BottoCigars-1949-2
In the June issue of Memphis magazine, I told you the story of V.F. Botto & Company, a toy store downtown that claimed it was "The Toy Showplace of the South." Before the Botto family got into the toy business, you may recall that I mentioned they originally started out selling tobacco and candy.
If you need to go back and read that column again, you can do so here.
I was mildly annoyed that I hadn't found any photos of the place in the early days, when it was a tobacco store, but it never fails that a good photo turns up after we go to press. And here you have it — as an advertisement in the 1949 edition of the Central High School Warrior yearbook.
This is, in fact, the entire ad — apparently Botto & Company decided the picture told the story, and I guess they were right, except they didn't bother to give the address of this building; perhaps in those days V.F. Botto was so well-known that everybody knew where they were: 111-115 Adams Avenue, right across the street from the old fire station that is now the present-day Fire Museum of Memphis.
But the ad certainly shows the impressive building, with their fleet of three trucks and a van (each carrying the old-style license plates made in the shape of Tennessee), and signs announcing some of their top-selling products: Lord Clinton Cigars ("Havana Blend"), Florida Queen Cigars (a bargain at just 6 cents), Milko Ice Cream Cones, and Bunte World-Famous Candy.
I know you don't really care about this, but the building just to the right was The Toggery, a popular men's clothing store.
When Botto opened its toy store across from Court Square, this building became home to two unrelated businesses: Heaton Barber Supply Company, and Bail Bond Associates. Both places lasted about a decade. What you see here (along with everything else on the block between Main and Second) was demolished in the early 1960s to make way for the 100 North Main Building.
