E. J. Huff's tailor shop, 1925
by Tim Campbell · first published 28 September 2017 · his original post
This is a 1925 calendar advertising E.J. Huff's tailor shop in Blooming Grove. It also advertises Arrowhead Hosiery. I believe Huff's shop was located on the east side of Fordyce Street in the row of brick buildings which are now gone, just south of the present day "Grapevine" shop and Masonic Lodge building.
Ernest James Huff was born in the Dresden area in 1885 and lived almost his entire life in the Blooming Grove vicinity. Ernest was the son of Confederate Colonel James Monroe Huff and Frances Elizabeth Jones. This couple married in Alabama after the war and in 1876 migrated westward to Texas, stopping briefly in Hill County prior to coming to Navarro County in 1879 and settling at Dresden. In 1891 the Huffs moved to the nearby rapidly growing village of Blooming Grove where James and Frances Huff spent the rest of their lives. The Huffs were members of the Methodist church. As of 1920 Ernest, his brother, and his aged father were operating a shop together. By 1925 Ernest owned the shop outright. By 1930 he had married and he was operating his shop with his young wife as the saleslady. By 1940 Ernest and his wife were divorced and he was boarding with 3 young men who were local schoolteachers. Ernest passed away in 1969. The locals called him "Pete". Why they called him that I do not know, perhaps someone reading this will tell us. He is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery. His marker reads simply "He Loved Music".
This piece was published without a title. The one above was written here; the words below are his.