Nashville Retrospect

Nashville used to be a city of streetcars, society bootleggers, and downtown shopping. Host Allen Forkum (editor of The Nashville Retrospect newspaper) interviews Frank Schwartz, who, at 92 years old, remembers a Nashville with street photographers, downtown theaters, and residents who dressed up to go out. He also discusses his family’s business, Rich-Schwartz, a women’s fine-clothing store known for such innovations as “ready-to-wear” garments and “red tag” sales. (Segment begins at 04:10.) Frank Schwartz (right) is pictured on Church Street in 1938 with his friend Arnold Haber Jr. The photograph was taken by a street photographer, which Schwartz describes in the podcast. (Image: Frank Schwartz) Owned by Randall Butler, this 1932 Chevrolet was the “jalopy” that he and Frank Schwartz drove as teenagers. The picture was taken in 1942 at the intersection of West End and Elliston Place. Notice the pile of metal to the right and the “Smash the Japs” sign, both part of a scrap-metal collection drive for World W