In summer 1919, Tom Gallagher was back in Junction City. He was out of the army. It was time to rejoin the work force and the social scene.
In August, Tom returned to his job at Cole Brothers’ Dry Goods store in Junction City. He was the manager of “ready to wear” clothing.
Henry, who had been assistant manager in Junction City, moved to the Manhattan store in the same capacity.
Big changes at Cole’s
Department stores were in vogue. Cole’s stores were converting from “dry goods” to “department” stores. Tom was part of the changeover, and his experience as ready-to-wear manager proved valuable.
Jim Gallagher marries
Jim Gallagher had graduated from University of Missouri with an engineering degree.
He was working for the Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad, commonly called the M.K.T. or the Katy. He had moved around a bit during his time with the railroad, but was now stationed at Parsons, Kansas.
Jim was going to marry Nell Mahoney, of Hartshorne, Oklahoma.
Nell was born in 1894 in Hartshorne, Indian Territory to Irish immigrant parents Dennis Mahoney and Bridget Katigan.
Dennis Mahoney had come to Hartshorne in 1887 for coal and railroad work.
Tom and Henry attended their brother’s wedding. Tom was best man.
The social scene
Since he got his discharge and started back to work in September, Tom’s social calendar was full. Evenings and weekends were chock-a-block with friends’ weddings, dinner parties, dances, and motoring trips to nearby towns.
A bachelors’ pad
Earlier in 1919, Henry Gallagher and three other single gents had set themselves up in a bachelor quarters in the Montgomery apartments at 108 W. 1st Street in Junction City. They even employed a cook to take charge of the kitchen. Henry’s roommates were Ed Rolfe, Walter Whitney, and Albert Gable.
Now in September, Henry was transferred to Cole’s Manhattan store. He moved to a boarding house at 511 Humboldt in Manhattan. Tom, working at Cole’s Junction City store, took Henry’s place at the bachelor apartment.
The apartment was the scene of lovely dinner parties.
Motoring trips
Motoring trips were popular. It was quite possible to motor to a nearby town for a social call, and be back home the same day.
Tom had owned a 1918 Ford Model T, but had sold it when he was in military service. Now, in 1919, Henry had purchased a Buick roadster. Since many of Henry’s social acquaintances were in Junction City, he often motored there from Manhattan for social visits.
Christmas 1919
The Christmas season was a social whirl for Tom and Henry. Dinner parties were on the calendar most weekends.
By the end of December, the brothers were looking forward to visiting family in Missouri. They would join sister Nellie, who was in school at the convent in Paola, and all three would go to Lamar to spend Christmas with their parents.
Mike and Ellen Gallagher were still living at their house in the north part of Lamar. Their children were all living away from Lamar, so they were happy to have a houseful for the holidays.
Some family news
While visiting their parents in Lamar, Tom and Henry shared some confidential news. Cole’s was going to open a store in Sedalia, Missouri, and Henry and Tom were going to manage it.
Timeline
Sources
- Image – The British Department Store – The Telegraph – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatpicturegalleries/7838380/The-British-department-store.html
- Image – Dinner Party – St. Louis Post-Dispatch – January 16, 1920 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imaginative_formal_dinner_party_sketched_by_Marguerite_Martyn_in_1920.jpg
- Newspaper articles – The Junction City Daily Union – various dates – newspapers.com
- Photo – Tom Gallagher – Teply family documents
- Image – Department Store – Detroit – 1910 – history.com – https://www.history.com/news/how-19th-century-women-used-department-stores-to-gain-their-freedom
- Map – Indian Territory and Oklahoma – 1890 – Library of Congress – https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4020.ct011159/?r=-0.092,-0.033,1.111,0.873,0
- Photos – Jim Gallagher and Nell Mahoney – Brosseau Family Documents – Jim Brosseau
- Image – Modern Dancing – 1914 – Vernon and Irene Castle – Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Modern_Dancing_%281914%29_-Vernon_and_Irene_Castle-Illustration_17%28cropped%29.jpg
- Image – 1919 Buick Roadster – The Old Car Manual Project – http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Buick/1919%20Buick/1919%20Buick%20Brochure/image5.html
- Music – Two Little Wooden Shoes Fox Trot – Free Music Archive – https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Antique_Phonograph_Music_Program_Various_Artists/Antique_Phonograph_Music_Program_08252009/Two_Little_Wooden_Shoes_Fox_Trot/
Family Nibbles 
