Traces of Tx (today)

[Travlin]

Keep up the wonderful history . On what other firearm forum can we learn so much?

[Shakey Jake]

I've almost gone through all the T.B. Willis collection. T.B. Willis was a dentist in Waco, Tx. He came from a long line of dentists and collected photographs. Here's one I found that gave me a smile! It was taken during the depression as marked taken in 1931. Such a positive outlook for the times.
Jake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg0BNTebcbY

[Shakey Jake]

From the Traces of TX Facebook group:
Man sitting on the porch of a store in Alamo, Texas, 1939. Look at his mustache and boots and bandana! And look at the details on the signs! Don't you just want to step into this scene and walk inside that store for a few minutes? Maybe get a RC Cola and Moon Pie?
This incredible photo was taken by Russell Lee.

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1874, responding to an influx of thugs after the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad reached the Red River, vigilantes hanged a horse thief in Denison. In sections of the Texas frontier where courts and jails had not been established or where officials and juries could not be depended upon, vigilance committees were often formed to stamp out lawlessness and rid communities of desperadoes. Sometimes these secret bodies degenerated into mob rule or were used for private vengeance, but usually they were made up of law-abiding, responsible citizens who wanted only to maintain order and to protect lives and property. They operated against murderers, horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and those who held up stagecoaches and trains. As vigilantes usually operated at night and were not inclined to talk, their activities seldom had detailed public notice, but newspaper files and other chronicles indicate that they were active in many parts of Texas, especially in the two decades following the Civil War.
(From Texas Day by Day)
Here's an Except by King and Champney from an 1874 article about Denison Excerpts from:
Texas 1874: An Eyewitness account
of conditions in Post-Reconstruction Texas
"In the primitive hotels where the luckless passengers from the MKT railway awaited a transfer by stage to Sherman, and where they were packed 3 or 4 together in a thinly-boarded room, through whose cracks rain might fall and dust might blow, they were as safe from robbery as any first class house."
"Rough men abounded, and would, without doubt, knocked anyone upon the head who would find himself alone, unarmed, and late at night in their clutches. But the carrying of concealed weapons is so expressly forbidden by the laws of Texas, that cases of shooting rarely occurred and there was no more danger to the life or limb of the traveler than may be met with on Broadway."
"The businessmen of Denton are a stern, self-reliant, confident company. They have a thorough belief in North Texas. The Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and West New York character crops up everywhere in Denison and is the chief reliance of the town.
The aboriginal Texan looks on and admires the energy displayed, but he takes care not to mix in the fray too much himself. There is something sublimely impudent, charmingly provoking in the manner in which he disappears from work and the street when a "Norther" comes on; in the cool, defiant way in which he forces others to work for him and the utter surprise he manifests when he is accused of droning."

[Shakey Jake]

Today's post is a bit personal. Back in 1975, after graduating from TCU, I didn't find a music teaching job as they were a bit scarce, and my wife was still an undergrad. I did some substitute teaching and taught a few private lessons. That wasn't working very well so I applied for a sales job at a music store in downtown Ft Worth, Ault Music. The owner of the store, "Swede" Hanson (I never knew his real first name), hired me. He purchased the store from W.C. Moore for his nephew Tommy. Tommy had been a drummer in a rock band in Detroit and was getting tired of it. Anyway, the deal was that Tommy was going to make payments on the store back to his Uncle Swede. Well, you can already determine where this is going. Six months later Tommy was back in Detroit playing drums in a rock band leaving his uncle in holding the loan. Swede had a very prosperous insurance business but didn't want a music store. He got his daughter (who was a real looker but engaged while I was divorced by then) to work the downstairs of the store along with the lady in the sheet music department while David Levy and I handled the instrument sales. Swede finally sold the store to the C&S/Brook Mays music group and offered me the repair department tools in lieu of a final check and made arrangements for me to apprentice with the new company. That's how I got my start. I was looking through the University of Texas Arlington libraries web site yesterday and came across this wonderful photo. A bit before my time but excellent clarity. I don't know the band or event, but it brought back memories. Int the first picture W.C. Moore is on the left.
Jake

[Shakey Jake]

The Rainbow Bridge in Port Arthur, 1968. The Rainbow Bridge, with its vertical clearance of 176'-0", became the tallest bridge in the southern United States and one of the tallest in the world upon its completion. Its height was needed to allow for the passage of ocean-going cargo ships and tankers, for it spans the Neches River linking the busy port of Beaumont with the Gulf of Mexico. The bridge features a 680'-0" central cantilevered span, one of the longest in Texas, and an overall length of 7,752 feet. The construction of the bridge required innovative engineering methods not only because of its height but also because it had to be built to withstand hurricane-force winds. Triangular steel piers with V-shaped bracing on concrete pedestals support the deck girder spans, and were designed specifically to transfer up to 150-mile-per-hour winds to the foundation.

[Shakey Jake]

Here's a picture from the UTA archives showing Ma Rainey in Breckenridge,TX 1922. More information can be found about her here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Rainey
I bet they put on a really fine show! I can almost hear her belt tunes out now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cph7qZoE5d8
They also made a movie about her a while back that was very good. It stared Viola Davis. It's a good watch if you haven't seen it.
Jake

[Shakey Jake]

On this day in 1874, Democrat Richard Coke was inaugurated as governor of Texas. Nevertheless, Republican governor Edmund J. Davis refused to vacate the office. Coke had overwhelmingly won the gubernatorial election in 1873. But the election was tainted by irregularities on both sides, and the state Supreme Court had voided the contest in Ex parte Rodriguez. Davis cited these facts and refused to budge. He even called in the Travis Rifles, but these troops supported Coke when they got into the Capitol. Davis then appealed for federal troops to President Grant, who telegraphed a refusal. Coke took over when Davis resigned on January 19.

[Shakey Jake]

Another fine gem of a picture from the UTA Libraries. This picture is documented as "Migrant Worker in Rio Grande Valley 1953". I'd hate to have to sleep on that crudely fashioned bed of sticks. Looks like he used local sourced trees as a frame as well.
Jake

[Shakey Jake]

From the Traces of Tx Facebook Group:
In 1932, a man named Gustavo Olguin placed an ad in the San Antonio Express-News to sell an original fried corn chip recipe. The ad reached Brackenridge High School alumnus Charles Elmer Doolin, who owned an ice-cream shop and was in the market for a new treat to add to his menu. Doolin tried out the recipe at Olguin's store and found his winner, buying the venture for $100. Generations of Americans have crunched on Fritos, Frito pies and even Frito burgers ever since.
Personally, I have a tendency to think about this kind of stuff in terms of Texas Mount Rushmores. Obviously, Doolin wouldn't be one of the four faces on a Texas Mount Rushmore if such a thing existed because he's not one of the most influential/greatest Texans in history. But, in the infinite power of my imagination, I've decided to cheat and say that there should be several Texas Mount Rushmores: the main one and then ones for sports, businesses etc... The business one would have Charles Elmer Doolin, Charles Alderton, inventor of Dr. Pepper, and Harlan Dobson, creator of Whataburger, on it. Still thinking about the last slot.
Shown here: Charles Elmer Doolin, without whom we might not have ( shudder ... perish the thought! ) Frito pie.