I learned this week of the passing of Ardmoreite Harry Dodd. Many that knew him just called him Coach Dodd. Someone told me back in 2001 that Coach Dodd had a large collection of engraved bricks in his backyard from all of the country. In September of that year I called Mr. Dodd and asked if I could come over and take pictures. Boy was I in for a surprise. He was brick collector extraordinaire with all kinds of names and symbols imprinted on them located right here in Ardmore. He had several hundred old bricks making up this walkway in his backyard. He had bricks from all over the country. I was amazed at all the different kinds in one place! Here are some photos I took of Mr. Dodd's brick walkway.
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd2.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd3.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd4.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd5.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd6.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd7.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd8.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd9.jpg
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd10.jpg
Here is a pic I snapped of Mr. Dodd looking over his bricks in 2001. RIP
http://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dodd11.jpg
In last week's newsletter there was mention of Carroll's Drive In having speaker boxes to place orders. I saw Edna Walters Gentry, she's my cousin Jerry Carmon's wife's sister, at Walmart this week. Edna gave me some history on Carroll's Drive In since Edna and Ida Walters Carmon both started as carhops right after Carroll's Drive in opened at 13th and North Washington in June 1959. Edna and Ida both started work there in May so that would make them some of the first employees (carhops) to work at Carroll's. Edna told me Carroll's never had speaker boxes like the Super Dog on North Commerce. I appreciate Edna and Ida (everyone calls Ida, Isabelle) filling me in on this piece of history. I sure wish someone had a picture of the old Carroll's Drive In.
1960
101 N. Commerce Hi-Way Flower Shop, Lee Stoddard
721 N. Commerce Jess Mason Phillips 66 Service Station
819 N. Commerce Super Dog
1701 N. Commerce Seventy Seven Barber Shop
2705 N. Commerce Roy Allen Motor Lodge
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105 S. Commerce Luke's Foodliner
118 S. Commerce Jimmy Lewis Grocery
912 S. Commerce Chief Motel
914 S. Commerce Modern Motel
1002 S. Commerce Day's Drive In (Herman Day) restaurant behind Musgrove Deep Rock Service Station
1010 S. Commerce Stonewood Motel
1117 S. Commerce The Angler's Motel
1202 S. Commerce Alexander Trailer Court and Grocery
115 D Street NW Ardmore Baptist Temple
July 1932
Miss Naomi Rollins and Miss Margo Smoyer have opened a junior dude ranch near Milo. The ranch house is known as Log Lodge, and is located on the West Springs Creek. The first week of operation will involve a group of boys between the ages of 8 and 12. They will be followed the next week by a group of girls the same age. Horseback riding, covered wagon tours, and water sports are among the activities available.
July 1956
A decision on whether a recount may be demanded in the Carter County Commissioner District #3 race was still pending. Veteran incumbent Lonnie Rooney received 1,824 votes, which equaled the total votes of his three opponents. The results force Ronney into a run off with his closest opponent. If he had one more vote, he could avoid a runoff.
July 1963
A Lone Grove man was sentenced to six months in Carter County jail after pleading guilty in District Court with a deadly weapon. Leonard "Popcorn" Vaughn admitted a knife attack on Edward Pringle, June 13th at an Ardmore domino parlor.
Picture taken a couple weeks ago of Turner Falls. In the picture one can see the zipline people are having fun riding.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ZiplineAndTurnerFalls2016.jpg
Street scene of Sulphur, Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/SulphurOKStreetscene.jpg
I needed to sand several round blocks of wood last week and didn't have a nice disc sander. I did have a belt sander, so with a couple of clamps, I turned it into a disc sander. Worked great!
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ImprovisedDiscSander081416.jpg
A few bricks I've sandblasted.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/BillyJeter2Pavers.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/RoyJusticePaver.jpg
You can find current gas prices for a particular Oklahoma town by entering the name or zip code in the GasBuddy search box.
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/
Q. In Oklahoma the main crop
today is wheat. What was it 100 years ago?
A. Corn
Q. Where is the longest cave in
Oklahoma?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of August 17, 2002:
Last week there was a wedding at the Ardmore Garden Center (old Carnage Library) and they had a horse drawn carriage giving rides to the attendees. I couldn't resist taking a couple pics.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/horse8a.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/horse8b.jpg
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For all you history buffs out there, here
is a neat link to history! Its a resource to many many history links around the
world covering about an area of history you can imagine.
http://www.besthistorysites.net/
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The Dallas Morning News had a nice
write-up last Sunday (Aug 11, 2002) on Bud Ballew being shot in 1922 at Wichita
Falls, Texas by law enforcement there. There was even a photo along with the
article of the Wichita Falls, Texas police officer who shot retired Carter
County Deputy Ballew.
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Last week I told about OETA (Oklahoma
Educational Television Authority) representatives coming down from OKC to check
out the Memorial at the Ardmore Airpark and the one downtown. Gary Simmons
escorted them to the airpark memorial. They told him they will do a special on
the memorial site on September 19th. Here are a couple of pics Gary took at the
airpark during the tour and filming. The two guys in the photos are the OETA
cameramen.
