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February 2008:
‘Behind the Scenes’ at Store No. 130, Bedford, Pa.

	Past Photos of the Month: 2007 December October September August July June May April March February

R.E. Brumbaugh, manager, G.C. Murphy Co. Store No. 130, Bedford, Pa., 1952

A few months ago, we featured a photo of the former Store No. 130 in Bedford, Pa., as it appears today.

Thanks to a group of Murphy retirees in central Pennsylvania, we also have these photos of the store in its heyday.

Several employees still meet on the last Monday of each month at a local restaurant for “dinner and fellowship,” writes Mary Ellen College, who worked in store No. 130 from 1936 to 1944.

Another employee, Mabel Koontz, writes:

I started to work at No. 130–Bedford, part-time Saturdays and holidays in 1939. When I graduated from high school in 1940, with only a few places to work in the small town of Bedford, I went to work full-time for Murphy’s.

I started out on ladies accessories under manager Vic Gruber. I worked there for several years, then transferred to the candy counter and was there for about five years.

From there I went to the stockroom, where we were really busy, keeping everyone happy on the sales floor with merchandise.

Mabel notes that she eventually moved back to the sales floor and then to the office. She closed her career with the G.C. Murphy Co. running a checkout station at the front of the store:

The customers and friends I made were certainly a plus. People on the street still remember Murphy’s when they meet me. ‘Oh, I know you, you used to work at Murphy’s.’ I still miss it.

Mabel Koontz at a sidewalk sale at No. 130, Bedford, Pa., 1977

Grace Ritchey started working for Murphy’s in 1937 for $9 per week and stayed until she retired 43 years later, in 1980. Grace says:

I spent more dimes than one could remember giving rides to children that came into the store. It made no difference if it was a plane, animal, car or spaceship, just as long as it went up and down.

I really enjoyed the work, the people I worked with, and those I met. I would never have retired if the choice was mine to make. Many people still recall me working for Murphy’s when we meet on the street.

The only downside to a career with Murphy’s, Grace says, “is the small pension I receive!”


Grace Ritchey, shown here in 1977, was floor supervisor of the Murphy store in Bedford.

Connie Kuhn, G.C. Murphy Co. manager in Bedford, 1949

Kenneth Fetter joined the G.C. Murphy Co. in the Everett, Pa., store in 1934 and worked there until being drafted into the Army in 1941. He writes:

After my discharge, I returned to Murphy’s and was sent to the West Virginia area. I sevred at Keyser, Fairmont, Priceton and Parkersburg.

I was then promoted to manager of the McConnellsburg, Pa., store and worked there for 10 years until I had a heart attack. Murphy’s was very good to me. I was off for five months and never missed a paycheck.

In 1966 I was sent to Bedford as an assistant manager and stayed until 1978 when I retired, having worked for Murphy’s for 44 years.

Thank you to all of the Bedford area Murphy’s employees who contributed photos and memories, including Mary C. Miller, Mary Ellen College, Kenneth Fetter, Eva M. Miller, Grace P. Ritchey, Barbara G. Allison, and Mabel I. Koontz.

(Previous photo: December 2007, Terry Farris, McAllen, Texas)