It is December 31st and this year will be over in a few hours. In 2016 I will start my 20th year of publishing my weekly newsletter. I can hardly believe that many years have gone by since I started in April 1996. I think back over the past 12 months of those who started the year with us, but have passed away and did not finished the year. Each one was a part of this T&T family and will be missed. I never mentioned Jim Hubble of Whitesboro, Texas, but Jim has helped me publish my T&T in his own way every week for a number of years.
Several years ago I had just sent out my weekly newsletter and about an hour later in came an email from Jim Hubble in Texas. By the way, Jim was born in Ardmore so his interest in my newsletter. Anyway, Jim started his email out something like, I do not mean to criticize your newsletter, but you might think about rewording this one sentence, or you have a word spelled wrong, or I need to change a word to be more correct. And from that day forward Jim proof read every newsletter, every week. Some weeks only 2 or 3 corrections, and then other weeks, I don't know where my mind was, but I'd have to make a dozen corrections it seemed like. Jim taught me a lot but I guess his hardest task was teaching me not to capitalize the word county in Carter County. Oh, and the other was Sheriff's Office. I always typed it Sheriffs Office. That was drilled into me by now deceased sheriff Bill Noland. He didn't like the apostrophe in sheriff. Bill said the sheriff does not own the sheriffs office.
Rest in peace Jim Hubble. October 13, 1945 - December 22, 2015.
http://www.meadorfuneralhome.com/obituaries/James-Hubbell/#!/Obituary
A T&T Reader sent in an interesting piece of Ardmore history this week. In the 1960s Ardmore had a company by the name of Quad Decor on West Broadway. It was founded by Ardmoreite Walter Neustadt and the company made Christmas decorations for the tree. The decoration sent in was called Springles and and to me looks like a spring covered with a silver glitter type stuff.
Quad Decor, Inc. is an Oklahoma Domestic For-Profit Business Corporation filed on January 4, 1962. The company's filing status is listed as Dissolved and its File Number is 1900173626. The Registered Agent on file for this company is Walter Neustadt Jr and is located at 911 West Broadway, Ardmore, Oklahoma. The company has 3 principals on record. The principals are George Winger, Howard Swartzman, and Thomas Gill.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/SpringlesDecorations1.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/SpringlesDecorations2.jpg
Southern Oklahoma and especially western Oklahoma had some pretty good snow, mostly sleet and ice, fall last Monday. This is looking south from our front porch toward the road. The snow was gone by Monday afternoon, at least in Carter County.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/SnowSleet122815a.jpg
Downtown Oklahoma City during Christmas 1936
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/ChristmasOKC1967.jpg
November 1931
In 1926 the Zaneis school district bought eight new school buses for a total
cost of $16,000. The buses were bought before the budget was approved. When the
budget was approved there was no funding for school buses. Judgment in favor of
the Motor Company has now been overturned.
November 1931
Goldenrod in a pasture was advanced as a probable cause of the poisoning of 90
inmates and employees of the state training school for girls in Tecumseh.
Officials abandoned a theory that poison had been placed in the food at the
school in an effort to discredit the school's superintendent Mrs. M. O.
Berenson. Instead it is believed the illness may have been caused by milk given
by cows that had been on pasture were there was goldenrod.
November 1931
Bob Evans farmer and erstwhile moonshiner must serve 10 years in the State
Penitentiary at hard labor for having shot Manon Daugherty, 35, to death on
South Caddo Street. The District Court jury took just four hours to return a
verdict convicting Evans of first-degree manslaughter and fixing his punishment
at 10 years. Daugherty was unarmed when he was shot.
November 1931
No added official light has been thrown on what appears to have been a
deliberate attempt to murder Mrs. H. T. Pruitt, wife of a well-known western
Carter County farmer. Authorities are looking for the person who fired almost
point blank at the woman with a heavy caliber rifle at 9:00p.m. Saturday night.
Apparently the person firing the shot was crouched outside a window and aimed at
the reflection of the woman's shadow on the glass. The shot broke the glass and
a fragment caused a painful cut on the woman's forehead.
November 1955
Tom wages said he recently learned of the alligator caught at Lake Murray by a
lady fisherman, became a resident of the lake by some shenanigans of his
grandsons Jerry Foster and Robert Lindsay. They saw the alligator in a sort of
basket affair and decided to have some fun with it by prodding it with a stick.
It escaped and disappeared into Lake Murray.
