For millions, the very name - Polk Bros. - evoked the excitement that surrounded the purchase of the family's first television set, first automatic washing machine, first dishwasher. It stirred memories of Polk's colorful army of "let's make a deal" salesmen; of promotions that included carloads of Georgia watermelons, Hawaiian pineapples, & Washington apples; of live television & midnight movies, circus tents, & Santa Clauses. Polk Bros. has been imitated many times over, but the extraordinary confluence of events, technologies, personalities, & places that created the Polk Bros. phenomenon is unlikely to occur ever again. Here for the first time is the story of how the Polk family developed the first modern retail appliance superstore.