This week we have had beautiful weather here in Southern Oklahoma. I'm sure winter is on the way, and some weather models are predicting snow here on Christmas Day. A white Christmas would be nice.
North of Tishomingo is Bromide, Oklahoma. Jimmie Martin has created a webpage on his hometown with Bromide history.
http://bromideoklahoma.blogspot.com/2005/10/bromide-oklahoma.html
In 1920 oil was discovered near Burbank, Oklahoma which led to 30 boom towns springing up almost overnight. The wildest of the new towns was called Whizbang - a place where robbery and murder were common and vigilante justice ruled. Messengers sent to the oilfields in Whizbang were known to gallop at full speed without stopping to get safely through the rowdy town. Learn more about this Wild West ghost town that is part of Osage County's rich history in this great video from the Oklahoma Ghost Towns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yiv8S0Ge8k
Cushing oil field 1915 was the
largest oil field in the world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Feg7eRGaoAE
Oklahoma Ghost Towns
https://www.youtube.com/user/dwtaylor999/videos
Some pavers I sandblasted the past week
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/TuckerPaver.jpg
You can find gas prices for a particular Oklahoma town by entering the name or zip code in the GasBuddy search box.
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/
Hope everyone made it through the Thanksgiving holidays without gaining to many pounds from all the good food. I can't believe all the food and sweets I ate and I didn't gain a one single pound. I attribute the NO GAIN to the Perfect Probiotic by Probiotic America I have been taking everyday. My stomach fat continues to melt away and I feel better than I have in years. If you really want to get rid of that belly fat I truly believe probiotics is a "must have".
http://oklahomahistory.net/probiotics.html
The past month I bet I've had the electricity blink Off and the back On about once a week. So far I've had no damage to the electronics in the house thanks to my Okie Power Saver. Someone mentioned to me their electric bill is larger in the winter than in the summer because they have an all-electric home. Electricity is their only way of heating the house in the dead of winter. That's all the more reason to own an Okie Power Saver. And OG&E continues to report each week I am in the "Efficient group". I have only been placed in this efficient group since I installed my Okie Power Saver last April. My Okie Power Savers are also a FULL house surge protector. You say you have brown-outs? All the more reason to own a Power Saver unit.
Q. What state was the last one
to declare Christmas a legal Holiday?
A. Oklahoma was the last state in 1907. Alabama was the first state
in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in 1836.
Q. What and where in Oklahoma is the
Jed Tower located?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of December 8, 2001:
"Butch, my Dad owned the Sooner Foods
store when it was robbed and Bobby Rudisill was shot and killed. One of the
interesting inside stories was that Mr. Red the night watchman heard something in
the back of the store and unlocked the front door and ran onto North Washington
St. street to stop a police car driving by, he then went back and locked himself
back in and continued working. When my Dad asked him why he didn't call the
police he responded that he hadn't learned to use the new dial phones yet."
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"Hi Butch! Enjoy your weekly 'epistles!'
every Saturday and the history and happenings that you dig up! It all brings
back memories. I recall during the early days of WW11 our family all going down
to the train station and 'seeing off' my uncle, Johnny Dixon to war. Johnny had
left his mark in the art world at O.U. and around the Ardmore area. There is
still a Johnny Dixon award for talented artists from what I understand. Johnny
went off to war and never came back, alive, his head severed in Germany by a
shell as they were marching along. His brother, Andrew came back, I guess in
1945 or '46, and bought $600 in Christmas trees for resale. I remember him
standing down on main street selling those trees in the cold, and they only
brought about $600 total. The man he had bought them from misrepresented the
total. Such a waste on both counts. Johnny was a fine artist, and Andy had a
brilliant mind, even if he was 'taken' on the tree deal. His son later helped
IBM develop the computer. Our family lost people in all three services , the
army, navy and the air force who never made it back. But their memory lives on,
as does our freedom!" -Bob Taylor, RT Ranch, in the heart of Missouri.
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Ardmore, Oklahoma 1975 looking east on 3rd
NE.
1. "Big Swimming Pool" (Community Swimming Pool)
2. Dr. J.J. Boyd's Office (sugar pill doctor)
3. Fibre Reduction Company
4. Ardmore Plumbing and across the street north is their 2nd warehouse/office
(4b)
5. Hudson-Houston Lumber Yard Number 2
6. Cashway Lumber Company
7. Otis Ivey's old service station
8. Vanderburg Grocery and Barber Shop
9. Joe Brown Company
10. Betty Brown's House of Health
11. Grady Hobson's Family Store
12. Vanderburg's old home place on 3rd NE
13. A.D. Wilkinson Printer
14. Ardmore Electric
15. Ritter Bicycle Repair Shop (a vacant lot)
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/bakermap.jpg
Close-up of Cashway Lumber Company at 3rd
and A NE where the Saturday sales are held today.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/baker5e.jpg
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"We had a wonderful Pearl Harbor Day
parade here in New Orleans today. 12 of the living 59 national medal of honor
winners from WWII rode in the parade. What an experience to see, They also
dedicated and opened the second phase, Pacific Theatre of Operations, of our
National D-Day Museum. This was the started by historian Stephen Ambrose
(biographer of Eisenhower and Lewis and Clark) with assistance from Steven
Spielberg and Tom Hanks. We are real fortunate to have such a living memorial.
Keep up the good work and congratulations on your Christmas tree."
