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season. Tommy Tuckers later admitted a 60% drop in business (probably an
underestimate) during the first weekend of picketing compared to the previous
weekend. Cracks in the united front began to appear. Some merchants made false
claims of having hired Black employees, only to be confronted and exposed. Then
Goodman's Five and Dime broke rank, honored its promise of months earlier, and
hired 12 Black workers before the end the week was out.

Despite some favorable signs that the merchants might be willing to
negotiate and even capitulate as a group, the situation became increasingly tense.
Costonie claimed he had received threats on his life, and five young men began to
operate as his body guards. Pickets, pressed by freezing weather, occasionally
became more aggressive in engaging store owners and prospective shoppers, and
some store entrances were blocked. One store owner, Goodman of Goodman's
Five and Dime, charged Kiowa Costonie, Lillie Jackson, and another boycott
leader, Elvira Bond, of threatened him. Max Meyers of Meyers Shoes had Jacob
Baggett (who protested he was just a shopper) arrested for causing a disturbance;
the Forum raised the bail, Forum attorney W.A.C. Hughes defended him, and the
court believed Baggett and acquitted him. Several light-skinned activists, acting on
their own initiative, impersonated white business people and crashed a merchants
association meeting. While three of the infiltrators were discovered and angrily
evicted, a fourth managed to stay for the duration and report the proceedings to the
boycott leadership. Some stores mobilized counter-pickets." Finally violence
occurred when goons attacked the picket lines. Evelyn Burrell later described this
attack and its background:

The Samuelsons [who owned several shops in the community
including Tommy Tuckers] had a butcher shop right there on the corner of
Greenwillow and Pennsylvania Avenue. Greenwillow Street had a
reputation for being a rough place, because every Saturday night somebody
got killed or something. Oh yeah, it was a tough street, consequently you
found tough people. And one of them was a woman they called Salina.
Salina was rough and strong as any man that you want to name— any man.