Shown here, as it appears today and as it appeared 75 years ago, is the corner of 6th and Francis St., St. Joseph, MO.  Today, it’s the office of an insurance company, but 75 years ago, it was Lee’s Record & Radio Shop, profiled in the November 1946 issue of Radio Retailing.

The rent was high, but the street traffic was heavy, so the store took advantage of a big eye-catching display to lure customers into the store. According to Tillie Frankhauser, the manager, the store was spectacularly in the black. The corner was the second busiest in the city, and owner Lee Drowther took advantage of it. The store was self-service, with albums lined up on the shelf in eye-catching displays. There were two types of listening booths, a stand-up type for quick appraisal of a record, and leather trimmed enclosed booths for serious listening. Plans were in place to construct a mezzanine area for demonstration of radios.