by Nanci Kaplan DuPlant and Carol Sue George
The Sun Rexall Drug Store was owned by my father, David Louis Kaplan. It was the place to get everything you might need. David Kaplan’s slogan was “We have everything under the Sun.” I was 3 years old when my parents opened Sun Rexall Drug #2. My first job was sacking the merchandise. I loved it, and I also worked with such wonderful people like Irene Schultz and Beulah Kolbe, Mrs Pruitt, and Jean Patton, just to name a few.
My father, David Louis Kaplan, born on June 3, 1921, was one of the most remarkable men of our time. My mother, Jeanette Blend Kaplan, born April 29, 1923, was such a loving, compassionate, warm woman, full of style and grace.
The reason I wrote the book with my co-author, Carol Sue George, was because I had many clients (I am a hypnotherapist) tell me how they missed my parents and the drug stores. Luckily my father saved many of the ads he made for the newspapers and also stacks of newspapers containing articles about him and his civic activities.
Since I live in Richardson, I asked my neighbors for any stories or memories they had of their experiences with my father and the Sun Rexall Drug Store. They responded wholeheartedly, along with other customers and former employees. These stories are included in the book and some are very funny; others are touching.
This book also delves into my family’s history in merchandising, dating back to 1919 when my grandfather, I.J. Kaplan, returned from his service during World War I. He and my grandmother, Sarah, opened their country grocery store on Pocahontas Street in South Dallas, near the current site of Memorial Auditorium. I.J. also had a slogan, “Call on us—it will save you money.”
I met Carol Sue George when my dad and I went to learn Tai Chi at the Richardson Senior Center with the fantastic teacher, Philip Russell. We became friends, and I mentioned to Carol Sue that I wanted to write a book about my family and the drug stores. She had been a long-time customer of the Richardson store and knew my father, mother, and grandmother, so she offered to help me with the book. We worked on the book together for several years.
I had so many family memories that I wrote down and presented to Carol Sue for edit. She was also able to sort through all those materials that my father and saved and wrote much of the book from those sources. Then she typed, formatted, and edited the book. I could never have published this book without her. I am very grateful for her help and hard work.
Carol Sue recalled that when she first moved to Richardson, she had rented a room in a private home just a block from the Sun, and that she had her meals there, used the phone booth to whine for funds from her parents, then used Western Union to receive those funds.
Many of the stories in the book from customers are similar. The store had everything. You could pay your utility bills, buy your automobile license plates, test your tv tubes, and of course we mustn’t forget that it was first and foremost a pharmacy where my father helped with health care by filling those prescriptions.
There are many family pictures in the book as well as photos of events in the store, such as the winners of the Boys and Girls contests. Sometimes the employees dressed appropriately for holidays—bunny costumes for Easter, Christmas sweaters (not necessarily ugly ones). In other words, it was a great place to work and shop. The employees made it a fun experience.
This book is intended to be a testament to the memory of a unique civic leader, a loving husband and father, a compassionate and kind human being, and a good friend to all with whom he came in contact—my father, David Louis Kaplan.
We loved him and miss him so much. We miss his laughter. When he got tickled about something, his laugh would infect everyone within hearing and all would get the giggles along with him. It could even happen in a movie theater.
We are grateful to Celebration Magazine for sponsoring our up-coming book signing on September 27, 2024.
Get your copy of Mr. Sun Rexall Drug by Nanci Kaplan DuPlant and Carol Sue George now on Amazon.com.
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