Cape Girardeau History and Photos

December 20, 2011

Master of 22-Minute Nap

On the way out of town, I stopped by to pick up some stuff at Annie Laurie’s that my Foodie Friend Jan wanted. I was pleased to see my Glimpses of East Perry County calendar on display. It would make a great Christmas present for someone, hint, hint.

I don’t mind driving

Wife Lila doesn’t like to spend two days on the road. I don’t like the hassle of flying these days. We’ve compromised: I drive, she flies. When folks express concern about me driving half-way across the country by myself – aren’t you afraid of falling asleep? – I explain that I’m the Master of the 22-Minute Nap, perfected since I’ve retired.

When I feel myself getting drowsy, I pull into the next rest area, set the alarm on my phone for 22 minutes, wake up and drive for three or four more hours.

This was taken somewhere in Georgia right about sunset Monday night shortly after the alarm went off.

Look what greeted me

This was the first thing I saw when I walked into the house.

Son Adam saw the post I did on the sign my Grandmother made and said it would be neat to make one for me here. Wife Lila designed it, Adam approved it, and it was posted on the Christmas tree. Thanks.

December 19, 2011

My Favorite Christmas Decoration

Mother is a decoratin’ fool. She loves nothing more than to drag out boxes of ornaments and mementos and scatter them all through the house.

Any holiday works: Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Groundhog Day (OK, I’m not sure about that one.)

I put in a fold-down staircase a couple of decades ago so she didn’t have to perch on a step ladder to get the stuff out of the attic. Now that the house is empty, there’s plenty of closet space, so she, thankfully, doesn’t have to climb up the ladder anymore. (I wired the attic lights to the porch light and told the neighbors if they see it on for a couple of days and they don’t see her, check the attic.)

This Santa is probably almost as old as I am. (Click on any image to make it larger.)

Nativity Scene

I can remember carefully placing these figures when I was about the age of Grandson Malcolm. Based on the number of chips, my destructive younger brothers much have been less diligent. I can just see them playing Shepherds vs. Wise Guys.

A lump in my throat

The one decoration that always brings a lump in my throat wasn’t storebought, it isn’t fancy and it’s a bit worn.

It means more to me than all the others combined.

My Grandmother made this sign and had it hanging in the stairwell the first Christmas I came back from Ohio University. When I see it, I know I’m home.

I’m typing this in Cape as the last thing I do before loading the van to head home to Florida. By the time you read this, I’ll be back with Wife Lila, Sons Matt and Adam, Daughters (we don’t need that in-law business) Sarah and Carly and Grandsons Malcolm and Graham. Here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a New Year with lots of new tales.

Monday night update

Well, I made it back to Florida by Monday night, but I stopped in Lake City. Wife Lila won the pool for how late I’d be getting out of Cape Sunday. I quit just north of Monteagle Pass when my eyes got heavy.

I was going to push on to Ocala tonight, but I saw something about 200 yards north of the Florida line that made me a little cautious.

About half a mile after a fire rig passed me headed south, I saw the largest collection of police and fire vehicles I’ve seen in one place in a long time. When I crawled past them, I saw at least two van/SUV type vehicles that had rolled over and down an embankment just before they reached the Florida welcome center. I don’t know if the response was so great because it happened on the state line and Georgia and Florida folks both responded or if enough vehicles and patients were involved to require that much turnout.

I suspect that one or more of the vehicles changed lanes when they spotted the welcome center sign, resulting in the crash. They didn’t make it to the welcome center OR Florida. I hope the people were damaged less than their vehicles.

December 18, 2011December 20, 2011

Backstage at Broadway Theater

Yesterday you saw the public areas of Broadway Theater. Today we’ll go backstage and into the dressing rooms and basement areas. [Note: the photos are dated 12/16/2010. They should have been marked 2011. That’s what happens when you are working at 3 in the morning. Thanks to Gail Jackson Brown for pointing that out.]

The Broadway was a full-blown theater with an orchestra pit and a stage where vaudeville actors performed.

Dad used to talk about pulling his little wagon loaded with sheet music for the woman who played the piano during the silent movies. Because we all know that Steinhoffs never embellish the truth, none of us ever challenged him. In 2007, I made my usual Sunday night call back to Cape. Mother said she had read the obit of the woman who used to play the piano in the silent movies. She was 101.

Dressing room walls are bare

A lot of old theaters I’ve been in have autographs of actors scrawled all over the walls backstage and in the dressing rooms. The only marks I could see here looked like they might have done recently with lipstick.

