Show brothers S still till I 1 in n business began in 1908 the brothers mentioned several of their commercial old time merchants who have been in business in green river for the past 47 years in fact they were running a gen eral merchandise store before green rivers FIRST uranium boom occurred the brothers mentioned several of their commercial activities here such as a general merchandising grocery and ant clothing store at one time they even operated a liver livery y stable though this was discontinued in 1911 shortly before they began selling gasoline we were the first to sell gaso ime line here in green river from an old hand pump in connection with our store said frank frank now 76 first started the mercantile project in 1908 and about a later his brother malcom also became associated with the mercantile company F frank r a n k reminisced this was in 1909 the same year that uranium was first discovered on the mesa northwest of the san rafael bridge thereby touching off green rivers first uranium rush it might also be interesting to note here that at that time there was only the railroad bridge across the river here and the only other means of crossing was by the old farrer s ferry A brisk business developed for the Poli tanos and they were able to expand in 1910 when they bought out another mercantile company and moved into the larger quarters for several years things went along steadily the business continuing to progress and grow prospectors and miners drifted into the region the coal mines in carbon county were also ac tive and drew large numbers of workers and their families frank noted that the people in the mining camps were finding it difficult to obtain their food supplies and that they were es specially ally avid for fresh green vege tables finally his natural liking for the soil coupled with the fact that a ready market close at hand was crying for produce resulted in his decision to sell ell the store in 1917 to malcom frank obtained a farm about 2 miles north of green river and started raising the famous green river melons as well as vege tables of all kinds As the sea sons for harvesting his many crops arrived he loaded his fancy produce and went by wagon and team into the mining camps to sell it his customers ever hun gry for fresh greens vegetables and melons received him en the produce was first quality and the eager market was large however one insurmountable hitch developed and became ever more evident roads proved his undoing bad roads cow trails no roads at all storms swollen streams mud and more mud trapped him out in the wilds and kept him away from his truck gardens for a week or more at a time profit wise this wasn gasn t so good frank was not easily aged though he liked the work and enjoyed selling a product for which his customers were clamor X U 1 4 40 A IQ wn iwa T qa 0 4 1 14 ivo 0 aa 41 0 N A 11 aw 71 W 0 11 Y 1 1 I 1 N this is the interior of the old fair store when it firson first opened ened in 1908 frank owner of the new enterprise is standing behind the counter in the center of the picture note the type of merchandise on the bargain counter in the right foreground all yard goods customers living on the east side of the green river had to ride the ferry to get across to the fair store where they could purchase a yard of lace or a spool of thread ing to make matters more pre carious a couple of bad years for crops had to show up still it took seven years of constant struggle before he decided to quit the produce business in 1924 he went back to the denver and rio grande railroad as a section fore man now began a long period of working and saving pinching every penny possible frank s goal was definite someday he was going to go back into business for himself so he worked and saved by day and by night dreamed of the time when he could again be a gheen green river merchant fourteen years inched by and finally in 1938 he was able to open the doors of his present clothing store on broadway still he was playing it safe and con linued working for the railroad while his wife ran the store but in 1945 misfortune struck when his wife died now he had to aj 9 ia malcom stands by the counter of the mercantile co when it was located where tre home of postmistress seeley now stand wonder how many shins and toes the old pot bellied stove has toasted I 1 malcom must have removed the cracker and cheese barrels for this picture but mer nier chan dising is malcolm s dish and he has stayed with it successfully ever since he first began in 1909 his hi present store modem modern and attractive was recently remodelled remodel led and newly outfitted quit either the store or the rail road the choice wasn gasn t hard he kept the store and still runs it though now he has the help of his pleasant and affable sec ond wife the former mrs emma smith whom he married three years ago all these years ever since he first bought out frank malcom has remained steadily in business though years ago he converted from general merchandise to a straight food store groceries and fresh meats ernest coliano mal com corns s youngest son has also be come associated in the grocery business just this spring may in fact they began the task of enlarging and remodelling remo delling the present store it is located on broadway right next door to franks clothing store malcom said that their plans call for a modern self service market about square feet of floor space has been added to the interior and by the time this is printed new gleaming modern fixtures arranged for the con vengence veni ence of customers will have been installed the exterior has also had a face lifting job its inviting new look has been achieved by the ad of a new aluminum and brick front to the building the Poli tanos came to america from italy with their parents peter came with his son frank then 11 years of age in 1896 they landed in new york and made a huge swing around the country stopping in many places such as boston montreal portland san francisco salt lake city and finally green river utah they stayed where ever peter could find work and there young frank also sold newspapers on the streets two years year s went by before peter was given a contract to care for the D R G railroad coal chutes at green river at last he had work of a permanent na ture and lost no time in sending for his wife rose and their two other sons malcom and joe they arrived here in may 1898 five year old malcom received all his education here in green river since he had been too young to go to school in italy mrs rose anci died just this year on valentine valentines s day feb auary 14 1955 at the age of 1031 the mother spent her last years at malcom s home he said malcom and frank said that they had two sons and three daughters each all of franks frank s children are married and he has one son carl P a section fore man who lives in green river malcom jr also lives here GRO LADIES GENTS MF ATS CLOTHING L M AJ 14 EW ve tf aw L A A this view of the brothers stores which sit side by side on broadway was taken just before malcom began the enlargement and modernization of the grocery and meat market |