Photo courtesy Special Collections, University of Memphis Libraries
As you know, I've been talking recently about the old Fortner Furniture Company clock, and thought I'd share a story about an interesting event in the life of that building.
On June 15, 1979, Mrs. Joy Butler was driving east on Summer at National, when she "accidentally" ran the red light at that intersection. Bad timing. Her car was struck broadside by a Memphis sanitation truck. Butler lost control of her vehicle, and here's the result — her car ended up parked inside the furniture store after crashing through one of the big windows. Her five-year-old daughter suffered a slight cut to her leg, but that was the only injury. Nobody was hurt on the truck.
Scribbled notes on the back of the original Memphis Press-Scimitar photograph tell us that Butler's car "came to rest beside a dresser." I guess that was an important detail at the time.
PHOTO COURTESY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS LIBRARIES
