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THE SEA COAST ECHO?SUNDAY, JULY 16, 1989-1B
SECTION B
At 83, Mauffray continues to run hardware business
If it can?t be found in other hardware stores, chances are that whatever you?re seeking is available at one of Bay St. Louis? unofficial historic landmarks, Mauffray?s Hardware.
The store?s almost 83-year-old proprietor (his birthday will be Aug. 10) can give you precise directions to the gadget, gizmo or whatsit you want.
?Go downstairs to the wall on your left, take three steps and you will find it at knee-level,? he tells a customer.
Mauffray should know where it is or where to order itfor you if he does not have one in stock; he began working in the store in 1913 when he was only seven years old.
?Do you know how much I was paid? Fifty cents a week! That was a lot of money in those days, especially for a seven-year-old,? he said.
His employer was his own father, Joseph O. Mauffray,
?He took his old work clothes, turned all the pants upside down and shook them. Then he gathered up the change that fell out and took it to the bank.?
After the death of his father, who would have been 119 this year if he were still alive, Mauffray inherited the hardware business and continues to run it himself with the help of his wife Flora. He has made a few changes, such as the warehouse section which replaced four small wooden warehouses in 1950.
Due to four massive heart attacks, the first? of which ocurred in 1985, he has also modified his hours to 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Saturday, on his doctor?s orders.
?My doctor approves of what I?m doing, and he knows exactly what I?m doing,? Mauffray said as he walks through his store, where he keeps a number of items he says are rarely sold
ing that because his son has never been interested in going into the hardware business, he has simply continued running the place himself.
He has had four written offers for purchase of the store as well as a number of verbal offers, including one from Alaska. Mauffray said the business is just not for sale.
?It looks like I?m going to die with my shoes on, right here,? he said with a laugh.
?He would be happy as a lark if he could live here in the store. This store is his life,? his wife added.
Commonly called ?Uncle Aldie? by the community, including a few active people older than he is, Mauffray keeps a list of items customers request. When he orders something for a specific customer, he often orders a few more to keep in stock. Sometimes, he can not supply the item because it is no longer obtainable.
?We had not five cents? worth of damage in the ?47 hurricane, but this place was wrecked after Camille. The U.S. engineers did me a terrible thing,? Mauffray said.
?They came in here with their machinery and took it all into dump trucks. I tried to stop them but they told me they had instructions to pick up anything that was storm-wrecked.?
?I saw several thousand dollars of usable merchandise go out the door.?
Mauffray attempted to find out what became of his property and recover it, but was never able to find out where it was taken.
He still has a few old-time things like slide-type clothespins and iron cooking pots available.
?We have the only beer crocks in this part of the world,? he said, displaying a selection of cream-colored crocks with blue markings on them. He has