A fond look at cultural icons you may think have already faded with the times.

by David Luttrell

Family business. Neighborhood store. Service with a smile.
In this age of mega-stores and disposable products, such terms appear outdated, vanquished by the modern age. And along with them have gone whole professions that nobody seems to be interested in anymore—milkmen, shoe cobblers, typewriter repairmen... But while these once ubiquitous icons are no longer on the cultural radar, there are still some hardy survivors. Tucked between the warehouse franchises, you can still find these gems—small stores that harken back to a time when retailers (and cities) could be distinguished by their individuality instead of their duplicated predictability. Here are some of Knoxville's oldest stores and services, surviving in an era of online shopping and consumer jadedness, continuing to imbue our city with unique color.

Full Service Gas Station

Nowadays, gas station attendants know more about operating cappuccino machines than they do about fixing car engines. And if you want them to fill your tank and clean the windshield, they'll point you to the pumps. But at Schubert Texaco on North Broadway, the idea of "full service" hasn't died. It's one of less than a dozen true service stations left in the city. Owner Butch Schubert's father opened the station in 1957; the photograph he's holding is of the station as it looked in 1962.

Drugstore Lunch Counter

Before the landscape was overwhelmed by fast food signs, the best place to go for a quick lunch was none other than your neighborhood drug store. Long's Drugstore, near Sequoyah Hills, is not only one of the last privately-owned pharmacies in town (by James and Henry Peck), it's also retained its fabled lunch counter, a neighborhood mainstay since 1956. According to waitress Ruth Pate, who's worked the counter for the last 21 years, Long's is the gathering place for lawyers, politicians, celebrities, after-school kids, Vol fans, and regulars. Over the years, Ruth has seen more than one romance bloom here—and the couples return with their children years later. Where else can you drop off a prescription, get a great cheeseburger and cherry Coke, and run into John Ward or Louise Mandrell?

Old Fashioned Barbershop

There may be many places to get your hair "styled," or to undergo a "beauty routine," or to have a "facial," but finding a plain ol' haircut can be difficult. But since 1954, the Fountain Gate Barbershop, at the corner of Tazewell and Jacksboro pikes in Fountain City, has been shearing heads the same way—at the hands of owner and head barber Steve Payne. Aided by Butch French and Jackie West, Payne says he gets about 50 to 60 loyal customers a day, ranging in age from 88 years to four months.

Butcher Shop

When you want a steak, you head to the grocery story to find them neatly wrapped in plastic shrouds and stacked in coolers. But you can still have one cut to order at Lay's Meat Market on South Central. Although mostly known as a meat packing plant, Lay's has had a meat market open to the public since 1907. Manager Jerry Simmons says customers come from as far away as Sevierville and Oak Ridge for everything from pork chops to bacon-wrapped filets.

Heating Oil Delivery

With ice storms threatening power outages, those with old-fashioned oil-burning furnaces are among the few who are sitting smug in winter months. But that also means having to get oil delivered directly to your house—not an easy service to find these days. Fortunately, there's Kelso Oil Company on Atlantic Avenue, which has been in business for over 50 years, owned by Herman E. Gettelfinger. Although home heating oil only accounts for 1 percent of its business, Kelso employees like Hollis Copeland make sure the fuel gets to the customers, especially during freezing cold snaps like this past week.