Elmer Whipps was a barber by trade, and he also served as a Village constable. Village Council Minutes show that from at least 1913 to 1916 he was associated with Doc Brown, as both their names were on licenses to run three pool tables and sell cigarettes.
In 1917, however, he apparently went into business with Dutch Reider, who at that time owned the Waiting Station (later Reiss’s). Through at least 1920, Reider and Whipps were issued licenses for pool and cigarettes.
When Doc Brown retired in the early 1940s, Whipps took over the barber chair, although the pool tables and tobacco shop were gone.
Ben Brown wrote that when Elmer and Doc Brown parted company, Elmer went to work at the County Jail as the jailer there.
Elmer’s wife Florence came to St. Louis Park in 1922 and lived at 3333 Dakota Ave. She worked at Skippy Peanut Butter in 1952. She died on March 1, 1993 at the age of 92.
The family lived on Dakota Street on the north side of the Dan Patch Tracks. In 1930 his address was given as 3337 Dakota – this may be where the High School is today.
Florence and Elmer’s children include:
Elmer “Bucky” Whipps was born on November 19, 1918, went to elementary school at Lenox, and graduated from Park in 1942. He died on December 18, 2000 in Jordan, Minnesota.
Russ Whipps
Martha “Joyce” Whipps
Dorothy J. Whipps went to elementary school at Lenox and graduated from Park in 1940. She married Cronin and had a daughter Judy. She died in January 2005 at age 82.
Florence McGinty
For more information see Liquor in the Park