In a fast-paced business world of tight timeframes and unrelenting deadlines, a Conroe entrepreneur is happy to open and close her business doors based on her whims and mood rather than the clock on the wall.
Edith Clanton’s antique shop is filled with personal memories as well. Here she shows off early photos and tintypes of her ancestors, dating back to before the Civil War.
Edith Clanton, 94, is the owner of Edith’s Antiques & Gift Shop, located at 910 Cable Street in Conroe. The business offers customers a unique selection rustic and antique household furnishing, collectibles and furniture – when they’re open.
“Lot of folks are bothering me to get into the store and look around when I’m busy doing something else,” quipped Clanton. “I set my hours by when it’s convenient for me.”
The store is a treasure trove of tradition – filled with antiques that are for sale and memories that are priceless. Edith’s place of business is also her childhood home. She was raised from the age of three in the structure and raised her family there as well. Photographs of her ancestors, dating back to the antebellum days before the Civil War, are displayed on the walls of her shop.
“The Pitts family came to the Conroe and Montgomery area back in 1859,” said Clanton. “One on my ancestors was a prisoner of war in a Yankee jail – had to walk back home without shoes.”
Life in Conroe back in the 30s was a simpler time, according to Clanton.
“Back during the Great Depression no one had any cash money,” she said. “People had to trade or do without.”
That’s why families tended gardens and livestock throughout Conroe,” said Clanton. When it was time to butcher a hog or a beef, friends and neighbors would get together and make an event out of it.
“Folks would pitch in and help out,” recalled Clanton. “In exchange, you’d give them a portion of meat for being there.”
People rarely locked their doors, even when they would be out of the house for several days, said Clanton. While she noted that the population and traffic have dramatically increased over the years, Clanton said Conroe remains a pretty nice place to live and work.
“There are a lot of nice folks and good places to eat,” she said. “It’s not like Houston – there’s a lot of riffraff down there.”
Clanton recalled her first encounter with television.
“I got so close and squinted so hard it gave me a real headache,” she said. “It wasn’t that great when it first got started.”
As her children grew, television got better. She remembered neighborhood kids would gather at her home to watch cowboy serial dramas on television. One of the boys – now in his 60s – got so excited by the onscreen action that he shot at the TV screen with his bb gun to help fend off the “bad guys.” It was the end of that television set.
Edith originally married Kelly Wise, but he died in the 60s, leaving her with three children and bills to pay. With very little experience in the world of business, she went on to start Wise Exterminating and Wise Chemical.
Following his death, she married Russ Clanton, the local Lone Star Beer Distributor and a bottle and antique collector.
“I’ve had this shop going for more than 30 years,” said Clanton. “I used to get out and do more buying, but I haven’t been doing as much lately.”
Clanton acknowledged business has been slow over the summer, though she admitted to being open on an irregular basis.
Edith’s Antiques & Gift Shop, located at
910 Cable Street in Conroe
Edith’s Antiques & Gift Shop is located at 910 Cable Street in Conroe. For more information, like what hours she is open, call 936-756-3711.
