Do you remember back in the 1960s, when AM was king...and Knoxville made stuff? Coffee: the pungent aroma of JFG Coffee wafted downtown several nights a week. From Kerns (Chapman Highway), Merita (North Central Avenue) and Swans (Magnolia Avenue) bakeries created a tantalizing treat for the nose. Knoxville Glove Company on Sevier Avenue made, of course, gloves. Coster Shops fixed railroad cars, made new wheels. Jeans rolled out by the railcar and trailer road from Levi-Strauss on Cherry Street. Dempster: world famous "Dumpsters". Standard Knitting Mill: HealthKnit underwear. There were additional knitting mills on Baxter Avenue; Atlantic Mills on Concord Street; and Breezy Wynn's huge operation on Euclid Avenue. Southern Extract in Lonsdale: craft paper rolls. Camel Manufacturing: military jackets and then tent, awning, and ski vests and jackets. Lays Packing Company: bacon, hot dogs, dog food, hams, and more. Smaller concerns re- chromed bumpers, made bird food, mayonnaise, bent steel, and machine parts for TVA, Oak Ridge, and Alcoa.
One of Knoxville's most fragrant industries was Foote Mineral Company on Lorraine Street (now the site of the Knoxville City Garage). Foote Mineral refined locally mined manganese ore. Raw ore was dropped into a 1200-gallon vat, sulfuric acid was added, and the mixture then blasted with 640 Amps. Melting point of manganese is about 1300C/2300F. A fire there in February 1970 sent me to UT Hospital for 3 days with chemical pneumonia. That fire destroyed 40% of my right lung. The Knoxville News-Sentinel devoted about 2 column inches to the story.
What the KNS never reported was that the fire also torpedoed my shot at a US Army officer's commission. At that that time, I had a US Selective Service 2-S Deferment draft classification (with a 2.10 GPA).
About seven months after the fire, the ER MD who admitted me to UT Hospital was moonlighting at the Armed Forces Entrance Examination Station (on North Central, just south of the old Sears building). I had to report there for a physical as part of qualifying for advanced Army ROTC at UT. Vietnam was in our daily headlines, and I figured that serving as a Transportation Corps officer- with an 88U MOS (Railway Specialist)- was the best way to serve the country. Running railroads at Fort Eustis, Camp Campbell, in Europe, and even on the "Saigon & Northern" (a real "mortar bait" operation) did not seem too bad of an option. But when he spotted me in the waiting room, Dr McCullough didn't even bother to look at the x-rays I had brought. Thirty minutes later, I walked out with a letter destined for UT's professor of Military Science. Colonel Joe Sheppard let me keep my jump boots. And a 4-F draft card arrived 10 or so days later.
I wonder if any of Knoxville's fine cadre of DJs and radio production folks would like to share their draft board experience. I know at WBIR, TV newsmen Bick Berney and Bud Veazey had served, as did Bill Jenkins, Doc Johnston's WBIR-AM morning companion. I am sure there are many others.
