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Below is July 5, 2002 to September 26, 2002.
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Saturday August 31, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 280
I went for broke this week, hocked everything, put the farm up, signed my life away, and bought a new digital camera. I had been searching for the right camera for over a year. I chose the Olympus Camedia D-510Z camera. I was really needing a camera with a zoom and boy does this one have it. It will zoom up 9X (3X digital and 3X optical), and up to 1600×1200 pixel quality. I got it for $199 plus $16 shipping at uBid.com, so I think I got a good deal. Here are some pics I took using the zoom. I stood on the ground and took these pics of the dome and clock at the courthouse. I could zoom right in on that clock 6 stories up. I did crop a couple of the photos. Using 1600×1200 pixels they were very fine detail but huge files. Remember, I was on the ground pointing my camera up to about the equivalent of 6 stories or more. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dome802d.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dome802e.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dome802f.jpg
This camera even got the movie mode, night photo shots mode, self timer and much more. Now to learn all those buttons! For those of you who like to read all the specification stuff and a review with photos. http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/d510z-review/
An email from a Reader this week reminded me of a spring that was behind my grandfather Stanley Carmon’s lumber yard back in the 60s. The water kind of oozed up out of the ground behind Mr. A.L. Senter’s homeplace. Mr and Mrs Senter’s home was at 316 “H” Street NE directly behind the Carmon Lumber Company. The Reader said he had been told the springs was a place calvary troops stop to water their horses before statehood. Mr. Senter’s property ran way back to the east to the center of the block, butting up against the SW corner of Jack Bench’s property at 830 4th NE. The spring was almost in the center of Mr. Senter’s property and the only thing I remember being there in the 60s was a water well casing sticking up about a foot above ground. The water was only about 6 inches below ground. The Senters used the well to water his big garden he had each summer, plus the milk goats and chickens they raised. Here is a pic of Mr. and Mrs. Senter’s home. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/senter.jpg
The spring fed a creek that ran east through the center of the block and continuing on SE until it emptied out into a larger creek on the south side of the old Fraser’s Meat Packing Plant just south of White and “K” Street SE. As best I could tell this week, the spring on the old Senter property has been dried up a for years. I could not see a creek running through the property, the same creek where I used to catch crawdads (crayfish) when I was a kid. Some times I’d get a small piece of window screen wire out of the lumber yard and seine for the crawdads. I guess that might be called cheating, but it sure worked. Those little boogers sure could go fast too… backwards! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/craw7.jpg http://www.somaradio.ca/~minimalism/crawdad.html
A Reader in Texas sent me an email this week with a text file attached. The text file was a letter from Jonas Wolf, Governor of the Chickasaw Nation here in Oklahoma, to the Department of Interior. The letter dated 1885 from Jonas Wolf was requesting that 60 intruders (non-citizens) be removed from Pickens county, Indian Territory. You will find the email and link to the text file in the Mailbag below.
In the 1870’s Nathan Price built his first home near Davis, Oklahoma in Murray county. Today we know of the area as Price’s Falls. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/pfalls.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/pfalls8a.jpg
Cornish, Oklahoma was a thriving town near Ringling, Oklahoma before statehood and larger then Ringling population wise. As time went by Cornish would lose its edge over Ringling primarily because of the railroad came through Ringling. A Reader who grew up at Cornish sent me some early photos of Cornish. Here is a photo of Jim Taylor, an early day postmaster at Cornish. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/cornishp.jpg
This is a pic of an old saloon in Cornish. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/cornishs.jpg
This is a 1912 photo of the Cornish Orphan’s Home. Listed below the photo is the names of the children who lived at the home in May 1912. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/cornish12.jpg
We’ve had some cooler weather here in Ardmore this week. The Farmers Almanac says we are going to have a much colder than normal winter. I sure hope they are wrong. http://www.almanac.com/
County Commissioner Dale Ott, was re-elected to another term last Tuesday at the polls. Carter County Assessor Sam West was also re-elected to office. Here are a couple of pics I took at Sam West’s Watch Party at the OSU Office in the Annex Building. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/west8a.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/west8b.jpg
The last few days workmen have been busy on the courthouse grounds installing an automatic water sprinkler system for the lawn. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/sprink8a.jpg
I received an email this week about 5 Russian bells being placed at a church in DeQueen, Arkansas http://www.dequeen.com/
Our little history group who use WorldxChange for our long distance calls is setting another record month this month. This month we went way 13,000 minutes and 1,000 calls! People are finding out how great these rates really are, word is getting around! Israel 10 cents a minute, Chile 8 cents a minute, Columbia 15 cents, Costa Rica 12 cents, Sweden 6 cents, Russia 13 cents, and many more. Crystal clear calls, and best of all, no switching until you want too, if ever! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Hi Butch, I think you might need to get your glasses checked. If you look at the picture, he is dipping Ice Cream, not cutting cake. I think Joe has his priorities in the right order. Ice Cream before it melts. The cake was already warm and it won’t hurt if it gets warm again, however Ice Cream is different. Thanks Butch. Keep up the great work.” -Claude in Alaska https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/mcreyaug.jpg
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“Thought this was interesting. It’s a text document about Intruders in Indian Territory in 1885. Don’t know where I found it!” -Robin https://oklahomahistory.net/textfiles/couch.txt
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“I believe the shoe store west of Kress’s was Hill-Shipe.”
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“Hi Butch, I love Ardmore History and I love your newsletter also I have read about the corner stores and family stores that are gone Could you let people know that there are some of the old stores that are still open like;
Pac-A-Sac on North Washington between 11th and 12th NE,
Key’s Grocery on East Broadway just west of Caddo Street,
Harrison’s Grocery on 3rd and Pst NE,
Boy’s Food Store on Sam Noble Parkway and O st NE,
These store have changed very little from when I was a boy I remember selling pop bottles for 2 cents each before there were soda pop in cans or plastic bottles. Pops where in 6 and 10 oz bottles with lids that did not screw off and had to be opened with an opener and no Diet pop of any kind. Pepsi, Coca Cola, Nehi, Dr Pepper, Grapette, Chocolate Soldier, R C Cola, 7up, Mason and Mission Root Beer to name a few. Pops where 5 cents, 7 cents if you took the bottle I remember when the 12 oz Pepsi came out and the first 16 oz was Mr. Cola in a large thick bottle. these were 10 cents and the bottle was 3 cents I think These above are the only old store that are still in Ardmore that I can think of that have stayed almost unchanged through the years.”
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“Those machines in the shoe stores (the ones I know of were in Buster Brown Shoe Stores) were fluoroscopes, forerunners of x-ray machines, and who knows how many thousands of us were exposed to the radiation from those machines. I loved to step up and put my feet in the little niche provided and look in the viewer at my toes.” http://www.xray.hmc.psu.edu/rci/ss8/img0012.jpg http://www.ohiokids.org/games/tellzall/images/shoexrl.jpg
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“Hello: You had asked the readers of Butch Bridges’ newsletter for a recipe for green tomato pickles. This is a recipe that my Grandmother Stamper used – It is from 1896.PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES
1/2 peck green tomatoes
1 pint (2 cups) vinegar
Whole cloves
2 lbs. brown sugar
1 oz. stick cinnamonCombine sugar, vinegar and cinnamon. At a low boil, boil for 20 minutes. Dip tomatoes quickly in hot water and remove skins. Stud each tomato with 4 whole cloves. Put into syrup and cook until soft but firm. Use 1/2 of tomatoes at a time.
Anna’s Note: A lot of the pioneer ‘s recipes used quantities that we no longer use. Homegrown produce was gathered into bushel baskets then- hence the measurements. A peck is 1/4 bushel. A bushel is 8 gallons, so a peck would be 2 gallons. A 2 gallon bucket would be a good way to measure. Enjoy!!” -Anna Marie Wilson, Lone Grove, OK
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“Butch, one of the names of the shoe store with the “bone” machine was Hill’s Shoes. I think Nancy Hill’s dad owned it and Mr. Byrd (Pete’s dad) worked there. Many moons ago.”
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“Hi Butch~~~ for the person that could not remember the name of the shoe store where we could see the bones in our feet~~I believe that the name of that shoe store was called, the Hill and Shipe Shoe Store. I loved that store and my parents bought me many a pair of shoes there.” -Linda Lamb Smith Tulsa, Oklahoma
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“Butch, We enjoyed your fine T&T as usual, especially the first two pics and related paragraphs. I printed out the photo of Sybil Rex in Indian bucs, but when I tried to print the historic map, only the western half of the territory would print. I tried everything I could think of. It’s probably an easy solution, but I’m unable to figure it out. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d appreciate your letting me know how to print the whole map. I get the view of the entire map, but when it goes to print, it only prints half. Thanks in advance for your extra time.” -Bob Elliston
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“Got another name for you. She once lived in Ardmore and wants to receive T&T. He father was Walter Miller who had Miller’s Jewelery and Watch Repair on N. Washington that you mentioned week before last. They lived on B St. S.W. and later on A St. N.E. just north of 5th. Ave.”
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“I made copies of the Tivoli theater burning that I found at the library a couple of summers ago but failed to note the date. Can you provide a date for me? The Tivoli appears to be on a corner, then going West, there is a street. Across the street east is the Old Kress store and was there another theater next to it? If so what was the name of it? That is where is seem to remember going to the movies when I was a child.”
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I learned about your site from a friend who knows a friend of yours in Ardmore. Please add my name to your mailing list and enter my name in the drawing for the History CD. I love your site and particularly enjoyed the UFO story in your Unexplained section. Will do a search later to see if there are more UFO stories in past newsletters. I’m an Oklahoma State Section Director for MUFON (Mutual UFO Network)and would like to invite you and your readers to our monthly meeting in Tuttle, Oklahoma. If interested, email me at mariealece@yahoo.com and I’ll forward the date, time, and address. We are in the process of building an Oklahoma MUFON website and will let you know when it’s up and running so you and your readers can check it out. Also, do you know of any markings on the hills in your area similar to the line drawings in Peru? I’ve heard of their existance but no one seems to know exactly where they are located. Would love to see them.” http://www.mufon.com/
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“Hi Butch: I have received several recipes about pickling green tomatoes from your readers, and I certainly appreciate it. Many sound delicious, but difficult for a real clutch. I tried frying green tomatoes a couple years ago. I made some kind of breading, mixed it up, fried and ate the tomatoes. I was sick for a week. I hope these turn out better, or perhaps my cooking is better. Anyway, thanks much to you and all your readers.”
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I recently saw a couple of Tom Cooper Farms items on eBay. I could not determine the authenticity of the items. The Tom Cooper eBay items I saw are described as: “1800’s Tom Cooper Farms Milk Bottle – Half Pint Bottle. This bottle measures 7″ tall and 2-1/2” diameter at the bottom. The words on this milk bottle are etched and I guess from age you can’t see them unless you hold the bottle in a certain position up to the light. This is what the bottle says: “Tom Cooper Farms, Golden Guernsey, GRADE A MILK PRODUCTS”. The bottom says, “PACIFIC, PAT. DES. 86037″. In the center of the bottle is a 3 in a circle and right below it is the word DACRO. The patent number dates this bottle between 1869 and 1870. There are no cracks, just pitting from use.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/tcooper8a.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/tcooper8b.jpg
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================================================I received a number of requests this week from people to be added to my Mailing List. I somehow lost one email address though, so whoever you are, maybe you will re-send and ask for my T&T again. For those of you who have asked what program I use to send out my T&T, it is GroupMail. I’ve used it since 1999 and it has worked great for me. Their standard version is Free for the asking. http://www.infacta.com/gm.asp
Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 4,100 files and 400mgs! If you have not entered the drawing for a Free CD, and want in, just send me an email! Here is a pic of those history CDs. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/t&tcd.jpg
And here are those two winners for this week!
llbridges@home.net
user920035@aol.com“Be careful with your immigration laws. We were careless with ours.” -George Bourland, Member of Chickasaw Tribal Council. Overbrook, Love County, Oklahoma. January 9, 1969
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday August 24, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 279
Last week I talked about Sybil Stone of Iowa and her finding that 1886 bell in Oklahoma which was named after her grandmother Sybil Rex. I obtain through Sybil the exact wording that is inscribed on that old bell in Krebs, Oklahoma. This is from a 1993 article in the McAlester, Oklahoma newspaper: “I am Sybil. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Rt. Rev. Abbot D. Isidore Robot, Prefect apostolic of the Indian Territory.”
The interesting part of this bell’s history, is when the McAlester newspaper did the story on the bell about 1993, they did not know the bell was named after Sybil Stone’s grandmother nor that the bell originally hung in the Catholic church in Vinita, Oklahoma. So before it rung in the Krebs church, it had a previous history….. “Vinita – Indian Territory. First bell rung on a Catholic Church was rung in Vinita and had the name Sybil Rex inscribed on it. It was given by John Rex of St. Louis to Fr. Robot.”
If anyone is over in McAlester/Krebs, Oklahoma area, maybe you can get a close up photo of this bell at the Catholic church in Krebs. Sybil Stone has never seen the bell, and would love to have a pic of it. Here is a photo of her grandmother, Sybil Rex, for who the bell is named after dressed in her Indian princess attire. This photo was probably taken around 1894. Maybe someone can give us some enlightenment of the Indian attire Sybil Rex is wearing in the photo. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/rex1894.jpg
Ardmoreite Ann Randolph brought me by a 1906 Oklahoma History book this week. What really caught my eye in this history book was the 1875 map of Oklahoma that was in it. Ardmore was not even on the map, just Fort Arbuckle and Tishomingo for this area. Not even an Oklahoma City or Tulsa is shown. Here are the details of this history book…. History of Oklahoma by Joseph B. Thoburn and Isaac M. Holcomb. Doub and Company, San Francisco, 1908. Price 65 cents. Exchange 15 cents. 266 pages. And here is that 1875 map of Oklahoma. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ok1875.jpg
I did a search in google.com for Doub & Company and did find a mention of it on the Delaware County of rootsweb.com. Here is the paragraph from that Page.
“In the fall of 1866 the main body of the Delaware sold their lands in Northeastern Kansas and during the next year, they moved to the Indian Territory, settling among the Cherokee, with which tribe they have ever since been affiliated. Note Added: A small branch of the Delaware has been living with the Wichita and affiliated tribes for a great number of years. A part of these joined the tribes of the Washita at the time of the main body of Delaware moved to the Cherokee country, but others had already been living among the Wichita for many years. (Source: History of Oklahoma by Joseph B. Thoburn and Isaac M. Holcomb, Doub & Company, San Francisco, 1908, pg. 109)” http://www.rootsweb.com/~okdelawa/del.htm
Lee Wages of Ft Worth sent me five pictures of bells from five counties in Oklahoma this week, all in NE Oklahoma (see Mailbag)! Let’s see there was Creek county, Wagoner county, Payne county, Mayes county and Rogers county. I did not have photos of any bells from those five counties until this week. Those photos from Lee really filled in some more yellow in northeast Oklahoma. Only 21 counties to go! https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/bellmap.jpg
I received the monthly newsletter from Oklahoma Balladeer, Les Gilliam, of Ponca City, Oklahoma this week. It has a lot of good information in it, but the first line really caught my attention, and brought back memories…..
“Hello Friends – Hope you are doing well these days. And sure hope your funeral fan is working good with all this hot weather. Or maybe some of you uptown folks has got you a ?lectric? fan.”
If you want to received Les Gilliam’s monthly ezine out of Ponca City, send him email at lesgill@poncacity.net http://www.lesgilliam.com
I got to take a group photo this week of the Carter County Assessors Office employees. They were going to use it in the newspaper. I see them almost daily, and they are a great bunch of people to work around. I think my little digital camera did a good job too. Sometimes I feel like I have the best job in the world, since I get to work with so many wonderful people at the courthouse. From the 4th floor, to the 1st floor, to the Annex Building, to the Sheriffs Office, to the County Barns, I get to work with some of the best! Here’s that group pic of the Assessors Office. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/group2a.jpg
I took this pic Thursday of the Assessors Office employees heading out to the Healdton Rodeo Parade! I didn’t get to go, but they said Healdton really had a wonderful parade and rodeo! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/group2b.jpg
Also this week we in the Annex building at the courthouse had a little birthday party for County Commissioner Joe McReynolds. The girls at the office put some balloons around his office door and baked a cake. We had vanilla ice cream to go with the chocolate cake. Sure hard to beat plain ole vanilla ice cream. Most of you know I work for 3 bosses… county commissioners. There is Joe McReynolds, Dale Ott and Kevin Robinson and they are the best employers. When you work with these three guys everyday like I do, you get to know them pretty well. There is a lot of good these three men do for people of this county that never makes the news. Now here is that pic of one of my bosses, Joe McReynolds, cutting his birthday cake! Happy birthday Joe! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/mcreyaug.jpg
Gary Simmons and I went out to Wilson Monuments this week and approved the final draft of inscriptions to be placed on the new memorial for those men who died in training at the Airpark when it was a military training base. It kind of makes you nervous, knowing that once the sandblasting starts, there is no going back. But Gary and I have checked and double checked the names and information, and believe we have it as accurate as humanly possible. The granite stone will be sandblasted in a few days.
While out at Lone Grove, Mrs Wilson asked me to put a request in this issue of T&T. She has been in contact with Bill Austin in Ft Worth by phone. Bill’s mother went to a little county school 9 miles south of Ringling named Union Hill School and Bill is wanting to hear from as many people as possible so a reunion of can take place September 28th at Ringling. Anyone who has a connection to this school is encouraged to meet in Ringling on Sept 28th. Reunion School has been long gone, and I’ve been told the only thing that remains is the school’s foundation. So, if you or anyone you know is interested in this meeting of classmates and friends of Reunion Hill School, give Mary Wilson a call at 580-657-4226. Or send me email and I’ll see your message is passed along to Mrs Wilson in Lone Grove.
Wonder how fast your internet connection is? Is if your crawling or rock and rolling. http://tech.msn.com/internet/speedtest.asp
Ever need to know the exact correct time right down to the second, like to set your watch? The time found at the link below is readings from the clocks of three U.S. agencies and contribute to world time, called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time maintained should never differ by more than 0.000 0001 seconds from UTC There also have software to download to set your computer’s clock to this UTC time. This is a link to the official time…. http://www.time.gov
We’re heading for another record month for our little group using the long distance plans. More and more of you are realizing the savings using WorldxChange. And you know, you don’t buy or pay for anything your not already paying for, you just pay less using their long distance service. And they are a true long distance company, not a broker or whatever. They have offices in San Diego with switches and equipment all across the U.S. They have been in business for nearly 14 years, so they are not a “johnny come lately” business. Start saving money today, no switching! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Hi Butch. This camera is still new to me and I don’t know quite how to work everything yet, but if it comes through, this a picture of the bell that was at the Rock Hill School, Northeast of Hugo Oklahoma, in Choctaw Co. Its new home is a mounting on the west wall of the stage, in Bill Grants, Salt Creek Bluegrass Park at Hugo. It is used in the opening ceremonies, on the morning of the first day of the festival, which always starts the first Wednesday of August every year.” -Jim Brown nto.pickin@att.net https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hugobel2.jpg
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“Hey Butch, I too, remember the machine you could see the bones in your feet, but as I recall, the one I remember was a regular shoe store on the west side of Kresses (now J.C. Yeatts). I don’t remember the name of it, but it had glass doors, with glass door handles. Also, the reader looking for a lost recipe might try this website.” http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus
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“Butch, I like the pictures of the horse and buggy. I’ve always liked Ardmore’s brick streets. As a kid when we visited relatives there I always liked for is to drive on the brick streets. They are still there, aren’t they?”
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“Hello Mr. Bridges, I was doing some research on Hoffman Arms, formerly of Cleveland Ohio and found a reference to your web site through Yahoo. Hoffman Arms was one of the premier firearms manufacturers in the USA in the 1920’s through the 1930’s. The company moved to Oklahoma about 1925 and then to Texas in the 30’s and may have been active there through WW2, but I haven’t found too much about it yet. I am persistent (or dense). Do you have any information about Hoffman Arms that you would like to share? Any information or photos would be appreciated.” clarkbr@tscnet.com
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“Dear Butch, I haven’t heard mention of a corner grocery store that I so vividly remember from my youth in Ardmore. It was called “Sperry’s Grocery” and was located on the corner of 6th and D N.W. I remember my grandmother, Nell Rorick, taking me in there as a kid and getting some of the best roasts and steaks in town. The owners, Paul Sperry and his wife always had a smile and a wide variety of candy LOL Thanks for all the hard work.”
