Front of the famous old “Dr. Porter Drug Store.” recreated by the
Greensboro Historical Society for the entrance to a memorial dedicated
this week on the 85th anniversary of the birth of William Sidney Porter
(O. Henry) to the joint memories of Porter and his distinguished con¬
temporary follow-townsman, Lunsford Richardson, both of whose early
careers were intimately associated with this place of business.
O. Henry and Vick
Greensboro opens memorial room
in honor of two men who became
famous through other names besides
their own.
THE eighty-fifth anniversary of
the birth of America’s short
story classicist, William Sidney
Porter ( the immortal O. Henry of
American letters) was celebrated
by the city of his birth Thursday
night with the formal opening and
dedication of a memorial room in
Greensboro’s Civic Center.
This memorial has been the spe¬
cial project for several years of the
Greensboro Historical Museum So¬
ciety. The Society has assembled
and arranged for permanent dis¬
play a rare collection of O. Henry-
ana, including original manu¬
scripts, letters, documents, and first
editions of his works. It has also
re-created as part of the memo¬
rial, in the atmosphere of the
1880’s, a section of one of the city’s
historic institutions, the old "Dr.
Porter’s Drug Store."
It was in this drug store, owned
by his uncle, that Will Porter held
his first job and became a pharma¬
cist, a profession which he aban¬
doned after a few years to follow
a rather checkered career which
culminated with international fame
for him in the literary world, un¬
der the pen name of “O. Henry."
In this same drug store a contem¬
porary fellow townsman, Lunsford
Richardson, who was one of the
South’s outstanding figures in bet¬
ter inter-racial relations, philan¬
thropy and church work, laid the
foundation for his fame and for¬
tune in the drug field. The prod¬
ucts of his creative genius here
were to become internationally
known under the familiar trade
name of "Vicks.”
Because the paths of their desti¬
nies crossed here in this little vil¬
lage drug store and because, by a
curious O. Henryesque quirk, each
became famous Under a name not
his own. the reproduction of the
drug store section is a joint memo¬
rial to the two men. The memorial
plaque tells the story thus in brief :
“This section of ‘Dr. Porter's
Drug Store’ is reproduced in mem¬
ory of two of Greensboro’s distin¬
guished sons who served behind its
prescription counter and later won
fame under names not their own :
"William Sidney Porter <1862-
1910) master story teller whose
works became known throughout
the world under his pen name of
•O. Henry’; and
"Lunsford Richardson (1854-
1919) founder of the company
whose products became known
throughout the world under his
trade name of ‘Vicks’."
There are many legends as to
why Porter chose "O. Henry" as
his pen name. One of the most fea¬
sible is that it was a subconscious
selection from the pharmacist’s
much used United States Dispensa¬
tory, an abbreviation of Etienne-
Ossian Henry, a distinguished
French chemist. Still another is
that he simply picked the name
"Henry” at random from a news¬
paper column and prefixed the “O."
because it was a name easy to write
and pleasant to hear.
Richardson adopted "Vick," a
family name, for a very practical
reason. It was short and easier to
remember than his own; therefore
better suited to promotion as a
trade name.
The life stories of both men are
counted among the American sagas
of individual achievement. Al¬
though both were of prominent
North Carolina families, promi¬
nence in those post-war reconstruc¬
tion days of the South was meas¬
ured in terms of blood lines and
character, not in wealth. Each had
to make his own way on his own
power. Fortunately, each lived to
see his special talents recognized
and publicly appreciated.
Mother & Daughter
Stores Operate in
Four i\. C. Cities
In the August 30 issue of The
State there was published a half¬
page advertisement for Mother
and Daughter Fashions, setting
forth information about bride’s ap¬
parel. In the signature, only the
city of Raleigh was mentioned.
Mother & Daughter Fashions
operate in four North Carolina
cities— Rocky Mount. Wilson. Ra¬
leigh and Winston-Salem — and all
of these names should have been
appended to the ad.
Mother & Daughter Fashions are
now displaying a complete stock
of fall and winter apparel for
women, as well as new merchan¬
dise in various other departments
of the stores. *
io
THE STATE. September 13. 1947
