Two other children had died young. William Baird added a second popcorn machine at 5th and Main streets and put oldest son Dewey, age eleven, in charge of it. In son Hoyt recalled that his job was to ride his bicycle early every morning to a South Side butcher shop to get meat for the restaurant.
When he got back to the restaurant he started a fire in the stove and made cake batter before leaving for school. And by William and Ninnie operated a restaurant on Main Street. In , the family, now numbering nine, rented a cottage on Hemphill Street on the near South Side.
The Telegram printed letters to Santa Claus from two of the Baird children. Ninnie, not William, was listed as a baker in Ninnie had always baked for her family and had given away any surplus food to neighbors.
Baking allowed her to earn money at home, where she could also care for her husband and children. In the beginning Mrs. Baird used her wood-burning kitchen stove, which baked only four loaves at a time. Her four sons—Hoyt, Dewey, Roland, and C. Soon they graduated to delivery by bicycle.
Word-of-mouth was the first advertising for the family business. To meet demand the family buggy was converted into a delivery wagon with a bell. Although Ninnie Baird often worked sixteen hours a day, she occasionally rode along with Hoyt as he made deliveries.
In the Bairds moved to Fairmount and rented a cottage c. In the census William Baird and son Dewey were listed as bakers.
There were now eight children ranging in age from one to twenty. Four days before Christmas William Allen Baird died. Now widowed at age forty-two with eight children, Ninnie Baird knew she had to add some yeast to the family business. She convinced the landlord to convert a servants quarters behind the cottage into a bakery—with a larger brick oven—and a bakery store. Baird baked each morning and each afternoon took off her apron, put on a clean dress, and worked in the store.
She now sold creampuffs, layer cakes, pies, and cinnamon rolls in addition to bread and dinner rolls. In Mrs. Baird bought a Ford Model T truck to replace the horse-drawn delivery wagon.
The sons took out the seats and added a panel body. Charlie Longguth went to work for the Bairds in as their first hired employee. He was the delivery man on Route 1—a job he held more than thirty years. In he recalled the delivery truck. Times have changed so much.
Sometimes the bread was wrapped and sometimes it was unwrapped. My route was the entire city, covering the old South Side and part of uptown. By the intersection of Washington and Cactus avenues had the Mrs. After 5 p. The Cactus and Washington addresses are actually the same place.
The Baird cottage and bakery were located at the intersection. The cottage had a Cactus address; the bakery had a Washington address. Cactus Avenue today is Jefferson Street. After ten years, demand had outgrown supply. Help us investigate stories that matter to you. No question is too big or too small. Visit this link to pose your question and vote on which questions we should answer.
Mariana Rivas , Curious Texas intern. She is a bilingual reporter with a B. Get the answers to the the biggest questions about the culture, people and institutions of North Texas.
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Published: August 27, pm Updated: August 27, pm. Born in Texas wheat fields. Bread for Texas families. Posted by Mrs Baird's on Wednesday, September 19,
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