Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People

PUCKETT’S
FOOD STORES
The story behind Puckett’s Food Stores embodies
the American Dream. That anyone can
succeed and prosper in life through hard work.
In 1884, Jesse Blaine Puckett was born in a
half-dugout in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
As the youngest of thirteen children, Jesse was
raised by his siblings after losing both his
parents before his third birthday. His clothes
were handmade from flour sacks and handed
down to him. He did not get his first pair of
shoes until he was nine years old.
In 1910, Cosley Hill Puckett opened the
first Puckett’s Food Store in Sayre, Oklahoma.
He brought his then twenty-six year old
brother Jesse from Virginia to help him run
the store. Grocery stores were very different
in that era. Farmers hitched their wagons
to rings on the store’s side wall while bringing
in farm fresh eggs and butter to trade for
groceries. Apples and potatoes were displayed
in bushel baskets and most customers bought
a peck at a time. Also, customers brought their
own containers to purchase vinegar.
When Jesse was twenty-seven, he married
Beulah Kready, a recent graduate of Sayre
High School, and used her dowry to purchase
the store from his brother. Beulah lost her
mother at twelve, leaving her and her
sister responsible for their family’s cooking
and housekeeping. Jesse frequently credited
her hard work and thrifty ways for the
family’s success. This eventually included
ownership of thirteen grocery stores in
Oklahoma and Texas.
Jesse and Beulah had seven children:
Mildred, Jesse Blaine, Jr., Ralph, Marie,
Roberta, Calvin, and Arthur. Several of their
children, along with other relatives, assisted
in the operations of the stores. Everything
from carrying groceries for customers and
separating truckloads of potatoes to sacking
dried beans and fruit.
Jesse eventually owned 10,560 acres in
Beckham County and raised mostly Hereford
cattle. Some of the chain’s 150 employees
manned a warehouse. Others worked in a
USDA-inspected plant and feed lot near Sayre,
where the cattle were fed and slaughtered
to provide Puckett’s Stores with fresh beef
cuts of outstanding quality.
In 1940, Jesse’s health began to fail, so he
turned over the businesses’ management to
his eldest sons, Blaine and Ralph. During the
Great Depression, Jesse had extended credit
to many customers. After learning of his death
in 1951, many of the customers to whom
Jesse had extended credit to during those
difficult times sent checks to the family to
settle their bills and offer their condolences.
Today’s modern Puckett’s Food Stores are
owned and operated by members of Ralph
Puckett’s family.
Jesse Blaine Puckett.
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