By John Branston 

One billion. A big number. 1000 million. Once used only in famous quotes by astronomer Carl Sagan and in references to the federal debt or the concrete in Hoover Dam.

Memphis is not a rich town, but it has had its moments as can be seen in the evolution of the phrase “one billion” as in dollars.

1819: Memphis founders Jackson, Overton and Winchester (and federal government) pay $300,000 to the Chickasaws for the land for Memphis and much of the rest of West Tennessee.

1887: Macy’s department store slogan is “goods suitable for the millionaire at prices in reach of the millions.”

1907: Sears Roebuck, which will be a big building in Memphis in 1926, records an unheard of $53 million in sales, thanks in part to its 500-page catalog which owes a lot to . . .

1911: Rural Free Delivery (RFD) and the fledgling USPS (forerunners of FedEx) deliver more than a billion newspapers and magazines to Americans, mostly on farms and in small towns.

1913: The federal income tax is invented. Less than 10 percent of Americans pay it until the war years starting in 1940.

1923: Clarence Saunders, founder of Piggly Wiggly, loses his shirt, the Pink Palace, and over $10 million in a stock market adventure.

1931: The feds charge mobster Al Capone with income tax evasion of $215,000 on $1,038,654. He gets convicted and goes to prison for it.

1939: In a Trumpian exercise of power, President FDR declares Thanksgiving to fall on November 23rd so shoppers and Big Biz can binge longer. Critics assail him for “tampering with the calendar.”

1951: Homebuilder Kemmons Wilson takes his family on a vacation and decides to build Holiday Inns. Business historians write that he “was already a multi-millionaire.”

1955: Ray Kroc tells McDonald’s franchises to display signs that say “over 1 million served.”

1955: A hit television show called “The Millionaire” airs. A magnate awards some poor sap a million bucks in each episode, pure fantasy, of course.

1957: Elvis Presley buys Graceland – house, barn and 13 acres – for $102,500.

1980s: FedEx fast-talker tv pitchman John Moschitta tells employees to “bring in a billion.”

1994: Mississippi gambling revenues exceed $1 billion.

2023: Post Office loses $6.5 billion. In 2024 it loses $9.5 billion.

2024. Ja Morant signs contract for $197 million with Memphis Grizzlies.

2024: Juan Soto signs contract for $765 million with New York Mets.

2024: Elon Musk decides to build an AI operation in Memphis. He is world’s richest man, with an estimated $400 billion.

*

John Branston covered Memphis as a reporter and columnist for 35 years.

**

To read more of John Branston’s posts, go to categories on the right side of the home page and select his name. 

**

Join me at the Smart City Memphis Facebook page and on Instagram where these blog posts are published along with occasional articles, reports, and commentaries that are relevant to Memphis.