Above is a newspaper advertisement for the Bee Hive, a retail clothing store in Anderson, SC. George Biles opened the tore in 1902. The advertisement is for September of 1905 and it advertises a Spring and Summer sale on dress goods, dry goods, clothing, shoes, and more. The owner, Mr. Biles, was originally from Fort Mills. He was born into poverty and only obtained a third grade education. In the 1890’s he moved to Charlotte to become a salesmen. He later moved again to Anderson, where he met his second wife and opened his store. The Bee Hive was very successful, rivaling large chains like Belk and J.C. Penny in the region. Originally Biles opened one small store, which then grew to two locations in the square, which then moved to the more iconic and significantly larger location on Main street. It was commonly known that Bile’s store could supply just about anything you needed, from oddly shaped soaps to kangaroo hyde shoes. It was also known for it’s four story elevator much later on. Today, the store remains at the same location at 510 Main Street in Anderson and is owned by mother and daughter Jacqueline Foster Ashley and Katie Beth Johnson as an event venue and women’s clothing and home goods store. Biles is remembered for his upstanding character and for his contributions to the Kiwanis Club and as a deacon at First Baptist Church in Anderson. He was also known for purchasing an independent mail advertisement each week for a different Anderson resident that he admired. At T.L Hanna High School, there is a ring awarded in his name to the senior student who displays the most integrity. The paper which Jonathan used to write Blanche was from Mr. Bile’s store and you spot his advertising along the top margin of the letter and on the envelope calling it the “cheapest store in the state.”
Citations
Biles, G.H. 1905. “The Bee Hive.” The Anderson Intelligencer. Newspaper advertisement. September 16, 1905. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026965/1905-09-06/ed-1/seq-4/
Burns, Kay Willis. “What’s the Buzz? The Bee Hive Is Revived.” The Electric City News. Last modified October 25, 2018. https://www.theelectriccitynews.com/post/what-s-the-buzz-the-bee-hive-is-revived
Hardesty, Abe. “Bailes Stood Tall as Civic Leader, Marketing Guru of 20th Century.” Independent Mail. April 2, 2016. https://www.independentmail.com/story/news/local/2016/04/02/bailes-stood-tall-as-civic-leader-marketing-guru-of-20th-century/88625756/
“The Bee Hive: Gatherings and Gifts.” 2023. https://shopbeehive.co/
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
In his letter, Jonathan mentions wanting to take Blanche to a picture show. In 1907, movies were just becoming a common occurrence. The first movie theater in South Carolina, Wonderland Theater, opened in Charleston that year. The first movie had come out only twelve years prior in Paris, France using a device called a cinématographe invented by the Lumiére brothers. The divide was a combination of a camera, film printer, and projector. The majority of early films were shown at fairgrounds or music halls and they were a few minutes in length. They did not have comlex plot lines or even lines at all, as there was no dialogue. Films did, however, tend to be accompanied by music, lectures, and participation from the audience. The first thirty years were the formative ones for cinema. The process of adding natural color to film began in 1906, a color film was not released until 1909 by the British. The U.S. didn’t gain it reputation in film until much later. The original leaders or the film industry were mainly Russia and Europe. One movie that came out in 1907, the year Jonathan was writing, called “The Life and Passion of the Christ.” The movie followed the life of Jesus Christ and delivered the Christian message, on an international level. It included a very graphic screen of the death of Jesus and it was the most popular movie out that year and earned a great deal of fame across the world. Below is an IMDB list of the movies that ranked under it in 1907. If they had been able to attend a picture show, one of these is likely what they would have seen. Below is also a video of the history of Theaters in Anderson S.C. The first theater in Anderson was called the Opera House in 1905. The first movie it showed was created by a magician and it was simply a set of silverware being moved around a table. The first full length movie it showed was “The Unwritten Law” which also came out in 1907 and can be seen in the movie poster above. It only ran for about 12 minutes and follows the story of a film producer found murdered on a ship and the suspects of his murder, a young woman who’s mother was mistreated by the victim and an electrician he had recently fired. The Opera House closed in 1914 only nine years after it had opened, the same year that World War One broke out.
Citations
Osteen, Harry. “The History of Theaters in Anderson, S.C.” Anderson County S.C. March 2, 2019. YouTube Video. 25:59. https://youtu.be/z8Gij7nQhoY?si=MhvF9x3SV31lFRGt
“A Very Short History of Cinema.” The Media and Science Museum. Published June 18, 2020. https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/very-short-history-of-cinema#:~:text=The%20first%20to%20present%20projected,film%20printer%20all%20in%20one.
“The Unwritten Law.” IMDb Movie. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0023644/#
The city of Belton, which Jonathan references in his letter as the city he is nearest to, is a small city located in eastern Anderson county, which was incorperated in 1855 after a railway was extended to connect the Piedmont region to the railroad that ran through Charleston and Colombia. There was a population boom following the railway completion which led to the incorporation of the town. The town was given the name “Belton” by Josephine Brown, the daughter of the man who owned most of the land surrounding the railway, after Judge John Belton O’Neal who was president of the C and G Railroad. In 1906 Belton Mills opened. In 1908, right after Jonathan’s letter was written in October of 1907, the town’s first municipal water system was established, known as the Belton Standpipe which is still in use today and stands as a landmark in the town. The water tower is 155 feet high and to this day, inspires the Belton Standpipe Festival that takes place each year since 1987. The town’s first bank, Farmer’s Bank was established in 1902. Belton was one of the few cities not have any bank failure during the Great Depression.The Belton hotel was built by H.M. Geer in 1907, the year Jonathan was there. Today, Horton’s Pharmacy occupies the building where the Geer Hotel once was. The first baptist church that Jonathan visited was likely the First Baptist Church of Belton, which was established in 1853 under Reverend Solomon G. O’Bryan and Reverend David Fisher. Following a fire in 1947, the church was moved from it’s Pearl Street location to it’s current location on the east side of Main Street in Belton.
Citations
Scott, Brian. “First Baptist Church of Belton.” The Historical Marker Database. edited June 16, 2016. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=50323
”Born And Raised in The South…” Belton, S.C. August 3, 2009. http://ltc4940.blogspot.com/2009/08/belton-sc.html?m=1
“Historical and Architectural Survey of Anderson County, South Carolina” The National Register. 2002. http://nationalregister.sc.gov/SurveyReports/AndersonCounty2002-2SM.pdf