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“Frederick, Oklahoma Hospital (the picture). This building was Dr. O.G. Bacon’s office and was located where the telephone office is now located. The hospital across the street where the DHS is was used by Dr. Bacon. I was born in the one where the DHS is now located. I have been treated in the one that you have a picture of by Dr. Bacon. Thats an old picture, say about 1942-44.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/fredhsp2.jpg
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“Hi Butch, I was at Berwyn the day the name was changed to Gene Autry. I was about 7 at the time and I had never seen so many people in all my life. My cousins and I walked across the rail road tracks from my grandmother’s house to the old rail station and then we wandered all over town. It was the greatest thing and the most people I’d ever seen. Not too many years before, just 6 years my grandfather had been the Agent for Sante Fe at that station. His name was L.L. Franklin.”
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“Hey Butch. Enjoyed the “corner grocery store” stories. How about a bit sometime on “country grocery stores” around the county or the lake. Thanks so much and God bless you.”
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“Hi Butch, Jeff called last night. (The son in Canada who works in the movie industry.) He said to tell your readers that Johnston County Wars (Wyoming, not Oklahoma) should be released on television sometime this month. He said it is about Buck Garrett. He had told me about it earlier but I forgot who he said starred in it. Always look forward to T&T.”
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“Hello Butch. I didn’t see a listing for Flannerys grocery store on west Mclish where the Frame shop is located. You may have listed it but I didn’t see it. When I was a very small boy about 1942 I remember my folks buying things there.”
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“Hey, Butch: Please ask your well informed readers to help me with this; How do I pickle green tomatoes right off the vine. Tell them to hurry, as birds are gathering and my puny six vines are almost produced out.” Altair716@aol.com
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“Hello Butch, This bell is at The First United Methodist Church in Sapulpa, Oklahoma (Creek County). I think this is the only bell in Sapulpa. I had to go to the police department for help in locating it. It is in front of the church on a tower about 40 feet up and as you can see the sun at noon was a problem.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/umcsap.jpg“Here is a bell at “The First United Methodist Church” that I took on Monday 19 Aug.2002 in Wagoner, Oklahoma (Wagoner County). I think this must be the only bell in Wagoner. Enjoy.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/umcwag.jpg
“This is a bell pic that I took in Claremore, Oklahoma. (Rogers County). This was an old church that is now used as a Fitness Center For Women. On the corner of Wewoka Ave and Pattipage Blvd. It still looks like a church.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/clareb.jpg
“This bell pic I took in Stillwater, Oklahoma. (Payne County) across the street from First Baptist Church. It looks like it could have been the old church. Now used as Sheerar Cultural Center and Museum the bell has # 24 yoke and was made by– The C S Bell Co. Hillsboro, O.– Corner of Duncan St. & 7th Ave.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/stillb3.jpg
Another bell pic I took at Adair Christian Church in Adair, Oklahoma (Mayes County)” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/adairb.jpg
“This is some oldies I found while on my search for BELLs. I thought that You and your readers would like these. Old Gas Pump & Phone Booth. This was at 1212 Veda Street in Pryor, Oklahoma (Mayes County).” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/pryorg.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/pryorp.jpg
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========================================================================Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 4,000 files and 400mgs! If you have not entered the drawing for a Free CD, and want in, just send me an email! Here is a pic of those history CDs. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/t&tcd.jpg
And here are those two winners for this week!
burtonj@brightok.net
oheran@shaw.ca“Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.” -Benjamin Franklin
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday August 17, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 278
On Wednesday, August 14th I received a phone call from Ames, Iowa. It was from a lady name Sybil Stone. This story really started in 1966 when Sybil Stone sent a letter to a Tulsa newspaper seeking information and help in finding a bell her great grandfather, John Rex of St Louis, gave to a church mission in Oklahoma in honor of his daughter, Sybil Rex. He presented the bell to a mission somewhere in Oklahoma but exactly where was not known. All they remembered was being told it was at the end of a railroad line at a church mission. The family in Ames, Iowa never did find where the bell was located after searching all these years. But the other day that changed!
A priest from McAlester, Oklahoma was doing some research in Tulsa and happened across that 1966 letter from Sybil Stone of Iowa. He contacted a friend who had internet access to do a search, and sure enough, Sybil Stone still lived in Ames, Iowa. The priest contacted Sybil Stone and gave her some much sought for information concerning the bell. Here is the first of two emails I received this week from Sybil Stone of Ames, Iowa:
“My great grandfather John E. Rex was born in Philadelphia 1820 died in St.Louis Jan 10, 1888 (my cousin says he died of pneumonia after attending the funeral of a friend). My grandmother Sybil Mary Rex was born in St Louis Mar 21, 1859. Married in St Louis Apr 3, 1895. Died in St Louis Nov 9, 1946. So…. I am assuming that John Rex gave the bell to Father Robot before 1887, as Fr. Robot died in 1887. All I knew was that the bell had the name Sybil on it. I had no idea of any other inscription until Fr. King called me from McAlester. I have a small note, possibly in my Aunt’s handwriting (she is another Sybil) that says:
Vinita – Indian Territory first bell rung on a Catholic Church was rung in Vinita and had the name Sybil Rex inscribed on it. It was given by John Rex of St. Louis to Fr. Robot. ——End of Railroad line.
That is exactly what the note says. So, the bell had to have been given to Fr. Robot before 1887 when he died. More mysteries. (I dearly love mysteries)” – Sybil Stone
Sybil Stone’s daughter also has a computer and internet, and she did a search the internet and found a bell from Krebs on my website. A Reader was in Krebs last Spring and took the photo. Sybil called me to see if I had additional info or a close-up photo of the bell at Krebs. I don’t but hopefully I can get a bette picture. Maybe even someone in the McAlester/Krebs, Oklahoma area can help get that close up photo. It would be interesting to see the actual inscription on the old bell! https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/krebs2.jpg
And this is the second email from Sybil Stone of Ames, Iowa:
“My great grandfather, John E. Rex worked for a dry goods company in St. Louis. At one time it was Samuel C. Davis and another time it was Homer, Rex and Tracy. Anyhow, he traveled to the Indian Territory to deliver goods to a trading post . He became friends with a Catholic priest, a Father Robot, who had a mission church. Where? (I am not sure). And so, at some point, so the story goes, he had made, and donated a bell to a church somewhere in the territory. And, the bell had the name of his daughter on it. The daughter was Sybil Rex. (my grandmother). John Rex also became friends with many of the Indians in the area. I have a photograph of my grandmother dressed in full Indian costume It is titled, “Our Indian Princess”. I lived with my grandmother while growing up, and our attic trunks had all sorts of Indian moccasins, etc etc that her father had gotten in the territory. There was also a friendship with Robert Owen, who later became a Senator. He escorted my grandmother to the Veiled Prophet’s Ball. (Another story) Anyhow, all of this before my grandmother was married. She may even have gone to the Territory with her father. In 1966 I first became aware of the Bell Story from my mother. I tried to pursue it, and really got nowhere. I gave up. I was so surprised when I got a phone call just last tuesday from Father Kenneth King, who somehow found one of my original letters of 1966. He said he thought he had found THE bell. He says he understands the inscription on the bell in St. Joseph’s Church reads: “I am Sybil. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Rt. Rev. Abbot D. Isidore Robot, Prefect apostolic of the Indian Territory.” So, that is my story to this point. I am awaiting the mail from father King who is sending me something from a 90th anniversary book from St. Joseph’s.”
Needless to say the above two emails I received from Sybil Stone really got me excited over a certain bell in Krebs, Oklahoma! I may have to make a trip over to Krebs just to see that bell, and eat Italian food!
This week I received a surprise email from a man in Missouri. He is what I’d call an expert on bells, probably one of the best in the country. He looked at all my bells I have pictures of and made comments on most of them. I was amazed at the knowledge he passed along in his email to me. He even brought to my attention a mistake I had in Cotton county. The bell I had listed in Cotton county actually belonged in Jefferson county. So I do not have a bell from Cotton county. If anyone knows of a bell in Cotton county, let me know. Here is a link to the email Carl Zimmerman sent me this week. When I a question about a bell, you can be sure I’ll get hold of Carl! https://oklahomahistory.net/textfiles/bellzimm.txt
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/
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. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/horse8a.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/horse8b.jpg
Speaking of weddings, there was a wedding reception held at the Carter County Courthouse Annex building for Mr and Mrs Virgil Harmon. Most of you know Virgil and Cynthia Anderson, County Clerk, were married a couple of weeks ago. This reception was held Friday August 16th at 5pm. I snapped some photos, but I think this is the best! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/recept2.jpg
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.
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. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/oeta2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/oeta3.jpg
My Outlook Express would not load the other day. So I couldn’t get my email. This is the second time this has happened to me in past couple of years. If you don’t want the same thing to happen to you, be sure and keep your email Folders cleaned out. Don’t let them building up in any Folder, especially the Deleted Items Folder. I had over 900 emails in that one Folder alone, not to mention the thousand or so in special Folders I’d created over the years. I had to start Windows in Safe Mode, then I could run Outlook Express and delete those 900 emails. Works fine now!
I had some bad news this week. My webshots.com site sent me email and said I had reached the max photos I could upload. It said I could have up to 36 Albums and a maximum of 36 photos in each Album. The past week there has been over 500 Views and over 24,000 Views since I placed the photos on webshots. The July 21 and 28, 2001 Photo Album has had the most Hits of all, almost 1,500 Hits and 43 Downloads. Anyway, guess I’ll just leave it as is for now. http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Call Mexico for 13 cents a minute, call Australia for 7 cents a minute, Germany for 6 cents, United Kingdom for 6 cents, Brazil for 13 cents, and no switching! Not to mention the great domestic rates! Check all the rates at… http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“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.”
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“Butch, This bell is at the Moss High School, located east of Holdenville, OK. in Hughes County. Two views of same bell. You decide which you want to use.”
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https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/mossbel3.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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“Butch, I was looking at your old pictures on the Carter County GenWeb site and I saw the Woodford Dam Construction pictures. One of them had the names Howard Howell and Floyd Young written on them, I was really surprised to see that. I am related to James “Howard” Howell and Floyd Young. In fact they were brother-in-laws with Howard marrying Floyds sister, Grace. My family has few photographs of these two men as Howard was killed in an industrial accident in 1926 and Floyd was murdered north of Madill in 1934. Both of these men are buried in our family plot in the Mannsville Cemetery. I would love for you to email a scan of these two pictures to me, if possible. I would also be interested in where these pictures came from as it seems that only Floyd and Howard were identified, which makes it seem that the owner of the photograph knew them. I know that Floyd and Howard’s wife Grace had an uncle named Frank Paul Hensley who lived in Ardmore and is buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery with his sons Ted and Kenneth. I would appreciate any information you might have.” clocking@cox.net
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“Doing some surfing and located your website. My husband and I were recently in “Rexroat, Oklahoma” doing some genealogy research. His family is buried in the Keller Cemetery in Wilson, Oklahoma. His name is Bill Rexroat and his great uncle is Uriah Thomas Rexroat. We took pictures of all the Rexroat headstones we could find as as well taking pictures of the Rexroat Church. Do you know any history at all about Rexroat, Oklahoma? Thanks for anything you can share.” BCREXX@aol.com
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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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“When bringing up the Buster Brown shoes at C.R. Anthony’s two other fond memories came to mind about Ardmore back in the late 40’s and early 50’s – at C.R. Anthony’s the kids were always in awe of the vacuum tubes there were used to pay for your purchases that whizzed around above head to the cashier box on the second floor – you could watch it go up and then watch your change come back – what a wonder of science in the eyes of ones so young. And of course, there were the Christmas window displays every Christmas Season – the mechanical and robotics would bring folks from Lord knows where to see what magic the stores had in store for each holiday season. The ones in Ardmore were right up there with what OKC would display – have very fond memories of traveling to both cities to see their displays.”
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“Good Morning Butch, I dont know if any of your readers can help or not, but I have noticed that some have written looking for certain recipes and have actually gotten responses. I graduated from Ardmore High School in 1970. They had a snack bar at the cafeteria. If you got there early enough in the morning you would be lucky enough to get one of the cinnamon rolls. They were more in the shape of a dinner roll or muffin than a flatter cinnamon roll. The icing was more of a caramel flavor. They were delicious. I have not been able to find anyone that knows how they were made. Any help would be appreciated. Also would like to know if anyone remembers the old star courts store, gas station and cabins. My grandparents ran it for years. [Clarence and Shirley Cummings]. If anyone has any ideas about this recipe or who I could contact please email me.” vkmward@brightok.net
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“Hi Butch, In your last newsletter(8/10/02)a reader asked about the old Troy OK school house. I have a picture of the Troy school class taken in the mid 1920s. I have some names of the kids. The school itself was made of brick I believe. The gym was made of limestone rock. My father may know the reader’s mother as he was born in 1915 and attended the school too. The grocery store and service station the reader mentioned is the one my grandfather owned and I sent you a picture of it. The store/gas station was first located in the little town of Troy itself, but it was eventually moved near the highway. When I read the reader’s comments, it brought back happy memories for me too. My parents moved away so we visited every summer and Christmas. It was a treat to go to the store and pull an ice cold bottled pop from the machine and buy penny candy. The store also served as the town’s social place. It was always a common sight to see a few older members of the community sitting inside by the front door. They mercifully teased me about my purple lips from drinking so many grape sodas. The store’s ownership was passed on to a few of the children, so the store stayed in the family for the most part. Uncle Mike & Aunt Birdie Derrick owned it when I was young and they lived a block behind the store. My uncle Bob Hudgens (who was also the Johnston County Commissioner) had a pasture on Ten Acre Rock and he took me to feed his cattle. We drove over Ten Acre Rock looking for stray cows that wandered off to give birth. For a city girl like me, it was thrilling to find a cow who just minutes earlier gave birth to a baby calf. Every summer the Lowry family reunion would be held at Ten Acre Rock and all the kids played in the stream by the dam and the adults fished upstream. My uncle Bob helped to build the little dam. Last fall, I took a trip to Oklahoma and my cousin took me to Ten Acre Rock. I took a picture of the dam where I could barely make out the inscription scratched on it when it was built {April 8, 1930 Troy OK} Many of the houses in Troy are now broken down or gone. The grand old Phelps house is barely standing along with my grandparent’s (Joe & Minnie Griffin) house located behind the Phelps house. The house on the corner where my other grandparents lived (John & Josie Lowry) and Uncle Bob & Aunt Opal Hudgens’ house are now gone along with many of the people who lived in them. I still look forward to visiting Troy and I will always cherish my memories of eating fried chicken, home grown fried okra, sweet onions, fresh peach cobbler; chasing lightening bugs in the evenings and suffering from chigger bites the next day. Contact me if anyone would like a picture of the Troy school class. Thanks for your newsletter, it put a few tears in my eyes thinking about the good times that has since faded with the years gone by.”
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/troy3.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dam1930.jpg
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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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“Doing some surfing and located your website. My husband and I were recently in “Rexroat, Oklahoma” doing some genealogy research. His family is buried in the Keller Cemetery in Wilson, Oklahoma. His name is Bill Rexroat and his great uncle is Uriah Thomas Rexroat. We took pictures of all the Rexroat headstones we could find as as well taking pictures of the Rexroat Church. Do you know any history at all about Rexroat, Oklahoma? Thanks for anything you can share.” BCREXX@aol.com
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“Butch, the Orthodox Church was located in the building where the J.C.Penny Co. once was located. I remember that my parents bought me my first suit there from Penneys and it came with a Fountain Pen in the lapel pocket. The shirt I wore with it had little cluster of berries much like red hackberries.”
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“Butch, I remember Togo, he carried his head in a slanted manner as if he was trying to rest it on his shoulder. He had the appearance of oriental extraction. I am sure most citizens of my generation knew Togo.”
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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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“When we moved to Healdton in 1973, Mr. Embree was the principal. His wife or sister. think it was his wife – had taught me in 3rd grade in Lovington which is where he was from. It’s funny to see his name again, I had forgot about that until reading this.”
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“Hi Butch-The CD came in the mail today. Thank you so much. It is going to give me many hours of pleasure I am sure. I looked first at the pictures from 1951. We lived in Ardmore from 1955 to 1965, so the old pictures looked so familiar and made me feel like I had visited “Home”. It looks so different now from back then.Colvert’s milk, Anastasio’s Pizzeria, and Miller’s Dairy Queen are happy memories I will never forget from Ardmore. After we moved, whenever I traveled close enough to stores on the highway where they carried Colvert’s milk, I ALWAYS stopped and got a carton and drank it. I almost cried the year I drove through southern Oklahoma and could find NO Colvert’s milk at any of the convenience stores I stopped at, and finally asked someone at the store when they told me they had been bought out!! Thank you again. I hope you have a happy and blessed day.”
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“Thank you for the CD. I am enjoying it. I would like to tell you a little story. Not too long ago I was at the computer…beautiful day out & all of a sudden I hear a loud pop & everything went dead. My husband & I went to the back door & saw a squirrel falling from an electric pole. She got too close to the transformer & she was on fire & when she fell she caught the neighbor’s yard on fire. When the power came back on, everything worked on my computer except my modem. After checking everything out to our surprise the plugin on my surge protector was not working. I called the electric company where I had purchased this expensive surge protector & they gave me a 1-800 number to call. I called it & found out that my surge protector was still under warranty. They replaced it free of charge. The name of this surge protector is Transtector. It has 8 electrical plugins, 2 plugins for a telephone & 2 plugins for TV’s.”
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“Corner Grocery Stores: Hi Butch!! I love the T&T’s. Keep up the good work. I used to live at 116 6th N.W. There was a little grocery store about 2 blocks over on B NW named Shannon’s then it became Ellis’s. I spent a lot of time at both stores when I was growing up buying candy and pop. I remember red hots in the soda also. There was another grocery store by Franklin Grade School named Holder’s. I remember Pak a Sak on N. Wash. Also my Dad Skinny Brooks owned a grocery store on Wash. between Main and Broadway. It’s fun to remember the good ole days.”
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“Hello Mr. Bridges, I was doing some research on Hoffman Arms, formerly of Cleveland Ohio and found a reference to your web site through Yahoo. Hoffman Arms was one of the premier firearms manufacturers in the USA in the 1920’s through the 1930’s. The company moved to Oklahoma about 1925 and then to Texas in the 30’s and may have been active there through WW2, but I haven’t found too much about it yet. I am persistent (or dense). Do you have any information about Hoffman Arms that you would like to share? Any information or photos would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.” -Brian & Dianne Clark clarkbr@tscnet.com
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================================================Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 4,000 files and 400mgs! If you have not entered the drawing for a Free CD, and want in, just send me an email! If you are trying out my long distance plan, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Here is a pic of those history CDs. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/t&tcd.jpg
And here are those two winners for this week!
nonnahsp@aol.com
wparn63@prodigy.netPapa’s Goat Song
“I had a goat his name was Jim
I bought him for his precious skin
That goat got lose about half past ten
And ate a red shirt right off my line
I grabbed that goat by the wool of his back
and tied him to the railroad track
He buck and bawled with might and main
As around the curve came a passenger train
He gave a cough of mortal pain
Up came that shirt and flagged the train! “25 years and more popular then ever, and now a tribute to the greatest singer of my lifetime…. takes a few moments for the song to load, so be patient.
http://www.desertwebcenter.com/Are_you_lonesome_tonight.htmlSee everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Saturday August 10, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 277
Last week I talked about the old one-lane bridge at Hendrix, Oklahoma in Bryan county. This week Vic Brown of Denison, Texas sent me not only some current pics of the bridge, but also a pic of that famous catfish restaurant, Speedy’s located in Hendrix (across the bridge from Carpenter’s Bluff). That bridge is truly a piece of Oklahoma’s past, I hope it’s never torn down. Heck, if I was younger I might even crawl to the top of one of those steel girders and write my name. hahaha. But I tend to stay away from high places nowadays.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/cbluff1.jpg
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https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/cbluff3.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/cbluff4.jpg
And here is Speedy’s! I’m going to try a mess of catfish with tarter sauce there some weekend!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/speedys8.jpgSpeaking of high places going atop that beautiful 1910 copper dome at the courthouse is not for the faint hearted, believe me. James Lindsey (courthouse maintenance) and I had to go up there this week and replace a couple of light bulbs on the north side of the dome. The bulbs light up the four clock faces and every once in a while one burns out. There is a small hatch entrance at the bottom of each clock face and you have to use a ladder to unlatch the hatch, let it drop down, and then using that same ladder crawl up and stick about half your body inside that clock face. The first thing you look for are yellow jackets. But as long as your careful and don’t try it alone, you’re alright. And the clock faces sure look nice at night beaming out the time across downtown Ardmore from 7 stories up. This is a 2001 photo of our courthouse and dome. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/chouse01.jpg
This week a Reader mentioned a place in Ardmore he went to as a kid in the 40s called Candyland. I had not heard of it, so it whet my curiosity. I did a little research and one thing led to another. Candyland was located at #9 North Washington and owned by Frank Johnston of Ada, Oklahoma. I guess he had a store in Ada first, then opened up one at #9 North Washington here in Ardmore in 1939. Candyland sold candy and confectionary of all kinds and most important, funny books. One friend told me she and her sister bought many a funny books at Candyland. For you younger generation Readers, present day comic books used to be called funny books.
