Cape Girardeau History and Photos

November 2, 2015

Turtles: A Shell of a Story

These guys must have come out of the bowels of the attic or they might have been set aside for making rattles. All I know is that there was usually a turtle or two around through most of my childhood.

When I started school, Dad and Mother sold the trailer we used to follow Dad from job site to job site and rented a house at 2531 Bloomfield Road. (It’s not there anymore). The house was surrounded by fields and had a swing-up garage door that never closed too tightly, hence the house frequently hosted mice and bugs. Traps kept the former at bay, and we let a couple of turtles roam the basement for the latter.

When we moved in, there was a washing machine in the basement. Not too much later, the landlord confiscated the washer and left behind an old fashioned ringer washer for Mother. “I cried so much that your dad went out and bought me a new washing machine,” she said a few months back.

The water from a shower Dad rigged up and the wash water drained into a floor drain, something that worked adequately until one day when it started backing up. Finally, the landlord had to call a plumber. He wasn’t happy to find out that the clog was caused by an errant turtle who had fallen into the uncovered hole. After that, a No Turtle Rule was instituted.

Then, there was Sam and Ella

No pet store or county fair would have been complete without a chance to buy or win one of these small turtles. We didn’t think about the dangers of salmonella back then.

I even had a painted turtle that came from either our Florida trip or the fair.

Bring on the wild art

I always hated it when an editor would say, “Bring me back some wild art.” That meant is was a slow news day and they needed a feature photo that could run CLO (Cutlines Only). I was lousy at shooting those kinds of pictures.

If I had to, though, I’d throw good taste, scruples and pride aside and bring back a cringe-worthy photo like this.

October 31, 2015

Remember Student Standby?

I ran across an old TWA ticket stub from March 19, 1967. I was flying from St. Louis to Cleveland on what the airlines called “Youth Fare,” but most of us dubbed “student standby.”

St. Louis to Cleveland for $16.54

I was able to fly from Missouri to Ohio for $16.54. I was racking my brain trying to figure out why I was going to Cleveland, then I figured out what was going on.

In March of 1967, I flew to Cleveland and probably got a ride down to Athens with one of Jim Stone’s friends so I could visit him at Ohio University to check out the school. It was a good thing I did. I had applied to OU, but I hadn’t gotten a rejection letter or an acceptance letter. Jim suggested we go by the admissions office to see what was going on.

“Your grades aren’t high enough to meet our standards,” I was told.

“Not good enough?” I countered. “I have a 3.85 average on a scale of 4.0. How smart do I have to be to get into this place?”

She pulled out my file, shuffled through the paperwork, then said, “Somebody made a mistake. You’re in.”

You were good unless you got bumped

The airlines were clear that your seat was safe only so long as the seat wasn’t sold to a full-fare passenger. Planes flew with lots of empty seats in those days (which is why they calculated that a half was better than a nothing), so the odds were pretty good that you were OK.

I never got bumped, but I saw others having to leave the plane. That always made me nervous because I had seen enough of those crash stories where some kid was interviewed, “Yes, I was going to be on that flight, but, at the last second, I was bumped. If that hadn’t happened, I’d have been on that smashed tin can still smoking in a cornfield in Iowa.”

I was doubly nervous when I finally became a paying customer that bumped the last standby. That was REALLY tempting fate.

When did it end?

I tried to find a little of the history of student standby, but didn’t run across much. The Daily Pennsylvanian had a story in 1968 that said that several airlines were phasing out the half-price standby fare, going for one charging two-thirds of the tourist class price. The trade-off was that it would be considered a reserved seat not subject to bumping.

TWA, interestingly enough, was NOT one of the airlines eliminating standby at that time.

In addition to bringing in revenue from what would otherwise be empty seats, the youth fares hooked a whole generation on flying, and airline execs were quoted as saying they hoped to build brand loyalty for future sales. “With a student fare, the student’s taste is catered to a particular airline. When he is 22, he is more likely to use that airline.”

October 31, 2015

Shooting’s Fun for Everyone

I ran across this pamphlet that was dated February 1, 1966. Maybe that’s a second or third printing, because it looks like something I would have read when I got my Daisy pump BB gun for Christmas in either the second or fourth grade.

I remember the grades because we put on a school play where kids with rifles were supposed to bring them so we could do a scene as soldiers performing the manual of arms. Where Miss Gade got her knowledge I don’t know, but she could have been a drill instructor for the way she had us slinging our rifles around.

I hesitated to post this because I didn’t want to get into a “guns are good” / “guns are evil” typical brawl. You are welcome to leave comments, but if I see more heat than light being produced, I’ll close off comments. The publication, it says, was issued by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc., but there are NRA references throughout it. It was certainly a more innocent time.

