Do You Remember…Bocock Stroud?

Many of us have memories of shopping at Bocock-Stroud Company over the years.  We might have bought books, toys, clothing, shoes, sporting goods, camera supplies, phonograph records, appliances, or any number of gift items.  Even though Bocock-Stroud began as a sporting goods store, the business diversified and appealed to a wide-range of customers.

Bocock-Stroud Company had an interesting beginning.  The business was founded by two men who were coaches.  James Branch Bocock (1884-1946) and Dr. Charles Crawford Stroud (1870-1949) were athletes who coached at a variety of colleges.

James Branch Bocock (shown above) was born in Virginia and graduated from Georgetown University.  He was a quarterback on the football team and he was elected captain of the team his senior year.  During his career, he coached football, basketball, and baseball.  He coached at the University of Georgia, Louisiana State University, University of South Carolina, the College of William & Mary, and Virginia Tech.  He spent one year (1911) as head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He lived in Winston-Salem for a brief time, working as vice-president of Bocock-Stroud Company, and then he became a long-distance officer when his address was listed as Blacksburg, Virginia, although he was coaching at South Carolina.

Dr. Charles Crawford “Doc” Stroud (shown above), born in Connecticut, graduated from Tufts College in Boston in 1894 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honorable mention in History.  He was a prominent college athlete in football and baseball.  After graduation, he taught at an academy in Vermont, then returned to Tufts to attend medical school and coach football. He was later appointed Instructor in Physical Training.  He taught and coached at Louisiana State University, Northwestern State College in Louisiana, Tufts, University of Rochester, and Mercer University.  He retired as athletic director of Northwestern State College, where the baseball stadium (H. Alvin Brown – C. C. Stroud Field) was named in his honor.

So, the big question is: how did these two men come together to form a sporting goods company in Winston-Salem?  A newspaper article published in 1959 suggests that Bocock and Stroud heard that R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was starting a recreation program in Winston-Salem.  Samuel Hardman was hired January 1, 1920 as director of the recreation program.  There were many events scheduled as part of the program, such as picnics, field days, baseball teams, parades, bands, and dancing.  It was during this flurry of recreation activity, in 1921, that Bocock-Stroud was founded, according to the article.

Bocock and Stroud both coached at Louisiana State University.  Stroud was at the school from 1914-1920, and Bocock was there in 1921. Unfortunately, the recreation program at R. J. Reynolds Tobacco fizzled out about 1921.  This may explain why Stroud left the company so quickly.

Henry Spicer Wilson (shown above) was a Winston-Salem native who attended Winston-Salem High School.  He was an athlete at the school, and he played football and baseball.  Henry’s nickname from an early age was “Scrubby,” referring to his size as a little boy.  But he loved sports and excelled in team sports at school.

In fact, he and Alpha Shaner were voted “Best Athletes” in their 1922 Black and Gold yearbook.  Scrubby admitted that he cared more for sports than his studies, so he was not awarded a high school diploma. But he was aware of the new sporting goods store in town and went to work for Bocock-Stroud. When Stroud was ready to return to coaching and teaching, Wilson bought Stroud’s portion of the business and was a partner to Bocock.  Then Bocock also returned to coaching and sold his portion of the business in 1923 to Wilson.  Wilson incorporated the business in 1924 as Bocock-Stroud because the company name was already well-known.

The first store was located at 431 N. Trade Street and shared the building with a jewelry store until about 1931.  There was a congregation of sporting goods stores at that location, with Dalton Brothers next door and Tucker-Ward Hardware across the street.  At that time, hardware stores also carried sporting goods.

The business relocated to the 400 block of West Fourth Street in the Mercantile Building (where Woolworth’s was located later).  The photo above shows the buildings on either side of Spruce Street when they were under construction about 1928. Then about 1944 the business moved across Spruce Street on West Fourth Street.  New departments were added from year to year and the business greatly enlarged its offerings.

Here are a few photos that show the interiors in 1957:

In 1959, a new top floor and Fourth Street canopy were added.  The departments at that time were: sporting goods (retail and team or school), toys (included educational toys and hobby items), men’s clothing (sportswear, formal, conventional suits, and accessories), appliances (freezers, refrigerators, radios, televisions, record players), records (popular and classical), gifts (card tables, luggage, imported foods), photographic (cameras and photographic supplies), and service and repair (for radios, televisions, and appliances).

Shown above are photos of the gift (1956, with May Belle Jones), photographic (Joe Siceloff), and sporting goods departments (1958, with Mary Garber).

Then, in 1962, an adjoining building was purchased to enlarge the store along Fourth Street.

As a reflection of how times change, a branch location was opened at Thruway Shopping Center in 1965.  They closed their once-popular downtown record department in 1979.  And the downtown store closed in 1984.  The building was demolished in 1993 to be used as a parking lot for Integon Corporation.

Although the men who established the company, Coaches Bocock and Stroud, did not stick with the company very long, Henry Wilson certainly did stay with the company.  And, the business also employed many members of the Wilson family over the years.  Henry hired his three sisters to work in the downtown business, plus his brother, son, nephew, and grandsons, and possibly even more family members.  When Mr. Wilson passed away in 1988, he was the former president and chairman of the board of Bocock-Stroud Company.

The Thruway store closed in the early 2000’s, as did the team sports division that was located on Deacon Boulevard.

Photographs courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.

Stay tuned for the next post on August 1.