A couple of years after Frank Johnson of Ada opened his store up in ’39, the store became the property of Aaron J and May Miller of Ardmore. A few years later the Millers would move their store from #9 to #14 North Washington. Mr and Mrs Miller continued Candyland until about 1957. It seems like a lot of businesses were located in the unit block of North Washington that brings back memories to a lot of people. In my research I found dozens of eateries and food stores along North Washington during the 30s 40s and 50s. One interesting piece of history I ran across, the Orthodox Baptist Church under the direction of Rev W. Lee Rector held services for a couple of years just north of Main street at #26 North Washington. The church services were held there from 1935 until about 1938 when they moved to 320 North Washington. Here are some other businesses I made note of:
1941
#5 North Washington – Grants Cafe, #7 North Washington – Diamond Cafe, #13 North Washington – Hollis Brooks Grocery, #15 North Washington – Pride’s Bakery1946
#7 North Washington – Carroll’s Cafe (Carroll and Mildred Franks). In 1946 there was a Togo’s Sanitary Bath House located at #10 A Street NW. The owners were Mattie Simpson and Young Togo (1886-1964). Togo is buried at Keller Cemetery. Young Togo was such an unusual name, I did a search in google.com and didnt find much. I did find a Young Togo listed in a professional boxing match in 1912 in Ft Smith, Arkansas. Then another boxing match in 1911 at McAlester, Oklahoma. Could this professional boxer Young Togo be the same Young Togo buried at Keller Cemetery north of Lone Grove?1949
#5 North Washington – Oscar’s Cafe (Oscar L Wilcoxson), #7 North Washington – Carroll’s Cafe, #19 North Washington – Brooks Food Store, Major Brooks, owner, #23 North Washington – Togo’s Sanitary Bath House1951
#13 North Washington – New Dixie Cafe, #15 North Washington – Dubiel Gun Repair, #26 North Washington – Jack Parks Bakery1955
#7 North Washington – Carroll’s Cafe, #16 North Washington – Nellie Lowe’s Restaurant, #30 North Washington – Ellison Building, Webb’s Office Supply1957
#7 North Washington – Carroll’s Cafe, #14 North Washington – Walter Miller Watch Repair, #17 North Washington – The Toy Box, Tom C. Smiley, owner1960
#9 North Washington – Wilkes Dry Cleaning, #16 North Washington – Coffee Cup Cafe, Nellie Lowe, ownerAlso about 1960 Carroll and Mildred Franks moved there cafe from #7 North Washington to 1314 North Washington where it would be known as Carroll’s Drive Inn. Here is an interesting side note about Carroll’s Drive In. My cousin, Jerry Carmon, met his wife to be at Carroll’s Drive In at 13th and North Washington. Her name was Ida Walters and she was a car hop. The thing I remember about Carroll’s was those Speaker Boxes beside each stall. You’d pull your car into a stall and press the button for place your order. Boy, that was fun! But then the Super Dog on North Commerce and 9th had speaker boxes too!
Jane Hale of MO attended a family reunion north of here at Hennipen, Oklahoma last weekend. While she was here she conducted one of her booksignings at Hastings plus brought me the most unique fireworks ever! It’s called the Bin Laden Noggin. She said it was their hottest selling fireworks back on July 4th celebrations. Now I can put this little collectible with my pickle jar of fireworks my mother took away from me when I was a wee teen, but I found them hid in a chest of drawer years later. hahaha. Here is that hot selling Bin Laden Noggin….
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/binnoggin.jpg
If you ever want to go into the fireworks business, give Jane a hollar! You’ll find her in MO. http://www.americanprofile.com/issues/20010624/20010624mid_987.aspSince 1972 I’ve always paid my Southwestern Bell telephone bill by personal check. This month that changed. Like several othere places I do business, I started paying online. I’m getting where I hate to write checks, and this is just one less check I have to write. And I don’t have to worry about my check not making there by the deadline. This modern technology can be nice sometimes.
A Reader sent me some photos of a bell in Cement, Oklahoma. These are the first pic of a bell I’ve received from Caddo county! This particular bell once stood at the Presbyterian church in Cement. The photos will be in the Mailbag below. One by one, we’re gaining…. only 25 counties to go. If you know of a bell in one of the counties in white, let me know! https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/bellmap.jpg
A Reader was in town this week making arrangements for their upcoming 40th school reunion and stopped by to see me. We had a good visit and talked about several things of the past including some renown citizens like Dr J.J. Boyd and Betty Brown, both promoting health for countless thousands of people in their own way. Years ago both were critized by some, but praised by many more. Dr Boyd was most famous for his “sugar pills” for poison ivy. Betty Brown operated a health food and vitamin store here for many years. I was in her store lots of times to buy vitamins.
He also asked me when Berywn, Oklahoma change its name to Gene Autry, Oklahoma. At that time I didn’t have the answer. But after a little research it came back to me. It was Sunday, November 16, 1941. Over 35,000 people including Governor Leon Phillips and also Gene Autry, America’s singing cowboy himself, showed up for this historical event 15 miles northeast of Ardmore.
Several of you caught my typo last weekend on the date Carter County Clerk Cynthia Anderson and Virgil Harmon were married. The two said “I Do” on Friday evening, July 27th, 2002.
We had some special visitors in town the other day. They were from OETA in Oklahoma City. They are researching the airbase that’s at Gene Autry, among other things. Someone sent them my way, and I forwarded them on to the number one authority on the Ardmore Army Airbase, Gary Simmons. I’m looking for some good things to come from that meeting the other day with the OETA representatives. Gary Simmons or myself will try to keep you posted on the progress. http://www.oeta.onenet.net/
Already this month our little group has racked up over 3,000 minutes in long distance talk time. More and more of you are taking advantage of those cheap rates and WITHOUT SWITCHING. And if your a small business owner, this is a great way to cut those long distance bills without any additional charges. Don’t forget the instant PrePaid Calling calls for the employees too! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“You mention on your website a reference to Paul Frame. I would like to learn more about this, as i am researching the same families, the Colemans who ran the first drug store in Ardmore. Looking forwad to finding out more about this.” http://get1now.tripod.com/ff.gif
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“Butch, Here’s a couple of websites I thought some of your readers migh enjoy and / or get a use out of! One is a free utility site, all kinds of add-ons,extra thingeys to make the computer distinctly yours! The other is a site to find some old recipes and to add them also! Like Armadillo eggs :c ) take care and look forward to seeing the next issue!”http://www.winsite.com/free/freeutil/
http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m011902.htm#3
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“Hi Butch, Please put me in the drawing for next weeks history CD. I’d really like to have one. I enjoy your T&T site so much. Being so far away from Ardmore up here in upstate N.Y. it is like a little part of home every week. I liked the part of the article talking about making the “DRAG” up on Grand Ave. I remember those days well. Hanging out at the SONIC when I got tired of driving and needed a nice cold Dr. Pepper, or something to eat. Or if I was looking for somebody, because I knew that if they were out that eventually sooner or later they would end up at the same place. I remember running across you somewhere on the drag on several occasions and I’d always stop to chat. My parents probably really missed their car back then because I had it alot, but at least I paid for the gas most of the time since I was working at the Sirloin Stockade Restaurant, over on Broadway, next to Stokers Texaco gas station. It’s a good thing that gas was cheaper back then than it is now. I burned up alot of it out riding around. Thanks for the memories.”
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“Butch, Spring of 1950 a gorgeous rodeo queen named Jimmy Brady drove to Healdton High School once a week to give “speech lessons” to kids with some modicum of talent,drive, passion. She selected a handful of would-be thespians through auditions. She presented her students in a public “recital” at the end of the school year. From “The YellowWallpaper” to “The Shooting of Dan McGrew”, her little band of students emoted their hearts out for the applause of parents and friends gathered in the grade school auditorium. Jimmy Brady’s lessons that spring were the only form of speech/drama classes in the school until the late 50’s when a Mr. Embree came to HHS for a year before going on to college teaching in Edmond. For little ol’ kids in the hub of the oilfield town of Healdton in those days, Jimmy Brady was about the most, interesting, inspirational creature we’d ever seen. Do you suppose any of your readers can supply info about her?” CMccla2877@aol.com
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“Butch… I am wondering if some of your readers might possibly have a picture of the old Troy OK, (Johnston Co) school house. It was torn down a number of years ago, had been in profound disrepair for many years prior to that. My mother attended school there…was born 1914 in Johnston Co. She is in a nursing home now and we took her on a trip to the Troy Cemetery recently which brought back many memories for her. The school sat next to the Cemetery, but back farther from the road. If I recall correctly, it was made out of limestone rock. There used to be a little grocery store (later a service station was added) which sat beside the highway at the junction where the cemetery road and highway connected. When we were kids we used to go to the cemetery a few times a year and would always stop at that little store and get cold pops and sometimes candy. This trip was a “big deal” to us…almost like a vacation. We didn’t go outside of Ardmore very often so when Mom said “we are going to Johnston Co”, us kids would get ready real quick. We’d pile into our old car, along with my sister and her family when they were up from Texas visiting, and off we’d go. I don’t know how all of us fit into one vehicle but we did. Of course, we didn’t have to wear seat belts so we just sat any which way we could. No AC in the car but all 4 windows would be rolled down and when we got to the Cemetery, the ones of us in the back looked like “dandelion heads” (haha). Most of the time we took a lunch and would eat it at the cemetery, usually under a shade tree where we parked the car. We would throw a table cloth or sheet over the hood – using it for a table – and spread the food out. No one seemed to mind that it was hot outside, no chairs to sit down in, and that we were at a cemetery eating lunch. Cars would occasionally drive by on the dirt road next to the cemetery and wave to us, covering us with dust as they passed. Us kids would run among the tombstones, after visiting the family resting places, and every one of us had our picture taken (at one time or another) sitting on the Woodsmen of the Woods monument which sat next to the graves of my 3 little sisters and infant brother, and great grandparents. It was sort of a tradition. (Simple things made us happy…or else we were just a simple bunch of people). Anyway, we still go back to Johnston Co and visit the Troy Cemetery every Memorial Day and around Christmas to place seasonal flowers on the graves. Two years ago we had new monuments placed for the babies and got one for my great grandparents (Robert “Linc” and Martha Gregg Armstrong)… they’d never had one – just a rock and a metal cross someone had placed on them. There’s a man named Travis Vaughan in Mill Creek, just north of Troy, who did the monument work. He was very reasonable and did a wonderful job…used Georgia granite, with a white slab. When we were there recently, I thought about the old school house and was wishing we had a decent picture of it. The only one we have is of it in the background and it is already pretty deteriorated. This is the same school house and cemetery, Butch, that I mentioned to you which involved the “ghost” the students and staff saw one day. I’ll try to remember the story and if I can, I’ll send it to you. By the way, if you continue on around past the cemetery, you will come to the Ten Acre Rock. We sometimes would walk on it and would swim in the little creek which ran beside it…it was so clear and flowed over white sand. Now it is dark and murky and I wouldn’t dare even stick my toe in it for fear of what might be living in it. I have been told that the OK State Capitol Bldg. is made from the Ten Acre Rock. You can see where part of it has been cut away (we used to say it’s the “nine” acre rock now). It’s pretty grown up around it and I know that copperheads are real bad in that area, so we don’t get out there anymore, just drive by and have pleasant memories of the fun we had there. Thanks for all the work you do to help us remember the “good times”.”
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“Butch, this is the story of the Troy Schoolhouse Ghost, as told to me by my mother, who was one of many people who witnessed it. As I mentioned in my previous letter, Troy School is in Johnston Co., not far from Mill Creek. My mother, Mattie, and her 4 younger siblings attended school there. This story took place when Mom was about 10 or 11 years old. The school, as most rural schools were back then, did not have a lunch room with cooks to prepare lunches, so the students and teachers brought their lunch with them, and usually ate it outside if weather permitted. These schools also had outdoor bathrooms, usually with more than one “hole” so they could accommodate as many students as possible at one time. After lunch my mother and her friends would sometimes play Jacks on the top of the cellar which sat in the school yard, until the custodian, Joe Fletcher, rang the rope-pulled school bell to announce that recess was over. Mr. Fletcher lived within a short walking distance from the school and would go home for lunch each day, and get back in time to ring the bell. My mother said that he had a daughter named Melvina but she can’t remember if there were other children as well. He may have been a widower. Anyway, this whole story really begins on the day in which Mr. Fletcher did not return on time and ring the bell. After a short while, someone went to check on him and found him dead at his house. He was later buried in the Troy Cemetery, which sat next to the school grounds, just a bit farther east and closer to the road that ran past. Some days later, during lunch recess, one of the female students was in the girls’ outhouse when she came out running and screaming…said she saw “something” in there. She said it looked like a dark grey shadow in the shape of a person. She had been alone at the time so the students and staff contributed it to her imagination. A few days later, several girls were in the same outhouse when they came out screaming and crying saying that “something is in there”. Now this is in broad daylight. My Mom remembers that she and her friends were sitting on the cellar playing their usual game of ball and Jacks, and that everyone had turned to see what all the commotion was about, when suddenly a shadowy grey form emerged from the outhouse and drifted over towards the cemetery, just sort of disappearing when it got to the middle of it. Naturally everyone who had witnessed this was frightened and my mother remembers that some of the men teachers went over to the “graveyard” (as she calls it), to check things out further. They came back and said that it looked like someone’s cattle had been tromping through the graves and had damaged some of them. At the time, the cemetery was not fenced as it is now. Whoever was in charge of the care of Troy Cem. was notified and a fence was erected. The shadowy figure was never seen again. My mother said her family believed that it was the custodian’s spirit warning them about the damage to the graves. She said that she was told he had been concerned about just this sort of thing. What ever (or who ever) it was, apparently got the results intended because, as I said, the figure was never seen again. Was it just someone’s hysterical imagination that caused such a large number of people to see this? Mom says NO… she knows what she saw and said that when the shadowy figure appeared, no one said a word, just stared at it “wide-eyed” and watched it as it made it’s way to the graveyard. I’ve heard this story many times and it has never altered. I may have left out some details, but the main ones are contained here. I also wonder if any of your readers may have heard this same tale? My mother’s brother, Robert, was there also and if he were still living, could testify to what they saw. (P.S., Butch, I was going to wait to tell you this after we visited the cemetery and you could get pictures but my recent trip up there resulted in a case of chiggers and I want to wait until they are “out of season” before I go back.) If you do go alone…just make sure it’s in the day. Oh, I forgot, Butch, this ghost was seen in the daytime! Maybe a night trip would be less frightening….Haha. I don’t know, but you won’t catch me there after the sun goes down. Happy haunting, I mean hunting, Butch.”
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Butch, I have no idea what year this was taken. Maybe you will know what year the car was and that may give us an idea of when the picture was made. This was one of of two hosptials in Frederick, Oklahoma in the 30s and 40s.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/fredhsp2.jpg
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Butch, as with the other picture, I have no idea of when this was taken. It is on a post card and printed on the back at the top says the following: GRAND RIVER PROJECT—PENSACOLA DAM NEAR VINITA, OKLAHOMA. Longest multiple arch dam in the world. 5680 ft. Hydro-electric power plant capacity 200,000,000 kilowatt hours. lake area 46,295 acres. length of shore line 1000 miles. excellent fishing and boating. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/vinidam.jpg
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“Mr Bridges, I am wondering if you know anything about the Barton Brothers Store in the attached picture. Sorry I do not have the original and this one isn’t very clear. I believe the store was/is located somewhere in Oklahoma because it was found in some of the old Willingham Family pictures. Our branch of the family lived close to Marsden, at least for awhile. Quite a few of them are buried around that area. I have no idea who all the people are. If you have any information at all about this I would really like to know. Thanks.” mcsue2_2000@yahoo.com
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/barton7.jpg
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“Butch, I know you are a busy man, but I also know you try to bring to your followers the best of Ardmore, Oklahoma and any other impressive information from the internet. In my childhood my family owned a cabin in Hackensack, MN. We didn’t just vacation there, we spent the entire summer ther for many years. Our cabin was about a mile from the town center and on the shore of Birtch Lake. I just found this link that I am sending you. I think you will be amazed at what has been done with this web site. The population of this town is only 245 individuals. To me finding this class of web site is almost as good as you finding your Oklahoma County bells.” http://www.hackensackmn.net/index.html
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“Butch, because you mentioned the spell checker, I thought I’d be smarty and tell you the word for something that intices you is whet, not wet. Sorry just had to do it.”
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“Hi Butch, I took some pics of a Bell in Cement, Oklahoma (Caddo county). This was in May of this year when the citizens of Cement were celebrating the 100th birthday of Cement, Oklahoma. The Bell is resting on the concrete steps of the Old Presbyterian Church, which was the first Church to be built in Cement. All that remains of this church are the front steps and the Bell. I remember as a kid in the 50’s this Church was still standing but was vacant. It had a bell tower, my cousins used to play hookey from school and would climb up into the bell tower where a few holes had been created in the shingles of the bell tower so they could look out to see if the coast was clear.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/cement2.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/cement3.jpg
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=================================================Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 4,000 files and 400mgs! If you have not entered the drawing for a Free CD, and want in, just send me an email! If you are trying out my long distance plan, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Here is a pic of those history CDs. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/t&tcd.jpg
And here are those two winners for this week!
louie9293@aol.com
dstevensok@juno.comWoody Guthrie (1912- 1967), father of American Folk music, was born Woodrow Wilson Guthrie in Okemah, Oklahoma. His father was a land speculator whose fortunes fluctuated with the oil booms. Guthrie’s family experienced a series of hardships that tied Woody’s sympathies with the poor and downtrodden. His family lost several homes and fortunes to fires; his older sister Clara died in a fire, and his father was severely injured and put out of work by another one. Woody’s mother suffered a number of breakdowns before the family was forced to send her to a asylum where she would spend the rest of her life. In 1947, a daughter, Cathy, was killed in an electric fire, leaving Woody heartbroken; he was never the same. Woody always claimed that his family was responsible for all the traits for which he became legendary. His father was a fighter, who never stopped working, dreaming, or fighting despite all his setbacks, and his mother taught him the songs that he would sing, adapt, or borrow. The early 1950s found Woody Guthrie in a state of mental deterioration. He began to behave erratically, couldn’t control his playing, or remember things. He ran away to California where he got involved with a woman twenty years his junior, obtaining a quickie Mexican divorce from Marjorie and remarrying Anneke almost instantly. They had a baby who was put up for adoption. Due to his mental state, he was eventually forced to return to Marjorie in New York and spent the rest of his days in and out of hospitals, nursed by her. Woody Guthrie died of the mind deteriorating Huntington’s disease, the same disease that killed his mother, on October 3, 1967.
“This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and meAs I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and meI’ve roamed and rambled and I’ve followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and meThe sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and meAs I was walkin’ – I saw a sign there
And that sign said – no tress passin’
But on the other side …. it didn’t say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!In the squares of the city –
In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office – I see my people
And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’
If this land’s still made for you and me.”-1952 Woody Guthrie
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wwghtml/wwgessay.html
http://www.mudcat.org/woody.cfmSee everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Saturday August 3, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 276
Five or six years ago I wondered off down southeast of Durant, Oklahoma in search of an old one-lane bridge. This bridge has been talked about on tv and newspapers over the years, and is a really neat piece of history in that part of the state. I did find that old bridge and took a couple of photos with my 35mm camera. When I got back home, I look on my map and I thought I was on Highway 78, but that particular highway is another 3 miles or so over east from where the bridge I photographed.
Not knowing my mistake, I posted the two photos on my website, adding that this bridge is on Highway 78 southeast of Durant. After all these years, I received an email this week from a Denison, Texas man informing me of my mistake. He went on to say this bridge is at Carpenter’s Bluff, a community at the south end of the bridge on the Texas side of the Red River. Carpenter’s Bluff is east of Denison, Texas. But this man in Denison told me something else near this bridge located at the north end on the Oklahoma side. You will read from his email below, he sure wet my appetite and I may have to make another trip down there to find out for myself some Friday or Saturday evening. Here is the email I received this week:
“Just to let you know, the bridge you are showing is not the Hwy 78 bridge. It is the bridge at Carpenter’s Bluff about 5 miles east of Denison, TX on Hwy 120 where it crosses the Red River to Hendrix, Oklahoma. The railroad was moved a few years ago and that side was paved with concrete so that cars could use it. The other side is wood planks and has large holes in it so it is no longer used. It can only be used for one way at one time, so everyone is very polite and waits their turn. My grandparents were married at the south end of the bridge.”
