Vicksburg's Seale-Lily Ice Cream Parlor and Tire Emporium (B&W film)

Tri-State Tire, at 2209 Washington Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi, occupies an unusual old shop with decorated pillars and big plate glass windows. This was a former Seale-Lily ice cream parlor. Preservation Mississippi has written about Seale-Lily stores in Jackson, but I found little information about a Vicksburg store. In 1943, a cash prize winner filed a lawsuit because he claimed that the Seale-Lily Vicksburg store did not award him the prize. The summary of the lawsuit did confirm the address of 2209 Washington Street. I buy tires at Tri-State, and my friends there generously let me take some photographs when my tires were being replaced. One of them said the Seale parlor closed in 1958 or 1959.

2209 Washington Street, Vicksburg, MS

View of Washington Street looking north.

I am not sure what this style of architecture is called. The arches have a vaguely Mediterranean  appearance, but the tiles along the roof facing give it a Southwestern look. As you can see, the glass windows once went to the top of the arched frames but were changed some time in the past. Tri-State has been here since the 1980s, and before that, a tire re-capping business occupied the premises.

The building was decorated with medallions and a checked pattern on the facade. The current owners have recently painted. I wish they could return to the original round-top windows.

These are ½ sec. exposures taken with my 24mm Super-Multi-Coated Takumar lens. I placed the camera on a shelf or beam and set the self-timer to eliminate vibration. As you can see, the fluorescent lights create some odd blooming. Still, I am pleased with this 1970s lens and am surprised how much detail the film recorded in the black tires.

The tire technicians told me that many years ago, there was a tall stainless steel tank in the middle of the room where the tire racks are located. I assume the Seale operation made ice cream in it.

I think they really do not want customers to wander around in the shop.... (Photographers exempted?)

This is the former Coca Cola bottling factory at 2133 Washington Street, about a half block north of Tri-State Tires. The 1938-vintage building has been leased by several users since Coca Cola vacated the premises about 20 years ago. The current tenant (or owner) sells furniture and gift items now.

I took these photographs on March 6, 2018, on Kodak TMax 100 film with a 1971 Pentax Spotmatic camera. The sepia image is from a Moto G5 mobile phone. The interior views are with a 24mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens.