Lum and Abner's, Jot ' Em Down Store

A little before 10:00 a.m., we arrive at the Lum and Abner Jot 'Em Down Store and Museum in Pine Ridge, Arkansas.. Much to my disappointment, its closed. The signs are a little misleading. One hangs on the door reading "Open 9:00 to 5:00, Monday-Saturday." A larger, more recently painted sign reads "Open April 1- November 1, 9:00 to 5:00, Tuesday-Saturday, 12:00-5:00 Sunday. Post Office, open 10:30-2:30 Monday-Saturday.
By now we are more than a little confused. Is anyone going to be around? Is the post office inside the store going to open at 10:30? We decide to check out the area a bit and return at the appointed time. As it turns out, there's not much to see, so we make our way back to the store and museum.Lucky for us the business is already open on our return. A couple of tourist have beaten us as the first customers of the day.

When we walk inside the Lum and Abner store, my eyes immediately travel to the store's back wall. In the stores north corner stands a tiny post office hardly big enough for one personto stand behind its teller window. If standing on the outside this teller window on the right side are several postal mail boxes. From the post office (which by the way is still active) to the old shelving and glass display cases all appear to be original. Even the pot-bellied stove sitting in the middle of the room is old and looks as if it has been in use.
I finally see the store proprietor coming out of the post office to greet his customers. By now, my attention is drawn to books on Lum and Abner ranging from their history to tales of local people made famous by characters the duo used in their programs. Also for sale tee shirts, a few antiques, even an old-timey design hand-held fan with Lum and Abner printed on it's back. Also worth checking out are the dozens of radio shows available on cassette. We naturally make a couple of selections from the offering before moving into the doorway leading into the museum. Note: Fee is donation only, so you can't beat the price.

The museum is another building attached to the Jot 'Em Down Store. At one time this was a barber shop. It's small but packed full of old items for home use, to original store bins and displays to the old barber's chair with wax figures of Lum sitting and Abner standing beside the chair.On the walls are old movie posters of Lum and Abner and dozens of photos. There is way to many items on display to write about, but there were a few really unusually pieces. One particularly notable was the old paper roll (used to wrap up purchases) with the original paper intact. I had seen a few of these old items used to tear off wrapping paper, but none with actual paper on the roll.
Before long it's time to go, but not before we get a couple of photos of the outhouse behind the store. I'm pretty sure this isn't the original.
This store and museum is one of those rare finds, many people are unaware it exist. You can take a look back to the way times use to be in rural America years ago. If your history fan like us, you'll love it. Should you want to learn more about Pine Ridge, Arkansas along with Lum and Abner, read on below the directions to Pine Ridge follows.

Pine Ridge, Arkansas is located 18 miles east of Hwy. 71 at Mena, on Hwy 88. Store is on the left side of road traveling east from Mena.
 

A Little History on Lum and Abner

Lum Eddards, was born, Chester "Chet" Lauck in Aleene, AR. Abner Peabody was born Norris "Tuffy" Goff in Cove, AR. As youngsters their respective families moved to Mena within a very short time of one another. Both being from successful families. Chet's father was owner of a large sawmill and an officer in the bank in Mena. On the other hand, Tuffy's father was on of the major suppliers for general merchandise to stores in southwest Arkansas.
Chet, at a young age used to visit the area of Waters (now Pine Ridge) with his father, who had a large mill nearby. Tuffy called on the community as well, representing his father's wholesale business. Naturally, they all became very well aquatinted with the local residences.
Both attended the University of Arkansas, later returning to Mena and establishing families of their own. Their first performance was at the local Elk's Lodge in Mena. On this particular occasion the pair staged a fake radio broadcast from backstage. Not a soul had a clue who they were until they came out from the behind the drawn curtains.
A few months later, a local radio station in Hot Springs was arranging a fund-raising due to the 1931 floods in Arkansas. The popularity of their skits on the stage led to a regular quarter hour program at KTHS on Sunday nights. Radio station Director Campbell Arnoux grooms the duo for national recognition, sending them to Chicago, arranging for special interviews and auditions with prominent people in the radio world. By July 1931, the same year of the first broadcast in Hot Springs, the boys debut NBC stations in Chicago.

The Jot 'Em Down Store with Lum and Abner was in real life the Dick Huddleston store. Mr. Huddleston was one of the real life people Lum and Abner created into the act.
Pine Ridge was known at this time as Waters. Later both the store and town changed their names to the names made famous on the radio programs. Most of Lum and Abner's characters were indeed based on local people who were an overnight wonder. Especially noteworthy, is Lum and Abner made all the parts of their characters.

In 1938 they move their show to Hollywood and in 1940 make their first motion picture "Dreaming Outloud". Premiere of the movie took place in their hometown of Mena, Arkansas.
By 1955, after 5,800 live programs the duo retire due to Tuffy's health. Over the next years, they make guest appearances on numerous television shows. Tuffy Goff would retire from all appearances in 1965. In 1967, Chet moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. For nearly 25 years the pair recorded their shows.

Norris "Tuffy" Goff (Abner) dies in 1978, Chester "Chet" Lauck (Lum) in 1980.

There other movies were: Bashful Bachelor (1942), Two Weeks to Live (1943), So This Is Washington (1943), Going to Town (1944), Partners in Time (1946), and Lum & Abner Abroad (1954).

To visit the web-site click Lum and Abner.

Map to Lum and Abner Store at Pine Ridge Arkansas

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