“The catfish place is only a few hundred yards north of the Carpenter’s Bluff bridge. As a matter of fact the first building (a house) is on the east side of the road and the second building, which is the restaurant, is on the east side of the road. It is called the Silver Dollar Store or Restaurant. It is owned by the Harold Speed family. They are known for lures they make and they are fishing guides too. And someone in the family sure can cook. If I am not mistaken the waitress, Heather, is a grandmother and she said granny was the cook. We usually eat there every Friday nite. There is catfish filets, hushpuppies, fresh rolls, pintos, green beans, okra, corn, peas, pizza, smothered steak, and usually cakes and pies of some kind. Not at all bad for $6.99 and all you can eat. Drink included except for bottled drinks.”
“I hated to say anything because I enjoyed your pictures so much but I go each Friday nite to Speed’s Silver Dollar Restaurant in Hendrix, Oklahoma (580-838-2297) just north of the bridge. Best catfish and home cooking that I have found lately. I was searching for pictures of Devil’s Den when I found your site. I went there several times in the 50s with my family and wondered why it closed. It was really a neat place.”
Silver Dollar Restaurant is open until 2pm weekdays with buffet. Open til 10pm Fri, Sat and til 2pm Sunday with buffet. The restaurant’s phone number is 580-838-2297.
Here are those two photos of Carpenter’s Bluff bridge by Hendrix, Oklahoma I took several years ago, one looking north and one looking south toward Texas. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hendrix1.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hendrix2.jpg
Here a link to all the history on this 1910 bridge at Carpenter’s Bluff. http://www.denisontx.com/bridge.htm http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/hrc27.html
I would encourage anyone who has an interest in history and is in the Durant, Oklahoma area sometime, to drive on down and see this one-lane one-way bridge over the Red River. Someday it will be gone too. If you’re in to canoeing, drop your canoe off at Carpenter’s Bluff, and travel 11 miles downstream to Highway 78, and get back out at the Highway 78 bridge. Yep, I just might have to make another trip down that way soon and try a mess of those catfish!
I remember going in the better cafes as a kid and pulling that paper top off those little half and half jars used for coffee creamer. I’d just drink the creamy tasting milk from those little glass jars. Here is a photo of those little Colvert Creamers. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/colvertc.jpg
Here’s a pretty good site to check your spelling. You can even copy and paste your Notepad or Wordpad docs in the Checker Box and see how your spelling is. But I put anamosity in the box, and it didn’t know it was spelled wrong. So check it out and see what you think. http://www.spellcheck.net/
For those of you who use WordPerfect, here is a website chocked full of tips, forums, and help! http://www.wpuniverse.com/
Here’s a 1956 piece of American history and its for sale too by an employee at the Carter county courthouse. It’s a ’56 Chevy Wagon, 2 door, 210, 6 cyl, with front and back seat. The body is in good shape, but the interior is rough. If you want to find out more you can email them at: mammabee@hotmail.com https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/56wagon.jpg
Some people with a connection to the Carter county courthouse tied the knot the past week. On Friday evening July 27th the Carter County Clerk, Cynthia Anderson and Vigil Harmon exchanged wedding vows. Next on Thursday evening August 1st Carter County Detention employee Tayna McDaniel and Ardmore Police Officer Chad Anthony said “I Do”. Best Wishes to the newlyweds!
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I thought our little group using the 4 cents a minute plan by WorldxChange would do a record month, and we did it big time. For July our group did 13,150 minutes! I’ve been wanting to tell everyone something for several months but waited until the service was here. But the same company that gives us the cheap long distance rates started Aug 1st offering Virtual Prepaid Calling Cards with those same cheap rates. I don’t use a calling card much, but a lot of people do. Especially if you don’t have a phone in your own name, or you need to call long distance from your employer’s phone, the kid in college needs prepaid calling cards, etc. What makes these prepaid calling cards neat is they’re virtual. You just go to the link below and using your credit card (Visa or MC) pay for $5 (100 min) or $10 (200 min) or $20 (400 min) amounts, and instantly, you can use it! No waiting. And the best part? “No Fees Please” applies to these prepaid calling cards!!! Check it all out at the link below. http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Oh, Butch…….You putting that 1958 newspaper in TnT was really great. I saw soooo many names of people (or relatives) I’ve known (knew) all my life. I’d like to see more of those from ’58 back. I married and left Ardmore in July 1958….Anyway, thanks for that…….I loved it.”
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“Butch, my father, James R. Wilson, was a crewman on the B-17 that crashed with all aboard on Dec.15, 1943. I was 15 months old. My mother heard the crash, though she didn’t know immediately that my father’s ship had gone down. Do you have a copy of the accident report, or know where I might find one? I would like to contribute to the memorial. Please let me know your preferred method of contribution.” -James Robert Wilson Jr. Chapel Hill, NC jamesrw@intrex.net
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“Hi Butch. Really got a chuckle from the person who recalled the little pink pills called Calactose. My mother used to give those to me when I was little & I hated them! Took me years to ever like the color pink again. ha. Hope you had nice birthday.”
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“Butch, after reading T&T last night, there was an article in the Daily Ardmoreite of 1958, about an officer killed in the line of duty. That officers name is, Deputy William Con Keirsey. If any of you readers have the, 2003 calendar by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, you will find an article about Deputy Keirsey, on the December calendar. For those who may not have the calendar this is the article.Carter County Sheriff”s Department, Oklahoma
DEPUTY WILLIAM CON KEIRSEY
End of watch: 12/11/30
Deputy Con Keirsey and UnderSheriff Vernon Cason were checking out a stolen car at the home of two sisters. They had no idea that two brothers, wanted for murder were inside. Taking normal precautions, Cason went around back as Deputy Keirsey knocked on the front door and was let inside. During the questioning of one of the brothers, the other brother jumped out of a rumpled bed with two guns. Officer Cason burst in during the exchange of gunfire and was hit in the abdomen. He survived and managed to wound one of the brothers as they both escaped. Deputy Keirsey was shot in the chin and died the next morning. Both brothers were eventually brought to justice. Deputy Keirsey had three brothers, all of whom were law enforcement officers. Two were killed in the line of duty. He left a wife and 5 children. His youngest son grew up to be a Captain in the Austin, Texas Police Department. Sure enjoy reading your T&T every Friday night before retiring. An avid Arkansas reader.”
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“Hi Butch! Was funny when the discussion began a few weeks ago in the T & T about the neighborhood grocery stores as I had just been thinking about that very thing and going over in my mind all the little stores I could remember and most of them have been mentioned. There are two, however, that haven’t been mentioned. The first was the store at 718 B N. W. W. T.(Bill) and Julia Shannon sold their grocery store in Ringling in 1945-46 and bought this property which had the Martin grocery on it, tore down the old building and built a brand new concrete block building at the 718 B N. W. location and then across a wide driveway built their new home at 720 B N. W. Shannon Grocery had a fresh meat market as well as sandwich meats, cheeses, etc. and delicious homemade chili. It was a full grocery and most of their business was done on credit as were most of the stores of the time. The Shannon’s operated this store until the mid fifties when they sold to Eddie and Thera Elles. I grew up in this store as the Shannon’s were my sister’s in-law’s and I have many fond memories of them letting me run the manual adding machine, gather up my own candy etc. Wanted to fill in this piece of history between the Martin’s Grocery and Elles Food Mart. There was another little store in my neighborhood on the northwest corner of 9th and A N. W. that was owned by Nannie Williams that brings back a lot of memories. It was an old frame building built so that the front of the store faced right to the corner….unusual, especially for that day of the late 40’s, early 50’s. Wood floors that creaked and of course, a screen door that squeaked. Enjoy the T & T so much, it’s the highlight of the week. Thanks for the memories….keep up the good work. My name should be in for the free cd’s but you haven’t managed to find it yet!!!” -Ruth Ann McCollum
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“Your comments of the Cafeteria reminded me of visits there in the early 60’s. If memory has not failed entirely, I believe it was one of Dr Boyd’s son’s or son in law that ran the facility. There was also a swimming pool and a Chapel just beyond the Cafeteria. My boys had their first swimming experience in that pool. I bought some used furniture from George Norris in ’60 or ’61, about the time he was retiring from the Ardmoreite I think. Seems like his house was on “G” or “H” NW.”
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“A friend just sent me your some of the responses to an article you wrote about neighborhood grocery stores. Did anyone remember Coe’s Grocery, on C St., S.E. (also called Douglas Blvd.). I can’t remember the side street, but it was just a block or two south of Lake Murray Drive on the west side. My parents traded there (charged all month, then paid it in full). The first deep freeze we ever had, an upright, we won in a drawing Mr. Coe had. My parents always wondered if the drawing was “fixed” because we were such good customers (bought all our groceries there for a family of 5), but he said it was a fair & square drawing.”
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“This is a picture of Ova Blackerby. He was Chief of Police in Healdton in 1958, 59, 60, 61,? He was night watchman before that. My name is Kathy Correia, he was my uncle. Uncle Ova died June 3, 1984 in Bakersfield, CA. His wife Gladys Blackerby, sons James, Ronnie, daughters Brenda, Joyce (twins), Barbara, still reside in Bakersfield, CA. I’m his niece and i live in Riverside, ca. He has two brothers still alive. Roy of Pruitt City, OK, Tommy of Lake Jackson, TX, one sister, Dean Clary of Yukon,Ok. It was a very sad day in my life when my uncle died. I used to visit him a lot. I may have other pictures of Healdton. If you would like i”ll look.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/blackerby.jpg
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“Places in and around Kiefer, Oklahoma.” http://www.worldisround.com/articles/11618/
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“In 1941, I remember being picked up by the school teacher on her way to work but I have no idea which school she was going to. We lived across the street from Rose Hill cemetery and she was headed South when she picked me up. L.C. Yates son lives in the house now…………or did in ’96. My recollection is of a small school with 8 rows of desks in one room with each row a grade. Mary Niblack school doesn’t fit my recollection. Was there another school in or near that part of town? I attended for only a couple of months as my family moved to Southern California in Oct. ’41.” dtreat@prodigy.net
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“Mr. Bridges: My name is George Taylor and I just saw your history site because I am with WorldxChange and was in Yahoo on the WxCers site. I was stationed in Puerto Rico in the middle sixties and there was a couple from Ada, Oklahoma, his name was David Franz and I can not remember his wife’s name. I saw something on your website about Ada, Oklahoma, and remembered them. We live in Fort Lauderdale, and if you happen to know or come across the family name, could you be so kind as to tell them that George and Edith Taylor are in Fort Lauderdale. My e-mail is geotaylor@attbi.com or they can call me at 954-748-6440. Please do not feel that you need to go to any heroics here. They were friends and we lost touch and when I saw Ada,Oklahoma thought it was worth a shot. Thanks.” -george “Jorge” taylor
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“I have been doing research on my family. My Grandmother Jennie Elizabeth Fleming told us that her father Raburn Elliott ran a ferry in Love County Oklahoma.I am not sure of the date he started running this ferry. She also told us that her father Raburn Elliott was killed while running this ferry.The date of his death is around 1904 to 1906 .Jennie Fleming’s brother Doc McHenry Elliott also ran one of the ferries.One day i was searching on the internet for information and it brought me to your “This &That” column.We have been searching for a long time for information on these ferries.I ran across an article written by Frances Long Dunlap. This article was in your January 2001 to March 2001 issue.I have been searching for a long time for information on these ferries .In this article she mentioned something about a Love County,Oklahoma History Book. Could you tell me where i can get one? She also mentioned that the ferry franchises were awarded by the Chickasaw Nation.Do you know where i could go to find information about this? I forgot to tell you that these ferries that were run by her father Raburn Elliott and her brother Doc McHenry Elliott were around the Marietta and Thackerville area as far as i know.I am so glad i came across your site.I have found more on your site about these ferries than in all the time i have been searching.Help from anyone that may have information on the ferries would be appreciated. I am trying to put together a family book.Thank you.” sfarrell@wat.midco.net
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“Choctaw Nation Marriage Index 1890 – 1907” http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgarvin/kinard/chocmarriageindex.htm
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“I think that I will replace Google with This and That. I got the recipe I wanted right away after posting it on your web page, My thanks to all the people who sent an email.” gsouth@brightok.net
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“Several people have commented about early-day Oklahoma Lawmen in the past in This and That. I have just rented a video starring Sam Elliot entitled “You Know My Name” about William Matthew Tilghman that is supposedly based on fact about Tilghman in Seminole County Oklahoma in 1924. Don’t know how much is “Hollywood” and how much is fact, but it was an interesting video if anyone might be interested in renting it.”
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“Although I am not, as far as I know, any relation of Dr. Henry William Alpers, as an Alpers who now lives in Oklahoma, I was fascinated to discover that there once was an Alpers, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, none of the links to Alpers, OK material from the 4/6/02 T&T Weekly still seem to be working. Could you please send me the three Alpers-related jpg images that you had posted? Thanks in advance.” -Ben Alpers Norman, OK https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/alpersmap.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/alpersnow.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/alpershw.jpg
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“Hi Butch, Thought you might be interested, a gentleman asked for info about Robert Armstrong, whose father had a grocery store in Healdton several years ago. As it happens, I know Robert (Robbie) and was able to get the two together via e-mail, and received thanks from both of them. Another satisfied customer of BB’s T&T. Keep up the good work. By the way, still looking for a key to my parking meter. Thanks.” -Jerry Landrum
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“This bell is located at the Atwood, Oklahoma Church of the Nazarene on Hwy. 48 in Hughes county (about 7 miles South of Holdenville, OK)” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/atwood3.jpg
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“This bell is located just west of Holdenville, (Hughes county) OK at the Middlecreek Indian Baptist Church. On the old 270 hwy.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/middleb.jpg
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“This bell is located in front of the old Spaulding School Gym. Now a community center. Location about 6 miles SW of Holdenville, Ok in the community of Spaulding, Oklahoma.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/spauldb.jpg
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“Butch: I was in Savannah, GA last week and saw a huge bell named Big Duke. There is a plaque that is beneath the bell. I am forwarding it to you also. I hope you like this bell. I found it most interesting.” -Ruth Adams Atoka County, Ok-Genealogy website http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ok/county/atoka/index.html https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/bigduke2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/bigduke3.jpg ————————————————————————
“Hello Butch, Here are the pictures of the War Memorial in Allen, Oklahoma. It is very well done. The pictures really don’t do it justice. It is located on Hwy 48 on the east side of the hwy across the road from the cemetery going south out of Allen, Oklahoma.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/allenmem.jpg
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“View of the Allen, Oklahoma (Pontotoc county) First Baptist Chuch and bell.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/allenbap.jpg
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“View of the Allen, Oklahoma (Pontotoc county) Chuch of Christ and bell.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/allenbel2.jpg
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“View of the Allen, Oklahoma (Pontotoc county) First Methodist Church and bell.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/allenbel3.jpg “View of the Allen, Oklahoma (Pontotoc county) First Methodist Church cornerstone.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/allencor.jpg
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“Hi Butch, Here is a pic of a token from the Office of Price Administration Circa 1943. I thought it might bring back some old memories. Keep up the good work.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/tokenpa.jpg
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========================================================================This week Gary Simmons and I went out to Mrs Wilson’s monument place in Lone Grove. We proof read the names that are going on the new memorial for the last time, I hope. It looked great. Maybe next week we will be ready to sand blast the names on that beautiful Autumn Rose granite stone and set it at the Airpark. Thanks to you 29 people whose donations made it possible. Here is a glimpse of the computer printout of the names and arrangement on the memorial. There is still some emblems and markings to add, but this is a pretty close example of what is going on the stone. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/airpark7.jpg
Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 4,000 files and 400mgs! If you have not entered the drawing for a Free CD, and want in, just send me an email! If you are trying out my long distance plan, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Here is a pic of those CDs. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/t&tcd.jpg
And here are those two winners!
drcoxadc@brightok.net
grayghost@brightok.netA friend from my teens reminded me this week how we’d make the drag on Grand Ave everynight and turn our speakers up loud as we played the Doobie Brothers from our new Eight Track Tapes. The 8-Tracks have gone out of style now, but back then we thought we were really someone, making the drag for hours, and listening to our 8 tracks! Oh man, those were the days!
“Well, I built me a raft and she’s ready for floatin’;
Ol’ Mississippi, she’s callin’ my name.
Catfish are jumpin’, that paddle wheel thumpin’,
Black water keeps rollin’ on past just the same.Well, if it rains, I don’t care, don’t make no difference to me;
Just take that street car that’s goin’ up town
Yeah, I’d like to hear some funky Dixieland
And dance a honky tonk,
And I’ll be buyin’ ev’rybody drinks all ‘roun’.I’d like to hear some funky Dixieland,
Pretty mama, come and take me by the hand, by the hand.
Take me by the hand, pretty mama,
Come and dance with your daddy all night long.
I’d like to hear some funky Dixieland,
Pretty mama, come and take me by the hand, by the hand.
I want to honkey-tonk, honkey-tonk, honkey-tonk,
With you all night long.Old black water, keep on rollin’,
Mississippi moon, won’t you keep on shinin’ on me?
Old black water keep on rollin’,
Mississippi moon, won’t you keep on shinin’ on me?
Old black water, keep on rollin’,
Mississippi moon, won’t you keep on shinin’ on me?
Yeah, keep on shinin’ your light,
Gonna make ev’rything, pretty mama,
Gonna make ev’rything alright.
And I ain’t got no worries ’cause I ain’t in no hurry at all.”-The Doobie Brothers
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Saturday July 27, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 275
Donnie Collins with the Carter County Assessor’s Office handed me a piece of history this week. A Tuesday April 29, 1958 issue of the Daily Ardmoreite that he had ran across somewhere. The paper is in almost perfect condition. Back in 1958 the Ardmoreite was only 5 cents and their offices were located at 114 North Washington. Also back in 1958 a newspaper’s page was 17 inches wide compared to 12 1/2 inches wide today.
The first thing that caught my attention in this April 29, 1958 issue was a photo on the front page of a double shooting scene at the Veteran’s Cab Company, 314 East Main. Ardmore policeman Charles Washington and a man, Charles McIntire exchanged gunfire, both emptying their guns at the other and both were wounded. When this Ardmoreite was published, officer Charles Washington was listed as only wounded. Officer Charles Washington later died from those wounds. http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/charwash.html
Another article in this 1958 newspaper caught my attention because one of the persons listed family members receives my T&T….. “Moble Unit Ends Visit Tomorrow” – Tomorrow is the last day the state Mobile Health Survey unit will operate in Carter County. The chest X-rays and blood tests are free. The unit will be located in front of Reavis Drug on Main street. Members of the Beta Rho chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, sponsored by Mrs. Nell Stayton, have volunteered their services the last two days. They are Misses Ann Stonum, and Barbara Stonum and Mesdames Floyd Stovall, John Miller, B.B. Eason, Dwight Bowlby, R.M Gutshall, John Fisher and H.W. Day.”
Then there is a photo of Ardmoreite Charley Goddard inspecting a tree at his home at 902 3rd SW that was struck by lightning Monday night. Terrible storms came through the area Monday afternoon and evening, dumping heavy hail and rain. Love county was especially hit hard by the storms where 22 windows were broken out at the Love county courthouse.
On page 2 there is a photo of workers tearing down the east wall of the Tivoli Theater at Main and B Street. The theater was destroyed by fire early Saturday morning. Also on page 2 is an article on the major redecorating underway at the Sulphur post office, its first major repair since it was built in 1936. And the Talent Parade on KVSO TV Channel 12 at 8pm Tuesday night was featuring Ravia, Oklahoma talent by students of that city. The shows were started by Healdton resident Everett Ford in 1956 who emcees the program each week. Talent Parade ended its season on May 27th.
The Gene Durie DX Service Station was at 417 West Main. You could get your wheels balanced for $1.50 each at Goodyear Service store at 206 West Main. While your waiting, you can get your tennis racquets restringed at Perkins Sporting Goods right around the corner at #15 North Washington. Then that Tuesday night you could see what’s going on at Gene’s Auto Auction at 700 Myall Street SW.
Robert Denney was constable at Lone Grove and getting ready to run for sheriff. “Working with juveniles should be a major concern of your sheriff so that our young people may be guided to good citizenship. If elected as your sheriff I pledge myself and my entire force to that end.” It was in this April 27, 1958 issue of The Daily Ardmoreite W. Robert (Bob) Denney authorized his announcement to run for sheriff the first time. He lost to Gerald Cobb. Robert Denny would not become sheriff until July 1, 1970 by special appointment.
