This and
That Newsletter
A Weekly Publication
Vol 17 Issue 870 Circulation 5,000 September 26, 2013
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: [email protected]
580-657-8616
Ex-Ardmoreite Richard Henry sent in an email and link to about a dozen photos taken at the old Jack's Skating Rink. Jack's was located at Whittington Park (next to the Hardy Murphy Coliseum). Here it is in his own words:
"Hi Butch, I really enjoy your weekly newsletter about Ardmore. Last week's edition mentioned my Uncles skating rink at Whittington Park. My Uncle, Jack Floyd owned it and my Grandparents, J.F. and Lora Floyd ran the rink for him. The patrons called them "Mom and Pop" Floyd. They would take me to the rink when I was very young and I would sleep in a make-shift bed they made for me. One of the photos shows me in that bed. The unusual fact about the rink was it was on the second floor and the dressing room for the swimming pool was on the first floor. It was next door to the Hardy Murphy coliseum. When my grandparents ran the rink, it was during the war years. You can see some of the soldiers and airmen that patronized the rink in the attached photos. Thanks for one of the skaters, Frances Dunlap for sending me some of the photos. I remember that there were some gumball machines that had a few stripped gumballs and when you got a stripped ball, you got a free coke. Well one night the machine malfunctioned and you could turn the wheel and get a gumball without paying Everyone took turns turning until they got a stripped ball. My grandparents wondered why they were giving away so many cokes. Soon granddad found out why. Those were some fond memories of growing up during a less hectic time." -Richard (Richie as known back then) Henry
Jack's Skating Rink Photo Gallery
The Starlight Drive-In was located on South Commerce at what was called the Hill Top. The movie drive-in was across the street from the Hilltop Diner.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/StarlightDriveIn.jpg
Monday afternoon late I spotted a seriously damaged bridge on Timber Road south of Lone Grove (very south edge of Lone Grove city limits). The bridge allows water from Bull Creek to flow under the road. It was so bad the City of Lone Grove had to close the wooden bridge. It's hard to tell in the photo but the red circle designates a very low depression area, so bad that a person could damage their vehicle or even lose control driving over it.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/TimberRoadBridge1.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/TimberRoadBridge2.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/TimberRoadBridge3.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/TimberRoadBridgeMap.jpg
Put articles, videos or pretty much
anything into Pocket. Save directly from your browser or from apps like Twitter,
Flipboard, Pulse and Zite. View when ready.
http://getpocket.com/
Several times a week I get a request from someone to Add them to my Facebook, or I get a request from someone already on my Facebook to Add a friend of theirs. Since I reached the 5,000 limit set by Facebook several months ago I am unable to add any new people. Sorry. But what one can do is click on FRIENDS tab and then click GET NOTIFICATIONS. I have over 120 that has done that, so they get my newsletter posts, etc.
Non-ethanol gas (pure gas) stations in the Ardmore area (updated).
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/puregas.html
Q. How many telephone area
codes in Oklahoma?
A.
405, 580, 918, and
soon 539
Q. In 1889 the opening to white
settlement of a choice portion of Indian Territory in Oklahoma set off one of
the most bizarre and chaotic episodes of town founding in world history. What
was the name of that Oklahoma town?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of September 25, 1999:
Just a little additional info about Chock
Thompson at the Ardmore's Hamburger Inn. About 1972 Chock got mad because the
then owner, Jimmy Brown, would not give him a pay raise. So Chock quit and went
across the street from the Hamburger Inn and opened up his own burnt onion
hamburger place. Not too many months went by and Chock decided he'd close his
hamburger joint and go back to work at the Hamburger Inn. I talked to the
original owner of the Hamburger Inn, Ernest Brown, this week. He and his wife
Lillian opened their first Hamburger Inn across the street from its present day
location. The first one was opened by Brown in 1938 at #32 North Washington.
Ernest built the present Hamburger Inn at #27 North Washington in 1956. Here are
photos of both establishments. The Hamburger Inn has 13 round stools lined along
the length of the counter.... that's all the seating.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hambur47.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hambur56.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
Charlie lives in the Mojave desert. Six
miles from his house in the middle of nowhere is a bullet riddled telephone
booth. For a long time now, Charlie stops at the payphone to answer the hundreds
of calls it receives daily.... people calling from all over the world, just to
call Charlie and see how its going in the middle of the Mojave desert in CA.
Charlie is fast becoming an international celebrity! The number is 760-733-9969.
When I get hold of Charlie, and find out the latest, I'll let everyone know...
hope the line ain't busy! haha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_phone_booth
----------------------------------------------------
This is the tower clock in front of the
Garfield County Courthouse in Enid, Oklahoma. I wonder how old the clock is? I
assume it rings out the time? Does anyone know about this clock?
