PO Box 2, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Email: butchbridges@oklahomahistory.net, Phone: 580-490-6823
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us,
What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
The Daily Ardmoreite – 1898
Six thousand, two-hundred foot of floor space which is one of the largest and most complete stock of dry goods ever brought to the Indian Territory. Such is a general description of the dry goods establishment of Sig Simon and Bros, composed of Sig and Harry Simon, who have so successfully catered to the discriminating public in Ardmore for three years past. The firm used to do business in the Whittington block, but something over one year ago Sig decided the time was ripe for the erection of a modern building, built with an eye for the endless variety of goods which his trade demanded. He built it, thereby adding another to the many handsome business blocks which have recently sprung up as if by a magician’s hand, along the main business thoroughfare a fair young Ardmore.
Simon is a businessman. He knows the purchasing power of cash money and he pays cash for all the goods that enters his store. Nor is this all. He is a discriminating buyer, a close conservative buyer, and his men in the city of New York constantly on the lookout for bargains. Twice each year he goes to Market and repletes his stock. This fall is going to outdo himself, having made some exceptionally heavy purchases at manufacturers’ cost.
The farmer wants to get a hundred cents worth every time he spends a dollar, and he should. He works hard for his money and deserves the best for the least price. Sig Simon knows this. The farmers and the citizens of Ardmore know that the fundamental principle of the business career of his business is cash. Cash purchases and cash sales, and a uniform profit on all goods. Last year Mr Simon was an extensive cotton buyer, and his this season he will again be in the market. It is said that he pays more than regular buyers.
The Sig Simon building was located at 114 East Main.
“I scanned these negatives of a parade in front of The Ardmore Dry Goods Co. located at 114 East Main St. according to the Ardmore City Directory of 1904-05. J. G. Beard was the Manager of the store. They sold dry goods, shoes and clothing. Culligan Water is currently located in this building.” -Robert Hensley
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos19a/ArdmoreDryGoodsCoArdmoreITPparade001.jpg
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Still finding people in Oklahoma with unclaimed money. We’re now over the $1.7 Million dollars. Sometimes progress is slow locating people or their kin with unclaimed insurance money at the State Treasurers office in OKC but we keep moving forward.
How long has it been since you checked your name or a family member’s name? Its easy to do a search at the Oklahoma State Treasurer link below. I think every state in the union has a unclaimed property website through the respective state treasures website.
https://apps.ok.gov/unclaimed/
If you have Facebook, I created a new Page called Southern Oklahoma Unclaimed Insurance Money. The only Post that will go on that page is names and towns of people we are looking for with unclaimed money;
Q. Where in Oklahoma is the world’s tallest hill?
A. Cavanal Hill (officially Cavanal Mountain), located near Poteau, Oklahoma, is described by a sign at its base as the “‘World’s Highest Hill’ – Elevation: 1,999 feet. If it were 2,000 feet it would no longer qualify as a hill.
Q. In far eastern Oklahoma at the beginning of spring you can hear 1,000s of singing frogs. What are these Oklahoma singing frogs called?
A. Answer in next week’s newsletter
Some mail from this week’s MAILBAG…..
There’s an article in yesterday’s OKLAHOMAN about the AAA Route 66 Road Fest which is scheduled for the week of June 18-26 in OKC and Tulsa. There aren’t many details available yet but you can sign up and get updates as they are scheduled.
I think the fact that Oklahoma has the most miles of Route 66 running though it is one of the reasons this celebration is being held in Oklahoma. One of the men responsible for the path of Route 66 spent his career in Oklahoma and is buried in Tulsa – Cyrus Avery.
My dad told me about driving the highway between Oklahoma and California when the road was not paved and you had to go through gates on some sections of the road. Back then, the route of the highway turned north at Santa Rosa, NM and went through Las Vegas, NM before turning back west to Santa Fe, then back south to Albuquerque before turning back to the west.
When I was growing up, making that trip to California to visit my grandmother was always exciting because you could feel the West back then. The signs along the highway promised “Tucumcari Tonight” and Whiting Bros. Gasoline or the Jack Rabbit Trading Post. Getting to stop in Albuquerque at La Placita in Old Town was always a great time but it had to be meal time to get that adventure. They closed last year because of Covid.
We stayed in the Hotel el Rancho in Gallup, NM once and it was like a museum dedicated to all the Western movie stars that stayed there during trips to movie siets for filming. That place is still there. We often had lunch in Gallup in a little cafe on the highway and the Santa Fe RR was on the other side of the road. They did a lot of switching there so it was always fun watching the activity.
Then there was all the neon in every town to draw you in for a bed or a meal. The road carried you through the Petrified Forest and way back then there was a lot of it to see. On my most trip there were only larger examples along the route because everything smaller had been stolen by tourists.
The Wigwam Motel was in Holbrook, AZ and I always wanted to spend the night there because each room was shaped like a teepee. It never happened because Holbrook was too close to the west coast for my dad to stop there.