In this 1958 issue George Norris wrote the Rambling Reporter column. Jesse Glenn of 324 B SW would spray your house for termites. Jay Roberts, phone 1262, is offering electrical services. Ardmore Cosmotoligist would install new officers at their meeting tonight at the Ardmore Supply House at 317 4th NW. Miss Ester Whitehead of Marietta, the past president, would perform the installation of officers for the coming year. Then there is Lasik Book Store at 102 East Main for the more studious. Also you could buy a Maytag Model 122 washer for $179.95 or pay $5.00 down with 24 months to pay. Oh, and you would not believe what was showing at the drive-in theater in the NW corner of Grand and Commerce. The 77 North Theater was showing “God Created Woman” starring Brigett Bardot. “ADULTS ONLY” “This motion picture was designed for adult enjoyment only, children will neither understand nor enjoy it. They positively will not be admitted.” Admission 75 cents.
But the Park Theater was holding over for 3 extra days “The Bridge On The River Kwai” starring William Holden and Alec Guinniss. Admission 75 cents adults and children 35 cents. Starting Friday the Skyview Drive-In Theater would show Macabre. It will freeze the blood in your veins. The good part is those watching Macabre were insured for $1,000 against death by fright, except those with bad hearts. And according to the ad, the best beer in town was Jax Beer.
A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST
County Races On; 93 Hopefuls Seek 32 Elective Positions
The Daily Ardmoreite
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Sunday May 4, 1958Carter County political races are on, and a record number of 93 candidates has filed hoping to win one of the 32 offices in the forthcoming elections. The previous record was four years ago when 69 filed.
Actually the number of candidates the people will decide upon is 81 because 12 of the 93 are unopposed. Heading the list of unopposed candidates is County Judge Christine Legate. According to court house observers, the hottest race will be between 12 candidates seeking the office of sheriff. Sheriff Enoch Watterson did not file for re-election.
County Commissioners Paul Heartsill, Lonnie Rooney and Mont Kern, seeking re-election, all have opponents. Heartsill, commissioner of District 1, has nine opponents, Kern, of District 2 has six and Rooney, one.
Here is a list of candidates:
County Judge, Christine Legate. County Superintendent of Schools, Omer Rowe. County Surveyor, R.C. Bates. County Weigher, Raymond C. Boutwell. J-P of Healdton, Emmett G. Chase. Constable, Healdton, W.M. Ratliff. J-P, Wilson, O.B. Orr. Constable, Wilson, Elbert C. Adams. J-P Lone Grove, Arthur C. Reneau. Constable, Akers Township, Edward J. Merritt. J-P Hewitt Township, Charles P. Jones. Constable, Berwyn Township, Milton E. Dillon.
Sheriff: Gerald Theo Cobb, Skeet Lewis, Robert Price, W. Robert Denney, Otto Powell, Billy Hensley, Jim Eskew, Jr., Fred C. Thompson, Cortez Craddock, Charles H. Beane, Wade Shelton, Lee Carlton.
County Commissioner, District 1, Paul Heartsill, Huss Standifer, Roscoe Smith, Iley E. Oxford, A. E. Holt, Herman Day, Joe E. Buchanan, Vanoy Green, Odis A. Deatherage, W.M. West.
County Commissioner, District 2, L.R. Cullom, W.L. Kern, Bill Muse, Theron Godwin, Jess Phipps, Robert Nickson Bass, Finis Smalley.
County Commissioner, District 3, Lonnie Rooney, Thomas M. Fraser,
Court Clerk, Ancel Graham, Joe Maddox
County Clerk, Jerry McCharren McMahan, R.J. Meek.
County Attorney, James D. Payne, Claud H. Smith, E.C. Nelson.
County Treasurer, C. Roy Bigbie, O.A. Sparks.
County Assessor, Ulis S. Barnett, W. H. France
J-P Ardmore, 1, G. W. Puny Sparger, Arthur O. Stewart, Sterling Paskell.
J-P, Ardmore, 2, Fred Johnson, Calvin B. Keith, H.C. Davenport Jr.
Constable, Ardmore 1, Elmer Wintin, Gene Willingham, Ira Wells.
Constable, Ardmore 2, Hale Dunn, Buddie McClaine, Leroy Hattensty, L.A. Snider.
Constable, Hewitt Township, Royce Arnold, Frank Lowery, Dewey Keith, John R. Fanning, John Chatham.
J-P, Graham Township, Monroe H. Short, C.H. Denney, Roy Moss.
Constable, Graham Township, Charlie Brown, Sidney C. Ross, Lee Byram, Howell Fore.
Constable, Morgan Township, Luther Berry, Earl H. Minter, Willie Fisher, Maiklan Cain, Him Orsaole.
Constable, Lone Grove Township, Claude Baker, Clinton C. Bennett, Valton Jones, Lawrence Blalock, Ernest E. Smith.
J-P, Wilson Township, James A Preston, G.H. McKee.
Constable, Wilson Township, J.V. Wells, C.L. Holt.
Each week I receive a Statistic Email on my Webshots.com website. It tells me how many times people have viewed my photos. To date there has been over 22,600 views of the 835 photos in my webshots.com website. The photos in the month of Sept 2001 have been looked a the most, over 1,500 times. Being the curious type, I went to look. Didn’t see anything that really grabbed me, but I did find a bell someone sent me of the Stoney Point School in Guthrie, Logan County, Oklahoma that I didn’t have on my bell page. So, maybe that is what lured me back there! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/stoneypa.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/stoneypb.jpg http://community.webshots.com/user/oklahomahistory
Speaking of bells, this week has really been a good week in my bell collecting. Ardmoreite Jerry Landrum was on vacation in Colorado and snapped a couple of bell photos. This first one is at the Silverton, Colorado City Hall, 1908. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/silver08.jpg And this bell was taken at a museum mounted on a locomotive in Durango, Colorado. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/durango7.jpg And this one is of a bell in that same museum in Durango. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/durango8.jpg
But another Reader sent me 7 photos of bells in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Boy, I feel like I hit the motherload, and I didn’t have to go to Colorado either. hahaha
This tower of several bells is located at Floral Haven Cemetery at Tulsa. https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/fhavcem2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/fhavcem3.jpg
This bell is located at the Glenhaven Free Methodist Church in Tulsa. https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/glehavm2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/glehavm3.jpg
This nicely painted bell is at Holland Hall School in Tulsa. https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/holhall2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/holhall3.jpg
This small bell is hanging at the Phildelphin Assembly in Tulsa https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/passem2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/passem3.jpg
Sheridan Avenue Christian Church in Tulsa has a nice copper looking bell. https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/sherave2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/sharave3.jpg
This bell is in the belfry of the Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Tulsa. https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/kirkhil2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/kirkhil3.jpg
This bell is at St Luke’s Episcopal Church in Tulsa. https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/stluke2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/stluke3.jpg
And if all that wasn’t enough, I received email from LeFlore county, a man there says they have a bell at his church in in Summerfield, Oklahoma and is going to get a pic for me! Boy, that map of Oklahoma is beginning to turn more and more yellow color. Still a few more counties to go! https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/bellmap.jpg
A Reader has asked me to ask the group: What is the best way to save emails to diskette or whatever? I know I have tried several ways and none work perfectly. Example, let’s say you have a Folder in Outlook Express named Investments. In that one Folder are 700 emails you’ve collected over a several month period. Does anyone know a good way to clear that Folder out, moving the emails to a Diskette for future reference if needed?
I think I’m really starting to feel my age (after my birthday last week). I been doing some painting around the house, and the scrapping in 100 degree weather is rough. The sweat just drips off you. Good thing I’m not under some contract to finish it by a certain date, because I can see this paint job is going to take me a while. Speaking of my birthday, thanks to all of you who sent me birthday emails, etc. I apprecate every one of them!
Yep, our little group is heading for a record month…. over 10,800 minutes as of today with several days still to go until July 31st. Hope you are enjoying the great rates with us!! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“I saw a bell today between Perkins and Cushing.. but I had no film in my camera.. I remember the bell was on the east side of highway 77 north of Perkins and south of Cushing by a house on a steel fence.”
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“Butch, FYI……..In “letters this week”, the person in Nevada mentioned Clyde Minter’s store……Uncle Clyde and Aunt Lena had that store when I was a kid and he let all the cousins climb around in the big bags of flour. His daughter, Janice and I would pick out which of the flour sacks we wanted for a new dress! We’re still “shop til you droppers”!!! Whoever that is in Nevada…….thanks for the memories. I had forgotten about that store.”
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“Butch, I found the following info on Marsden, OK: Marsden, Oklahoma is in Love County; location is 34?3’20″N 97?11’43″W
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“About the request of Hewett location. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of replies on this one: Hewett is located about 17 miles west of ardmore and one mile south of Hwy 70 at the Dillard road turn off. It is no longer an incorporated town, but the old cemetery is still used, and locally for the town of Wilson, it continues to be known as Hewett. I always look forward to the This and That newsletter.”
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“This has the Tombstone of Chris Madsen” http://marti.rootsweb.com/law/pic/cmadsen.htm
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“Yes, the various Indian Nations did require “whites” to get a permit to work in the Nation. Many of the records reside with the various tribes (Choctaw, Cherokee, etc) but the majority are in the archives in Fort Worth.”
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“I went to High School with Gail Farrell in Durant during the early ‘sixties’. She was a member of a very popular trio consisting of Gail, Shirley Ross and Linda Brown. Linda became the wife of Chuck Williams a former football coach at Ardmore High School. Chuck passed away a few weeks ago and some of your readers may have attended his funeral at First Baptist Church. Linda now lives in Plano.”
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“Butch, I really enjoy your newsletter from Ardmore. I enjoyed the e-mail from the guy who lives in Lavin. He wrote about Ralf’s Armstrong Grocery from Healdton. Ralf’s was the nicest person so was his family, Robby & Phyliss. Robby & Phyliss were my good friends and I lost contact with them after I made a career in the Army. If anyone knows where they are now. Please contact me at ojimdndy@yahoo.com
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“Hello Juanita Autry, Wish I could help you in your search for information about your gr grandfather, George Riley Smith. I can’t, but suspect that my great-grandfather, William Harvey Burdick probably knew him. William Harvey Burdick was also a deputy marshal (out of Texas somewhere) who came into the Oklahoma badlands looking for outlaws and brought his family with him. My grandmother, Martha Elizabeth (Burdick) Kendrick was born in a covered wagon at Stonewall, Chickasaw Nation, I. T. on March 24, 1886. In 1889 he went outside the territory to join in the landrun (just for the money like a lot of other folks) and staked his claim in downtown Oklahoma City. As soon as he could find a buyer, he sold his claim (for a years wages, $100.00 and went back to work as a lawman and cowboy). The man who bought it was another deputy who lived just a few blocks from him in OKC. His name was Charlie Colcord and he became a ‘developer’. He built (among other things) Oklahoma City’s first ‘skyscraper’ on the land that my great-grandfather had staked and the Colcord Building is there even now (just a few blocks south of the Murruh Building that Timothy McVey blew up). The building was restored just a few years ago and is OKC’s oldest business building still in operation (just south of where the old Liberty Theatre (later known as the Harbor Theatre and finally the Cooper Theatre which was operated at the end by my step-brother, Leonard Webb Newcomb) Probably the person who could help you the most is my friend, Glenn Shirley of Stillwater, Oklahoma. He’s a former lawman who has written several books about the early day lawmen and outlaws, including Chris Madsen, Bill Tilghman, the Doolins, and others. I’ll have to check at home (I’m still at work right now) and see if I can find his address for you. As a matter of fact, I’ll close up now and go home to look for it. To continue: Glenn Shirley (an award winning author) is an authority on the American West, especially law and order in the Oklahoma and Indian territories, and has written more than two dozen books including; “Hello Sucker! The Story of Texas Guinan”, “Guardian of the Law: The Life and Times of William Matthew Tilghman”, & “The Fourth Guardsman: James Franklin “Bud” Ledbetter, 1882-1937″ (all of those are published by Eakin Press, P.O.Drawer 90159, Austin, Texas 78709-0159 email: eakinpub@sig.net website: www.eakinpress.com http://www.eakinpress.com. And I believe that you can reach Glenn by “snail mail” (through the U S Postal ‘service’) at : Glenn Shirley; 1121 S. McFarland St.; Stillwater, Oklahoma 74074. It is possible, altho I don’t know this as ‘fact’) that he may have even mentioned your great-grandfather, George Riley Smith, in one of his books, magazine articles, short stories, etc. Unfortunately, he has not been able to find anything on my own great-grandfather, William Harvey Burdick (whom I have reason to believe is buried somewhere in Texas). I have proof of his existence in the early days of Oklahoma City (I’ve found him listed in two city directories of the era) but the family members who knew where he died and was buried are dead and left no records that I’ve been able to discover. I was a pall bearer for his widow and know for certain where she’s buried. Good luck on your quest.” -Roy Kendrick antqmall@perryisp.net
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“Hey Butch, Gosh! I was afraid I was going to miss this weeks letter. My computer messed up and I couldn’t retrieve my mail for a couple of days. Had me worried because I really look forward to it. I see we are still on the little stores. Had the one at Overbrook been mentioned yet? I missed it if it was. It was also a post office. I was down that way today and the TINY little building is still there! Of course they now have another building for a post office and I am sure the lady who ran it when I was a kid is long gone. Another one that was a real landmark was torn down a few years ago too. It was the Ambert AND HELMA Page store on the corner of Oswalt road and the road going north to Marsden. The school bus used to let kids off there as he went east and we would get pop and candy then he would pick us up again on the way back to finish his route. We laughingly called it our local newspaper too because they always knew everything that was going on in the whole area. One more thing. Could you please ask people to add their names, some do but there have been some that mention where they lived or something and I really wonder if I might remember them??? Thanks and hope you had a GREAT birthday.” -Nellie Fox Combe
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“Here is the site I mentioned where you can test your bandwidth.” http://www.mybandwidthplace.com
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“Butch, Thought you would find this interesting. Your Indian Paintbrush is shown— about the eighth pic. ( plains coreopsis ) .” http://www.geocities.com/donline1201/mm-flowers/mmwelcome.html
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“searching… In the early sixty’s there was a county commissioner by the name of Hargus.. John matter of fact, He was married to Mattie that worked at the hospital. They lived in Davis but his office was in Sulpher. They never had children..but I’m their niece..Arella Hargus/.. At one time in my early childhood I remember spending a summer with them ..during an election year..there were bumper stickers for his re-election ..I would like to find one to pass on to my grandkids. articles of any news would be great. If there is anyone you know that might have information about Uncle John.. would you pass it on, please..thanx aozell@aol.com The courthouse had a fire years ago and some information was lost.. I know this is a stretch but just maybe……”
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“I went to Third Ward Elementary School in Ardmore and my first grade teacher was Miss Nanny Burkshire. She had taught my three older sisters, Kathryn, Florence and Lena Stonum. Miss Nanny also taught my younger sister, Mary Frances, after me. My first day of school I went to Miss Nanny’s room and sat in the row in front of her desk. She was not there but there was a little blonde headed girl already seated in the first desk of that row. I sat down behind her and she turned around and said “Hello, my name is Mary Wirt Head, who are you?” I replied, “I’m Tweed Stonum” and she said “Let’s be best friends” and I said “OK, I would like that”. And we became best friends. She lived on D Street S.W., the street behind our street. I remember having a birthday party soon after school started. My best friend brought me a fairly good size box of Pangburn’s chocolate candy. I remember the two of us went behind the barn in back of my home and ate every piece of candy in the box. Mama let me invite the entire class, so I think my best friend must have gotten there early. When the other kids arrived I wasn’t feeling too good, but we had the party and that night Mama had to call Dr. Von Keller. I don’t know whether I ever told them about the candy. In those days the popular theory pertaining to healthy children was to give them a round of little pink pills, called Calilactose, every spring. I think the routine was to take a little pink pill for so many hours apart for two days. Then follow that medication with Castor oil. The pink pills stirred up your liver and believe me, the nausea we endured was horrible. The castor oil was horrid to take – especially when you were already so nauseated. Needless to say I never gave my children Calilactose or Castor oil. Another old custom was to put long underwear (they were called Union Suits) on your children every winter on a certain date. I know we couldn’t take them off until a certain date. We also wore long cotton stockings and high top shoes that buckled down the outer side. We used what we called “shoe hooks” to hook the buttons in the button holes. Our shoes were leather or kid, sometimes the lower part was patent. As soon as some of us got to school we’d head for the basement where the bathrooms were. We would roll up our long underwear sleeves and the legs of our underwear. I remember the pouchy look under my dress sleeves from the rolled up underwear. Before walking home from school we’d head back down to the basement and roll the underwear legs and sleeves back down. I wonder if I was an incorrigible child – childhood in those days was so unrestricted it seems. We had such freedom.” -Tweed Stonum Machock (born 1915 in Ardmore, Oklahoma)
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================================================Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 4,000 files and 400mgs! If you have not entered the drawing for a Free CD, and want in, just send me an email! If you are trying out my long distance plan, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Here is a pic of those CDs.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/t&tcd.jpg
And here are those two winners!
ironsides@brightok.net
linda@wireweb.net“There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread,
She whipped them all soundly, and put them to bed.”-W. Butcher & Sons, London (1870-1906)
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Saturday July 20, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 274
I received an interesting email this week from Denmark. It was from another historian buff named Ken Pedersen, and he is looking for info on the US Marshal Chris Madsen. His email to me can tell you his request for help in researching Madsen, so here it is:
“Howdy. I am Danisch historian about the old west in USA. And my great interest is Chris Madsen lawman from Guthrie. but in Denmark can I find nothing about this man. So I will hear you about stoff so like newspaperclip, letters, ducoments about Madsen where I can find this. I send some picture of ours Historian Gang in Denmark.” -Ken Pedersen, Denmark anton123@tdcadsl.dk
Maybe some of you out there can help Ken and his bunch of researchers in their quest for old west history and specifically Chris Madsen!
Here is a pic of Ken and his gang of old west researchers in Denmark! Everyone gets 8 guesses which hombre is Ken. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/peder8.jpg
I can understand Ken’s delema of being unable to find info about the old west in Denmark. I had one Reader from Denmark several years ago, she thought buffalo were extinct. Of course, we have buffalo all over Oklahoma and their populations continues to grow today, after greedy white man buffalo hide hunters hunted them to near extinction in the mid 1850s and later.
The farmer’s market at Main and Washington Streets here in Ardmore has been in full swing the past couple of Saturday mornings. Right now is the best time of the year for vegetables in this area. I try to get down there every Saturday and check out the crops local farmers have to offer. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/fmarket7.jpg
From time to time I order things from catalogs or over the internet. Sometimes when that box arrives, and I open it up, for one reason or another it’s not what I thought it would be. But this week I received an item that turned out to be everything it promised and more! It worked right out of the box, I had it up and running in 3 minutes! Its called an MP3 Adapter cable. I have some MP3 music files on my computer but the sound quality from those rinky dinky speakers that comes with computers, just doesn’t put out the sound quality I want, nor the volume. I paid $20 for the 12 ft length Adapter Cable plus shipping out of New York City. All I had to do was unplug the computer speaker cable from the sound card in the back of my computer, plug in one end of the Adapter Cable, then plug the computer speakers cable back into back end of the Adapter Cable. The other end of the cable had two Phono Plug ends. In the back of my stereo system was two jacks that let me plug in those two phono cables which I did. Then I started my computer playing an MP3 music file. Then I turned on my stereo, selected AUX on my remote, and Viola! I had the sound playing from the computer coming out my stereo system! All 100 watts! The sound sure is great! If you want to hear great through your computer via your stereo system, then check it out at the link below. Here’s a pic of the adapter. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/mp3adapt.jpg Here is the website from where I ordered my 12 foot Adapter Cable. http://www.mp3-adapters.com/
`Wunnerful, wunnerful, wunnerful’ is the world famous phrase said by Lawrence Welk (1903-1992) for years on his television shows from 1955 to 1982. My mother loved to watch the Welk show years ago, but I didn’t watch it much. But here lately, I seem to be drawn to it sometimes. I was listening to it on the PBS station last Saturday evening and the announcer said, “Gail Farrell from Durant, Oklahoma.” Gail Farrell starting singing with the Lawrence Welk shows in 1969. I found out that sure enough, Gail Farrell was born in Durant, Oklahoma, and there is a street named after her in that city. Here is a couple of photos of Gail Farrell, she is still doing singing engagements around the country. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/farrell3.jpg
Here is a photo of Salli Hart, Tanya Welk Roberts, Gail Farrell and Mary Lou Metzger backstage in Reno after one of the shows. Gail is the 3rd from the left. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/farrell4.jpg
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Butch, I took these pictures of this little Indian girl at the Pontotoc cemetery last year. She was picking “Indian paintbrushes” and putting them on peoples graves for Memorial Day.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/adamem2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/adamem3.jpg
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“Hey Butch, Here are a couple pictures of in October 1990 of Hunt Foods on 3rd NE. I called it a grocery, but you can use them in your way.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hunts90a.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hunts90b.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/hunts90c.jpg
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“Hi Butch, Thanks for keeping up the good work with T&T each week. We wouldn’t dream of missing it out here in Nevada. Just wanted to get in a good word for an old grocery store we use to visit before we milk this subject to death. It belonged to Clyde Minter and it was located just west of Ardmore on Hgwy 70 and I think it was right across from where the Ford -Lincoln-Mercury place is located. It burned down years ago (sorry to say), and many is the time when his letting us have credit to buy groceries kept us from going hungry for the week. He had a big heart and he and his wife were grand people. Of course I might be prejudiced because he was my husband’s distant cousin. Just had to give them honorable mention and God rest their souls.”
