Magnolia's first caf was known as "Pa's and Ma's"

The first caf in Magnolia opened in the early 1920s in the old post office building on Main Street. Josie and Wiley Williams decided to open the caf after selling their sawmill—the Williams-Hicks Sawmill—in 1921 to Lone Star Lumber Company.

The caf was a popular place for the community to congregate, according to Eloise James, the Williams' granddaughter.

"My grandparents had one of the very first televisions that came out—the little screen was about 9 inches—and everyone would come to the caf to watch whatever was on and sit around and visit," James said. "Everyone knew everyone in those days."

At the time the caf opened, there was no school cafeteria at the main school on Old Hempstead Road, so Josie would prepare hamburgers and she and Wiley would load their trucks to sell to the school children at noon.

Some of the children paid for their meals with sawmill money—tokens made especially to be spent in the company commissary to purchase groceries and other necessities. Wiley would then take the tokens to the sawmill and cash them in. The sawmill was one of the biggest employers in Magnolia at the time, providing jobs for 300 to 400 families.

When a new school was built in 1937 on FM 1774, where Magnolia Jr. High School now resides, the Williams' purchased 10 lots between First and Second streets, across from the school, and built a new caf with living quarters in the back.

While the official name of their caf was Williams Caf, it was known to residents as "Pa's and Ma's" or "Pa's Coffee and Ma's Hamburgers" for Wiley's reputation as making the best coffee in the county and Josie's beloved hamburgers.

"It was all good food—every day they had a steam table with at least two meats and the rest was fresh vegetables—that's what most people came for," James said.

Josie did not believe in using canned foods, according to James.

"My grandmother never knew what it was like to open a can of anything or have anything artificial," she said. "They didn't know what it was to have anything that wasn't organic back then."

James said her grandmother had a small garden where she planted okra, peas and tomatoes.

"A lot of times, I would sit on the porch and snap peas with my grandmother and aunt," James said.

The couple kept a milk cow in the backyard so they could also furnish their customers with fresh milk and butter.

After its popularity increased, it was necessary to move the caf to the corner of Main and First street to a larger location. The new location was directly in front of the high school.

"It was a popular hangout for kids—they would gather there after school," James said.

The caf had a large screened-in back porch and rented beds to oilfield workers during the oil boom. Many of the workers would come back to eat there whenever they were near the area.

The Williams ran the caf through the 1940s and eventually sold it to Malcom Purvis, who continued to run it for several years.

Source: "Magnolia Memories" by Celeste Graves