HomeMy Public PortalAboutHamilton, Clark and AliceTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1966
Rami'tons continue "country
store" atmosphere over 50 years
Clark and Alice Hamilton posed in his "C row's nest" office amidst photos and memoribalia
of a lifetime of associations with living U.S, his tory. The business of meeting people has always
been as important to Mr. Hamilton as his means of livelihood. (Star -News Photo)
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There is a new face in Don-
nelly this month - the face of
the Donnelly Mercantile, a bus-
iness originally established
about 1915 and added to in
varying degrees since that
time. But, behind the new ex-
terior of Idaho pine, the atmos-
phere and purpose are the
same, thanks to its proprietor,
Clark Hamilton.
"Clark Alexander Hamilton
knows all the accepted rules
of merchandising and abides
by none of them." So reads the
lead sentence of a September,
1949 "Readers' Digest" con-
densation of an originally pub-
lished article, "The Store with
No Front", by Katharine Best
and Katharine Hillyer. At that
time the subject was the owner
of a Weiser country store
which had no name.
Advance the date twenty
years and change the locale
from Weiser to Donnelly, whe-
re Mr. Hamilton has been syn-
onymous with the Donnelly
Merc since 1957, and perhaps
the shoe still fits. His wife,
Alice, claims that, when the
couple assumed the Donnelly
business, they did so with his
promise that there would be
"no Sunday working hours, no
politics, and nothing hanging
from the ceiling." He reneged
on the first stipulation, but has
to a degree held firm to the
other two while maintaining a
wide reputation as a merchant
of the old West" in its most
enduring possible sense.
Anyone who has read his
periodically -published "Soap -
Box Wrapper", knows that Mr.
Hamilton sells himself and his
philosophical and politic al
views right along with his
fantastic array of merchan-
dise. Anyone who enters his
store, which is possibly more
aptly described as a "trade
fair" in modern lingo, is aware
of his affable banter and sub-
tle sense of humor, surely as
much a trademark as the over-
sized packages of consumm-
ables he offers.
Clark Hamilton was indeed
once an active politician, and
in 1948 was elected state sena-
tor from Washington County
on the Democratic ticket, in a
year when the county went
Republican. He is described in
the "Digest" as "a crusader
for all things that are right"
as well as "the fellow who
runs that screwball store."
The Hamiltons moved to
Donnelly thirteen years ago to
"retire". Clarks father, the
late A.W. Hamilton, had
brought him there as a young
boy when, in 1903, he home-
steaded a farm just north of
the old town of Roseberry, and
although the family moved to
Weiser in 1905 and sold the
farm, Clark always dreamed
of coming back. At their pre-
sent Donnelly home, Alice ten-
ds a large yard and garden in
the summer and pursues in-
door domestic tasks during the
long winter months, while he
"mindes the shop",virtually
from dawn to dust seven days
a week during the busy sum-
mer season.
The shop contains thousands
of items, procurred from "over
two -hundred sources", with
room to spare along an upper
back wall for personal me-
moribalia, including autograp-
hed photos of many American
"greats" and valued friends.
Its most unique features are
the bulk rooms, where count-
less food and utility items are
packaged in Paul Bunyan-sized
quantities.
An outspoken opponent of
inflation, the proprietor fights
the never-ending battle to out-
wit each latest trend toward
economic disaster for the small
businessman and consumer,
but "keeps his cool", at least
publicly, while dreaming up
his newest counter-attack. The
results are a mixture of nostal-
gia, remnents of a facet of an
all- but -disappeared individua-
listic society, and a delightful
bonus of "soap -box" philosop-
hy wrapped right up with the
tangible items he sells.