Anthony’s father Howard “worked late six nights a week” at Monday’s Cigar Store. It is quickly noted that it was in fact a saloon: "In the town where the Monday lived, nice people didn’t run saloons, and the Monday’s tried hard to be nice people, so they called their saloon a cigar store."
Just like Anthony, John’s father, Frank, owned a similar establishment, the Elk Cigar Store at this location. The Elk appears to have opened in 1904 and had both a number of owners over the years (we’re told Mr. Bellairs stepped down in 1965) as well as names, including Pub Tavern (1957), Charlie’s Tavern (1964), Wag-On-In (1972), and Brass Tacks (1987), according to Carver’s Marshall. There was also a three lane bowling alley located in Elks from in 1915 [49] and/or 1939-1964 [518].
While the Elk Cigar Store was probably more known for its beer and wine, it may have sold some tobacco products like Monday's store. Marshall was home to a number of cigar manufactures in the late Nineteenth Century. Carver notes some of the more colorful names such as "The Cream of the Weed," "Ladysmith," and "Two Johns" [543-4].
By the way, the “Cigar Store” became a “Hardware Store” in the 1980 made-for-television adaptation of this book. We suppose it was either that or try to explain to the kids why something called a cigar store in fact sold booze.