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“I have the last 6 of your TNT… there is so many things that I need to look up or at least bookmark.. I have been enjoying the little stores.. since I also grew up on 3rd NE… I can remember Hunts and Harrisons.. we cought the school bus to Dickson there.. Thank you for making me more home sick.. can’t wait for Oct to get here so I can come home on a visit.”
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“Butch, I remember that American Flyers Cafe. It was the old NCO Club when the Air Base was there. Then American Flyers used it for their Cafeteria. My aunt Arzula Crawford worked there as a cook. We would go there every Sunday and we would either eat there or eat at her house. My uncle Charles was a Fireman there at the Air Base of course he passed away before the Plane Crash. I still remember that plane crash too! That was awful. After the Cafe closed down my aunt went to work at Memorial Hospital as one of the cooks. I think Aunt Arzula could cook anything good. I also seen that you were talking about old Store. I remember two in Healdton that was quite popular. One was Shorty Claxton’s Store located south of the High School. He operated that before he became a Deputy for Robert Denny. Then there was the North Side Grocery owned and operated by Ralph Armstrong. It was a small store but you could find anything in the world in that little store. He had the coldest soda pop in Healdton and the best meat on that side of the county. If he have not bought the pop bottles that we sold to him, (My brother, my cousin, and I ) we would have missed a lot of those Saturday Picture Shows that we saw for 15 cents, a nickel coke and a bag of pop corn for a nickel. Saturday was a big day at the old Thompson Theater. He used to give away door prizes to during intermission. Never did win anything though.”
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“I’ve had a connection with Pettijohn Springs over the years since it was donated for a christian camp and used by members of the Church of Christ from all over. My father, Cole Tidwell, was one of the original group that helped with the construction of the camp and served as Camp manager years later for a few years. I went to the following website and found a little information on its history at http://www.westsidechurchofchrist.org/pettijohn/ “In the mid-1800’s a Chickasaw Indian Chief, settled his followers at the springs due to the abundance of water as well as good grazing and hunting areas. In 1924 the property was developed into a spa and resort which was popular until 1939 when it was virtually abandoned after a fire. During the following three decades the property changed hands several times until the estate of the late Earl E. Ayers and his widow, Sylvia G. Ayers donated the approximately 60 acres of land to a project to be know as Pettijohn Springs Christian Camp. On December 26, 1968 the Madill record declared, “Pettijohn Springs is coming back to life…The surroundings will ring with the sound of happy children.””
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“Butch, I have truly enjoyed the correspondence about the grocery stores. My Grandfather, WG Lamb and my Daddy, Don Lamb ran one in Ardmore for many years. The first store was over at E St. SE and Lake Murray Drive and I believe that Mr. Christy had a little store right across the street. The next store was at the corner of l2th and E. Street, NW. It was heaven. My sister and I loved getting to go on deliveries and eating bologna, cheese and crackers out of the case on Saturday evenings. I remember that Mr. Lloyd Noble was a great customer and would often come, in his khaki pants and sit on the “pop box” and drink a Coke and visit. My Daddy had a an outstanding meat market and often had to get an order of KC Strip steaks ready for the Nobles to serve up at the cabin and Daddy worked alot with the Noble’s housekeeper, Hattie, getting big grocery orders ready. Daddy had a Deli, long before they were fashionable in Ardmore. He baked hams, made his own Pimento Cheese, and potato salad, and often, my mother made banana nut cakes, and the store could not keep it all, it went out of the store so fast. I also remember when Matt Berryhill first opened the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, making hot tamales, and Matt would send several dozen to Ardmore on the bus and Daddy would go pick them up and sell them with his home brick Chili, and reservations were made for them and again, he could not keep enough in the store. Those were the days when Daddy made stands for the real Christmas trees, and he would plug a Watermelon for you. I have stood for hours and watched him cut up chickens, with the pulley bone, make groundbeef, cut pork chops, and put that plus much more in his perfect meat case. You could also go in and charge your groceries. Oh what wonderful times~~growing up in a grocery store and as far as I knew, there was only one in Ardmore, so it has been interesting to recall all the other ones.”
“Butch, I have one more thought on the grocery stores. I remember back during the WW2 and I was a very small girl, at the Lake Murray store, Papa and Daddy would get in just 1 box of Fleer’s Double Bubble gum and Daddy would portion out in a little penny sacks. He would see that my cousins, Jo Lynne and Marlane Jones, and Maryann Parker, and my step aunt, Frances Lamb would get a little sack and then he would keep it under the counter for just regular customers to have. Occasionally, he would get in a box of Hershey Bars and he had the same routine with those. Everynight when he would come home, we were so excited to see him, hoping that he would have a little treat for us. I still think of that when I see ALL of the candy that is at our disposal today. I always remember that a bottle of Welch’s Grape Juice was rare and a real treat and we usually only got that if we were sick. My how times have changed.” -Linda Lamb Smith
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“Hi Butch, I remember the cafe Tiny ran while I was with AFA. We had our Christmas Party’s there. Mr. Pigman gave me my first wings. So many good memories of that little cafe, as well as Tiny.” -Corine Key Doddridge
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“A full page of photos of the Guthrie newspaper museum is in The Daily Oklahoman for Saturday, July 13. It also shows a person demonstrating the use of a hand fed press. The person (and the photographer) apparently didn’t realize what an unsafe practice it shows–wearing a ring and a wrist watch while feeding the press. (I used such a press for serious commercial work many years ago.)
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“Hi Butch, I’ve been reading about all the old corner stores around the area, and since I haven’t written in awhile, I thought some of your readers might remember Bob Miller’s store about halfway between Davis and Sulphur, in the 30s and 40s. Bob was a county commissioner, who in those days was an important person, because he was responsible for, among other things, the grading of the country roads. In the winter time , or after a good rain, those old dirt roads became almost impassable, except in a wagon pulled by a good team of mules. The two Miller boys, Vern and Eddie, went to Fairview school the same time I did (1st grade). Forgive my rambling, but do they still grow those fabulous seedless yellow meated watermelons around Carter and Murray counties? There was an older gentleman named Mr. Tucker, who lived near my grandparents in the Fairview area, and he had a huge garden with all kinds of vegetables and berries. But he was best known as having the finest watermelons in the country. Mr. Tucker was a gentle man until he caught someone stealing his melons. One night two local teenagers, J.B. Teeters and J.B. Thomas, got caught in Mr. Tuckers melon patch, and to make matters worse, they had busted open several melons and eaten just the hearts of the melons. Well, Mr. Tucker had a double barreled shotgun aimed at them, and he made them finish eating those melons, including the rinds. After the belly aches they got from their little escapade, those two boys never stole anymore watermelons !!! Another unusual thing. about Mr. Tucker: He had a pet humming bird, which was kept in the house, without a cage, and it nested in an old house slipper at night. Mr. Tucker was devastated to find his little buddy crushed in the slipper one morning between the bed and the wall.”
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“Butch, My husband worked for Beetle Plastics in the Industrial Airpark for 30 years. He ate many meals at the American Airline cafe. Then it was ran by Tiny Welch who also lived across the street from us. Then Preston Palmer ran it for a while. After which Preston went to work at Beetle Plastics. He lives at Wilson and is retired. The management for Beetle Plastics would have meetings in the cafe early in the mornings.”
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“Hi Butch! Your mentioning the skates and skate key reminds me of making ‘scooters’ out of an old skate and a couple of 2×4’s. We boys would finish one in an hour or so, and head for the nearest good sidewalk with not too many cracks, or bumps. Usually along the sidewalk by the First Methodist Church …uh, on West Main, I think, which was just a couple of blocks from home. Another thing we enjoyed was to take a wheel, of about a foot diameter and make a ‘t’ shaped handle and learn to roll that wheel, dexteriously guiding it where we wanted it to go. Recently, I made a grandson a pair of stilts, something kids today don’t know much about. Kids today just don’t seem to know what fun really was back in the ’40’s! Oh, well, I suppose they’ll be passing on their Nintendo stories to their grandkids! Wonder what ‘the thing! will be some 65 or 70 years from now!?”
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“I have the last 6 of your TNT… there is so many things that I need to look up or at least bookmark.. I have been enjoying the little stores.. since I also grew up on 3rd NE… I can remember Hunts and Harrisons.. we cought the school bus to Dickson there. Thank you for making me more home sick.. can’t wait for Oct to get here so I can come home on a visit.. (of course we will be camping at Woolaroc) …. camping up here in Colorado went up in the fires… they will not let any camping around here… 🙁 🙁 http://www.woolaroc.org/
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“Butch, It was real interesting hearing from the person who remembered the Hornet Spooklight. I lived in Jay, Oklahoma, from 1965 to 1978, which is about 30 miles from the spooklight. Interestingly, we never heard it called the Hornet Spooklight, but knew it as the Seneca Spooklight, or the Neosho Spooklight. The actual spooklight appears on the Oklahoma side of the border. We drove up to see it many times, but sadly never once saw it. Maybe we were paying to much attention to our girlfriends! The weblink has some pretty good links about the light at the bottom of the page.” http://www.mysterylights.com/cases/hornet/
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“Evans Eagles was another grade school team name.”
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“Hi Butch, One of your readers at the end of T and T this week mentioned remembering the Franklin Rockets school team. Our school team was the Washington Huskies and I seem to recall one of our cheers that we had during the ’60’s when I was one of a group of girls who got to make our own homemade orange-and-white streamered pom-poms on a long stick:”
“Hoo-rah for Hus-kies, Hoo-rah for Hus-kies,
Someone’s in the kitchen yelling Hoo-rah for Huskies,
1…..2…..3…..4….Who’s a gonna yell some more?!
HUS-KIES…..THAT’S WHO!”
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“Butch – I can’t stand it any longer! I’ve been a fly on the wall too long, reading your stuff, having all kinds of memories jogged, and not offering anything. The question about the grade school nicknames just HAS to be answered. I can’t do it completely, but I can throw in the school colors and the coaches.
Franklin: Red/White, Rockets [Askew, Rob], Leonard Bates
Lincoln: Purple/Gold, Comets [Askew, Rob], George Holloway
Washington: Orange/Black until ’53 or ’54, then Orange/White, Huskies (just like U of W) [Askew, Rob], Griffin Biles
Evans: Blue/White, Eagles [Askew, Rob], Leroy Ritchey
Jefferson: Green/White, ?? [Askew, Rob], ??
Rogers: Green/Gold, ?? [Askew, Rob], Edgar Wallace (Mrs. Wallace was my homeroom teacher)
I was QB at Franklin in ’56, and here is our football schedule, with results:
Evans, W 19-0
Lincoln, W 21-0
Rogers, W 34-0
Jefferson, W 7-6
Washington, L 0-6
Our game with Washington that year was for the city championship, as we both came in undefeated. George Norris (The Rambling Reporter – remember him?) was at the game and wrote it up in his column 11/15/56.”
-Rob Askew (Washington School ’51-’54, Franklin ’54-’57, AHS ’63)
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“You have a long list of small grocery stores in and around Ardmore, but I’m amazed that no one has mentioned the Corner Grocery that was located on the west corner of 2nd and N. Washington directly across the street from the Mulkey Hotel and diagonally across from the old Ardmore High school. It was owned and operated by E.D McElreath, his wife Helen and his Mother in law. I worked there for 2 1/2 years while going to school (sometimes) and living in an apartment above the store. The building is still there, but it’s all boarded up like so many other places in Ardmore that were a part of my growing up years. Although I’ve been gone from Ardmore for over 48 years it will always be home to me!” -Roy (Buddy) Garnand rgarnand@gvtc.com
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“Butch, I thought your readers might be interested to see this old post card that my father wrote to his brother in law way back then. Marsden used to be a town then. Post office, gin, school and church etc. I also have one he posted at Hewitt too. Does anyone know where it was?” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/marscard.jpg
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“Great job as usual on the latest edition of This & That. It takes a lot of dedication and I appreciate it. I am enjoying the thread on corner grocery stores. Brings back a lot of memories. I am attaching an article I wrote concerning what a kid in the late 1940’s did for entertainment in Ardmore. We didn’t have TV or Game Boys to entertain us like the kids today have. We made a lot of our toys. Hope you enjoy it.” Richard Henry rhenry44@attbi.com https://oklahomahistory.net/textfiles/aboy.txt
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“Butch, I have long been a fan of your newsletter and I am writing to you with a special request for help. As you are probably aware, there is a plan in the works right now to raid the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer of over ten billion gallons of water per year and pipe it to Mustang, Oklahoma. The aquifer feeds Blue River, Pennington Creek, and Rock Creek which are all in Johnston County. The aquifer also supplies water to the Turner Falls area. I know that you are a fan of Pennington Creek, having memories of Devil’s Den, so I thought you might be interested in my project. I own 12 acres on Rock Creek and grew up visiting Pennington Creek. I have many fond memories of fishing and swimming on Pennington, while staying at my Aunt and Uncle’s cabin just upriver of Devil’s Den. Today I am a computer applications and video teacher at Western Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas. I am interested in collecting pictures, stories and interviews from people about the above-mentioned waterways. These stories, pictures, and interviews would be included in a documentary that I intend to create with my students called Stolen Springs. The project would be threefold. The first aspect of the project would be a written compilation for the stories; The second part of the documentary would be an website that would have stories and pictures about the river and creeks and finally, the last aspect of the project would be a video documentary. A few ideas to help your readers get their memories going would be stories about camping, fishing, swimming/skinnydipping, baptisms, ancestral recollections, first date, crimes, and family outings. Of course this list is not exhaustive of the possibilities. I have created an email address that can be used for correspondence about the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer and its above ground waterways. Ask your readers to send me pictures, and stories about these waterways. Additionally, ask anyone who would like to be interview on-camera to contact me at that same address.” -Larry G. Boston stolensprings@charter.net
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“Butch, I receive your newsletter. Sure enjoy it since I grew up in Carter County (Gene Autry and Ardmore). Just wanted to let you know that the Goat Motel on Tommy Howard Road is the creation of Kenneth (Butler) Williams. His wife is Joe Williams, my cousin. Thanks.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/goatmot.jpg
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“I have been told that early white settlers in Indian Territory had a “Permit” to do so and the records were in Ardmore. Do you know if this is true? If so, are these records at the Carter County Court House?”
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“Bell at the First Baptist Church in Dickson, Oklahoma. Cast by the American Bell Foundry Company, Northville, Mich. as best I could tell. There are several coats of paint on it.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/dickson7.jpg
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“These bell photos were taken in front of the Museum at Pawhuska, Osage County, Oklahoma.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/pawbell2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/pawbell3.jpg
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“Butch, do you or any of your readers know where the street name Myall in south Ardmore originated?”
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“Hey Butch, How ya’ll are? Just finished reading this weeks T&T (been out of town) and after reading about the skate key, It hit me that you might be able to help me. I bought an old parking meter like those that used to be downtown, in fact I was told it used to be on main street. But they didn’t have a key to get in it. Do you have a parking meter key, or know where I could find one? If not, perhaps one of your readers could help. And, while I was gone, we rode the Durango/Silverton Railroad in Colorado. I got a couple of pix of train bells I’ll bring by to you. Have a good one.” -Jerry Landrum aone@brightok.net
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“In your search for lawmen in Indian Territory, have you ran across George Riley Smith, a deputy stationed at Sulphur, OK? He died in 1919 I understand. I read that he had the biggest turnout at any funeral in Sulphur. If you do have any info on him, please let me know. He was my gr grandfather. Thanks.” -Juanita Autry wja4032@bossig.com
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“To those of you in Northern Oklahoma or Southern Kansas, I invite you to attend my concert in Medford, Oklahoma on Saturday, July 27. The show will be held in the School Auditorium, 7 pm – 9pm. It is a benefit for cancer patient Mariann Smrckas. Admission by donations. Hope to see you there.” Les Gilliam lesgill@poncacity.net http://www.lesgilliam.com/
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“Butch, This bell is in Madill in front of a police officer’s house.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/madillpb.jpg
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“Hi Butch. A number of years ago (15 or 20) the extension office here had a booklet with recipes for different pickles, relish and I don’t remember what else. I remember it was a green backed pamphlet and it had a recipe for green tomato chowchow. If anyone might be able to send that recipe for chowchow I really need it. I lost mine.” gsouth@brightok.net
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“HEARTLAND SHARE MENU FOR JULY. USDA RIBEYE STEAKS – 2 (6 OZ.) FISH PORTIONS – 1 1/2 LBS. CHICKEN THIGHS – 2 LBS. FULLY COOKED SIRLOIN ROAST – 1 LB. BONELESS HAM STEAK – 14 OZ. ROMAINE LETTUCE CARROTS CELERY. NEW RED POTATOES – 3 LB. BLACK PLUMS – 6 BARTLETT PEARS – 5 PEACHES – 5 ORANGES – 4 4 PACK CHOCOLATE FAT-FREE PUDDING Distribution Days FRIDAY D-DAY – JULY 26…. SATURDAY D-DAY – JULY 27 JULY SPECIAL “BEAT THE HEAT” 8 – 6 OZ BACON WRAPPED USDA SIRLOIN STEAKS $14.00 PLUS 1 VOLUNTEER HOUR August Special (SAMPLE IS AVAILABLE) 1 1/2 LBS. Boneless Pork Roast 1 LB. Boneless Pork Chops 2 -10 OZ. T-Bone Steaks 2 – 6 OZ. Rib-Eye Steaks ONLY $14.00″ -Carole Ellis 223-5287. http://www.heartlandshare.com
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“MR. BRIDGES, I’VE STARTED GETTING YOUR NEWSLETTERS FROM LAVIN. I HAVE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THEM, ESPECIALLY THE ONES ABOUT THE CORNER STORES. I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU ABOUT RALF ARMSTRONG’S LITTLE STORE DOWN THE HILL FROM WHERE I USED TO LIVE IN HEALDTON. CURLY, RALPH’S DAD, HAD ONCE GIVEN ME A PUPPY. HE EVEN LET ME CHOOSE THE ONE I WANTED FIRST. I NAMED HER SUSIE. I HAVE NEVER LOVED A PET AS MUCH AS I LOVED THAT PUPPY. IT BROKE MY HEART WHEN SHE DIED. SUSIE AND I USED TO WALK TO THE STORE. DAD WOULD GIVE ME THE MONEY TO GET A SIX PACK OF PEPSI AND SOME CANDY. I ALWAYS CARRIED THE PEPSI AND SUSIE CARRIED THE SACK OF CANDY. OF COURSE, CURLY ALWAYS GAVE ME EXTRA CANDY. HE WAS ONE OF THE NICEST PEOPLE I EVER KNEW. THAT HAS BEEN MANY YEARS AGO. ALMOST 50. I WILL NEVER FORGET CURLY, SUSIE AND THAT STORE IN HEALDTON.”
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“I’m sending this a day early in hopes that I’ll be the first to wish you a very happy birthday and many more to come. Are you as old as Jack Benny yet?”
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========================================================================Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 3,800 files and 400mgs! If you have not entered the drawing, and want in, just send me an email! If you are trying out my long distance plan, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Here is a pic of those CDs.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/t&tcd.jpg
And here are those two winners!
rhondastew@aol.com
okee@brightok.netI tried to keep it hushed, but a bunch of you went ahead and sent me birthday wishes this week anyway! Thanks, you are all like family to me. Friends, they make life worth living.
