Cape Girardeau History and Photos

March 15, 2012March 11, 2021

Marcel Marceau: Master of Silence

One of the advantages of working for The Ohio University Post and The Athens Messenger was access to press credentials to cover some of the best performers of the time. I was fortunate enough to photograph Marcel Marceau when he performed at Memorial Auditorium on February 16, 1968 (if the negative sleeve is right).

Never saw anyone do more with less

I was impressed with how little it took Simon and Garfunkel to put on their concert, but Marceau required even less equipment. All he needed was a stage and a spotlight to hold an audience spellbound.

Show was technically challenging

This was a performance where it really paid off to show up early enough to take an incident light reading on the stage before the show began. If I had tried to use a standard reflective light meter, it would have been fooled by the ocean of blackness surrounding Marceau. An incident light meter measures the light falling onto the subject rather than the light reflecting off the subject. That was my preferred method of metering when I could use it. Luckily, I was able to get the spot operator to fire it up long enough for me to get a reading.

I’m not sure what’s happening

I don’t know if this was taken during a rehearsal, before the show or when. The house was packed for the actual performance, but there was only a handful of people around when I shot this.

“White ink drawings on black backgrounds”

Marceau once said, “I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man’s destiny appears as a thread lost in an endless labyrinth. I have tried to shed some gleams of light on the shadow of man startled by his anguish.”

When I looked at these frames, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I’ve never seen anyone who used black space more effectively.

Father killed at Auschwitz

A biography on the IMDb website said that Marceau was born Marcel Mangel on March 22, 1923, in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. At age 5, he was entranced when his mother took him to see a Charlie Chaplin movie; he decided to become a mime. At the beginning of World War II, he had to hide his Jewish origin and changed his name to Marceau. His father was deported to Auschwitz, where he was killed in 1944.

Marceau and his brother, Alain, were in the French underground and helped children escape to neutral Switzerland. He later served as interpreter for the Free France Forces under General Charles de Gaulle.

When he died in 2007, Timothy W. Ryback wrote in The New York Times about Marceau’s concern about the fragility of his art. “Unlike novels or plays or operas, which could be printed, recorded, preserved, the art of mime was a transitory and ephemeral art. It existed only in the moment. And, more unsettling still, essentially in one man, Marcel Marceau,” Ryback said.

Photo gallery of Marcel Marceau

I’m glad I had a chance to see the world’s best-known mime. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery. By the way, while researching this, I saw a link to “Marcel Marceau quotes.” I figured clicking on it would take me to a blank page. Surprisingly enough, Marceau said, among other things, “Never get a mime talking. He won’t stop.”

March 13, 2012

First Grade Farm Field Trip

I was going to classify this photo in the mystery category, but after taking a closer look at it, I’m pretty sure it was my Trinity Lutheran School first grade class on a field trip to an unknown farm. Click the photo to make it larger.

The woman in the back row, left, looks like long-time first grade teacher Mrs. Walter (Lulu) Kelpe. The woman to the right might be Mother.

Jerry O’Connell put a potato on his nose

The boy in the second row, left, might be Jerry O’Connell. My folks set up a first grade diary / scrapbook for me. (I should explain to you younger folks that a scrapbook is kind of like a blog without electricity.)

There’s an entry for Sept. 15, 1953, that says, “I ate at school again. I like it and really eat more than I do at home. It is so loud that you almost have to yell to talk. Jerry O’Connell always tries to be funny. You know what he did today? He put a potato on his nose to make us laugh. I didn’t laugh. I didn’t think that was so nice.” I was a tough audience all the way back in the first grade.

The boy in the striped shirt next to him looks like David Hahs.

Sally Wright Owen wrote in an August 25, 1980, Missourian story, “At Trinity Lutheran School here, first day business was a little unusual in Mrs. Walter Kelpe’s first grade classroom. When Brandon Hahs, 6, son of Mr. and Mrs. David L. Hahs, 3237 Lakewood, took his seat, he became the third generation to have Mrs. Kelpe as a teacher. Brandon’s father was a pupil in Mrs. Kelpe’s class, as was Brandon’s grandmother, Mrs. M. Luther Hahs, 2526 Allendale.”

