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East Side Oral History Project: Interview with Wally and Berniece Blomquist

Titles: East Side Oral History Project: Interview with Wally and Berniece Blomquist (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Wally Blomquist was a native East Sider whose family ran a paint store on Payne Avenue. He served in the Seabees in World War II and after the war took over the store, opening a branch in the 1950s. He sold the store to a paint company in the mid-1980s. Berniece Blomquist was born in Montana and moved to St. Paul in 1940. She was never involved in the store. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Wally's family starting with his father working at Swanson's Paint Store near the turn of the twentieth century. Some history of Aland Island near Finland. Berniece's move to St. Paul from Montana. Wally's father starting his own paint store in 1921. Other Payne Avenue businesses including Wise Hats, Pearson Hats and Carlson Jewelry. Learning to drive at age 14 in 1933. Early festivals in St. Paul. Running a paint store in the 1930s, paint selection and services offered. The role of contractors in the paint store business. The evolution of paint from oil and lead based to water and latex based. Insulating homes in the 1930s. Anecdote on the end of WWII. Expanding the paint store after the war. The effect of the chain stores on the local stores. The kinds of commercial business a paint store had in the 1960s. Selling the store to Diamond Vogel.

Dates

  • 06/26/1991 (Creation)

Creation

Identifiers

  • Library Call Number: OH 99
  • Accession Number: AV2003.92.5

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

Quantity: 1.5 hours sound cassette 19 pages transcript

Format

  • Content Category: sound recordings
  • Content Category: text

Measurements

  • 01:25:46 running time

Subjects

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Documents

Audio:

Audio Part 1

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Audio Part 2

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