Homer and Goldie

Here’s an 8mm home movie still showing my grandparents (on dad’s side), Homer and Goldie Stevens. The movie in question was taken on one of our vacations to Columbus, Ohio, probably around 1955 or ‘56, which would explain my absence in the footage. (that’s our shiny new ‘55 Chevrolet in the background) My only memories of my grandfather are from these 8mm films, which have been viewed many times over the years. It’s really a miracle that the film has held together so long, but they’ve now been transferred to DVD, so they won’t be subjected to further wear.
I was too young to remember Homer, but I remember Grandma Goldie well. Goldie was a good person, and clearly the source of my dad’s sense of humor. I was a big fan of the Peanuts cartoons as a child, but our local paper didn’t run the Peanuts comics in those days, so Goldie would mail them to me each week. Neat lady.
I’ve thought of creating an area here at stevensfamilytree.com to house the home movie collection, to make them viewable to visitors online. I would have to transfer the DVDs to MP4 files, and then either put them on YouTube (which would make it easy to embed them here), or embed them directly to a page where they could be viewed with a QuickTime player. I’ll do a little research and see what I can do.

20,000 Acres of Water

Countless Lake County, Tiptonville, and Reelfoot Lake postcards have been published, many of which feature the cypress trees that the area is known for. This one, postmarked 1949, includes a description on the back:

“Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, a state park of 20,000 acres of water and uncounted miles of shore line, was once the hunting ground of the Chicasaw Indians. The lake was formed by a series of earthquakes in 1811 and 1812. Known as the “Fisherman’s Paradise”, it is equally attractive for hunting, boating, and swimming. It is patronized by sportsmen and vacationists from every state of the Union.”

As was the norm with these old Curt Teich postcards, the image began as a black-and-white photo that was then “colorized”. This one got a treatment of particularly brilliant greens!

Tom Mix: Idol of Every American Boy

Dad told me long ago that Tom Mix had been one of his favorite movie cowboys, which inspired me to argue, jokingly, that there was no such person. For my generation, John Wayne was the movie cowboy, and in all honesty I had never heard of Tom Mix until Dad shared his reminiscences with me. Yes Virginia, there was a Tom Mix, and he was the most popular western star of his era. I was anxious to learn more about him, and I soon discovered that there’s information a-plenty.
It must be said that research into the life of Tom Mix is difficult at best, as the road is paved with tall tales. The movie studios themselves were known to release blatant fabrications, spinning all sorts of biographical nonsense to enhance his hero status. Among the falsehoods that are circulated is his being born in El Paso, Texas, being a Texas Ranger (where he single-handedly captured the notorious Shonts Brothers), having served as sheriff of several towns, and his being a hunting guide for Theodore Roosevelt. It’s even been said that his voice wasn’t suited for talking pictures because his wife had shot him in the neck. All that is certainly entertaining, but looking beyond the hype reveals the real story. Read the rest of this entry »

All Aboard the M&O!

Leonards was legendary, and their M&O Subway is perhaps my favorite memory of the store. I had to share this advertisement that appeared in a Casa Manana program from the mid-60s. What immediately caught my eye was the conductor. Is it me, or does he look remarkably like the work of Charles Schultz? The head has a certain Charlie Brown shape, and those sure look like Linus’ eyes. I really doubt that Schultz was the artist, but it’s clear that his style was being emulated. The subway graphic was a frequently used symbol of Leonards, and I clearly remember it from the paper covers that we had to wrap our school textbooks with. (remember those?!)

Chautauqua Comes to Cambridge

Aside from history buffs, the word Chautauqua doesn’t mean a thing to people today. But a hundred years ago it was familiar to everyone, and most had experienced them firsthand. So what is a Chautauqua? They were traveling shows that provided both entertainment and enlightenment, the stage hosting lecturers of all types, including evangelists, politicians and comedians. Chautauquas also featured musical acts, theatrical performances and even motion pictures in their formative years. Read the rest of this entry »

Lost….and Found!

This image was found among our family photographs, boxes and albums of photos that go back nearly one hundred years. It was shown to several relatives, but none were able to identify the woman. Having resigned myself to the idea that it would remain a mystery, I posted it on this website in the “Unidentified Photos” gallery, just in case it might be seen by someone who can identify it. While I didn’t hear from anyone regarding the image, I’m happy to say that the mystery has been solved nonetheless. It turns out that this young woman, who my sister and I joked was too attractive to be a relative, was my mother’s college roommate.
The identification came unexpectedly as I was looking, for the first time, at mom’s freshman yearbook, the 1939 Battlefield. No sooner than I found my mother’s photograph than the one immediately above it caught my eye, the same photograph that had been in the possession of our family for so many years. It was Marjorie Burgess. Marjorie and my mother, Ellen Virginia Caldwell, attended Mary Washington College and were the best of friends. In mom’s album, alongside her picture, Marjorie wrote, “Here’s to 221 Willard  - Marjorie”. I soon learned that “Willard” referred to the freshman dormitory, Frances Willard Hall. Read the rest of this entry »

