.

Garman O. Kimmell founded Kimray Inc.

Eula "Mama" Erixon, the state's assistant attorney general, started the Sleepy Hollow Restaurant.

Carl B. Anderson launched AnSon Production. Under Anderson, his son and grandson, the firm became one of the most successful drillers in the Deep Anadarko Basin. Chesapeake Energy bought the firm in 1997.

In 1948, one month after graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in accounting, Harold Powell borrowed $18,000 from his mother to start the clothing store Harold's at Campus Corner in Norman. Under the care of Powell and his wife, Elizabeth, this grew into a regional upscale apparel juggernaut, recording sales of $119.9 million in 1997. The following year Powell stepped down as chairman, replaced by his daughter, Rebecca Powell Casey.