One of two dogs belonging to our neighbors comes over to visit almost daily. One of them is named Trixie. She is the most adorable, sweet dog and we baby her. We are probably one of very few people who has doggie bones and do not even own a dog. Here is a picture I took of Trixie last week. Look at those eyes, she will just melt your heart.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/Trixie122015.jpg
Some pavers I sandblasted the past week
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/CalJohnsonPaver.jpg
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bricks/J&JLawnServicePaver.jpg
You can find gas prices for a particular Oklahoma town by entering the name or zip code in the GasBuddy search box.
http://www.oklahomagasprices.com/
Still loving my Perfect Probiotic by Probiotic America I have been taking everyday. My stomach fat has been greatly reduced and I feel better than I have in years. If you really want to get rid of that belly fat I truly believe probiotics is a "must have".
http://oklahomahistory.net/probiotics.html
I installed an Okie Power Saver last week at a friend's house and saw some of the best before and after results I have seen of all my installs. Before installing the power saver his total electric home was drawing 43 amps with the central heat was running. After I installed the power saver box next to the central heat and air disconnect box at the far end of his house, the amps being drawn dropped down to 24. Very impressive.
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/PowerSaverBox121215.jpg
Several weeks ago someone mentioned to me their electric bill is larger in the winter than in the summer because they have an all-electric home. That's all the more reason to own an Okie Power Saver. Also the Okie Power Saver is also a FULL house surge protector. You say you have brown-outs? All the more reason to own a Power Saver unit.
Q. We have all heard of King
Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in England. In Oklahoma we have a castle much
like those of King Arthur's days. What Oklahoma town has a unique replica of
England's castles?
A. The
Castle in Muskogee, Oklahoma
http://okcastle.com/
Q. What was the official name
selected for the Sirloin Stockade's "big cow" mascot in 1966?
A. (answer in next week's T&T)
From This and That newsletter archives of December 28, 2002:
Ardmore's streetcars operated from 1905 to
1922. The line ran along Main Street from the Santa Fe depot west to "C" Street,
then north along "C" Street to 8th Avenue, west along 8th Avenue to Wolverton,
north along Wolverton all the way to the car barn and Lorena Park at Dornick
Hills.
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"The old jail. I sold the Ardmoreite on
the streets in the late forties and always stopped by the jail to sell one to
the Indian trusty/cook. The jailer got to read it first, I am not sure that the
cook ever read it. I am pretty sure his name was Cooper but I will think on it
and his whole name will eventually come up. He was not locked up but had the
freedom of the jail and often the main jail door to the front office was not
closed. The story I was told was that he got a monthly check and when it came he
paid off his fine and other debts. He then gave the jailer some money to hold
for him and went on a toot, got arrested and was soon back in jail. He was
always very gracious to me."
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"To the person who wanted to know id
anyone remembered some things way back there at Ardmore. I certainly do. I
worked my first public job at Duke & Ayres, went to Reavis Drug a lot, Bernice
made the best barbecue sandwiches I still have ever had there at Reavis and it
was a good hang out for some of us, including the young Fly Boys from the
Airbase. I don't remember the meat market but patronized the old Hamburger Inn
as often as I could (way back) as well as the A & P Grocery on Main street, that
must have been in the '40's. It is good to hear some of these things mentioned
again."
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"Hi Butch, I just finished reading this
week's T&T and noticed a letter from the mailbag written by a reader from
Dougherty. Brought back some memories. From 1950 until 1963, I was an employee
of Dolese Bros Co at their crushed stone quarry at Big Canyon, located about 4
miles south of Dougherty on the Santa Fe Railroad. During this time, we were
loading and shipping from 50 to 100 railroad cars of crushed limestone per day..
These cars were billed to destination at the Dougherty Depot. The freight agent
at that time was L.R. Mitchell and he told me that at earlier times Dougherty
was the highest revenue point on the Santa Fe system. This was due to the many
carloads of construction materials shipped through the depot daily. Besides
Dolese, Makins Sand and Gravel had a sand and gravel plant just north of
Dougherty from which they also shipped many cars per day. A couple of miles
north of Makins was Southern Rock Asphalt Company which also shipped out of
Dougherty. All three of these plants are closed now and the Dougherty Depot has
been moved to Sulphur and made into a tea room. Dolese still has the plant at
Big Canyon but it has not been running for many years. The old foundations of
the Makins and Southern Rock operations can be seen by driving north of
Dougherty toward the downstream side of the Arbuckle Lake Dam. There is a lot
more history I can share about this area in future letters if any of your
readers would be interested.. Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry
Christmas and a HAPPY ROSE BOWL." -Roy Miller, Oklahoma City
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"Butch, just wanted to brag a little about my family. I have 7 brothers and 1
sister and as you can see, some of the boys made a career serving our country.
Each person in our family has made a contribution to mankind in some way."
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/ttphotos/williamsmem.jpg
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Some mail from this week's MAILBAG.....
