<Begin Segment 37>

RW: What was the customer base like for the Columbia Greenhouse at that time?

KO: Well, they were, had some ten cents stores that they sold to, some florists and nurseries. They had a fairly good customer base established by the time we got there. But, early on, when people first came back from camp, they were selling most of the material that was being grown through wholesale houses, and they were located downtown. And they were shut out of some of those wholesale houses. But, you know, there's always a maverick, wherever you go. And this one fellow ran a wholesale house, and he started letting the Japanese go in there. And when the others found out, I think, that nothing bad was gonna' happen, that... they opened up their places also. But it was tough for the people who first came back. No question about it.

RW: Do you remember what his name was?

KO: You mean the fellow?

RW: Uh-huh.

KO: Yeah, George Huserick. Yeah. He stuck around for a long time. He was really never quite successful as a wholesale house operator, but he was a pretty decent fellow, and he was good at making things from wire. And so he used to make wire baskets, and hangers, and that's what he ended up doin' after he got out of the wholesale greenhouse business. But certainly they owe him a debt of gratitude for opening the doors for Japanese.

<End Segment 37> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.