|
1937 |
The Mississippi
River Great Flood devastates huge area; thousands of homeless brought to
Memphis. 
Firestone Tire and Rubber starts till 1983. 
and a advertisement Goldsmith's
An Icebox
|
|
1938 |
TV A power becomes
available to Memphis. 
Goodwyn Institute
at Madison Avenue. |
|
1939 |
City purchases the
local utility company and renames it Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division.
The Grand Ole Opry
is first heard on network radio. Memphis 
Confederate park
The Cotton exchange building
Luciann opened in 1939 and closed in 1958, later it became the Paris
Adult Theatre. In 1966 it was turned into a night club.
|
|
1940 |
Population 292.942. B.B. King 
performs for the first time on Bealestreet, Memphis. 
Edward H. Crump becomes mayor only in 1940, also Joseph Patrick Boyle.
Walter Chandler becomes mayor till 1946.
In 1940, Malco Theatres
purchased the
Orpheum Theatre, and renamed it The Malco. This
opulent movie palace at 89
Beale Street
also became the base of operations for Malco Theatres until
1976. The Malco began operations on April 20, 1940, with its
first film "It's a Date". The premiere gala was sponsored
by the Nineteenth Century Club.
Hollywood Theatre
at 2469 Chelsea opened 1940, demolished 2005. The Memphis Police
accident-investigation.
Park Theatre
at 3527 Park Avenue opened 1940 and is demolished, there is a Walgreens now on its site.
|
|
1941 |
Memphis selected as
site for Kennedy General Hospital, a multi-million dollar institution
that will grow to 3000 beds. International Harvester locates plant.
Value of Mid-South cotton crop doubles its 1940 price.
Memphis Airport 
and Memphis Riversite. 
The Mason Temple
built in 1941,
during World War II.
The Temple was the largest church building owned by a black religious denomination in the United States at its completion.
Ther building was namend for bishop Charles Harrison Mason, founder of
the Curch of God in Christ. It was the location of Martin Luther King
Jr's famous 'I've Been to the Mountainop' speech on April 3, 1968, one
day before his assassination. |
|
1942 |
Memphis Cotton
donkeys.
Airways Theater
opened in 1942 en closed in 1980.
New Daisy Theater opened in 1942 at 330 Bealestreet.
across the street of the Daisy Theatre. |
|
1943 |
The Army now
defense' depot, the Mallory Air Force depot built. |
|
1944 |
War economy
continues to boom, creating critical housing shortage.
Volney, the lion
who roared at the beginning of all the old MGM movies, lived at the
old Carnivora building at the Memphis Zoo until his death in
1944.
|
|
1945 |
Construction of
fourlane Memphis to Arkansas bridge begins. 
|
|
1946 |
Joseph Patrick Boyle
becomes mayor only in 1946. Sylvanus W. Polk Sr. becomes mayor till
1947.
December 31, Combat and trainer airplanes at Naval airport Memphis. 
Bealestreet 1946
|
|
1947 |
James J. Pleasant
Jr. becomes mayor till 1949 and Miss Memphis Barbara Jo Walker becomes Miss
America. 
Memphis Bus transportation
W.C.Handy Theater at 2353 Park Avenue opened in 1947 and closed in 1955.
Ampro is an ethic
hair care and cosmetics company founded
in 1947. Its product lines include a wide range of styling and treatment
products, specially formulated for ethnic consumers including, gels,
shampoos, conditioners and polishers. The company’s original product
line, PRO STYL gel, continues to be the number-one selling styling gel
in the country. Ampro's 20 current brand names include Pro Styl andClear Ice. The company's products are sold
through conventional channels (including health and beauty retailers
such asWal-Mart, Walgreen's, Dollar General, SallyBeauty Supply, Kroger,
Eckerd, Fred's and Rite-Aid
) as well
as through a large network of individually owned regional beauty supply
stores. The company's history began in 1947. Irvin Lansky, owned a dry goods store on Beale
Street,
and began to sell ethnic hair care products. Immediately seeing the
potential in the lines, Lansky formed Vogue Distributing Company, a
beauty supply product wholesaler. Lansky then expanded the enterprise
with a Memphis retail location called Vogue Beauty and Barber Mart, and
it was here that he began manufacturing his own ethnic hair care
products. He developed a line called "Ampro," short for American
Products, which is still manufactured today.[4]
Ampro Industries' current manufacturing facility is a few miles away
from the original shop on Beale Street in Memphis.
The first Fred's store openend in 1947 and operates 639 stores and 300 pharmacies in 15 states. It is headquartered in Memphis.
|
|
1948 |
Elvis Presley, the
King of Rock 'n' Roll, made Memphis his home after his family moved to
the city from Tupelo, Mississippi in 1948.
The Presley's will live on Washington street 370.
WMCT-TV in Memphis
is the state's first television station. State elections turn against
the control of Memphis political boss E.H. Crump. 
WDIA 
becomes the
nation's first radio station to adopt an all-black format. Construction
on the Memphis Harbor project begins. |
|
1949 |
New Bridge opens.
Watkins Overton becomes mayor till 1953. 
May 14, The Presley `s move from Washington street to the Poplar avenue.
September, the
Presley `s move now to two-room house, existing from a kitchen and
live/sleep room. The house is the ground of the apartment block-system,
committed on the Winchester street 185. The Presley `s live on no. 328.
The building has been confessed better as Lauderdale Courts. 
|
