Picture from Downtown El Paso in 1960 Shows Big Event at Welch Furniture

Traces of Texas as become one of my favorite social media accounts to follow. They share some of the most interesting pictures or videos from all over Texas- and they especially show some great memories of El Paso from years past.

Recently, I've shared some of their famous posts featuring El Paso, like this one that has photos of El Paso in 1910 and 1975. I've also shared their photo of El Paso High in 1918.

This past week, they shared a photo of Downtown El Paso in 1960. It's, of course, iconic and beautiful, it features the street car, a really cool car, and of course, some very fashionable people. However, my attention was immediately focused on the crowd to the right of the picture, check it out below:

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Welch Furniture is a family owned furniture and mattress store that still exists today- but only in Nederland, TX.

I couldn't find anything online about Welch Furniture in El Paso; I also couldn't figure out what was happening that day at Welch Furniture- what could have been happening at the Welch Furniture store? What was everyone in line for?

A man named James Adkins replied in the comments to the picture saying that the new TV's had just arrived- and that would make sense why people were in line.

I asked my mom if she remembers the store; of course she did. She also mentioned that she and my dad bought their first television set at Welch Furniture shortly after they got married in 1977! So the new TV sets were probably a good reason to stand in line outside Welch Furniture that day.

Alternatively, someone also mentioned that it's possible they were waiting for the street car:

Whichever one they're in line for, this photo of Downtown El Paso is beautiful!