Guy Johnson's Store

Guy Johnson's Store as described in the brochure: "Stop and See...Old Time Country Store. Groceries, General Merchandise. On Beautiful Bull Shoals Lake, Pontiac, Missouri. Your business Appreciated. On Hwy. W-15 miles S.W. of Gainesville, Mo. Ph. Gainesville, Osborn 9-2181."

The property on which Guy Johnson's Store stood was originally patented by William Mahan on November 28, 1896. It was then conveyed to M. H. Mahan and A. J. Johnson in 1901. M. H. Mahan conveyed his interest to A. J. Johnson in 1903. I'm not sure when the store was built, but I always thought it was around the early 1900's. I didn't know A. J. Johnson, as he died in 1949, but I do remember his wife and Guy's mother, Jane. She used to sit on the porch of the store in a rocking chair and smoke a corn cob pipe. You can see a picture of her on the bar top at Just Jackie's restaurant in Pontiac.

Guy Johnson's Store as it looked when I was a kid and for many years after that.

Guy Johnson called everyone "Honey Boy," - at least that's what he called the male customers. (I'm not sure what he called the females...) His store was truly an "old time" country store with groceries and general merchandise. He had everything.  He had a pail of water with a dipper in it in the back corner of the store beside the telephone (the only phone in the area at the time) that we all drank out of when we were thirsty. My mom bought shoes for my brother and me there. He also had assorted hardware. I can remember going to the store and picking up 50-pound boxes of 20 penny nails and bolts when we were building docks.

An interior picture of the store. You can see the cases of bottled soda and the cooler on the right. There was a pot-bellied stove in the back. And notice the sign on the left: "Perfect Service by Registered Mail".

Guy had a pickup truck with a cattle rack on the back, and he would drive it to West Plains every Monday morning to pick up supplies. He parked it in a small garage on the south side of his property. You rarely ever saw his pickup out except on Monday mornings. Guy had bologna and would carve off a piece to make you a sandwich. The old cooler in the store used cold water to chill the soda. The bottles were held by a rack. You slid the bottle over and out the slot. The sodas were 8 cents each, and there was a 2-cent deposit on the bottles. (With that kind of thinking today, perhaps everyone would recycle, and we wouldn't see so much trash along the roads.) Hershey bars were a nickel. The school bus driver (it was actually a station wagon, not a bus) would stop after school and let us get something if we were good.

Guy Johnson as I always remember him.

Guy would tear apart cigarette cartons and use the larger sides for scratch paper. He would add up his customers' purchases on these. He would run charge accounts. I always heard that is how he acquired much of his property - when folks couldn't pay their tabs, they'd sign over their property. Guy was also the postmaster. He gave it up after an illness late in life. His assistant, Mary Davis, took over as postmaster. She was also running Shady Oak Resort ("The Oaks") at the time.

This is what the store looked like after it closed. (Picture courtesy Kerry Lewis.)

Guy also sold gasoline. I can remember buying gas for less than 20 cents per gallon there. Back in those days there were gas wars. I assume it was a time when the stations in town would compete for low prices. Guy would participate. He would put a sign out by the pumps that said: "Gas War". Some of you may remember Al Horn. He lived here in the '70s and early '80s. He told me about his first encounter with Guy. He bought gas and realized all he had was a hundred dollar bill. He thought, "How will this old timer ever be able to make change." Well, if you knew Guy, you know he could have cashed many hundred dollar bills. His cash register was his overalls. He would put singles in one pocket and 5's and 10's in another and keep the big stuff in his billfold. He also carried loose change in his pockets.

After Guy and Vada passed away, their heirs did not sell any property for quite some time. I don't think I ever met any of them, but Phil Petars, the old mechanic at the dock, who I mentioned in the Robbin's Roost post, contacted them about tearing down the old store. He advised them that it was dangerous and they allowed him to tear it down. Why none of us in the community, including myself, didn't step in and try to preserve the old store, I don't know. We lost the main focal point and financial center of our community when it went down. I have always hoped someone would rebuild a replica of the old store. Maybe Jeff and Annette (the current owners of the property) will? :)

This is where the old store stood at the corner of Highway W and County Road 609.

All that remains is the old cistern, where Guy would fill his water pail.

These are my recollections of Guy Johnson and his store. There are so many wonderful stories about him, I cannot begin to write them all down. You're welcome to share your comments and stories about your encounters with Pontiac's true icon.