If these dressing rooms are typical, an actor’s life was far from glamorous. The rooms were tiny, with a bare bulb hanging from a cord from the ceiling and two bulbs over the mirror.

Rheostats controlled lighting

These knife switches and huge rheostats were used to control stage lighting.

Frugal, for sure

I think this is my favorite photo from Down Below. This drawer of pencils was pulled out over what I assume to have been a work bench. Some of the pencil stubs weren’t over an inch long. THERE’S a guy who didn’t waste anything.

How to “paint” with light

I’ll go to about any length to keep from using flash. I’m not very good at it and I don’t have the equipment to do it right. Sometimes, though, you have to shoot where there’s no available light available.

There was a little light in the room in front of us, and there was just enough light coming from a room behind us to ALMOST keep me from tripping over a pipe. I perched the camera up on a rickety tripod and set the shutter to stay open for 20 seconds. I had Friend Shari push the button, then I walked around the room shooting off my electronic flash in the dark corners of the room. That’s called “painting” with light.

When I was at Ohio University, about half a dozen of us lit up a building that was about two-thirds of a block long using this technique “just for fun.” (Photographers have a strange idea of fun.) It’s a lot easier in this day of digital photography when you can see your results immediately.

The key is to have enough light to bring out detail without having hot spots. I have one that’s better lit, but I’m holding it for the blooper tape. The shadow of the camera and tripod show up in the frame.

Photo gallery of backstage Broadway

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

December 18, 2011February 11, 2016

Broadway Theater: WOW!

I’ve always had a mental checklist of places I wanted to photograph in Cape. High on the list was the Broadway Theater. I shot the exterior in 2001 when it had a cheesy facade covering the original brick. I shot it in 2009 from the outside, but could do no more than peer through the glass at junk and a faded carpet inside.

I told someone, “That place is either one match away from an insurance claim or a strong wind from a roof collapse.”

Phillip Davis is starting a business

About two weeks ago, I saw the doors open and some kind of display on the sidewalk. I walked up and introduced myself to Phillip Davis, who is leasing the building for the next 18 months to sell beauty supplies, clothing and cellphone accessories from what used to be the lobby. He said I could look around, but I couldn’t take any photos without getting the OK from the owner. It took a week, but Phillip and I finally put all the pieces of the project together.

Jim Stone, Shari Stiver and I were supposed to have a mini-reunion the previous weekend, but Shari begged off because of bronchitis. I knew I was going to need a helper on this job and I knew that Shari had been a general contractor doing building rehab in St. Louis, so I asked her if she felt well enough to come down to help. She jumped at the chance to see the landmark building.

Phillip told us to meet Qiunan Tang, a SEMO student from China. He opened the place up, flipped a bunch of circuit breakers and let us have free run. We spent four hours combing every inch of the place and could have spent twice that time except that I needed to shoot something else that afternoon and Shari had to get back to the big city. I’d like to come back and do the job with some additional lights.

Pictures ARE worth thousands of words

There are some stories where you just have to get out of the way and let it tell itself. I’m not going to bog you down with a bunch of history or I-remember-whens. I’ll let you folks do that in the comments. I look forward to hearing your memories. In this case, pictures ARE worth thousands of my words.

This is a composite of six photos stitched together into a panorama by Photoshop. That’s why there’s ragged white space around the edges. I was working with a tripod with a leg that was trying to collapse, so all of the frames weren’t exactly square with each other. I wanted to have the best detail possible, so I locked the “film” speed at 200 and opted for long shutter speeds. Click on any photo to make it larger. I made the panoramas about twice the size of my normal horizontal shots so you can see the detail in the photos.

Let’s just say the Broadway WAS spectacular and it’s still in remarkable shape. The seats are in good condition (plastic arm rests with cup holders have been added); most of the wall sconces are intact and working; the seats in the balcony have been removed and the projectors are gone; the orchestra pit has been floored over with steps that lead to the stage. Many of the rich tapestries that lined the walls are still hanging.

There’s some peeling paint and some plaster has fallen off, but there’s no major leaks apparent, no rodents scurrying around (although birds have gotten into the building and left their deposits in a few spots) and no obvious signs of mold.

Photo gallery of the public areas

These photos were taken in 2001, 2009 and 2011. Tomorrow I’ll run a gallery of places the public has probably never seen: the dressing rooms, mechanical areas and basement. There’s almost as much space below the theater as there is in the seating area. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the photo to move through the gallery. What do YOU remember about the theater?