Cape Girardeau History and Photos

October 4, 2015March 2, 2016

Brother Boppin’ Lincoln Logs

Deep from the bowels of the attic (you’re going to hear that phrase a lot) came this box of Lincoln Logs, with some colorful wooden stacking circles mixed in. (Click on the photo to make it larger.)

The construction toy was first produced by John Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, in 1916. The Lincoln Log name was registered on August 28, 1923. Several histories speculate that the idea for the logs came when John saw his father building the earthquake-proof Imperial Hotel in Japan. Here’s more information from the Chicago Historical Society,

As a side note, Lincoln Logs were one of the first toys to be advertised on television, starting in 1953. The target audience was said to be middle to upper-class families who had a TV in their home and could afford to purchase educational toys for their children.

Perfect for brother-boppin’

The longer pieces, made out of redwood in the old days, were long enough that you could swing them hard enough to get your bother’s attention. When we got around to buying a set for our kids in the 1970s, the pieces were shorter, too short to administer a good thumpin.’ In fact, for a time, they were made of plastic.

Holy Cowboys and Native Americans!

These and other treasures like the Martian Magic Tricks may already be on the shelves at Annie Laurie’s Antique Shop in case you’re looking for vintage toys.

I just did a quick Google search for the magic trick assortment. It sells for $50 to $200 if it’s in good condition. (Knowing my destructive brothers – also a phrase you’ll hear often – I doubt that it was in good condition. They probably let all the magic leak out.)

September 26, 2015June 5, 2021

“I’d Rather Be Married”

Tucked away in an envelope in a nondescript Bible buried in a metal cabinet that hadn’t been opened in decades was this telegram to Mother that validates a story that she told for years. (Click on the photo to make it large enough to read.)

Washington would never have been the same

Had this young college girl from Advance jumped at the War Department’s offer to become to junior clerk or typist in Washington, D.C., for the munificent salary of $1,440 per annum, D.C. would never had been the same.

“I’d rather be married than type”

When Mother told the story, she always said, “I’d rather be married than type.”

Dad and Mother were in a movie theater when the word about the attack on Pearl Harbor broke. When they came out, my grandfather said, “If you kids are going to get married, you’d better do it right away.”

And, they did, exactly one month later, on January 7, 1942.

The telegram has a time of day stamp – 3:23 p.m. – but it doesn’t have a date, so I don’t know when it was sent.

One of those things

We’ve had a long-standing family tradition of giving the car horn two short beep beeps when we pull out of the driveway. When I left Cape on Friday, I backed out onto Kingsway Drive, then, out of habit, went “BeepBeep.”

That’s when it hit me: there was nobody there to hear my good-bye beeps. Dammit, it’s those little things that sneak up on you.

September 20, 2015

Wimpyburgers Went Flying Out

I never expected so many people to show up for Wimpyburgers made using the original recipe and cooked by members of the Lewis family. The folks at the Centenary United Methodist Church told me they were printing 600 tickets good for two burgers, fries and a drink, but I thought they were being optimistic.

Running late

Brothers Mark and David converged on the house Saturday morning to talk strategy about how we were going to tackle Mother’s house next week with the help of Laurie Evertt of Annie Laurie’s Antique Shops. That made me miss the 11 a.m. start of the burger fest.

(It also meant that I have a bunch of my iconic Wimpy’s left prints that you’ll be able to pick up at Annie Laurie’s and at the Cape County History Center on the square in Jackson in a couple of days. They are $5 each.)

Photo gallery of the Wimpy extravaganza

I didn’t have much of an opportunity to wander around taking pictures. In fact, I got one of the last burgers off the grill just as everything was winding down. Fred Lynch did a nice video interview with Freeman Lewis that is worth watching. Click on any of these photos to make them larger, then use your arrow keys to move around the gallery.

Wimpy’s Day at Centerary United Methodist Church 09-19-2015

September 18, 2015

Wimpy’s and Other Prints

If you were lucky or quick enough to get one of the 600 tickets to September 19th’s Wimpy’s Day at the Centenary United Methodist Church, look for me if you’d like a photo of what Cape’s iconic hangout looked like in the day and night of 1966. An 8-1/2 x 11″ print will go for $5 (with 10% of net going to the church).

Here’s one in the stack

I’ll also have a bunch of 11 x 17″ photos from Cape, Perry and New Madrid counties for you to look through. I know you’ll recognize SOMEBODY in at least one of them. I’m tired of hauling them around, so I’ll part with those for $10 each. Here’s where this photo was taken. Click on it to make it large enough to see if you were dancing in the bank lot.

Here’s my earlier post about the event.