The “Man in the Moon”

[Note: I originally wrote this for one of my other sites, ClassicRotaryPhones.com, but felt that the Fort Worth subject-matter made it ideal for inclusion here.]
I get ideas for posts from a number of different sources, but often as not they’re based on something that’s been on my mind, maybe a project I’ve been working on. The inspiration for this post however, came to me after reading an unusual article about the “beep-beep line” on Dennis Markham’s VintageRotaryPhones.com. Something I was previously unaware of, the post describes a quirk of the telephone network that used to permit something akin to the chat capability of a party line. Initiated by calling ones own number, kids would talk over the busy signal to others who were likewise engaged… harmless childhood hijinks at their finest. (for a full description, read: The Beep-Beep Line) This apparently was very popular with those “in the know”, and wish I had been one of the privileged few who enjoyed partaking in that bit of silliness.
I may have missed out on the beep-beep line, but the story reminded me of my own childhood in Fort Worth, and a strange, secretive activity that was popular in my Bruce Shulkey Elementary School days: calling making phone calls to “The Man in the Moon”.
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Fisherman’s Paradise

This postcard, which was postmarked in 1949, is a beauty! The back of the card has been stamped, Morris Camp, Reelfoot Lake, Tiptonville Tenn. It’s funny, but in all the trips our family made to Tiptonville over the years, I don’t believe we ever went fishing. It’s the fisherman’s paradise, for goodness sake! You know, my eight year old son loves to fish…maybe this could be the catalyst for a return trip to Tiptonville. Given that I haven’t seen the town in over twenty-five years, that sounds like a pretty fair idea.

Henry Graham Parker: Twice a Soldier

A rather humorous anecdote regarding my great grandfather’s participation in the civil war has circulated for years, and I decided to see if any evidence existed that might validate the story. The “family legend” holds that Henry Graham Parker (the father in the Ouija Board story) was discharged after being wounded, only to sign up again. That alone isn’t extraordinary, as many soldiers returned once they recuperated from an injury, but it’s Henry’s motivation that makes this story so much fun. Supposedly his stepmother put the recovering Henry on a therapeutic regimen of wood chopping, and he soon decided that dodging bullets held more appeal! I set out to add credence to this tale by finding records that corroborate his “dual service” to the Union. Read the rest of this entry »

Leonard’s Department Store

Whereas mom favored shopping at department stores like Striplings, Cox’s or Monnigs, my father preferred Leonard’s or “Monkey Wards”. This made those two stores frequent destinations for father-and-son Saturday outings, particularly Leonard’s. To a boy age 7 or so, there was simply no comparison between going with mom to Striplings and with dad to Leonard’s. What made Leonard’s special? For one, it had a subway that shuttled customers to and from their remote parking lot. That would be the only selling point a kid would need, but there’s more: the store was great, with a dizzying array of merchandise. Things were presented in a much more cluttered fashion than was seen elsewhere. It wasn’t that you couldn’t find what you were after, but rather that you’d find things you didn’t expect, which was undoubtedly the plan. Shopping at Leonard’s was an adventure.
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The Robinson Giants

OK, stop me if you’ve heard this one before:  I was researching family history one day, with little to show for it, when suddenly I discovered that I may be related to a family of circus “giants”. Really, I’m not making this up. I’m just starting to piece this together, but thought that if I “threw it out there” that maybe I’ll hear from someone who might know more.
This revelation came, as do most revelations pertaining to the Stevens side of the family, from my aunt D.J., who I’ll quote:
“Mother [Goldie Stevens] mentioned James Robinson as her great grandpa. In a very large old, old Bible the name John Robinson was written in a large flowing script with a date that looks like 1899. Lower on the page the name written was Goldie Irene Parker. She would have been 11 years old.”
“We had three old friends that I believe were, in some way, also tied to Robinson. Their name was Kirkwood - John, Mary and Margaret. They had a big farm. John and Mary worked the farm and Margaret was the Court Stenographer in Cambridge, Ohio. Doug and I loved to go to their farm. They subscribed to, I think, every magazine there was. They kept the old ones in their barn loft for us, and we could take home whatever we wanted. Margaret is the one who gave us the snapshot of the Robinson Giants.” [italics are mine] Read the rest of this entry »

Holiday Festival of Light

I know, it’s a little late to be talking about Christmas, but I’ve just acquired this swell postcard and had to share it. The card, postmarked 1964, caught my attention because of the illuminated Santa, an image that sparked a long-dormant memory. It had been decades since I had thought of those Santas floating majestically over the downtown streets, and I was reminded of our annual pilgrimage to see the department store window displays.
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