The Derrick >
Thomas's Drug Store
was located in Gladys City and had a soda fountain with homemade ice cream.
In the front section
is a 1911 soda fountain. The counter tops are simulated marble and are
typical of the period. Ice cream and soda pop were sold in a number of
confectionaries, including Thomas's, on the Spindletop hill.
Not all of the roustabouts, drillers, roughnecks and toolpushers were
hard-bitten, hard-drinking caricatures of oil-field workers. Some were
good Christian boys and young men who enjoyed a soda pop more than a drink
of whiskey. The confectionery was a successful business and was very popular,
especially in the heat of summer. Refrigeration equipment was available;
however, it required electricity, which was expensive to install and not
available to everyone. Certainly the home refrigeration system capable
of keeping ice cream was not available at this time.
Thomas's also sold medicine and for a period had a doctor's office in
the back part of the store. A great many of the medicines of the period
were narcotic and certainly addictive. None of the medicines on exhibit
in the drug store are of this variety, but many of them did originally
have a high alcohol content, which also helped the patient feel less pain.
There were few doctors in the oil field, although accidents and injuries
there were common. "Doc" Thomas, as he was called at the time,
helped as much as he could, from providing medicines to dealing with minor
injuries and birthing babies. The equipment in the back room, including
an examination table, a doctor's bag, a wheelchair, and a machine to test
for eyeglasses, is from the early 20th century.