In 1978 when I was working at the ambulance service here in Ardmore, I met a patient whose words have been with me all these years. He was a local businessman diagnosed with cancer. As the months went by his condition worsened. His family had heard about some miracle drug derived from apricot seeds, and as a last resort decided to try it. Once a week for several weeks one of his employees would make the 1,400 mile round-trip drive to Mexico to buy this miracle drug. It didn’t help, and he soon lapsed into a coma. In this comatose state I transported him in the ambulance to the hospital one evening about 8pm. At this particular evening the ER was very busy. Every room had a patient waiting to see the doctors and people were even standing in the waiting room for lack of a place to sit. I pulled up at the ER door, and as we started through those automatic doors, all of a sudden he raised up from the stretcher and with a voice so loud it sounded like God was speaking and said “God, the eternal circle”. His voice echoed down the hallways, and startling everyone. People stopped whatever they were doing, nurses and even doctors came out of the emergency rooms to look, others emerged from the doorways, and for a moment you could hear a pin drop in that emergency room. I do not know the reason, but maybe this businessman had a message for someone.
“There’s a ship out, on the ocean
At the mercy of the sea
It’s been tossed about, lost and broken
Wandering aimlessly
And God somehow you know that ship is me‘Cause there’s a lighthouse, in the harbor
Shining faithfully
Pouring its light out, across the water
For this sinking soul to see
That someone out there still believes in meThere’s a moment we all come to
In our own time and our own space
Where all that we’ve done, we can undo
If our heart’s in the right placeOn a prayer, in a song
I hear your voice and it keeps me hanging on
Raining down, against the wind
I’m reaching out ’til we reach the circle’s end
When you come back to me again”-Country singer Garth Brooks, 2000
See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Saturday July 13, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 273
Last weekend I talked about what I thought was Indian Paintbrush flowers covering 40 acres by Gene Autry, Oklahoma. I got lots of emails telling me those were not Indian Paintbrushes. It was the consensus from everyone, those were actually Indian Blankets. My flower information database is very limited. But I still love the beauty all the flowers display! Every color of the rainbow! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ipaint2.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ipaint3.jpg https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ipaint4.jpg
Boy, I made another typo in my last issue. I turned the words around and called Dollar General, General Dollar. Here is a link to their website. http://www.dollargeneral.com/
Carter county has a lot of things that could be considered unique to only this county. I stumbled across one of those things last weekend near Gene Autry on Tommy Howard Road at the Joe Williams place. He has the only Goat Motel in the county! hahahaha https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/goatmot.jpg
The most beautiful blue turquoise is mined in only two places in the world. One location is Iran, the other right here in the good old US of A. The Sleeping Beauty mines are right outside Globe, Arizona. If you like turquoise, you can now buy it directly from the mine in Arizona. http://www.sbturquoise.com/
I received a letter in the mail this week from my uncle Doyle Bridges in Oklahoma City. He and his wife were celebrating their wedding anniversary, travelling up State Highway 74 from Oklahoma City to the Kansas Line and back. Along the way they stopped in the little town of Garber, Oklahoma (Enid is the county seat of Garfield County) for a bite to eat. He went on to say they really didn’t find anything to eat, but found lots of beautiful murals painted on the sides of businesses there in Garber. But that is not all they found, they found a bell. It’s a beautiful bell, and if you look behind the bell on the wall of a building, you will see one of those murals. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/garber02.jpg
This bell from my uncle was the first bell photo I’d received from Garfield County. With the addition of Garfield county to my map, that leaves only 30 counties to go! I see Greer county encircled with yellow, but I did receive an email the other day about two bells in Greer County. Now to find someone who will snap a pic of them! Here is that email…..
“There are a couple of bells (of which I’m aware) in Mangum, (Greer county) Oklahoma. The Methodist Church has one that I believe they ring every Sunday—-what I would call sort of a ‘call to worship’. Now, the Presbyterian Church has bells that are connected to the organ somehow. When they’ve an organist, I’m told, they are played for the enjoyment of the citizens. They’ve not had a regular organist for years, however. One lady said she thought the bells might have been disconnected from the organ, but she wasn’t sure.”
The northeast part of Oklahoma is the most obvious on the map as lacking bell photos, looks like about 15 counties. Hey, surely I have some Readers up in that area who will help me find some bells! Tulsa county? Surely they have some bells! Help!!! https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/bellmap
But hey, that bell from Garfield county was not the only one I received this week! I got another one from right in in Carter county. My friend at the OSU Extension Office here in Ardmore, Denise Menke, took a pic of a bell at her kinfolk’s place out west of Ardmore near the Bayou Bridge. The Bayou Bridge is between Lone Grove and Wilson on Highway 70, and this particular bell is back east from that bridge on the north side of the highway. The bell is on the Clifford and Connie King’s property, and it sure looks nice with that flower bed around it! https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/kingbel2.jpg
Last October my computer hard drive would have crashed had I not bought Norton Utilities to fix it. My computer had over 200 problems in a dozen categories, and it fixed every one of them automatically! Norton products have been around for many years. I have used his Utilities program back before there was even Windows (only a DOS prompt) to fix computer problems. Quite often a Reader will email me to say they have been offline for a while, getting their computer fixed, which had crashed. Many crashes could be prevented with just a little maintenance work, like using Norton Utilities on a regular basis. There is several places on the Net you can buy Norton Utilities or his newer SystemWorks program for less then $10 dollars. Here is one place in FL I’ve ordered from and Norton Utilities is only $4 total, including postage. This is for the CD only, no box or book. But its easy to use, you can even run his SystemWorks program from the CD, no installing to the hard drive. When I checked yesterday, cooldeals.com had sold-out Norton SystemWorks (which I bought about a month ago) and only has Norton Utilities 2001. Norton Utilities 2001 does not work on Win95 or Windows 2000 Server. But it does work fine on Windows 2000, Win98 and WinME. Four dollars is sure cheap insurance! http://www.clickcooldeals.com/utilities.htm
I have one of those old skate keys from my teenage years. Boy, I can still here those ball bearing rollers as we skated down the sidewalk on 3rd NE. Most people in the northeast back in the 60s didn’t even have a concrete curb, might as well a concrete sidewalk. But we did, on both sides of 3rd street, and I’d skate up and down them. Man, those 1 inch wide gaps in the sidewalk sure brought my skating fun to a halt on many occasions. Here is a pic of that old skate key. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/skatekey.jpg
My cousins were up here this week from Ft Worth and they found a pair of old roller skates to go with my skate key! Now I have a whole set! For you youngins, we used the key on the skates to tightened them down over the soles of our shoes, to keep them on while skating. Sometimes we’d hit a crack in the sidewalk so hard, that a skate would come off. hahaha https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/rolskate.jpg
The past few days, I’ve received lots of email from across the country, telling about a corner grocer stores of long ago. As it’s turning out, these family run corner grocery stores were all over Ardmore and Carter county. I predict the corner grocery stores will come back, we just need to have patience. Remember, history always repeats itself. https://oklahomahistory.net/grocers.html
Looks like we’re headed for another record month in minutes by those of us using the long distance program! Over 5,000 minutes racked up already for July. I know a lot of you are glad your saving dollars on those long distance calls. It’s catching on! Spread the word! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“I sent you a note earlier about Trotters Family Store but want to expand on the commentary on Hodges store across from Jefferson grade school. They has a lunch setup for the kids to come in and prepay anything up to a month’s lunch tickets at $.25/day. For that you got a hamburger, coke and chips. Mr Hodges had a grill in the rear of the store and would cook and feed the customers. Jefferson had 12 grade classrooms, two per grade as did all of the other three grade schools in place then. Of course there was a music room, an art room and the cafeteria where food was actually cooked on the day it was served.”
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“Noticed on the photos that someone wrote about Coopers. My Dad and Uncle, Jess & Lee McGinness, used to walk over to the dairy and milk 300 cows by hand between the two of them every morning and evening with attendance at Plainview schools in the middle of the day.” -T.E. (Thal) McGinness
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“Butch the Airline Cafe as you call it was the NCO Club (NonCommissioned Officer’s Club). It was really a very nice place with a large dining room and a separate Bar area. My dad had the Juke Box and some pinball machines and other games there and I would go out a couple times a week to service the machines when I was still in High School.”
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“Butch, The building was in the 60s and 70s know as the American Flyers cafe/caferiteria. The cafe opened at 6am and cooked quick food breakfast and lunch until 2pm. The cafeteria opened from 11-7 and was a serving line. It was there for the students to eat but was also a public cafe. It was run for years by Tiny Welch and then a guy called Preston. It was opened again but never had the glory of when it was American Flyers cafe. They even made the food that was put on the planes of American Flyers and the one that crashed was probably getting meals for the rest of the flight.”
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“Hi Butch, its been awhile since I wrote but I look forward to your newsletter each week. I loved the photos of the soda shop – my idea of the 50’s for sure! When we visit next year, I just have to stop at the soda shop for a root beer float.”
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“Aw, Butch, please don’t tell me this. That’s where my dad first met my mom back in ’55 and Airlines Cafe’ is all I’d ever known it by. That is physically part of my own personal history. I remember the stories so vividly of daddy and momma with momma’s sister and brother-in-law sitting in the cafe’ drinking coffee or cokes. That’s how their dates started out–in that old cafe’. So, sad that people always seem fit to tear down our old memories. Now I’ll never be able to take my granddaughter there and show her. I thought it was bad enough that they tore down the hospital. Now there’s really nothing left there that was part of daddy except the old warehouse down in the back. This just breaks my heart and I feel like I’ve lost part of daddy all over again.”
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“Dear Butch, I believe the flowers you have pictured are Indian Blankets or so I have thought since I was a child… the Indian Paintbrushes are all red and they bloom at the same time as the Bluebonnets do in the spring. I will try to find a picture and send it to you. Thanks for all your hard work on This and That.”
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“No, Butch those aren’t Indian paintbrush flowers. Maybe Coreopsis? Indian paintbrush have a reddish color to them. I may be wrong but I don’t think they are Indian paintbrush.”
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“Hey Butch. I don’t think the yellow-ish flowers you had in this week’s newsletter are an Indian Paintbrush. I also think the Paintbrush blossoms earlier in the season.”
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“Butch, Those flowers are not Indian Paintbrushes. I cannot remember the name of them. Indian paintbrushes are orange and look kinda like a wild larkspur.”
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“Hi Butch: I enjoyed reading your paper and looking at the pictures of the wild Flowers. I have always heard these called “Indian Blanket”. Check the book “Oklahoma Wildflowers” by Doyle McCoy. They are called Indian Blanket in that book. Anyway the pictures were nice.”
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“Howdy Butch! I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your wildflower identification skills need some fine-tuning. Your picture of “Indian Paintbrush” was actually a Plains Coreopsis/Calliopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria/Asteraceae). It is one of many varieties of Coreopsis in our area. I’m attaching a picture of Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea) so you’ll know it the next time you see it.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ipaint7.jpg
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“I grew up about 7 miles north of Pettijohn Springs Camp. I don’t know much about the place really.. I just remember riding by it on the school bus (early to mid 1980s) and being amazed that anyone would let that massive swimming pool go. On hot days we would ride by and I would try to imagine that pool filled with clear blue water instead of the stagnate brown water it always had. A few years later I would ride my bicycle 13 miles to town (Madill) and would always make sure I got started going home well before dark. That road past the camp is one of the creepiest roads in Oklahoma. I heard plenty of ghost stories about the road and the old iron bridge by the camp. I, too, would be interested in knowing some history or seeing some photos of when the camp was in full swing.”
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“I have been following the corner grocery stores and, though not from Ardmore, I do have a home town grocery to tell about. I was raised in Jefferson county. Fleetwood was the name of the town we lived near. There was a little store there and that was about it. They had livestock feed, groceries, cold pop, candy and a Post Office as best I can remember. The cotton gin had closed. It has been a few years ago. If my memory serves me correctly, a man named Olen Weatherly was the last proprietor of the store. We lived about 2 miles from there and it was nearly as good to go to the Fleetwood store as it was to go on in to Terral where Al Ewing had a grocery store. We used to go there and just get a pop from the big box with the lid on top and have Al fix us a ham or bologna sandwich with anything we wanted on it. Fresh bread and fresh meat right from the meat locker. Those were the days! There are some pictures of Fleetwood on the Jefferson county USGenweb site.” http://www.rootsweb.com/~okjeffer/jfphotos.htm
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“OK…Butch, here are a couple of really old timers for you…in Healdton in the late 30s and early 40s: Mr. Hill’s grocery, just off main street in Healdton, 5th street, I believe. the site later became the Plymouth/Chrysler dealership. Mr. Hill kept chickens in the backyard of his store and always had very fresh chickens for sale!! Do you know of any town where you can keep live chickens just half block off main street today?? Gertie Morgan’s Cash Grocery on the highway north of town in Healdton. Gertie’s store had goldfish ponds on either side of the front door beside the gasoline pump. It was famous for the potbellied stove and the oldtimer’s whittling bench beside it. The affairs of the world were settled there. Shorty Nolegs Grocery at 5th and Gilmore was famous for it’s owners …Shorty and Mrs. Nolegs. He had lost his legs in an oilfield accident but managed to get around on the stubs. Mrs. Nolegs towered over him at 6feet tall. Most of the neighborhood managed to get to Shorty’s sometime during the day. His real name was Gibson.”
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“Recent “grocery” stories continue to bring back memories as they have for so many. With particular reference to Wayne Payne and Payne’s grocery, I almost bought it from him years ago. And with reference to Wilcey Yates, he, Wayne Payne, and myself worked at the E-Z Way on Stanley and S. Washington for some time together. On a Sunday afternoon, especially, you could lose a little weight as the store was not air-conditioned because it opened with a couple of large doors which covered the front of the building. I mentioned before how we would look forward to someone wanting to buy watermelon, because it meant we had to step into the walk-in cooler with them and help select just the right one, and that meant a little time to cool off. Afraid we were not too “hurried” to get back out and so let them take their time! Used to live about a block from Paul Sperry’s on C NW around 6th. He must have been in a number of locations in town. Thanks for the memories. Also used to work for the original Firestone store across Broadway from the old post office, where the motto, as credit man, was “get the cash or get the trash” referring to repossession if necessary. The manager Leamon Poe used to at times be gone for awhile and when he came back he would explain he got a haircut, because “it grew on company time, so I get it cut on company time”.”
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“I did remember the name of my most favorite small store and it was on E N.W. It was owned by Mr. George. It was between 5th and 6th st. It was in the middle of the block and there was one on the corner of 6th and E and I don’t know the name of it but George’s Grocery was my favorite. I went in there every morning before school.”
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“My grandfather had a store at 735 11th NW Im sure some one out there remembers this store. They later moved to 217 McCullough S.W. The Burchfields Grocery.”
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“Butch, There was an old store at Greenville, Oklahoma right across the highway from the school. It was Testerman’s Grocery. My husband’s uncle, Jesse Testerman owned it. The building is still standing. The store was about 60 years ago. Also there were several old stores in Healdton, Oklahoma. The Prater Grocery was on Texas Street one block north of the Sunset Grade school. The owners lived a block from me when I was growing up. They had charge accounts, and when we paid the bill up Mr Prater would give me a chocolate soldier soda pop. We also had Jim Teel’s Grocery, Emmitt Gauntt’s Grocery, Shorty Claxton’s, Pratt’s and the Northside Grocery. My husband and I grew in Healdton many years ago. We still go to Healdton about every 2 or 3 weeks. We still have family living there. Love your T&T.”
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“I would be very interested to know who it was that wrote that piece in last weeks T&T about Taylor’s Grocery and the little store across the street from the church. He didn’t give any dates, but I lived between 8th & 9th, so I may have known him. Thanks!” -Roy (Buddy) Garnand rgarnand@gvtc.com
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“The T&T always spurs a host of memories for me when I read it. The little corner groceries sure did, I was wondering how long it would take for someone to mention Wig’s Wag-a-Bag. He had the best “rat cheese” and sandwich meat that he cut fresh when you went in. We would usually go there every Sunday after church for sandwich fixings for lunch. The corner groceries now are NOT corner groceries “as such” in the good ole days! I think you and I visited about the Hart grocery store once. I can still see Mrs. Hart behind the candy counter.”
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“Hello Butch, I just wanted to mention a Grocery and Station that was on the corner of P and 3rd N.E. It was Darnell’s Grocery and Station. It was an old wooden store with the old Hand Gas Pumps. His Grand Daughter was Linda Darnell the actress. This was in the 1930’s. It was close to Kincaid Lake. Also there was a grocery on the corner of 11th and A st.N.W. It was a one room store in front of the house and was called “Holmes Grocery”. It was partly on the parkway that belonged to the city and when Mr. Holmes passed on, it had to be removed. I believe the address was 1022 A N.W. The Grocery on the corner of A st. and 3rd N.E. was Vann’s Grocery and Market in the 1940’s Mr. Vann and his son operated this story on the N.W. corner and across the street on N.E. corner was Abe’s Salvage that bought scrap metal. Thanks Butch for T&T.”
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“Butch, my grandpa, Ernest J. Gilstrap, was a painter and wallpaper hanger in Ardmore (not sure of the exact dates but 1940-1950’s). My dad worked for him in the summertime while Dad was going to college and later as a teacher out for the summer. One day Grandpa and Dad took me to work with them. For some reason that memory is so strong I remember it like it was yesterday. They tacked that fabric on the wall, it looked a lot like cheese cloth. Like the other letter you had, there were boards laid out, stacked with the wallpaper. Then mixing the paste just so. Brushing it on the paper and hanging it on the walls. They were so careful, but they let a little girl, me, help apply the paste. I thought it was wonderful that THEY would allow me to help. To this day, I’m not afraid to tackle a wallpapering job because of what they taught me. I was probably no older than 10 and I’m close to 60 now. Thanks for stirring up fond memories.”
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“Morning, Butch. I’m not sure if you have this bell or not. It is located on the front lawn of the museum in Kingfisher, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/kingfbel.jpg
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“I enjoy so much the news from Gene Autry and Ardmore. I grew up in Gene Autry and have fond memories of that place. My parents and one brother were buried there in the cemetery. Gene Autry will always be a special place to me. Keep sending me your news. Thank you so much.”
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“Hi all, Guthrie Okla also has a newspaper museum,and Victorian house right next door or behind the towns museum, it’s brick, three stories, bay windows, porches, and it a bed and breakfast too. I drool when I seen the house. If you go to Guthrie , please take a look at the house, the tour of the town fun too.”
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“Hello Butch– I’ve been meaning to drop a note but- Anyway I remember the Healdton Methodist Church having a bell! I didn’t see it in your Bell web site. This was back in the late 40’s. They remodeled in the 50’s or 60’s, I think, so maybe they did away with the bell. I recall getting in a little hot water one Halloween night, for some of us sneaking in and ringing the bell! That is when Bill Ratcliff was the sheriff so he just sent us home and reminded us he knew all of us and our parents! What fun and old memories! Two or three boys also turned over the stop sign that was cemented in a barrel and rolled it down main street! Of course there was only a couple of cars parked on the street and no traffic! So no harm done! I also remember some of the High School classes raising money for whatever, by sweeping the main streets of town. Not the sidewalks but the street from gutter to gutter. Not much work but plenty of fun! Do any of your readers remember these things? The highlight of street sweeping was at the bottom the hill at the street where the bakery was, after midnight we could get in and buy hot loaves of bread, and would just tear off big chunks and eat! It makes my mouth water just thinking about it! By the way, we didn’t actually get paid for this, we had to go to each shop owner and ask for a donation for doing such an excellent job! Thanks for the wonderful revival of memories!”
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“Have you heard of Cardcops? The Cardcops web site at http://www.cardcops.com has information to help prevent identity theft. Go to the site and see if your credit cards may be in the hands of thieves. On the site they have lists of card numbers that have been stolen, and you can see if yours is being used. This can be a great asset, since often you don’t know for at least a month if someone else is using your identity. (The site may be very busy, so keep checking if you can’t get into it right away.)”
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“My brothers and I went to Franklin school in the 50’s and all now live outside the state. One day on the phone we started discussing the team names of the grade schools that we played in sports. Unfortunately we could only come up with the Franklin Rockets. I thought maybe some of your readers might be able to help us out.”
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========================================================================Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 3,800 files and 390mgs! If you have not entered the drawing, and want in, just send me an email! If you are trying out my long distance plan, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Now here are the two winners for this week.
bangzoom@brightok.net
TuckerB@odawan.net“By The Light Of The Silvery Moon”
-music by Gus Edwards and lyrics by Ed Madden, 1909“By the light of the silvery moon
I want to spoon,
To my honey I’ll croon love’s tune.
Honey moon,
Keep a-shinin’ in June.
