On the way to or from a basketball tournament Feb. 27, 1967, I encountered Flo’s Cab which had been involved in a minor crash. The hit was hard enough to dislodge the luggage rack from atop the station wagon, but I don’t see any windshield dimples, so it must not have been too bad. On top of that, it looks like I rated it worth only one shot.
What I didn’t know until I just read a Nov. 23, 1974, Missourian story was that I managed to capture Flo’s only accident. “Flo said she was involved in one minor accident in 1967 when the pavement was wet from rain. Her parked cabs have been struck at times by other moving vehicles, she said.”
As far as I know, I never photographed Flo. She was one of those formidable characters who intimidated me.
Flo stories
When you are one of the first female cab drivers and you are a fixture for 29 years, you are well known.
- Flo’s retirement story
- Flo’s obituary (written by someone who, obviously didn’t know her)
- Story about wreck at Fountain and Broadway with comments about Flo
- Story about Blue Hole Garden BBQ with comments about Flo
Remember Flo very well. My Grandpa Reed owned and operated the Western Union Bus Depot in Kennett, Missouri for many years until his retirement in 1973. Every summer mom and dad would send me down to spend two weeks with my grandpa and grandma Reed and my cousins. Grandpa Reed who knew Flo would contact her to let her know that I would be riding her taxi from Cape to Advance so I would be able to board the Great Southern Coach Bus to go on in to Kennett. Flo would always make sure I rode in the front seat and she also seen that I boarded the bus safely. I can remember Flo drove very slow and she always wore her black uniform and eight point hat. Flo’s Taxi a piece of our history no doubt about that.
I was fascinated by Flo because she always wore pants. I’d never seen any grown woman wear pants except for my avant garde Aunt Margie. This was in the days when girls could wear pants to school only on very cold days and under our dresses. I don’t even own a dress now!
I remember Flo hanging out waiting for the Cape-St Louis Bus to come in at, where else but, the Cape-St Louis Bus Terminal on Frederick St.
Did she smoke cigars???
I think she did.
She was a ground breaker!
That must be Joe James standing by the wrecker! Looks tall enough to be him. He was a great musician too! I think he played sax. I remember from Jerry Fords Band and the Purple Crackle.
I think I remember the uniform she wore all the time the most. I was striking to see a woman in a eight point hat, pants with a white shirt and tie, as I remember. The Car I remmber most was an older Dodge or Plymouth sedan, I guess she traded up to the Chevy wagon. I always thought she was woman not to be crossed and of course she was Bruce Edwards grandma and you NEVER said anything or thought bad about anyone’s grandma.
She was one of Cape’s special people in my youth and looking back I admire who she was and what she did a lot more.
To my knowledge, Flo was onto the scam of calling her, having a few cases of cold beer picked up at Cape Cut-Rate for delivery to us, teenagers at the time. Other cabbies, however, were happy to have the fare and a generous tip.
I remember riding back and forth to dance lessons with my cousin Sally Baker Loos in Flo’s cab. We felt quite special riding in the cab.
The old cabbie/liquor store scam. Pretty good deal when you were 17-18 years old. All you needed was someone’s parents to be out of the house for an hour. I heard a story about how that part backfired once as the parents got home early just as the cabbie was at the front door with two cases of beer and a fifth (back when they were called that) of cheap whiskey, or so the story goes.
my mom used to take in laundry…she did flo’s clothes..i would she was man..LOL..but she did was connect the far reaches of southeast missouri…to bus lines.a friend of mine would use flo to take as far south as she would go and his parents in cardwell missouri..would come and “fetch” him
Flo scared me to death; I was always a perfect angel in her cab. If she told my mother I wasn’t, I’d be in even worse trouble at home. I can’t remember where she took me, must have been Nursery School, because it was on a regular, daily basis. I rode in the front seat with her and occasionally we’d pick up another fare on the way. She would always walk up to the door to get me and upon returning, walk me back to my front door.
We didn’t have a car until I was 6 or 7. Flo took us to church many times. She was intimidating but always nice to us kids.
You don’t have a picture of Flo?
I haven’t run across a photo of Flo yet. I think I was too intimidated of her to shoot her picture.
i frequently took the bus to visit family in Kennett. Flo was the “bus” from Cape to Advance.