Lost Tables: Buckingham's

Buckingham's

Clyde Clark Buckingham was born in 1877 in Potomac. Illinois, just west of the Indiana border. His father, Tracy Wilson Buckingham, had a grocery store in Potomac where Clyde and a friend started a free delivery service using a spotted pony and buckboard wagon.

Buckingham & Co., Potomac, Illinois, circa 1895

After his stint at his father's grocery store, Clyde Buckingham immersed himself in the newspaper business. He started as publisher of the Potomac Rustler in 1897, and over the next few years he solicited advertising for the Galena (Kansas) Evening Times, was advertising manager for the Joplin (Missouri) News-Herald and was publisher of the Paris (Illinois) Evening Globe. He also found time in 1899 to open the Keystone Cigar Co. in Galena.

In 1906, Buckingham married Myrtle Householder of Burlington, Kansas. The two were married in St. Louis and lived there for a short time until they divorced.

In 1907, Buckingham moved to Houston where he became editor and publisher of the Texas Realty Journal. He remarried Myrtle Householder Buckingham in October of 1909 and they divorced again in January of 1912.

And then, on September 30, 1913 in Houston, Texas, Clyde C. Buckingham married Mabelle A. Hogsett.

Mabelle Ann Hogsett was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1883. Over the years, she would shorten her first name to Mabel and use the nickname Trixie. She would also remain married to Clyde Buckingham for 56 years.

While Clyde Buckingham had settled down matrimonially, by 1916 he was once again on the move professionally.

In July of 1916, he became editor and publisher of the Clovis (New Mexico) News. He quickly moved on to be the automobile editor of the El Paso (Texas) Times. And in July of 1917, the El Paso Times reported:

"Buck" is going out of the newspaper business and will try a commercial venture of his own in San Antonio, Texas. It wasn’t El Paso and it wasn’t The Times – but to gain the health of Mrs. Buckingham. Local physicians say she must be taken to a lower altitude.

By 1919, Clyde Buckingham was back in the grocery business as local manager for six Piggly Wiggly stores in South Bend, Indiana. In the fall of 1920, he sold his interest in the South Bend stores and accepted a position as district manager for Piggly Wiggly in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Buckinghams remained in Little Rock until at least 1926. In 1923, Mabel Buckingham went into the restaurant business, opening the Gray Goose Cafeteria at 115 West Capitol. In 1925, she opened at second location at 125 South Main.

By 1928, the Buckinghams had moved to St. Louis. Clyde Buckingham took a job as traffic representative for the McKinley Bridge, a position he would hold until he retired in 1948. And on March 18, 1942, Mabel Buckingham opened another restaurant.

Buckingham's, 8945 Manchester Road, circa 1945

The following appeared in the March 26, 1942 edition of the Webster News-Times.

Mrs. Trixie Ann Buckingham has opened a new and attractive chicken dinner room at 8945 Manchester road, a block west of North and South road, known as "The Buckinghams." A large parking lot is available. Mrs. Buckingham recently completed a course in tea room management at the famous Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking School.

The Buckinghams purchased a vacant two-story bungalow, with shingle cladding, at 8945 Manchester Road in the municipality of Brentwood and turned it into a fried chicken restaurant. While the restaurant's success was due in part to Trixie Buckingham's management of the kitchen, it was also aided by Clyde Buckingham's extensive background as a newspaper man.

For the 20 years the Buckinghams owned their friend chicken restaurant, they advertised extensively in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the Webster News-Times. Beyond fading memories, much of the restaurant's history is contained in those ads.

The Buckinghams promoted their "homey" atmosphere "set among the big oaks and the beautiful grounds." The restaurant featured six dining rooms and catered to bridge and club luncheons.

In 1942, Buckingham's fried chicken dinners could be had for a dollar. Their family style dinner included salad, potatoes, fresh vegetables, apple sauce, relish, pickles, honey butter and hot rolls, strawberry preserves, a drink and desert. They also offered steak and fish dinners.

Buckingham's sold its popular French dressing by the pint. "Have you ever tried our popular French Dressing? It’s the best you ever tasted. People from all over the country come here for it – same old price, 50¢ pint."

Buckingham's was famous for its homemade pies, including lemon meringue, apple, cherry, gooseberry, mince, pumpkin, butterscotch, chocolate cream, coconut cream and banana cream. They were "rich in eggs and other ingredients, with flaky crusts that melt in your mouth."

The lemon meringue pies were "two inches high" and were "the talk of the the town." Ninety-five percent of their guests preferred lemon to any other kind, "so it must be good."

Buckingham's did not serve liquor. "Some ask if we serve liquor – we do not. No stimulant needed to whet your appetite on the good food served at Buckingham's."

Clyde Buckingham was a skillful marketer. In February of 1946, Curt Teich & Co. of Chicago received an order from Buckingham’s for 12,500 color postcards based on a black & white photograph. The postcards were distributed to restaurant patrons to mail to family and friends.

Curt Teich & Co. Postcard #6B-H202

Buckingham's included customer testimonials in their newspaper ads. Customers were also asked to submit verse and paid $1.00 for each poem published.

The "Duke of Buckingham" appeared in a 1942 ad and was used frequently to spout quips and poetry.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 18, 1948

In 1948, Buckingham's began offering a french fried shrimp dinner – "whole, juicy, jumbo shrimp, New Orleans style, french fried to a golden brown, with tartar sauce to dip them in." In her September 19, 1948 St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Favorite Dish" column, Frances Dawson described how Trixie Ann Buckingham prepared her specialty.

Trixie Ann Buckingham peels shrimp
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept 19, 1948

In 1956, Curt Teich & Co. made another promotional postcard for Buckingham's to distribute to their customers. It featured the restaurant's new sign.

Curt Teich & Co. Postcard #6C-K1680

In his September 8, 1957 St. Louis Globe-Democrat column, Bob Goddard gave Buckingham's a favorable review, although he mistakingly tacked a few years on to their longevity.

If any of you ladies are burdened with husbands who come up with occasional groans to the effect of, "Why can't I find some fried chicken like mother used to make?" don't worry about it. Just take the old fool out to Buckingham's, 8945 Manchester, which has been specializing in fried chicken, home cooked style, for 18 years. Clyde and Trixie Buckingham, the owners, have managed to come up with a formula for fryers so tender that you wonder how the chickens ever managed to walk around while they were alive.
Fried chicken is the Buckingham specialty, but you'll find it in other appetizing forms, too – baked chicken, chicken pot pie, etc., which come with all the trimmings, two vegetables, homemade rolls and pie. And along with the thriving business inside, Buckingham's does a brisk trade in carry-out orders, with take-home dinners from $1.25 to $2. Best way to handle the latter is to call ahead of time so your take-home victuals will be ready when you get there.
Evening dinners at Buckingham's lure many hearty-eating males as well as females, but as Clyde Buckingham puts it, "a man is somewhat of a curiosity around here at lunch-time."

In October of 1962, Clyde and Trixie Buckingham retired. They sold their restaurant to Sue Barton, who had established herself as a cateress.

Barton extensively remodeled the building, including the kitchen and dining-rooms. Walls were removed, and rooms were enlarged and redecorated, with gold and cream the predominate color scheme.

Buckingham's Main Dining Room
The Webster Advertiser, Aug 31, 1967

Buckingham's continued to serve fried chicken until the end of 1968. By March of 1969, the property was for sale.

Clyde Buckingham died on October 23, 1969 at the age of 92. Mabel "Trixie" Buckingham died on February 22, 1986 at the age of 103. The building at 8945 Manchester Road lives on.

8945 Manchester Road, 2019