Your silv’ry beams
Will bring love dreams,
We’ll be cuddling soon
By the silvery moon.”
http://wilstar.com/midi/bythelightofthesilverymoon.htmSee everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443Saturday July 6, 2002 T&T Weekly Vol 6 Issue 272
Another piece of local history was torn down last week. It was the Airlines Cafe at the Ardmore Airpark NE of Ardmore. It has had several names, and I think Airlines Cafe was one of them. Surely someone out there can tell us! The Cafe was located on the right just past the Main Gate as you go into the airpark.
Remember the old soda shop? Ardmore has a new soda shop with an old time theme. And this place will really give you a step back into time. It’s located right across the street from the old Tivoli Theater at 200 West Main. Some of you will remember this is the same building that housed the Federal jail before statehood. The new proprietors of The Soda Shop (580-226-9090) are Everett Aycox and Tim Tabers. Among some of the items they have are hot diggity dogs and sandwiches, and they sell that all time favorite, Blue Bell Ice Cream! Here’s some photos I snapped of their first day of business on Tuesday, July 2nd. Hey, fix me a good old cherry Coke float!!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/sodashp2.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/sodashp3.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/sodashp4.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/sodashp5.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/sodashp6.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/sodashp7.jpgA Reader sent me a pic of a bell this week in Pittsburg county and another pic of a bell in Haskell county. The county seat of Pittsburg county is McAlester, Oklahoma and Stigler is the county seat of Haskell county. But these two bells are from the wee towns of Quinton, Oklahoma and Kinta, Oklahoma. This bell is at the Baptist Church in Kinta, Oklahoma (Haskell county).
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/kinta.jpg
And this is the bell at the United Methodist Church in Quinton, Oklahoma (Pittsburg county). https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/quinbell.jpgSlowly but surely, one by one, I’m getting a least one pic of a bell from counties across Oklahoma. I still believe I’ll have at least one pic from all 77 counties by the end of this year. Only 32 counties to go. Look at this bell map, if you know of a bell in one of the counties in white, let me know! https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/bellmap
This is the link to my Bell Page. Probably the only one like it in the world. Like one Reader said last week, “let freedom ring from every bell”!!! https://oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Last weekend I was out NE of Ardmore near the Airpark. I travelled to the east end of Buck Hale Road and just before its ends, was this huge field of, what I believe to be, Indian Paintbrush flowers. It covered nearly all the 40 acres on the Surber place. What made this so unusual is no where between Ardmore and the Airpark (18 miles) did I see anything of this magnitude of flowers. As I stood by the fence and looked north, Indian Paint Brushes as far as I could see, quite a beautiful sight!
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ipaint2.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ipaint3.jpg
This is a close-up of the Indian Paintbrush, but my camera was out of focus, so its blurry. https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/ipaint4.jpgWhile at the airpark last Saturday I ran across some excitement and being the curious type, I had to stop and investigate. General Dollar was having their company picnic for its employees and their families that day across from its building. The whole grand affair was being catered by Adventurers in Catering out of Mustang, Oklahoma (west Oklahoma City). Ron and Cheryl Deak are the proprietors and have catered to crowds as large as 16,000. Boy, that huge tent of theirs is one you can’t miss when driving by! And with about 6 charcoal grills going, they were dishing out charburgers about as fast as the crowd could put them away! These are some pics I took before everyone got there.
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/general5.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/general6.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/general7.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/general8.jpg
https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/general9.jpg
You can check out Ron and Cheryl’s catering service at their website. http://www.cherron.com/Let’s see, not long ago music lovers were downloading their favorite MP3 music files from Napster, but it fell by the way side. Then came AudioGalaxy.com and it is on its last breath of life right now. There are still many websites out there for downloading MP3 files. Right now one of the hottest is limewire.com and it is awesome. It uses the Gnutella worldwide network of nodes (peer to peer) for file distribution. And I’m not just talking about music files. Say you some how delete a dll file, we’ve all had that happen. You can use the Gnutella network to find it! Limewire.com has the free version and the Pro (pay for version). Try the free one first and see if its for you. If you’re in the MP3 files, check it out at…. http://www.limewire.com
Hope some of you are taking advantage of those cheap rates to call loved ones over the holidays! http://www.worldxchange.com/agent/228072
As you will see in the mailbag below, a lot of you are making contributions to the corner grocery stores of bygone years! If you have any photos on details to share, let me know! https://oklahomahistory.net/grocers.html
SOME LETTERS FROM THIS WEEK’S MAILBAG
“Butch, someone mentioned the Couch grocery store….it began in Healdton back in the 30’s…with Horace and Ina Pearl Couch. They had an open-air market on the NW corner of 4th and Main in Healdton. As I remember, it was a wonderful place with a cornucopia of fresh produce!! They later moved to Ardmore…and that is the store and Couch family that your correspondent mentioned. Enjoy your column very much!”
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“Your well story reminded me of the Hornet Spooklight, in the far corner of SW Missouri, very near the OK line. It is one of the most researched lights in the country, and is located in a great place to inspire spooks. If you have not seen it, it’s worth the trip. Lots of info on the web about it.”
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“Hi Butch, I have so many things I want to write to you about. Every time I read your T&T memories come flying back. I was raised at 814 A N.E. until I was 13 and then moved to the far N.W. part of town. The name of the little store on 9th and A street was “Pruitt’s Grocery and Service Station” It was directly across the street from the “First Church Of God”. I knew the Pruitts real well, Juddy and I use to help pump gas during World War II and after. That’s when you had to have ration stamps for a lot of things especially gas!! When I say “Pump” gas that’s just what it was. After the customer told you how much gas he wanted, you pumped gas (max. of 5 gal.) with a long lever up to the glass cylinder on top of the pump. The glass cylinder had a measuring rod in it so you could measure the amount of gas. Once you had the right amount of gas in the cylinder you put the nozzle in the filler neck of the cars tank pulled the trigger and let gravity drain the gas into the tank.”
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“One Neals knows well is the : Theo Knight Store 3 mile west of Milo on Hy 53 and Poolville rd. It has a history back I know past 1936 because I drank a pepsi there in 1936 with Neals Dad, my brother.. previous owners were Goodwins, Andy Knight and others… Knight bought pecans and sold cattle feed, gasoline and ice also.. He owned it twice closing it down about 1974 after building a cement block building store on location in the 50’s.”
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“Hi Butch, am enjoying reading the T&T newsletter every week. You might want to add Keith’s Grocery, a small rock building on 12th N.W. near Harris Street. I still remember Mr. and Mrs. Keith and bought many loaves of bread or a bottle of milk there back in the forties. I think the building is still there.” -Bob Taylor
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“Hi Butch.Naming all those grocery stores sure brought back memories. When I was a kid, we lived on “F” NE & then we moved to 4th NE. I remember going to Hunt’s grocery nearly every day for something. Also Cox’s grocery store. What was the name of the store on 7th NE by the tracks? I went there alot too with my friends but can’t remember the name of it. Sure enjoy your T&T every week. Can’t hardly wait til I see what you talk about next. Keep up the good work!”
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“Hi, Butch. I really enjoy “This & That”. Do you or any of your readers remember Pettijohn Springs in Marshall County, Oklahoma, back when it was a hot spot? I’d really like to know more about its history.”
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“I knew the story about the little corner grocery stores would get a lot of reader response. Some of my kin was in that business. My Uncle Jimmy Lewis had a small store in the unit block of South Commerce. Back in those days the meat department was different. They kept the chickens in a large tub. He told me the story about the lady coming in late on a Saturday evening and asking for a fryer to fix for Sunday lunch. He knew that he only one left so he reached down in that tub of ice water and took the only one he had out and held it up for the lady to see. She said Jimmy I’d like one a little larger, back in the tub that chicken went. After feeling around in the ice for a second or two out comes the same chicken, he holds it up and says, ah yes how about this one. She looked at it for a little bit and then she said, Jimmy I believe I’ll just take both of those. Just a few blocks South was My Uncle Earl and Aunt Thenia Jones store And yes I ate at Honest John Hubbles place a lot of times Butch, do you remember what the building was on the corner of C street S.E. and Myall. Someone once told me it was the poor farm? Thought maybe you might know.”
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“Hi Butch, I lived by Harrisons Grocery Store when I was in first thru seventh grade, but before they built it, Hart’s Grocery was across the street from it. My best memory of it was that they raised parakeets and as a little girl I loved going over to see them. Randall Harrison used to have a snow cone stand in front of their grocery store. Boy, were they good. Also we had a charge account with them and I was home alone alot while Mom and Daddy worked so I would enjoy going and charging a lot. That was before charge cards when a mans word was good. Also, Pratt’s Grocery on Caddo had a gentleman that worked there named Jack Cross. I had to be home for a month in bed when I was in third grade. Daddy would go by Pratts and Mr. Cross would let Daddy bring home funny books for me to read and then bring them back to the store to sell. That was also the year we got our first TV….1958. It was mainly for me because I was so confined. My husband worked for Mr. Moore of Moore’s Grocery by Franklin when he was a teenager. Not only did Curtis deliver groceries but many of his customers left the door open and he would go in and put the groceries up. There were several Moores working there but none related to Dorn. Lucille Moore, Aaron Moore, Curtis Moore, Robert Moore and another one in the meat section. After we married Dorn offered to sell 1/2 interest in his store to us. I think because he had no children he probably felt that would keep the Moore name there. Dorn made the best chili in town from that little store.”
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“HI BUTCH, HERE ARE SOME GROCERY STORES WITH A HISTORY AROUND WILSON AND LONE GROVE OKLA.BETWEEN LONE GROVE AND WILSON ABOUT HALF WAY STOOD A WEATHERED BOARD BUILDING CALLED HYDE`S GROCERY. ALOT OF PEOPLE HAD “CHARGE ACCOUNTS” THERE AND PAID WHEN THEY COULD OR IF THEY COULD. MR. HYDE WOULD GIVE THEM CREDIT ANYWAY. IN WILSON WHERE NOW STANDS A TRUCK STOP ON HIGHWAY 70 WEST WAS A GROCERY CALLED “THE RED DOOR GROCERY” IN 1960s. IN TOWN ON MAIN STREET OF WILSON WAS THE STEELE`S GROCERY 1960 TO 1990. OUT ON HWY 70 WEST OF WILSON WAS A SMALL GROCERY OR STORE AS WE CALLED IT,WAS “THE LOG CABIN GROCERY” OWNED BY RAYMOND TOLBERT AND HIS WIFE WYEOMA IN THE 70s and 80s. ALSO ON THE HIGHWAY SOUTH OF WILSON WAS A GROCERY CALLED HARVEY`S GROCERY RAN BY HORACE HARVEY AND HIS WIFE IN THE 1960s. ALL OF THIS SURE BRINGS BACK ALOT OF MEMORIES, AS I RAISED MY CHILDREN IN THIS AREA AND WE TRADED AT THE GROCERIES. SORRY SO LONG BUT I WANTED YOU TO KNOW SOME OLD STORES IN CARTER COUNTY. LOVE YOUR THIS AND THAT, THANKS.” -BARBARA HACKER
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“Enjoyed your recalls of the small groceries in Ardmore. Can name two more not mentioned–Butler Grocery was on the corner of 9th and A NW. It was a little wooden building. I liked to go there because it smelled of Faultless Starch, the reason being that when you bought a box of starch you received a little box about the Faultless twins. The other was Martin’s Grocery in the middle of at 718 B NW (later became Elles Gro) next to their home on the south. My sister and I very often were sent on an errand to get a tin of Garret’s Snuff for our grandmother or a plug of White Star Tinsley tobacco for our grandfather. Mr. Martin was a jolly man who always teased us when we came in. Also I remember one of the Davis “boys” called Bung (sp). Mrs. Davis had a flower shop in their house next door. Their daughter, Mary, was a very close friend of our mother’s in their teen years.”
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“Butch I grew up in Gene Autry in the 50’s & 60’s and most people don’t know it but we had 3 grocery stores, 2 cafe’s and 2 beer joints. Up by the Airpark was Smiths Grocery owned by Robert and Gussie Smith. They sliced up some of the best bologna you could eat and Gussie always had a punch board. Remember those where you paid money for each hole you punched and you either was told better luck or you won a prize. The beer joints/cafes were Boscos (Last chance) where you could not ever get a better hamburger (65 cents) anywhere and down the road about a mile was the Pink Elephant Club. Both sold illegal whisky. What a nasty bunch we were Ha Ha. Then in Gene Autry we had two stores Haney’s Grocery and Market and across the street we had Sampley’s Grocery and next door to that was Wisenhunts cafe. It was a real hopping place where you could go to any store and the pops were in water with a big block of ice to keep them cold and I could drink those ice cold Grapette pops all day.”
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“Hi. Butch. I’ve been reading about the corner grocery stores. Several come to my mind that I didn’t see in the list. Here is one that comes to mind as I remember. It was at the corner of Broadway and Caddo St. This would go back to the late 30’s and early 40’s (Pughs Grocery Feed and Seed) I think Marcus Pugh was the gentleman’s name that owned it. I could be mistaken for I was only 10 or 12 years old at that time. Then in the middle to late 40’s at the corner of Stanley and South Washington (the S.W Corner) I think was one of the first 7-11 stores and I believe The person that ran it was Wilcey Yates. And later put in a store of his own and called it Wig’s Wag A Bag.Then on the corner of 12th.ave and Commerce way before all the development. There was a Motel called The English Village. That is where I spent my Honeymoon night June 1st 1957. Still got my same little sweet wife. But there was also a grocery store there. I think Tommy Anastasio ran it before he put in the Pizza Place over in the S.W. side a shopping center on Maxwell I think. If you check these out I would like to know if my memory is right especially on the Pugh’s Grocery and the 7-11 on Stanley and S. Washington.Thanks for all the good reading.”
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“Here is a photo my Daddy’s grocery store, Lewis Grocery on West Broadway. It taken about 1945-47 time frame. My Daddy is in the photo. He started in the grocery business with A&P, then opened a store with my uncle (Earl Jones Grocery) and then opened his own store about 1945.” -Judy Montgomery https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/lewisgro3.jpg
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“I enjoyed reading about the old grocery stores. I remember going to Raymond’s for Chili Buns & cold pop seems like only a short time ago when we would ride our bikes to the store and play out till dark catching Lighting bugs for our jewelry. There was not as much meanness going own then as there are now, I remember Mr. Connaly & Miss Riggs at Washington school. True I guess we all had our worries back then but at least we didn’t have to worry about Terrorists that would that would blow up our buildings and Suicide Bombers to kill us like we have now. Our parents would have thought this unheard of back then. I want to thank you for the great newsletter that you send each week I look forward to reading it.”
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“Trotters Family Store at the corner of ‘C’ Street SE & 10th Ave. Open at least from 1945 until somewhere near or after 1960.”
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“Dear Butch, I thought your readers might like to know that the reason for the decline in horn toads [aka horny toads] is that their main diet is ants. With more and more people spraying for insects and putting out poison for ants the food supply was reduced. I think that with the infestation of fire ants in our area you will see the return of the horned toads, that is until we decide to get rid of the fire ants.”
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“Butch, Your corner groceries memories brought memories to mind regarding another NE Store, South across 5th St from Washington School. The owners were Mr. & Mrs Baber. I was in High School with their granddaughter, Eleanor (Baber) Ward who is now 80 years old at this writing and lives in Ardmore. I was too young in the 30’s to know this tale to be the truth, but I think we had sales tickets at Babers, Tanners, and Chownings. By trading with these three stores, our folks could charge tickets one month with Tanners (no $ to pay that month) & charge tickets next month at Chownings (No $ to pay 2nd month) : charge tickets at Babers the third month, and pay up tickets at Tanners, etc. With Mom & Dad, seven boys & Grandpa & Grandma to feed, bills were hard to pay. By such payments all stores finally got paid & no one starved, then the folks could pay cash. Must have been depression days in the late 30’s” -Doyle Bridges.
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“Butch, Someone mentioned Honest Johns Dairy Delight, back in late 1958 and early 1959, before I went into the navy, I drove a truck for Cy Hunt, who had the Morton Foods distributorship. We started calling on John when he first opened. He was a super person and I enjoyed eating at his little shop.”
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“I hadn’t seen any grapette since I was probably 15 or so. It was my favorite soda as a child growing up. Well, low and behold, I went to Walmart this weekend and guess what I found—Grapette pop in a four pack!!! I darn near cried right there on the spot!! They also had the Frostie brand root beer and Frostie Cherry Limeade. I bought a 4 pack of each and as soon as those bottles were cold, I downed a Grapette and felt as if I were drinking Heaven itself. A flood of memories rushed back and just the taste of that cold, grape soda in my mouth. The clerk at Walmart told me that right now it was a test item to see how the market would accept it. I told her that I’d buy a 4 pack every day if I had to to get them to keep it at the store.” -Arkansas
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“Hi Butch I plan to cast a 16 inch bell tomorrow in aluminum. I have a nice iron bell for a pattern and I hope pour it weather permitting, because i cast outside. We tried once but the metal found an escape and run out the bottom of the mold. I have a better flask to hold the sand mold now. I will let you know how things turned out.”
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“Every year around the 4th of July, our pastor, Walt Spradling, at CrystalRock Cathedral at 2005 12th NW has a Patriotic Sunday. Part of our celebration includes flying about 25 3′ x 5′ American Flags on our lawn in addition to the two normally flown all the time. This year we are flying the 25 both this Sunday (June 30th) and next Sunday (July 7th). The flags are up from about 8 a.m. until about 6 p.m. Sunday July 7th our church will also have a lot of patriotic decorations inside as well.”
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“Raymond’s Bar-B-Q (623 “I” St. NE) was the best barbeque that I’ve ever eaten. Daddy would send my brother and me down there to buy a huge thing of brisket and with it you could get coleslaw, baked beans and a tub of the most mouth-watering, deliciously sinful sauce to dip your brisket in. Oh, my goodness. It would be worth a trip back to Ardmore just to have some of that right now. Gosh, I’d all but forgotten about that. Thanks to the person who e-mailed that to you.”
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“Hey, Butch, I’m looking at the Drug store website now and there is one Unknown Drug store photo and I totally think that it is a photo of an Ardmore Drug store. The photo is very familiar, but I’m not totally sure which drug store it would be.” http://www.oklahomadrugstoremuseum.com/
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“My Guide to American Indian Genealogy.” http://www.arbuckleonline.com/users/2buckets
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“Butch, I came across the attached photo of the old “Tom Cooper Farms” Guernsey Dairy Products on a postcard. It says, “We offer the best in Dairy Foods from the finest Plant of it’s kind in the United States.” On the back of the postcard it reads, “The Premium Golden Guernsey Milk Served Here is Processed in the Southwest’s Most Modern Plant and is Produced by our Own Nationally Famous Dairy Herd. Visit Tom Cooper Farms Dairy Store for ‘Food That’s Different’.” It was published by the Mid-West Adv. Co., Oklahoma City 12, Okla. Thought your readers might enjoy a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Not sure where the building was located in Ardmore, there is no address listed on the postcard. Maybe some of your readers will know.” -Ben Cooper https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/tcoop2.jpg
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“I was in Victoria, Canada last month and saw this tower of bells and thought you might be interested in them. I could not find brochures on it so tried to photograph the information but it was not clear enough to read. All I got was the information about the woman here who is a Carillonneur. I can’t remember how many bells are in this tower, but many of them.The closeup shows her playing them I suppose.” https://oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos/canbells.jpg
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“You’ve got a picture of the bell that used to sit atop my house on your website! Apparently a cousin of mine accidentally stumbled upon it (don’t ask me how?) and told my Mom, who wanted me to check it out for her. Sure enough, the bell that was at Ladd School in McClain County is on your website. My parents bought Ladd School in the late 1950’s and remodeled it. They gave the bell to my Grandparents and it’s been sitting in their yard ever since. I can’t tell you how many grandkids and great-grandkids have been excited to ring that big ol’ bell for the very first time.We were just wondering how you acquired the picture of the bell? No big deal, just mostly curious.” -Washington, Oklahoma https://oklahomahistory.net/bellphotos/laddbell.jpg
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========================================================================Here are two more winners for my free “History CD” this week! Over 3,800 files and 390mgs! If you have not entered the drawing, and want in, just send me an email! If you are trying out my long distance plan, let me know and I’ll see you get a History CD free! Just my way of saying thank you. Now here are the two winners for this week.
awylie@texhoma.net
suedarty@hotmail.comIf I Could Turn Back Time – Cher 1988
“If I could turn back time
If I could find a waya
I’d take back those words that have hurt you
And you’d stay
If I could reach the stars
I’d give them all to you
Then you’d love me, love me
Like you used to do.”See everyone next Saturday!
Butch Bridges
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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