McLellan’s 5 Cent to $1.00 Store, 281 South Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1930. Marita’s father, Reginald Arthur Vokes, relocated his family to the city when he accepted a position to manage this store.
“Well [my father] was in charge of McLellan’s.”
McLellan’s 5 Cent to $1.00 Store, 281 South Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1930.
McLellan’s 5 Cent to $1.00 Store, 281 South Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1930.
North Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, looking south, circa 1938; the Socony – Vacuum Oil Company billboard is visible atop the iconic Academy Building. Marita’s father operated Vokes Friendly Service, a Socony gasoline station, circa 1935-1940.
“ … do you remember Socony Gas, the flying red horse?”
Advertisement that appeared in the Fall River Herald News, July 22, 1940. Marita and her friend, Rose M. Boulas, entered the competition.
“She was in it with me. I thought she would come out first.”
Empire Theatre, 116 South Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1924. Marita was a contestant in a “Big Hollywood Bathing Beauty Contest” held in this theatre with the cooperation of Republic Pictures Corporation on August 19, 1940.
“My father said, ‘Oh no, no, no, the wolves will get you.’ Imagine that. The silly things you do and say when you are young like that.”
“By the Sea Shop,” R.A. McWhirr Company, department store, 165-193 South Main Street, Fall River, 1936.
“I remember I bought it at McWhirr’s. It was a black Jantzen … that had the red swimmer on the logo. High heels, black patent leather high heels. No makeup, and I had brown hair.”
Interior of the Empire Theatre, 116 South Main Street, Fall River, 1924; the theater was specially outfitted by Republic Pictures Corporation for the “Big Hollywood Bathing Beauty Contest,” held on August 19, 1940.
“It was in the Empire Theatre, and the seats were like for the movies. But they run a walkway over the seats around to up the aisle. The stage was here and they had a runway that way.”
A glamorous Marita in the 1940s.
Mell’s Jewelry Company, 74 South Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1940s.
“I worked in the office there. And I left that office job, to go to work for the war effort.”
Woman workers inspecting gas masks during World War II at Firestone Rubber & Latex Products Company, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1942.
“I went to Firestone, and left my pay into War Bonds.”
Marita flanked by two military buddies of her brother, Reginald Arthur Vokes, Jr., outside the family residence at 30 Lafayette Street, Fall River, Massachusetts; in keeping with the war effort, the Vokes family did their part entertaining ‘the boys’ during World War II.
‘When the war came, my brother went to war. He got the Purple Heart, by the way.’
Durfee Mills, Fall River, Massachusetts, depicted in an early 20th century postcard. Marita was employed at S & S Manufacturing and Har-Lee Manufacturing Company, both of which operated from this location in the 1940s.
“The first power machine I ran was in S & S Manufacturing … I was a side joiner on ladies’ dresses. Then the Har-Lee … I did piece work, the collar and the hems.”
Henry’s Latin Quarter Show Bar, 289 Central Street, Fall River, Massachusetts; one of Fall River’s most popular night clubs, Marita was employed at this establishment in the late 1940s.
Waitresses at Henry’s Latin Quarter Show Bar, 289 Central Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1948; Marita was employed at this establishment, which was one of Fall River’s most popular night clubs. Marita, wearing knotted pearls, posing with her mother, Mrs. Reginald Arthur Vokes Sr., née Alma M. Latraverse, flanked by two unidentified women.
Kerr Thread Mills, American Thread Company, Martine Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, where Marita was employed as a young woman.
“I was a yarn inspector.”
Marita serving a buffet at White’s Family Restaurant in the early 1960s.
“I worked as a waitress … I worked there twelve years.”
Marita’s mother, posing with her daughter and three grandchildren in Tiverton, Rhode Island, circa 1963. Left to right: Mrs. Reginald Arthur Vokes Sr., née Alma M. Latraverse; Christine Harnett; Marita; Katherine Mary Harnett; and Robert William Harnett.
An architectural design for Edgar’s Department Store, Inc., 109 Mariano S. Bishop Boulevard, Fall River, Massachusetts.
“I worked at Edgar’s, the last job I had. Edgar’s, everyone, you know, went to Edgar’s.”
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