They Fought Like Wildcats Centennial (1914-2014): Tucson businesses that started in 1914

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Clipping of actual L.A. Times article published Nov. 8, 1914

Excerpt from L.A. Times, Nov. 8, 1914, authored by Bill Henry:

“Arizona’s cactus-fed athletes, despite heroic efforts on the part of their two halfbacks, (Asa) Porter and (Franklin) Luis, went down to defeat before the Occidental Tigers yesterday afternoon, the tally with all precincts heard from being 14 to 0 in favor of the Tigers.
Confident of rolling up a big score, the Tigers took the field with grins on their faces, but before the game was 10 seconds old they knew they had a battle on their hands.
The Arizona men showed the fight of wild cats and displayed before the public gaze a couple of little shrimps in the backfield who defied all attempts of the Tigers to stop them.”

This site will conduct a countdown in a 100-day period, leading up to Arizona’s 2014 football season-opener with UNLV on Aug. 29 at Arizona Stadium. The 100 Days ‘Til Kickoff countdown will include information daily about the historic 1914 Arizona team that helped create the school’s nickname of “Wildcats” because of how they played that fateful day against Occidental.

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According to research by The Arizona Daily Star during its series of stories about Arizona’s 100 years of statehood in 2012, at least 63 businesses that started in Tucson before 1914 are still functioning today.

Some of the more noted businesses, organizations or religious and educational institutions include San Xavier del Bac Catholic Church (1700), Tucson Unified School District (1867), Arizona Daily Star (1877), Union Pacific Railroad (1877), Wells Fargo & Co. Financial Services (1877), Pima County Library (1883), the University of Arizona (1885), Tucson Electric Power Utility (1892) and the Amphitheater School District (1893).

These outlets were around when J.F. “Pop” McKale was coaching the historic 1914 “Varsity” football team.

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A couple of noted businesses and organizations started that same year in Tucson: The YMCA of Southern Arizona and Carrillo’s Tucson Mortuary. Both of these entities began near downtown Tucson, a mecca for all business during that generation.

The YMCA of Southern Arizona was constructed at the corner of Congress and Court streets. It was funded by the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad Company, which requested a right-of-way into Tucson in 1914. The city government agreed on the condition that the railroad build the city a YMCA.

McKale welcomed the presence of the YMCA in Tucson to the point that he convinced Arizona administrators to include a YMCA extension program on campus in 1915.

The 1914 Arizona football team that earned the honor of being named the first “Wildcats” was composed of (front row, left to right): Verne La Tourette, George Seeley, Leo Cloud, Richard Meyer, Asa Porter. Second row: Franklin Luis, Lawrence Jackson, Ray Miller, J.F. “Pop” McKale (coach), Turner Smith, Harry Hobson (manager), Orville McPherson, Albert Crawford, Ernest Renaud. Back row: Albert Condron, Emzy Lynch, Charley Beach, Vinton Hammels, Bill Hendry, George Clawson, Harry Turvey.
(AllSportsTucson.com graphic/Photo from University of Arizona Library Special Collections)

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What they were talking about on this day in 1914

Monday, July 6, 1914

The unrest in Mexico continues to make headlines across the United States after General Victoriano Huerta was re-elected as president in a vote that drew a smile from U.S. president Woodrow Wilson. The American government remained passive in the turmoil that included revolutionaries Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranza. There was hope on this day in the U.S. that the Huerta, Villa and Carranza factions would iron out their differences diplomatically.

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Carrillo’s Tucson Mortuary when it started in 1914 (Carrillo’s picture)

Carrillo’s Tucson Mortuary, named the Tucson Undertaking Company at its inception, was started by Arturo Carrillo. A municipal judge from Cananea, Sonora, Carrillo fled Mexico in 1906 during the Mexican revolution. Carrillo, who had experience of handling caskets and conducting funerals while operating a furniture store in Mexico, was hired by the Cananea Copper Company to bury its miners and other personnel.

With his brother-in-law and friend, Elizardo Jacobs, an assayer, they raised enough money to open the funeral home that is located on Stone south of Broadway.

In trying to research where McKale and the “Varsity” may have eaten away from the dining hall at Arizona, a few restaurants were found. None of them are still in operation. El Charro Cafe, which opened its doors in 1922, is considered the longest-operating restaurant in Tucson.

El Charro is the oldest restaurant listed in the 2012 Arizona Daily Star article.

Restaurants in operation at the time the “Varsity” became the “Wildcats” included Jack’s eatery that featured Kansas City steaks, chops and sausages. It is not to be confused with the Jack’s barbecue restaurant that started in 1950 on East 22nd Street.

The Cabinet Cafe and Club Rooms, located at Congress and Church, was a happening place 100 years. It is no longer around.

A newspaper ad for the now defunct Cabinet Cafe and Club Rooms in downtown Tucson in 1914

Tucsonans 100 years ago did their clothes shopping at Levy’s, which is no longer in operation after changing names to Sanger-Harris and Foley’s. Another popular men’s clothing store at that time, Steinfeld’s, is no longer around.

The legendary Drachman and Ronstadt families in Tucson operated businesses in 1914 that are no longer around.

Frederico Ronstadt, grandfather of renowned singer Linda Ronstadt, owned an automobile hardware and supplies shop in Tucson in 1914 called the F. Ronstadt and Co.

The Harry A. Drachman Shoe Company, the “Leading Shoe House in Arizona”, as it proclaimed, was a popular store in Tucson in that generation.

ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.