To the editor:
Today, I happened to see the obituary for Denver C. Alspach who died June 27, 2008. He had been an employee of Carnation Milk Company in Murfreesboro for many years, and I knew him. I also saw your series of comments about the recent repairs to the old Carnation smokestack.
Memories! I am the son of the man who was the manager of Carnation Milk Company from 1937 to 1953, Thomas W. Fisher. I was born and raised in ‘Boro and grew up surrounded by Carnation conversation, trips with my father to the plant, and learning to come home for lunch and dinner according to the plant whistle. Needless to say, my mother cooked with Carnation condensed milk, we enjoyed many fine dishes made with this product.
If you walk into City Café today, you will see an old photograph of a large group of men who were supporting the economic development of Murfreesboro back in about 1938. All were dressed in white shirts, white pants, white socks, and white shoes. My father is sitting in the middle of the first row I had not noticed the photo the first several times I visited the Café over the last couple of years and was quite surprised to find my father looking at me one day as I ate breakfast there.
During the World War II, the plant operated around the clock as fast as it could. When maneuvers took place in Middle Tennessee, my father allowed soldiers to take showers in the plant facilities. Many would visit local churches on Sunday and be taken home for a meal. Soldiers regularly came to our home for Sunday lunch. The plant grounds at that time included a picnic area, a croquet court and a horseshoe throwing area. There was a circle drive in front of the building which was quite pretty. Along the north side of the drive was a small brick building which was said to have been the living quarters for some slaves from the old plantation days. The little family cemetery on the property still exists within the compound of the building construction company that owns the property.
My family first lived on Church Street but moved to “Clark Court” in about 1943. This area was in the middle of a farmer’s field and was quite isolated from town. You now would recognize it by the distinctive brick houses around the corners of Grantland Avenue and McKnight Drive.
In these days, Murfreesboro had a population of about 15,000, and the cops knew all of the “bad guys.” As an eighth-grader, I had a newspaper route that required me to ride my bike into West View and out the Manchester Pike to the home of Professor Freeman. I often would return home after dark, and no one worried about my safety. It truly was an experience of growing up in “Mayberry.” In many ways, I am saddened to see how Murfreesboro has grown, but, at the same time, there are so many more opportunities for young people who grow up there now. I left the state in 1962 and sought “fame and fortune” elsewhere, only returning after retirement.
Perhaps the Carnation smokestack will not survive much longer, and I suspect that the majority of Murfreesboro citizens do not understand its history or even care about it. But, for old timers who were raised there during those years, seeing it is always a reminder of simpler times.
Thomas Fisher,
McMinnville
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