In The Dynamic Duo of the Ozarks, there are several references to a discount variety store called Katz Discount City or Katz Drug Store. This was a real chain of stores in the Midwest. There was one in Springfield, Missouri, which was the model for Springville, the settings of the story.
Katz began as a chain of drug stores in Kansas City, Missouri. They were usually located on a corner in art deco building. One mainstay of Katz from the beginning was the smiling, anthromorphic, black cat, dressed to the nines. Often the cat was winking.
By the early Sixties, Katz were branching out of K. C to other cities with large discount stores, which sold liquor, clothes, tools, appliances & records. They also had a snack bar & lunch counter. These stores were in large Googie architecture buildings.
Katz went out in the early Seventies in Springfield. It was replaced by Scaggs Drug & Discount Store. Then, in the Eighties & Nineties, the building was Osco Drug. Then, it was a CVS in recent years. Now, sadly, the great Googie building sits empty.
I want to thank my colleague, Wayne Glenn, the Old Record Collector, for providing some of the Springfield Katz pictures. You can find Wayne on Facebook, for more Ozarks & music history here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044347753253
WIP: DYNAMIC DUO OF THE OZARKS 