Horace Greeley Cherry was born May 11, 1875 in Centerville, Utah. He moved with his parents in 1884, at the age of 9, to a homestead in Menan, Idaho. Horace’s father Joseph Cherry built a log cabin on the property and planted shade and fruit trees. Horace married Etta Livermore of Logan, Utah in 1897. The 1900 U.S. Census shows them living in Ogden, Utah where Horace worked doing odd jobs. Their first two children were born in Ogden. The 1910 U.S. Census shows they had moved to Menan, Idaho and lists Horace as a farmer.
In 1911 Horace opened a barber shop which soon evolved into a café and confectionery called "The Lobby". A July 1913 advertisement in the Roberts Sentinel newspaper lists H. Cherry as the proprietor of "The Lobby" pool hall with a barber shop in connection. It also advertises a lunch counter, confectionery, tobacco and cigars. The newspaper states "A fine beef stew and coffee make H. Cherry famous At The Lobby. Horace Cherry who is engaged in the barber business and incidentally runs a Lunch counter in connection, has installed a pool table and is enjoying a liberal patronage in that line of amusement." There are 2 of the At The Lobby./ Menan, Ida. tokens that I know of. As pictured they are round, brass, 21mm with a center hole. I believe these were used by Horace Cherry while running "The Lobby".
Ad for The Lobby and photo of bank building that Horace bought.
The Jan 14, 1914 edition of the Roberts Sentinel says "H. Cherry & Joe P. Lawson will open a pool hall by the City Meat Market to be known as the Passtime Pool Hall. Mr. Cherry is now running the Lobby Pool Hall at Menan.& the Passtime in Roberts will be run by Mr. Lawson". The pool hall in Roberts ran by Joe.P. Lawson must not have lasted very long. A 1915 directory shows three new pool halls in Roberts with no mention of Joe P. Lawson or The Passtime. However a Frank Lawson appears in Menan in 1915 and opens a billiard parlor. I’m not sure how Frank Lawson and Joe P. Lawson are related. Frank Lawson is listed as billiards in Menan through 1918. A 1919 five county directory lists Lawson & Cherry under billiards in Menan. They must have had a brief partnership. A 1921 directory shows them separate again with Mr. Lawson involved with billiards and a restaurant and Horace Cherry selling cigars. I think this may be when the H. Cherry/Cigars/ Confectionery maverick tokens were used. They are round, brass, 25 mm and are good for/5c/in trade. I dug the one pictured in Menan in 2004. The reverse of this token looks older than when I think it was used. I may be wrong about this time frame but I can't find any record of Horace associated with a confectionery earlier than 1911. This token is rare but I don't know exactly how many are known.
The Jefferson State Bank was built of black rock quarried from the Buttes, east of Menan. The bank opened in 1918 and closed on January 17, 1923. Soon after the bank closed, Horace Cherry bought the old bank building and moved his business in. I’m not sure where Horace Cherry’s business was located in Menan prior to this. A 1926 five county business directory lists the "Cherry Pool Hall & Confectionery" in Menan. Horace is listed in my 1934 directory running a confectionery & selling cigars. He’s not listed in my 1937 directory or thereafter.
There is an old round brass incused maverick that says "H. Cherry/Good For/5c/In/Trade/ At Bar" with a blank reverse. This is often attributed to Menan, Idaho but I don’t believe it is an Idaho token. The style is to old and doesn’t correspond with the time frame when Horace Cherry lived in Menan. I don’t know of any these tokens actually being found in the Menan, Idaho area.
Etta Cherry died September 21, 1935 and Horace died September 15, 1941. The are both buried in the Little Butte Cemetery an few miles east of Menan, Idaho.
