Busby

[W. Gray]

Amy, Kansas, was established sometime in 1884 but in 1885 the the name was changed to Busby.

Busby was slated for a railroad that never came through but the town did manage to have a hotel.

The store below lasted until 1959 and a year later Elk County bought the land for a road improvement, which never took place.

The store also housed the post office, which was discontinued in 1906.


Kansas Memory

[jarhead]

Waldo,
I think the Busby store was still standing in the early 60's. In my memory, which is sometimes twisted and fuzzy, the store had an awning on the front and front of store was plastered with signs such as "Royal Crown Soda" & etc. Jo or Sarge should know as they had "roots" there.

[W. Gray]

The information came from the Elk County history book in a section that was written by Eunice Sprague Dame--but she could have been writing from memory.

She says Warren Sprague operated the store until his health failed in September 1959, when the store goods were sold. In 1960 the county "forced" the sale of the property and razed the building for a road improvement. (I guess forced would mean eminent domain)

But for some reason--at least until the 1979 publication of the history--the county never used the property for an intended road improvement.

The book does not say what roadwork and I went out there with my Dad earlier this century and we could not tell if anything (or what they might have wanted to do) had been accomplished since the book publication date.

She also says the hotel was south of the store and at the time the county history was written was still standing but had porches added and was being used as a farmhouse.

[Marcia Moore]

     A close-out auction was held at the Sprague store on Sept. 26, 1959 at 1:00 p.m., conducted by auctioneer George C. Speer.       
     The Hensley Hotel building still stands at 1263 Road 27.  It was added on to, remodeled and turned into a home and is currently occupied by Joe and Pat Sniveley.   

[Sarge]

I remember buying a candy bar in that store for 3 cents.

[frawin]

Sarge, I bought a few candy bars and pop there myself. We used to skip school in the spring and go to cave springs and drink water then to Busby. Was your Candy Bar buggy? My 5th grade teacher was Warren Sprague's sister. I think she lived at Busby and drove in to Howard everyday.

[jarhead]

Frank,
Speaking of soda pop, do you remember a soda named "Pomac". Now I know I didn't dream this one up because I have a Pomac bottle. It was in a clear bottle and looked just like beer---and I could swear I got a buzz if I drank 3 bottles of it.

[frawin]

JARHEAD, you got me on that one, I don't remember it. One of my favorites was Kist which came in Chocolate or a strawberry milkshake pop. Kist didn't last long.

[frawin]

Pommac: Jarhead there are several articles on this when you Google it. I just never came a cross it. It was fermented, that is why you got a buzz.

Pommac is a Swedish carbonated soft drink made of fruits and berries and matured in oak barrels for 3 months. The first pommac was made in 1919. The name comes from "Pomm" as in pomme, apple in French, and "ac" as it is matured on oak barrels like cognac. The recipe is kept a secret.

In 1919, Anders Lindahl, a failed businessman from Hudiksvall moved to Stockholm, Sweden, and founded Fructus Fabriker and began to make Pommac. The recipe was made by a Finland-Swedish inventor. The drink was made for the upper classes as an alcohol free substitute for wine.

Dr. Pepper distributed a formulation of it in the US as a diet drink from 1963 to 1969 in six-and-a-half- and ten-ounce bottles. It took a while for people to become accustomed to the taste, so sales were slow. When sales remained stagnant after six years, and its sweetener, sodium cyclamate, was banned, Dr. Pepper discontinued the product.

Some of its loyal (particularly younger) fans thought of it as "near beer." Pommac is also served as ersatz champagne for teetotallers and car drivers on public celebrations.

In late 2004, Carlsberg in Denmark announced that they were going to cease production of Pommac due to economical reasons. However, after overwhelming public demand (including a petition tallying over 50,000 signatures) was raised in response, the company decided to keep marketing Pommac.

[greatguns]

I remember it and I didn't like it.