Page 106 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

Hurst’s Hole in the Wall

By Morris Williams

(For the Lake City Reporter)

“Some call it little, some call it small, we just call it Hurst’s Hole in the Wall.”

Who is Hurst? What was the Hole in the Wall?

Hurst was Claude R. Hurst. The Hole in the Wall with his one-man mini-store.

Really it was little more than a hole in the wall on North Marion St.

Picture in your mind about 12 feet of store property in the middle of the 400 block

of N. Marion St. That was Hurst’s Hole, less than 100 square feet.

Hurst sold candy and soft drinks—but the main attraction was the popcorn and the
peanuts. Daily, from 2 PM until midnight, Hurst served no less than the best

popcorn and peanuts in Lake City—for a nickel a bag.
How good? Well, consider this story from Stan Anders, a former part-time

employee of Hurst and retired DOT engineer.

One night when the then-teenaged Anders was on duty, who should come strolling

up but Dub “Cannonball” Taylor, star of stage, screen and “Hee Haw.”

s
Taylor said, “I’ve heard that y’all ell the best popcorn and peanuts anywhere in
these parts, and I’m here to see for myself.”

After Taylor ate his fill, he turned to the young Anders and allowed as how, “They

right—y’all got the best.”

Each morning Hurst boiled and “parched” his peanuts at his home two blocks
away. Then he took them to the store to be sold.

“Fresh boiled peanuts, five cents a bag. Peanuts, sir? What about a nice bag of
peanuts? Only a nickel.”

If the sale happened to be popcorn, Hurst would always add just an extra pinch of
salt so you would then by an ice cold drink for another nickel to wash it down.

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