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/oeta2.jpg
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/oeta3.jpg
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"Hi Butch: Just finished reading T&T. I
look forward to it every week. Thanks for the hard work. You mentioned Young
Togo in this article. He was indeed a professional boxer in his younger years.
He was written up in Ring Magazine several times. I had a friend from Madill who
took boxing lessons from him and I read some of the write ups. It was reported
that he fought the champion Battling Nelson to a draw. It was a long , grueling
fight but in order for Nelson, who was the champion to win he had to knock out
Togo which he didn't do. Togo who was a bantam weight fought and ko'd a
heavyweight. Togo stood about 5' 2" and his opponent was 6' 4". He was a very
interesting man and I would surmise that it is he that is buried at Keller
Cemetery."
Young Togo Dec 18, 1886 - Aug 7,1964. Buried at Keller Cemetery, Carter County, Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/YoungTogo.jpg
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"The ceremonies (of the Gene Autry name
change in 1941) were also broadcast nationally over the NBC Radio Network (no TV
then) with a remote pickup arranged by WKY Radio in Oklahoma City. No small feat
in those days to set up such arrangements."
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"Here's a walk down memory lane for you -
C.R. Anthony's on main there in Ardmore used to carry Buster Brown shoes. Have
fond memories of putting on a new pair of shoes, stepping up on the box and
looking in to see how the shoes fit - was always amazed (being a youngster) of
how they could let you see right through our skin so you could see the bones in
your feet. Wonder how many of your readers remember doing the same? It was a
treat for us to go down to Ardmore from Davis to get new shoes - I think we
sometimes would wear out shoes just so we could go down and see the bones in our
feet when getting a new pair. Believe the salesman's name was Mister Stoneman -
could be mistaken as it was quite a while back - he eventually moved up to the
C.R. Anthony's store in Midwest City - saw him there when I was just out of high
school - we talked about the old days in Ardmore - had a nice visit."
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"A person bought some arrowheads at a flea
market a couple of years ago with "American Indian Museum, Ardmore, OK" stamped
on the back. I checked Mac's collection and the city directories but found no
mention of anything like that. Have you heard of it?"
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"The Hollis Brooks grocery store on North
Washington seemed to always have an open top ice box filled with crushed ice
where they had fresh fish on display for sale. It seems that this case was
located at the very entrance to the store - maybe near the sidewalk."
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Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
Dear Butch, Enjoying every issue, as is my brother Perry in Philadelphia. Reference the story about the Thompson Submachine Guns, I was surprised they were available in 1959/60 as they were still carried aboard US Navy ships as a "repel boarders" weapon. This is a .45 caliber weapon as was the standard military sidearm, the 1911 Colt .45 automatic. As part of my ship's repel boarders team I practiced often with both weapons. The Thompson (Tommy Gun) was great fun to shoot and I always looked forward to the practice. Photo from such practice about USS Southerland DDR743 1961. The weapon is highly restricted as it is fully automatic (although can also be used in a single shot model).Emil Levine
AHS 1955
Emil Levine
Captain, USNR, RET
Austria
[email protected]
"Butch, When I saw this picture, I couldn't believe it. This is where I went to Harry Dodd's Memorial funeral yesterday (8/11/2016)." -Wendall
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/FirstMethodistChurchPostcard.jpg
"Butch, my grandfather (Charles J. Burchfield) had a grocery store In the 40's at 735 11th NW. They lived in one side of the house. The store was in the west side." -Pat
"I read your articles over Picks Hot Tamales from August 21, 2014 and November 2015. The family currently making the Picks Hot Tamales are the son and grandsons of the late James Gaddy who owned the business during the time you recall buying them. The location at 112 West Main in Ardmore sells them in dozen quantities and the new location at Turner Falls Park, opening Saturday August 13th, will be selling individual tamale meals along with the chili and rice, and other concessions. You can order the dozen bulk items from www.PicksHotTamales.com or come see us at Turner Falls Park, down towards the Falls. Hours of operation are Friday-Sunday, 11a-6p. Thank you for your interest in Pick's Hot Tamales!" -Bryan Gaddy
"Just wanted to let you know Leon Sloan's Greenhouse in Kingston has several people's Honey for sale. I don't know all of them. And his honey is pure honey. He also has squash, onions, tomatoes, Okra, watermelons, cantaloupe and veggies for sale. He is closed Saturdays but open Sundays." -DeWayne
Here are 5 scans of old postcards. -Robert Hensley
Corral Mode at 1611 North Commerce where Walmart is located today.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/CorralMotelArdmoreOK.jpg
Triple D Motel at #28 North Commerce
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/TripleDMotelArdmoreOK.jpg
Westward Motel at 1717 North Commerce
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/WestwardMotelArdmoreOK.jpg
Tower Motel at 207 North Commerce
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/TowerMotelArdmoreOK.jpg
This is a postcard of the Clayton House motel at South Commerce and Myall Street.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos16b/ClaytonHouseMotelArdmoreOK.jpg
"I was a kid from Oklahoma who never wanted to be a singer, but was told I could sing. And things snowballed." -Patti Page born at Claremore, Oklahoma
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Bells of Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Carter County Courthouse Paver Project
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/pavers
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial
Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers
Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force
Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County
Government Website
http://cartercountyOK.us/
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