University of North Carolina. Yackety Yack 1925. P. 433. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, 1925. Accessed November 05, 2018. https://library.digitalnc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/yearbooks/id/612/rec/1

This is an advertisement for the Sutton and Alderman Drugstore. The ad is found within the 1925 Yackety Yack, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s annual yearbook. Sutton and Alderman is currently a popular drugstore and diner combination that many residents and students in Chapel Hill frequently visit. The drugstore, now called Sutton’s, is located centrally on Franklin Street, an active and popular area in Chapel Hill, which provides the business with a consistent and loyal group of customers. In 1984, the owner’s removed part of the convenience store and converted it into a diner to appeal to more customers. However, when the business originally opened in the 1920s, it was only a drugstore that sold medicines, cigars, sodas, candy and other small snacks. Nevertheless, it became a common meeting place for the students of UNC[1]. With the rising popularity of soda consumption and cigar smoking during the Great Depression and Prohibition era, this local business boomed.

The advertisement is located at the end of the yearbook in addition to other endorsements and announcements. Sutton and Alderman bought a significant amount of advertisement space in the yearbook likely due to the store’s recent opening in 1923[2]. Purchasing a large ad was beneficial to the business because the drugstore’s target demographic, students and college employees who lived in close proximity, would likely see the advertisement. The advertisement contains the quote “meet me at Sutton and Alderman’s” with an excerpt below explaining that the drugstore is a popular hangout for students at UNC Chapel Hill[3]. This bandwagon technique likely grabbed the attention of many students who chose to visit Sutton and Alderman due to their peer’s approval.

Sutton and Alderman was an essential part of the Chapel Hill food story during the Great Depression and Prohibition time period and continues to exist as part of the current story today. Gathering and mingling while consuming sodas and food from the drugstore became one of the first instances we see college students connect and create relationships through food. This persists to be true as students from the university today regularly visit the business for a weekend brunch or famous hotdog. Sutton and Alderman has served several generations and is proof that people still have appreciation for consistency and tradition in this continuously changing world[4].

Rachel Howe

 

[1] Group Suttons. “The Franklin Times-Past & Present.” P. 1. WordPress.com. October 26, 2010. Accessed November 07, 2018. https://suttonsdiner.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/a-word-from-the-owner/

[2] Group Suttons. “The Franklin Times-Past & Present.” P. 1. WordPress.com. October 26, 2010. Accessed November 07, 2018. https://suttonsdiner.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/a-word-from-the-owner/

[3] University of North Carolina. Yackety Yack 1925. P. 433. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, 1925. Accessed November 05, 2018. https://library.digitalnc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/yearbooks/id/612/rec/1

[4] Group Suttons. “The Franklin Times-Past & Present.” P. 2. WordPress.com. October 26, 2010. Accessed November 07, 2018. https://suttonsdiner.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/a-word-from-the-owner/