Local Hardware Store

Today, when people want to buy a hammer and nails, they head off to the super-plex warehouse depot and scramble through a maze of departments and displays, spending the next hour in search of their quarry. But there was a time when buying tools was a simpler matter, maybe even a friendly one at the local hardware store—like Parker Bros. Hardware on Kingston Pike. The store was originally founded in 1923 by Lloyd and Deadrick Parker, and at one time had five different locations. Although forced to move from its Forest Hills Blvd. shop in 1993 (to make way for a mega-grocery), Parker Bros. is still a family operation, owned by 81-year-old Helen Parker Thompson and managed by her grandson David Surber and son-in-law Chuck Lee. And you can still buy nails by the handful.

Fire Station Dalmation

Although he may not provide a particular service, we couldn't resist including Seagraves the fire station Dalmatian. Owner Scott Warwick, a firefighter stationed at the Summitt Hill headquarters, says Dalmatians became synonymous with fire stations through a rather odd historical thread. Originally, Dalmatians were used to protect stagecoach horses from wild animals. Early firefighters then employed the dogs for their own horse-drawn water wagons; not only did they protect the horses, but they ran ahead of the team to warn pedestrians—a sort of visual siren. Today, Seagraves (named after the fire engine manufacturer) continues the tradition of his forebears (though he doesn't actually hang out at the station waiting to chase the fire engines.)

Cobbler

Do people even bother to repair their shoes anymore? Nowadays, footware is a mostly disposable product, easily replaced. But for Custom Shoe Rebuilders on North Broadway, repairing shoes has been a mainstay for 46 years. It's a family business—owner Hardy Johnson does the repair work with his son Jim while his wife Maggie takes the orders and handles the cash register. They specialize in shoe repair but also work on all sorts of leather goods—their most unusual job was making a set of boots for a dog.

Typewriter Repair

For many office workers of the word processor era, typewriters are best used as door stops—but for those who like to hear their words striking paper, these machines are still indispensable. But even the most indestructible cast-iron Underwood needs to be serviced every few decades. Where to go? Cherokee Typewriter Co. on Ailor Avenue. Harry Elliot's father started the business in 1923, and Harry has owned it since 1945. At the height of his business, he would see 1,200 machines come through the door, with service contracts with many businesses and just about every local high school. Now Cherokee gets about 10 or 15 a week, Elliot says, with attorneys, banks, title companies, and small businesses being his main clients. But if the Y2K crisis hits in a year, business just might boom again.

Milkman

Not too long ago, milk was something you found on your front doorstep along with the morning newspaper. Now, of course, such a service seems odd—milk delivery? To your house? But for Charles Coomer, it's been a lifelong career—he was a full-time milkman from 1951 until 1985 for a dairy originally founded in the 1920s by his father and three uncles and later bought by Biltmore. Since then, he's been delivering on his own—the only remaining home delivery milkman still operating in the area. But with 400 regular customers in Grainger, Union, and Knox Counties, he should remain in business for a long while yet.