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I really enjoyed seeing the
picture of Hotel Ardmore. I worked at Grissom's Drug Store in the SE corner of
the building in 1946. Later, my mother worked in the coffee shop in the NE
corner. Also, I don't know why I have never told you about a bell at Hickory
Hill Baptist Church at Fittstown. It is an Indian church North and West of
Fittstown. Drive north of Fittstown about 1 1/2 miles and you will see a sign
that says Hickory Hill Baptist Church. Just follow the road."
----------------------------------------------------
"Hi Butch, I always love your weekly
e-mails; but the tea discussion hit home as well as the discussion on
telephones, old and new. When I lived in Oklahoma, I thought there was nothing
but iced tea until I baby sat for a lady who taught me to enjoy hot tea. Now, no
one better think of taking my tea away. I live about 75 miles from a gourmet
shop and when I have to cross the Bridge, I always buy one or another of the
flavors. I like several kinds. On the telephones; I wish they could expand our
lines or something; as I have to dial l-area code-208 or 64l- and then the four
digits JUST FOR MY NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR!! At least all of our lines are
underground. My daughter 35 miles away does not have to use all the numbers for
anyone in her whole town. Keep up the good work."
----------------------------------------------------
"Butch, I could not resist giving you a
little Oklahoma history after seeing all of the e-mails about old telephone
numbers. The telephone company for the Gene Autry area was the Hardy Telephone
company owned and operated by Noble & Lena Hardy. I have the original files they
used at the time they sold the business in 1956. They used 3 by 5 cards kept in
a small metal box as there permanent records of who had service (the persons
name), the billing address, telephone number, the installation date, and the
rate charged. As an example my folks had two numbers, one for our general store
and one for home. Our phones were installed on June 2, 1947. Our billing rate
was $3.50 for the store and $2.75 for our home. There was a rate increase on
April 20,1954 and the rates went up too $4.00 and $3.00. (Party lines cost $2.75
and had numbers like J-2 ) Our phone number was 54-2(2 rings) for the store and
54-3(3 rings) for our home. To show you how uncomplicated things were in those
days our Post Office box number was 54. Now for the rest of the story. In 1956
the Air Force Base was planning to build 750 homes on the west side of Gene
Autry starting in September 1956 and to be completed 14 months later. They
required dial telephone service. I have a letter dated April 23, 1954 from a
Major Craig, Asst Adjutant at Langley Air Force Base Virginia to Royce Gauntt
(of then Lone Grove) detailing the needs of the Air Force for telephone service
in the Gene Autry area and requesting their capabilities. The Air Force expected
95% of the residents in the housing units to want telephone service. They also
expected the need for 20% to be single-party lines, 60% to be two-party service
and 20% to be four-party service. With this need Noble and Lena decided at there
age they did not want to borrow money from the REA and put in the new service.
Thus enters Royce Gauntt. He decided to purchase the telephone company and made
a deal with the Hardy's. As everyone knows the deal for the housing fell through
and the base decided to close shortly thereafter. Royce and Noble cancelled the
contract and then made another deal for the same price ($10,000) but as part of
the deal Noble agreed to stay on for a while and run the operations for which he
received $1.50 per hour and $.06 per mile for his truck. The new telephone
company became know as the Chickasaw Telephone Company. While it was not part of
the deal Royce Gauntt never charged Noble & Lena for a telephone call anywhere
for as long as they lived. He was a good person. It is interesting to look at
the billing cards and remember all the great people who lived around Gene Autry
in those days. Life was certainly different in the days when you could just pick
up your phone and crank the handle and when Lena Hardy ( who was the switchboard
operator) answered just say "Miss Lena do you know where my Mother is?" and she
would tell you, and ring the location "IF" they had a phone........Hope you
enjoyed." -Richard Haney
----------------------------------------------------
"In regard to the telephone numbers; my
dad, Orval Wood, worked for the telephone company in Healdton and our number was
7. I remember going through the office as a kid and seeing the operators
working. Marie Kiplinger was the chief operator at the time. I have one of the
old oscillating fans that used to blow on them to rotate the air as they didn't
have air conditioning."
----------------------------------------------------
"I understand the train that travelled
from Ardmore to Durant was called the DINKY during the late thirties. My wife
recalls taking it in 1940 to hear Eleanor Roosevelt speak at the University in
Durant. It was long gone when I arrived in 1949.In 1949 the hamburger Inn was
still on the west side of Washington street next to the post office. The Bowling
Alley was located on "A" street between Main and Broadway, it burned in 1950."
-Bill O'Heran
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Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"Good evening, Butch! The latest newsletter had a couple of reprints from 2001 dealing with operator-assisted phone exchanges, including the statement "I bet there were operators just like that in the southern part of the state." I can report that there definitely were, still going strong during the time I was a reporter for the Ardmoreite (fall 1954 to fall 1955). When I covered the Woodford Pie Supper and called in the story to WKY-TV from a phone in the Woodford School, it was one of the ancient hand-cranked-ringer type and it connected me to the switchboard operator in Springer. And before I left Ardmore, that switchboard got replaced by a touch-tone dial system. As I recall, it was the next to last such exchange in the state!" -Jim Kyle"My photo gallery of the Choctaw PowWow at Durant, Oklahoma December 6, 2015." -Doug Williams
https://dougwilliamsphotography.smugmug.com/Choctaw-Pow-Wow-2015/
1950s Christmas medley of songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dDhpj-MJPbM
Let There Be Peace on Earth
was written by Sy Miller and Bill Jackson in 1955.
Let There Be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me.
Let There Be Peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be!
With God as our Father, brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpzUyzVEFZc
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Follow me on the TruVision lose weight program
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/truvision.html
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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