During the war years (WWII) I worked after school for Bert Coryell at the old Riverside Grocery. There was never a finer man than Bert. We sold groceries, gasoline, livestock feeds, sodas, and meats. If Bert could have ever collected all the money owed him he would have been a wealthy man. He never refused anyone anything, money or no money. He would even lend money to people for doctor bills, utility bills or whatever.
There was this older German lady who traded at the Riverside that would wait until Bert was gone and then come in and ask for him. She would call me, a teenager, ‘Mr. Vogt’ but she always called Bert, ‘Bert’. She would have a “Mother’s Oats” oatmeal box under her arm. This was the brand that gave you different dinnerware in each box, sometimes a cup or a saucer, a bowl or a plate. This lady’s box would have about a cup of oatmeal remaining in the box and it would be infested with weevils. No dinnerware, just the oatmeal and bugs. In those days it was the custom that if a person had bought anything that had weevils or bugs, or if the can was puffed, you would either give them a new item or give them their money back. She would hold the box forward and state that she wanted a fresh box, making it clear that Bert would give her a fresh box if he were there. I had been warned of this and my orders were to do just that, and the lady would go home with a full fresh box of oatmeal along with another cup or saucer. A few months later she would appear and do the same scam over again. Many of these old timers thought of this as shrewed business and not stealing. Good-hearted Bert allowed it.
From the November 2026 issue of The Kendall Gentleman.
John Eddie Vogt has shared stories of old Boerne with readers before in Musings of JEV: The Boerne Limited, Musings of JEV: Town Water Tank and Uncle Willie and Zodiac Farming. For more Boerne history from this issue, read The Dieterts: The Family That Put Boerne to Work.