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/EnidOKclock.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
"Well Butch: Looks like all through
these years I have been living under the allusion that the east side of the old
building on the NW corner of Caddo & Main was badly damaged upstairs & therefore
the brick replaced the sand stone in the 2nd floor level. Although the picture
makes it appear sound, I still believe the damage was worse than it appears &
caused the upper structure to be redone in brick. Actually the picture in this
weeks T&T, also shows that the Whittington Hotel, which was across Main street
to the south, appears to be in recoverable shape. But, Mrs Whittington told me
that the uppermost part of that building was so badly damaged that those floors
were removed and the Hotel was renamed "THE NEW WHITTINGTON HOTEL". That name
remained on the old building until it was closed & dismantled many years ago. I
remember the Whittington Hotel served many people that were arriving on the
train. It was very plush and also accommodated many a traveling salesman that
remained loyal throughout its remaining years. Now, for the so called old Hardy
Hospital building, its lower floor on the west side of the stairs housed a cafe
known as the Innman Inn when I first knew of it. The east side of the down
stairs, housed Drug stores for most, if not all, of its years... That part of
the building was leased at the time of the Explosion (1915) by Mr. Adcock, an
old-time Pharmacist. Mr. Adcock told me that at the time of the explosion, all
of his fixtures fell face down to the middle of the floor. He leased the
Drugstore from a Mr. Ramsey who would only lease the Store for 5 years at a
time. Mr. Adcock said that after he suffered through the damage of the explosion
& his 5 years time was up, that Mr. Ramsey would not renew his lease. Years
later, in the 1930's, my Dad acquired interest in the McCan & Stewart Drug Store
which was in that building. Mr. Ramsey's estate still owned the place & Dad
continued to lease from his daughter for the rest of his life. The Drug Store
went under the name of Martin Drug Co. until his death in 1968. The Pharmacy is
now gone & the building remains empty at this time."
----------------------------------------------------
"My name is Chris Bartell. I currently live in Portland, Oregon. I am working in
some genealogy work on my mothers side of the family. I just received a death
notice for my grandfather Burton N. Blythe. It said that he was a retired law
enforcement officer. I was wondering if you could help me find out where he
worked and if I can find out more information about him. He died in 1966 in
Ramona, Oklahoma at the age of 81. He is buried in Ramona. He is a registered
Cherokee Indian. I have more exact dates if needed. I wanted to see if you could
point me to a place that I might find more info. I have a school record for my
mother that places him in jail or in prison somewhere around 1944-1945. If he
was a law enforcement office that sounds unlikely that he had been in jail.
Burton's Father was Napoloean B. Blythe." [email protected]
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch: Some time back you were
speaking of the Indian Statue at the Arbuckle Mountains Look-out station. Today,
I ran across this snapshot which was probably made around 1947 or 1948. The girl
is my young sister-in-law, visiting here from Mississippi. This is the statue
that was used by the Palacine Service Stations - owned by Wirt Franklin. (I
think). My sister once had a heavy bronze colored cigarette ash tray, fashioned
in it likeness, that was heavy enough to be used for a door stop....or to crown
someone with. She no longer has it, nor knows what has happened to it. Maybe one
will show up at the Greater Southwest Historical Museum someday, I hope."
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/IndianStatueHow.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
"Here's a picture of the Ardmore
balloon Kaleidoscope being filled at the Campflite balloon meet at Western Lodge
on Ft. Gibson Lake near Wagoner, OK. Aug 27th, 28th, and 29th (1999). The
picture was taken by team member Barbara Riley of Ardmore. Hope you can add
these to your 'This 'n That' newsletter. Thanks for all your hard work putt'n
your newsletter together and sending it out to all us 'Okies'. Keep it up!!!!!
from a fellow history buff.. near Russett." -Jerry Dodds
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/kalei99a.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos13a/kalei99b.jpg
----------------------------------------------------
Gas prices today in the Ardmore area......
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/index.aspx?mss=152754
Check gas prices by town or zip code anywhere in U.S.
http://www.kmov.com/traffic/gas-buddy
Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
The Ardmore High School Class of 1963 will hold their 50th Class Reunion celebration at the Ardmore Depot this Friday and Saturday evening, September 27 and September 28, 2013. Any classmates that have still not checked in, please do so right away. Dennis Medrick, (214) 727-7408 cell, (580) 319-5137 res. or: Ellen Williams Loard, (405) 341-4939"I read your blog on Hamburger Joints in Oklahoma and am flabbergasted that you somehow skipped the best burger joint in Oklahoma. That would be Bob's Pig Shop in Paul's Valley. Phil Henderson is the owner of the Pig Shop and is likely more widely known for the Bar-b-que he serves. But, most of the locals and many of the folks who make the Pig Shop a "day trip" will tell you, the Burgers are top notch. Try 'em!" -Becky
"I think Starlight Drive In was from 1955 to 1969....... 77 North 1964 to 1975....... Skyview 1965 to 1985 ." -Melissa Ladner
The national flag of Chile and the state flag of Texas are so similar they are frequently confused; both feature a single white star and large blocks of red, white, and blue with the only difference being the size of the blue background behind the white star.
"Butch, the Shell station on 70 West & Reck Road, Wilson, actually started selling gas with ethanol in it on Wednesday or Thursday. That is where I always fill up & I had already filled my suburban up with it before I noticed they had changed. My mileage drops from 17.2 to 14.7 mpg. They said the owner said he was loosing money by not selling the gas with ethanol in it so he changed." -Judy McCoy
"butch, i deer hunted on the land that is now lake mcgee when i was a kid. did you know at one time the man that played hoss cartwright on the show bonanza owned part of that land. the story i was told was that he was flying over it in a plane and saw all the tall pine trees and had someone buy it for him. my sisters father in law was raised on the ranch that was part of the lake land. we enjoy your newsletter very much. take care." -duane
Infamous Quotes: Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Nashobish Ikana
PO Box 11
Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
Carter County Courthouse Paver Project
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/pavers
Save on long distance calls, just a couple cents a
minute!
http://www.CheapLongDistance.org
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ardmorecriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
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 schools, past and
present
http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Carter County
Government Website
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/
Ardmore School Criterions
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com
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