Cas Walker
| Orton Caswell Walker | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Knoxville | |
|
In office 1946–1946 |
|
| Preceded by | E. E. Patton |
| Succeeded by | Edward Chavannes |
|
In office 1959–1959 |
|
| Preceded by | Jack W. Dance |
| Succeeded by | John J. Duncan |
| Knoxville City Council | |
|
In office 1941–1971 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Orton Caswell Walker March 23, 1902 Sevier County, Tennessee |
| Died | September 25, 1998 (aged 96) Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Nickname(s) | Cas Walker |
Orton Caswell "Cas" Walker (March 23, 1902 – September 25, 1998), was a Tennessee businessman, politician, and personality on television and radio. Walker founded a successful chain of small grocery stores that grew to include several dozen stores scattered throughout the Knoxville, Tennessee vicinity as well as parts of Virginia and Kentucky. From 1941 through 1971, Walker served on the Knoxville city council where he became legendary for his uncompromising political stances and his vehement opposition to what he claimed was a corrupt elitism in the city's government. The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour, a local variety show sponsored by Walker, ran in various radio and television formats between 1929 and 1983 and helped launch the careers of entertainer Dolly Parton and the Everly Brothers.
Walker was born to a working-class family in Sevier County, Tennessee in 1902. He quit school at the age of 14 and spent several years working at different jobs around the region, namely at the Champion Fibre Company in North Carolina and later at various coal mines in Kentucky. In 1924, he returned to East Tennessee where he established the first Cas Walker's Cash Store in Knoxville with money he had saved.
Walker's stores had a simple rural atmosphere that was popular with the city's working class whites and African-Americans. He used his radio show and other innovative methods— such as scattering coupons from airplanes— to advertise his store's weekly specials. By the mid-1950s, Walker's chain had grown to include 27 stores that generated a gross annual revenue of $60 million.
Walker was first elected to the Knoxville city council in 1941. He was elected mayor in 1946, but after a few weeks of tumultuous meetings and the firing of its own city manager, the city council managed to oust Walker in a recall election. He also served as acting mayor in 1959. Walker was reelected to the city council the following year, however, and remained on the council until voluntarily retiring in 1971. He continued to be a force in Knoxville politics into the 1980s.
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