Snapshots of Cape Girardeau calendar Archives

November 18, 2013December 14, 2013

Snapshots of Cape Girardeau

I keep forgetting to pitch my 2013-2014 Snapshots of Cape Girardeau calendar, but I’d better get on the ball if I want enough gas money to make it back to Florida.

Snapshots of Cape Girardeau is a collection of vintage photographs from roughly 1963 through 1967. Some were shot for The Tiger or The Girardot at Central High School; others might have been for The Jackson Pioneer or The Southeast Missourian. Some might have been taken just for the heck of it.

You can’t find a better holiday gift for someone who grew up in Cape Girardeau. (If you want to make it a super special gift, write down all the important family birthdays and special dates in it before you wrap it up. Wife Lila has been doing that for years and it’s always popular.)

How do I get one?

If you are in the Cape area, Annie Laurie’s Antiques at Broadway and Fountain has copies of both the calendar and my work-in-progress Smelterville book for $20 each. I’m even willing to bring one to lunch (Dutch treat) if you catch me in the next few days before I head back to defrost in Florida.

How to shop at Amazon

The gas and motel bills are starting to filter in from my trip and my bank balance is starting to disappear. This is a good time to make a pitche: if you shop on Amazon, click on that big Click Here button (or the one that’s at the top left of every page). It will take you directly to Amazon just like always, but it will contain a code that will give me about 6% of whatever you purchase without adding a penny to your bill. It’s a painless way to say “Thanks” for the stories and photos I send your way almost every day. Here’s more info that Kid Matt wrote.

How to order by mail

If you’d like your calendar or book mailed, press the DONATE button at the top left of the page and make a $25 donation. After you do that, there’s another box where you can tell Wife Lila your mailing address and whether you want a calendar or the Smelterville book.

Sneak peek at the pictures

Here’s what you’ll find inside the calendar. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the sides to move through the gallery. I tried to pick photos you wouldn’t mind looking at for a month.

October 29, 2013

Lincoln on KY Courthouse?

Curator Jessica can’t pass a sign that says “Historical” or any building older than me. One of those side-trips took us into downtown Princeton, Kentucky, where we looked at the monolithic Caldwell County Courthouse. Even I could recognize some of the Art Deco features.

I didn’t think the South was fond of Lincoln

One of the interesting touches was that over the entrance on each side was inscribed the compass direction: North, South, etc. Four visages peered out of the east and west walls.

I was surprised to see one of them was Abe Lincoln. I wouldn’t have expected him to be too popular on a Southern courthouse. Maybe his Kentucky roots made them cut him some slack.

Confederate soldier stands guard

A memorial to Confederate soldiers stands facing south. His back is to Lincoln, who is on the northeast wall.

Father of the country

George Washington is on the northwest wall.

Who is this?

This fellow is stuck looking to the west from the southwest wall. Neither Jessica nor I had a clue who he is.

Another mystery figure

This man was on the southeast wall. The dark area under his nose isn’t a shadow. I don’t know if it was mold or if someone had disfigured the image. It was high up on the wall, so I doubt the latter was the case.

Jessica stopped a woman coming out of the courthouse to see if she could be of any help, but she admitted that she had never noticed the figures. It’s a possibility they were local important people.

First Friday

This is a reminder that I’ll be at Annie Laurie’s on Broadway on First Friday, November 1, from about 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Stop by, take a look at my 2013-2014 Snapshots of Cape Girardeau calendars and Smelterville books and give a Southeast Missouri welcome to Jessica who has trouble believing my stories about the region. Laurie says there will be cookies and hot apple cider on hand.

July 20, 2013July 20, 2013

What Is Going Into Lang’s?

I was walking down Main Street shooting store fronts when I noticed the door at 126 North Main was open. That address belonged to Lang Jewelers from 1916 until last fall when the store closed. Here is an earlier story about Lang’s.

Building permit on door

I stepped in to take a look around, but nobody answered my call. There was a building permit on the door issued to C+R Renovations and listing plumbing and electrical contractors. A plaque from Old Town Cape giving the history of Lang’s mentioned the store featured its original tin ceiling and wooden wall display case.

I didn’t see the case, but it might have been removed for the renovation. Looks like the tin ceiling is going to be covered with a drop ceiling.Or, it might have had a drop ceiling installed over the tin ceiling and the renovation will expose it again. I didn’t feel comfortable taking a closer look at the blueprint on the floor.

Old Town Cape to carry calendars

Speaking of Old Town Cape, the Old Town Cape folks are going to carry my 2013-2014 Snapshots of Cape Girardeau calendar. They are located at 418 Broadway, next to what used to be the Rialto Theater. You can call 573-334-8085 to make sure they haven’t sold out.

Lang Jewelers photo gallery

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the sides to move through the gallery.

July 7, 2013

Class of ’65’s Cool Table

Terry Rose Crowell came in to Annie Laurie’s Antiques where I was hawking Smelterville: A Work in Progress and Snapshots of Cape Girardeau on First Friday. In the course of our conversation, she mentioned that select members of the Class of 1965 meet for lunch on the first Saturday of each month at BG’s Old Tyme Deli and Saloon. (“Select” means anybody who shows up.)

Marilyn Dudley Seyer

I hoped this might finally be my chance to set at the Cool Table, something that always seemed out of my reach when I attended Central High School. My odds were enhanced when Brenda Bone Lapp posted on Facebook that everybody usually fits around one table. It was hinted that table dancing was known to transpire. In fact, I was told confidentially, it was Marilyn’s turn this month.

Such gyrations much have occurred when I went out to the car to switch out camera bodies because it didn’t happen in my presence. I did notice a glow on Marilyn’s forehead (ladies don’t sweat), so I might have been gone longer than I thought.

Carolyn Lee Barks

When I commented that I felt a bit outnumbered at the table, I was told that guys have been known to show up; Jim Feldmeier, in particular.

There was a long discussion about how women were discriminated against before Title IX, but how things are getting better. We talked about how spring sports got the short end of the stick because of early yearbook deadlines. There was also a debate about whether girls participated in track and field sports in our day. I couldn’t remember shooting any.

Susan Valle Perry

Talk turned to Cape’s movie theaters, particularly the Rialto, which was owned by Carol Klarsfeld’s mother. Carol got all the money deposited in the penny scale in the theater, something I didn’t know. We longed for the days when you could get Black Cherry soda out of the soft drink dispenser in the lobby. Popcorn, at a dime a box (or with real butter for two bits) was a real profit center. The box, which cost a penny, was the most expensive part.

Accounts of Carol shenanigans became a major topic of conversation. It’s a shame Carol was taken from us at an early age by breast cancer because I’m sure she’d still be doing crazy stuff as a grandmother.

Pat Wright Vogelsang

Birthday cards, some of which were AARP-Rated were passed around. I blush easily, so I tried to avoid reading the insides, but they made me do it. This is a rough crowd.

Pat Wright Vogelsang is vamping for the camera while Susan and Marilyn are looking through some of my old Cape photos in the background.

Donna Eddleman Mason

We talked about favorite teachers (Miss Sadler for English and Grace Williams for math), best pizza (Tony’s) and best steak (Wayne’s Grill), the fact that The Missourian always referred to women by their husband’s name (Mrs. Joe Smith, not Mrs. Jane Smith or Jane Smith) and how few kids back then drove their cars to school.

All in all, it was a pretty good day at the Cool Table. They were nice enough to score some books and calendars and even paid for my iced tea. If I had just been around when Marilyn rocked the table, the day would have been perfect.