Future majorette

The girl second from the left in the front row looks like Della Dee Heise, who has been featured here as a Central High School majorette. The boy next to her, leaning forward, may be Ronald Dost. I’m pretty sure the kid in the flannel shirt in the middle of the bottom row is me. Here was a picture of our kindergarten class taken in Trinity Hall in 1953.

I guess I’m going to have to scan my scrapbook. Jerry O’Connell wasn’t the only first grader who did wild and crazy things.

March 13, 2012

Girl Scout Day Camp 1967

I posted photos of a group of Girl Scouts and Brownies touring The Missourian to celebrate the 100th birthday of the organization. I don’t think I’ll be around for the 200th birthday party, so I’d better get this one out early. Here’s the 1967 Girl Scout Day Camp held at The Seabaugh Farm. The following story ran on The Missourian’s Youth Page August 5, 1967. It had a three-photo combo of Scout Kim Williamson, above, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Garnet Williamson, 1333 Howell, who “overcomes her shyness, gains enthusiasm and finally exuberantly sings out during a songfest at the Cadette and Junior Girl Scout Camp this week.” (The combo earned me a credit line and 15 bucks.)

Telephone directory story

There are some stories that read like a telephone directory and this is one of them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, an editor pointed out. “The phone book is probably the best-read book in town,” he said. “Everybody’s got one, and the first thing they do when a new one comes out is look up their name to see if it’s in there and if it’s spelled correctly. That’s one of the reasons we want lots of names in the paper. And, we want them spelled correctly.”

Camp Revolving Door

The Seabaugh Farm should be renamed Camp Revolving Door for two weeks out of the year because, only two hours after 113 Junior and Cadette Girl Scouts close their annual Day Camp, 225 Brownies and leaders will move in for another week of fun and learning.

The girls will arrive at 9 a.m. and stay until 2:30 p.m. Until 12:30 they will be assigned to unit homes; after that they will work in activity centers. First-year Brownies will participate in singing, hiking, fishing and camp crafts; second-year Brownies will work on badges. After the first day, the meal will be prepared by the girls.

Mrs. Janet Dickerson was camp director

Mrs. Jack Dickerson, camp director, asks parents to follow road signs posted near the camp to prevent congestion. Mrs. Dan Day is assistant camp director, Mrs. Bruce Reed is business manager, and Mrs. Barry Hazen is scout adviser. Mrs. Paul Dowling will be in charge of the truck. The following persons will serve as nurses: Mrs. Milton Schoss, Mrs. Jim Tiapek, Mrs. L.S. Bunch, Mrs. George Farrar and Mrs. Marvin Roberts.

Units 1 through 4

Leaders in the various units are as follows: No. 1, Mrs. A.D. Price, Mrs. Richard Dippold and Senior Scout Martha Hahs; No. 2, Mrs. Robert Guard, Mrs. Robert Restemyer and Senior Scout Ann Dippold; No. 3, Mrs. Ray Wilfong, Mrs. Orville Glueck, Mrs. Bob Drury and Senior Scout Regina Busche, and No. 4, Mrs. H.W. Benson, Mrs. Donald Terry and Senior Scout Betsy Evitts.

Units 5 through 7

Other troops and leaders include #5, Mrs. Wilfred Ressel, Mrs. Jimmy Musgraves and Senior Scout Tara Kaiser; No. 6, Mrs. Albert Hitt, Mrs. David Retherford and Senior Scout Chris House; No. 7, Mrs. F.I. Drew, Mrs. Joe Krueger and Senior Scout Betsy Foster, and No. 8, Mrs. Jack Kollker, Mrs. Earl Miller and Senior Scout Jan Seabaugh.