Photo gallery of pamphlet

The two-page spreads were too big to fit on my scanner, so I had to make two passes and merge them. That’s why some of them don’t exactly match up. Click on any image to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move around.

Oh, yes. My BB gun was still in the attic. The crosshairs in the scope don’t work, but the gun still cocks and would probably still hit the target after all these years. Check out the rolled-up pants cuffs; some of them are rolled half-way up to the knee. I guess money saved on having to buy clothes for a growing boy went for ammo.

October 30, 2015

118 North Ellis Street

I didn’t find any stories that told when the house at 118 North Ellis Street was built, but there were plenty of stories and briefs about the people who have lived there over the years. From the pages of The Southeast Missourian:

April 30, 1924 – For Rent – 5 rooms, modern, 118 North Ellis.
[In the same paper was an ad that read “To the Colored People: The Marquette Cement Plant Boarding House under new management. Colored employees seeking a refined boarding house will find this a good home, as there will positively be no lawlessness tolerated. Just as the plant has been improved, so has this boarding house. Board, room, short orders, sandwiches, soft drinks and ice cream served. Don (Blue) Hubbard Manager]
August 4, 1925 – Mrs. Pattie Sexton of Malden motored to Cape Girardeau Sunday to spend a few days here as the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Emory.
June 8, 1933 – Seven Negro children, whose plight was reported last week when they were living in a darkened room at the Kimmel barn on North Spanish street north of Broadway, are now housed with their parents in more comfortable quarters. They are living in a small house owned by Mrs. Minnie Meystedt, 118 North Ellis street, in the rear on the 500 block on North Sprigg street. They have been permitted to live there until something permanent can be done about their situation. The family was driven from the barn last Friday when Allan Kimmel, owner of the barn, tore away the doors and windows to the room.
July 15, 1935 – Mrs. Howard Templeton, a surgical patient, was discharged from Southeast Missouri Hospital.
June 9, 1936 – Mrs. Jewell Miller and Harvey Meystedt were re-married by Rev. Wm. H. Hackman at the Grace Methodist parsonage, 17 South Sprigg street, in a single ring ceremony Saturday night. Mrs. Meystedt is a daughter of Mrs. Mary Davidson of Fornfelt. He is the son of Mrs. Minnie Meystedt, 118 North Ellis street, and his occupation is that of plumber.
June 26, 1948 – In the presence of relatives, Miss Betty La Don Davis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Burette O. Davis, 626 South Benton street, became the bride of Bill F. Jackson, 118 North Ellis street, this morning. He is employed at the Marquette Cement plant, and she by the F.W. Woolworth Co.
October 1, 1949 – A building permit was issued to W.H. Meystedt for a 3-car concrete garage, asphalt shingle roof. Cost was $700 and the size was 18 by 20 feet.
January 10, 1950 – Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Cook, who with their son, Bobby, will move this week to West Frankfort, Ill. Mr. Cook is territorial manager in southern Illinois for the B.F. Goodrich Tire Co. Bobby has been attending St. Mary’s School where he is in the seventh grade.
May 17, 1969 – Delmar W. Karger, son of Mrs. Ernest Karger, has been named a Ford Foundation professor of management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N.Y.

The Ray Tibbles Family

The Ray Tibbles family garnered lots of ink in The Missourian.

March 3, 1953 – Mrs. Wayne Tibbles and daughter were dismissed Monday from St. Francis Hospital. The child was born February 25.
October 19, 1953 – Gail Patricia Tibbles celebrated her fifth birthday with her a party at her home Saturday afternoon. Guests included Diane Hunze, Sandy and Johnny Headricks, Amanda Ashby, Martha and Timmy Blattner, Judy Schlimme, Chuckie Dockins, Diane Meystedt, Jo Etta Lewis and Judy Hengst.
May 20, 1954 – Ray Tibbles went to Salem, O. for a training session at the Deming pump manufacturer. He is a salesman for the N.O. Nelson Co.
July 25, 1960 – Leaving Sunday for 12 days at Girl Scout Camp Latonka at Lake Wappapello were Gail Patricia Tibbles and Mary Karen Lail, 806 Themis, members of Troop 1
June 18, 1964 – Miss Gail Tibbles, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Tibbles, and Miss Linda Schumacher, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Schumacher, 1613 Kurre lane, will leave on Sunday for Camp Bear Creek on Kentucky Lake, near Benton, Ky.
May 18, 1968 – Bethany Baptist Church was the setting last Saturday for the afternoon wedding of Miss Gail Patricia Tibbles and Michael Adam Smith.