"I first found your site during a Google search almost a year back, when I was looking around for some inspiration and information about building a shed from pallets. It gave me some of the hands-on information I needed, as I'd never done much rough carpentry before, and your site gave me plenty of pictures to check out how to do stuff, so I'd like to thank you for that.Over here in the UK we don't always have a lot of space, and I needed a shed for my small allotment, which is a piece of land you can rent to grow garden crops on, if you don't have a big yard at home. The owners of the land have rules and regulations, and one governs the maximum size of sheds you can put up on your piece of land. So I had to down-size our shed plan to around 8' X 8' X 7' high, the maximum allowed.
I started the build last Spring, and finished in Summer, working in my spare time. Because there is no power on our allotments, I did most of the work at home in the yard, and put together the shed in 'modular' sections, so they could be easily taken apart and transported to our allotment on the roof of our estate car, what you'd call a small station wagon. I found your advice on sticking to the same size of pallet throughout the build very useful. It made things easy to line up, and saved a lot of work.
The initial aim was to build it all for around ?100, it ended up costing only a little more than that. I wanted to build it out of pallets because I like recycling stuff, and a shed of equivalent size and robustness would have cost me upwards of around ?350 - ?400 over here.
Many thanks too for your very interesting Oklahoma History site. It gives an informative history of your State, and what life was and is like there; a glimpse of a piece of real America for us over the pond!
All Best Wishes to you and yours for the Festive Season, and for the New Year.
Sincerely,Keith Westhead,
Northampton, UK.
"Butch, In your 'This n That' this week, the pictures you posted about the Great Depression GRABBED my attention. My family and I lived through those years. I could almost see our family in every photo that you posted. I have attached a picture of our family taken at Orr, Oklahoma in 1936 standing next to my Uncle & Aunt's car. I am the 9 yr. old kid wearing the Over-Alls standing near my Dad." -Edgar Wallace edgarwallace@sbcglobal.net
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos15b/EdgarWallace1936.jpg
The Daily Ardmoreite
August 28, 1946
Indians to Be In Wild West Show
If you run smack dab into an Indian in full war regalia, in front of the post office next Monday don't be surprised, for he'll probably be one of the scores being brought to Ardmore by Col. Zack T. Miller with his 101 Ranch Wild West show and international congress of circus stars.
Indians from five tribes are with the 101 Ranch wild west show and battle it out daily with world's champion cowboys and cowgirls, trick riders and ropers and marksmen from the plains and the reservations.
Tents will be erected on the old Phillips show grounds and performances will be given at 2:15 and 8:15.
Reserved seats will be on sale circus day at Reavis drug store.Museum Memories
The Wilson News
February 2, 1917
W. A. Finlay Shot to Death - First Killing in New Wilson Occurred Monday Morning
William Albert Finlay was shot and almost instantly killed by Lon Peevey on Monday about 11 o'clock. Finlay was shot five times, one taking effect in the neck, three in the right side and one penetrating lower edge of the shoulder.
Peevey surrendered to Constable Charley Jones and was taken to Ardmore where his examining trial was held Wednesday afternoon.
Mr. Finlay was a single man, 32 years of age. He leaves a sister, Mrs. J. E. Powers; a brother, James Filay, and an uncle, Dave Finlay. The body was buried in Hewitt Cemetery, Rev. W. L. Gilliam conducted the funeral services.
Injured in Explosion
Andrew Canader, superintendent of the Humble lease, was severely injured when a gas engine that was being operated on the lease blew up.
Clyde Messenger, yard manager of the Minnetonka Lumber Company, was injured last week when a team ran away. He was thrown from the wagon and bruised about the body.
We have thousands of obituaries!! Visit us online or at the museum in Wilson, Oklahoma. Hours: Tues., Thurs., Fri., Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.WHM - Wilson Historical Museum
http://www.wilsonhistoricalmuseum.org/
Four hours from now 2015 will come to a close and a new year will begin at midnight. I always look forward to the dropping of the ball at New York Times Square. It reminds me of the following quote: ?Celebrate endings ? for they precede new beginnings.?
We want to wish everyone a prosperous and healthy Happy New Year in 2016!
See everyone next year!
Butch and Jill Bridges
PO Box 2
Lone Grove, Oklahoma 73443
Vicious Dog Attacks in Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/viciousdogs.html
Bells of Oklahoma
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/bellpage.html
Carter County Courthouse Paver Project
http://www.brightok.net/cartercounty/pavers
Ardmore High School Criterions Online
http://www.ArdmoreCriterion.com/
Oklahoma Bells:
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/bellpage.html
Bill Hamm's Cemetery Database
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/carter/cartercm.htm
American Flyers Memorial
Fund - Administration Webpage
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/crash66.html
Official American Flyers
Memorial Website
http://www.brightok.net/~wwwafm
Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force
Base Website
http://www.brightok.net/~gsimmons
Mirror Site of the Ardmore Army Air Field/Ardmore Air Force Website
http://www.OklahomaHistory.net/airbase/
Carter County
Government Website
http://cartercountyOK.us/
All previous issues of This & That can be found on my
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