Older girls worked on badges

Badge and their directors are Indian Lore, Mrs. Ed Kaiser and the Misses Dippold and Busche; Dabbler, Mrs. Charles Doerge and Miss Evitts; Songster, Mrs. Donald Barklage and Senior Scout Barbara Stone; Water Fun, Mrs. Jack Rickard and Mrs. Charles Blattner; Rambler, Mrs. Dipplod and Miss Kaiser.

Crafts and other activities

Activities and their directors include Hike and Barnyard Fun, Mrs. George T. Rasmussen, Mrs. Benson, Mrs. Musgraves and Senior Scout Jan Seabaugh; Arts and Crafts, Mrs. Wm. Dunham and Mrs. Emil Dewrock; Songs and Games, Mrs. Price, Senior Scouts Hahs and Becky Bender; Camp Craft, Mrs. Guard, Mrs. Wilfong, Miss House and Miss Foster; Fishing, Mrs. Tom Cooper, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Richard Kogge and Mrs. Bill H. Williams. Senior Scouts who will have charge of the nursery wil be Jan Brunton, Donna Dinwiddle and Linda Drew.

For the first time this year, Boy Scouts will be participating, entertaining the sons of mothers busy at the camp. They will be hiking, cooking, engaging in camp crafts and other activities.

Photo Gallery of Girl Scout Day Camp

Here’s a gallery that captured some of the excitement of the Day Camp. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery.

March 12, 2012March 12, 2012

Girl Scouts Turn 100 Today

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts! I understand you hit the Big 100 today. Want to hear something that will rock you back? These Brownies and Girl Scouts, who toured The Southeast Missourian in 1965 or 1966, weren’t too far off from having been around to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the organization. Now they’ll be able to light double the number of candles.

If you were a regular reader of the Saturday Youth Page, the photo above should look familiar to you. One of my jobs was to edit the weekly page, so I took a photo from the tour and made it into one of the standing page sigs. I always liked it because I knew it gave some of the bigots heartburn to see kids of different races “mixing.”

Newspaper tour groups

Cop reporter Dan D. Whittle is doing his best to look important and ignore the group standing around him.

A lot of newsroom folks hated the tour groups, but I enjoyed having them come back to the photo department at The Palm Beach Post.

If I wasn’t busy, I’d take them on a tour of the darkrooms, where the highlight was going through the revolving light trap that would let you go from the lighted hallway to the dark print room without interrupting any work that was going on. You’d revolve a cylinder until an opening showed up, you’d step inside and rotate it until the opening reached the darkroom, then you’d step out. With practice, you could do it without slowing down.

The farmer and the magic room

I’d tell the kids that the experience was a little like the farmer who saw his first elevator when he took his family on a visit to the big city.

He watched mystified as a door would open, people would enter a small room and the door would close. When the door opened again, the room would be empty. This went on for quite some time while he tried to figure out what was happening to the people.

Finally, an elderly woman entered the magic room. The door closed and a few seconds later a beautiful young woman stepped out. There was a brief pause, then the farmer turned and said in a hushed voice, “Son, quick. Go fetch your momma.”

Darkroom tricks

Once they made it through the revolving door, I’d usually have groups of them put their hands on a piece of photographic paper, then I’d turn the overhead room lights on and off to expose it. I’d toss the “blank” paper into the developer and let them see a reverse image of their hands pop up. Even high school kids were impressed, and it made for a nice souvenir to take home.

If we were lucky enough to catch a photographer with prints from an assignment that was going to run the next day, I’d introduce the shooter, have him or her show the kids the pictures, tell them a little about what how they were taken, then tell them to look for the shots in tomorrow’s paper.

I thought it was important for them to realize that real people produced the art that got pitched in a puddle in their front yard. It might encourage them to keep reading the paper. Based on what’s happening to newspapers today, I guess I must not have been too effective.

Earlier Girl Scout stories

Tour group photo gallery

I tried to print as wide a variety of photos from the tour as possible (including the little girl picking her nose. I hope her kids spot it.). Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery. Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts of America.