Jackson Archives

July 25, 2012

Analog Guy in a Digital World

Mother and I were behind a pickup truck at the stop sign at Old Cape Road and South Shawnee Blvd., when I happened to look through his rear window.

Perched on his dash was a huge clock with figurines on each side. This was truly an analog guy trapped in a digital world.

When I clicked on the image to make it larger, his clock appears to be showing about 4:47 p.m. The time stamp on the photo says 3:31 p.m. My camera was still sitting on Eastern Time, not Central Time. Bottom line: neither one of us had a clue about what time it was.

Repairing a grandfather’s clock

Reminds me of the old joke about the guy who needed to take his grandfather’s clock to the jeweler for repair. It was too big for his car, but the jeweler was only a block away, so he decided he’d carry it. That went fine for about 30 feet, but the clock was heavier than he had anticipated.

It got so that the distance he could move it grew shorter and shorter. He would stagger 25, then 20, then 15 feet before he had to set the clock down. Before long, 10 feet was the best he could do. Pick it up, stagger 10 feet, set it down, gaze at it until he gathered his strength, look down the block to the jeweler, repeat.

Finally, a little boy walked up to him and said, “Mister, you DO know that they make clocks you can wear on your wrist, don’t you?”

Can kids even tell time with watches with hands these days?

January 13, 2012

Cape County Courthouse in Jackson

When the old Federal Building on Broadway in the same block as The Missourian became surplus, there was some discussion about using it to shuffle city or county offices around. One reason was that the existing county courthouse in Jackson is showing its age and is getting cramped for space. Here is an aerial view of the courthouse looking from the southwest to the northeast. The building with the light-colored flat roof at the top left is the county jail. Click on any photo to make it larger.

Courthouse from the northwest

This view is from the northwest looking to the southeast. The jail is at the bottom left of this photo.

Downtown Jackson

This photo, taken looking nearly straight down, is from the southwest corner of the courthouse square. Storefronts on the east side of the main drag show up plainly.

Jackson Junior High School Pickets

This must have been one of the first protests I covered. There are two frames on the roll of Jackson Pioneer Editor Gary Frederick in the envelope. One of the shots has an August 1964 calendar in the background and the negative sleeve is slugged “Jackson Jr. High – Gary at office,” so this must have been for The Pioneer and in the summer of ’64.

The odd thing is that this group of what appears to be students, parents and teachers are demanding that union pickets go back to work so the Jackson Junior High School could open on August 31, but there weren’t any union picket lines set up and a couple of photos show workmen working. There are signs for Crites and Sailer Construction Company and Kelpe Electric Company in two of the photos, but I don’t know if their workers were the ones striking.

Are these two different schools?

This building looks like it might be in town, while the new junior high was located on what was the outskirts of town in 1964.

I think this might have been the assignment where somebody at The Pioneer tossed me some car keys and said, “Hey, Kid, go out to the junior high school and see what’s going on.” Unlike most of my peers, I didn’t run right out and get my driver’s license at one minute past midnight on my 16th birthday. I hadn’t been driving all that long in the summer of ’64 and I certainly hadn’t driven any car other than the family’s Buick station wagon. When I stepped on the brakes at the first stop sign, I felt that sickening feeling you get when you realize that you could do better by dragging your feet on the ground like something out of The Flintstones. It was a good thing the junior high school wasn’t too far away and that there wasn’t much traffic.

Junior High School photo gallery

For what it’s worth, here’s a selection of photos from the protest and school construction. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

December 24, 2011December 25, 2016

Christmases Past

This is the time of year when newspapers run lots of year-end stories.

They’re popular with readers.
They can be produced early before everyone disappears.
They’re easy.
Everybody is too busy to read the paper, so you don’t want to burn up serious stories.

So, in that spirit, I’m going to recycle some stories from past Christmases. Follow the links for the Real Deal. Click on any photo to make it larger.

This was from a photo book Wife Lila and I did on our first Christmas as a married couple.

David’s first bicycle

Getting a bike for Christmas was a Big Deal. Here’s a video of Brother David getting his and helping Dad put it together. I love the way he keeps reaching over with his bathrobe sleeve to wipe off fingerprints from the chrome.

Christmas Confusion

People were running all around to try to figure out where these photos were taken.

Could it have been Good Hope?

Nope, it turned out to have been in Jackson.

St. Mary’s 1967 Christmas Novena

Missourian caption Dec. 24, 1967: “The Rev. Bosco Westrich of St. Mary’s Cathedral presides over Friday night’s observance of the Christmas Novena at the church. At the left, an altar boy departs. The Novena is a nine-part series of Christmas services which will conclude on Christmas Eve. The banners on either side of the altar were made by school children of the parish.”

Witness Protection Program Santa

This is the first and only Santa I’ve ever seen wearing a full-face mask. (He’s almost as scary as this Easter Bunny in my past.)

Hutson’s Christmas Display

Hutson’s Fine Furniture has been hosting a Christmas display window for as long as I can remember. It’s not quite as large as I remembered it, but it’s still magic for youngsters.

Hutson’s is 2011 Old Town Cape Ornament

Coincidentally, Hutson’s window display was chosen as Old Town Cape’s featured ornament this year. Here’s a list of past ornaments.

Common Pleas Courthouse Live Nativity scene

Close to 2,000 people a day stopped by the live Nativity scene on the steps leading to the Common Pleas Courthouse in 1965. The exhibit proved so popular that the run was extended past the expected Christmas Eve closing date.

North County Park

Cars line up bumper to bumper to enjoy the Christmas displays at North County Park.

Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum

The folks at the Altenburg Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum have been putting together a wonderful Christmas display for the past six years. Here are photos from this year’s exhibit (plus a shameless plug for my Tower Rock book and East Perry County Calendar. Follow this link to see the 2010 exhibit.

Water Park holiday lights

The Family Aquatic Center at Osage Center was all lit up for the holidays. Quite impressive.

Here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you’re celebrating at this time of year. We’ll probably take it easy for a couple of days. I’ve got a Top Stories of 2011 Review in the works.

Tag: Jackson