Tricia and I took a road trip through Arizona a few years ago and stopped in Williams, AZ and had some pretty good BBQ and pie. Williams was the last town that surrendered to Interstate 40 in the mid 80s. It still remains much as it was 60 years ago.
I think it was the trip we took the summer of 1957 that my dad gave me seven one hundred dollar bills and made it my responsibility to pay all our expenses on the trip to California. The trip wasn’t very much fun because I was always concerned about the money. I did learn to take care of money and to always count my change to make sure I was never cheated. Unfortunately, I had to return the money we didn’t spend.
I thought I’d share some memories after reading about Route 66 in the paper.
-Monroe Cameron
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The story about the Daube safe was interesting. I lived in Ardmore the first time from 55-65. I remember Daube’s store very well. It was total class, especially for a small town like Ardmore. The yearly Christmas display was always the one we wanted to see first and last. It was a shame it ever had to close. -Skip Joers
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Awesome Newsletter thank You and Jill so much Butch I have fond memories of Christmastime in Ardmore spent with my Grand Parents John W. and Minnie Lee (Tuck) Henry along with my Aunt Jonnie Leta Henry who I am named after i was recently there to visit my nieces Sheena and Tiffany Rankin in July it had been many years since i was in Ardmore it sure has grown lots of new businesses it was fun to see and brought back a few precious memories . Wishing You and Jill a very Blessed New Year
Sincerely Leta A (Henry) Cacace
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Below is from This and That newsletter archives of December 31, 2009
Jill decided to make a snow angel in our front yard. Almost a work of art.
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Our neighbors to the south, the Barricks, made a snowman. He kinda looks mean. lol
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Ardmoreite Steve Hamm has been regularly adding Ardmore criterions online. I doubt if there is a website anywhere in Oklahoma, maybe even the U.S., where you will find years of Criterions online. Steve has 7 criterions digitized and growing. Plus the 17 page Centennial History of Ardmore by Mac MacGalliard (1987). A big Thank You goes to Steve from me and the T&T Readers.
http://www.ardmorecriterion.com/
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I am going to go way back in my files and share an aerial taken in 1975 of Ardmore in the vicinity of 3rd and A Street NE. A reader shared this photo nearly 10 years ago plus many more that I’ll share in future newsletters. Now let’s see, I see the “big swimming pool” at the far top of the photo and next door on the right Dr. Boyd’s (the sugar pill doctor) office and homeplace, I see the old Hudson Houston Lumber company, the old Ardmore Plumbing before it moved to where it is today, Ardmore Fiber Reduction (across the street on the north side of 3rd was where a bicycle shop stood when I was a wee teen. I have taken the liberty to mark a few places for reference points. I even placed a red X where I parked my 305cc Honda Super Hawk back in the mid 60s behind Otis Ivey’s filling station. Otis would let me park my cycle there during school hours and I’d walk to the high school, then return after 3pm to ride it home to 805 3rd NE. I’m sure some of you can point out some more landmarks in the aerial, let me know.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/3rdNE_Aerial.jpg
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“Each week I print out your “This and That Newsletter” for my father, Henry Womack, who is a bright and shiny 98 years young. He read your first paragraph and told me about a 1929 snow storm.
In December, 1929 it started snowing and they did not see the ground until February of 1930.
His dad had a place just west of Marietta, raising cattle, hay, etc. They also had about a 2 acre pond that froze over 8 inches. He would drive his dad’s Model T out on the ice and slide to the other side. He would cut a hole in the ice after he fed them corn on the cob, and cottonseed cake. The cattle would come to him at the pond because they knew they could drink water after they ate.”
Merry Christmas
Gene Womack
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“Butch, I have a photo of Bud Ballew with two young Indian girls that my great grandmother had hanging on her wall all my life, I’m 54. Ma said Bud Ballew was her cousin, anyhow I have not seen this picture any where else. I have just started this research. Thanks.” -Billy Jolly jollybuffalo@yahoo.com
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos9a/Ballew2Indians.jpg
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Jill and I appreciate all the Happy New Year wishes so many of you have emailed us. The following is just an example of so many we’ve received. Thank you all. And our Happy New Year wishes go right back to everyone.
“Dear Butch and Jill – Sending you all best wishes and aloha from Hawai’i for a wonderful flourishing New Year full of discoveries, great projects, and good health. Thanks for all the newsletters and all the good spirit you create between people who love good stories and love Oklahoma. Glad to see the Sooners win their bowl game today. Best wishes!” -Nancy in Hawaii
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“Never insult an alligator until after you have crossed the river.”
Happy New Year from our house to yours!
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges“Friends Make Life Worth Living”Ardmore, Oklahoma
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Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
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Bill Hamm’s Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial Fund – Administration Webpage
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Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
https://oklahomahistory.net/airbase/
Carter County Government Website
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