May 2011
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05/30/11Remembering Bob Berryman's Tourist CourtYears ago, most Memphians knew the name of Bob Berryman. Well-known as a local playboy, gambler, and man-about-town, Berryman was also a convicted murderer, who once killed a bouncer at a downtown bar over a long-simmering grudge and spent eight years behind bars for it. But despite all that, he was mainly remembered as the owner and operator of two of our city's most popular attractions: the Silver Slipper nightclub on Macon, and Bob Berryman's Tourist Court on Highway 61 South.Berryman got into the motel business in 1937, and while puttering around the Lauderdale Library, I pulled down a box of back issues of a magazine called The Architectural Forum, and one of them contained this interesting full-page ad that featured the motel shortly after it opened. My, doesn't the place look... Posted at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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05/26/11The Mystery of Bab Beckwith, John F. Kennedy, and Howard HughesSeveral years ago, I attended an estate sale on the outskirts of town, where I purchased the photograph shown here. Almost 20 inches high, it is a striking image of Bab Beckwith, a woman who was once famous from coast to coast.In the 1950s and 1960s, Bab was a famous model, a jetsetting pilot (back in the days when few women were), and a glamorous and rather mysterious figure who — based on the scant information found about her on the Internet — once dated John F. Kennedy and Howard Hughes. Not at the same time, I presume.And then, after going through at least two and possibly three marriages, she moved to Memphis, and died here just a few years ago.But that's all I know about her. I purchased the photo, because the people running the estate sale told me she was a famous... Posted at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments: 7 |
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05/20/11Singing the Blues During the FloodsBlues singers, it seems, can use any heartbreak or tragedy as an excuse for a song. Maybe your momma done you wrong, or your old daddy's been hangin' with a bad woman, or maybe you just need a spoonful of somebody's precious love. If you listen to any blues music at all, you know what I'm talking about.Even the mighty floods served as inspiration, as you can see from this sheet music sent to me by a friend (don't laugh — I still have a few of those, mainly in jails around the country). Blue Belle, an exclusive artist with Okeh Race Records, sings about the "High Water Blues" (also known as the "Cryin' for Daddy Blues.")The actual description of this cheerful tune may be hard for you to read, and it's definitely worth repeating here: "Blue Belle is now an... Posted at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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05/17/11The Great Flood of 1912The Mississippi River Flood of 2011 will certainly go down in history, and in recent weeks people have compared it to the devastating floods of 1927 and 1937.For some reason, the great flood of 1912 is rarely mentioned, though plenty of dramatic photos were taken of it. In fact, my pal Dan Spector sent me this excellent photo (hanging on the wall of a business on Broad) that was taken by the noted Memphis photographer John C. Coovert, who captured many of the great events of the day. The view is looking north along Second Street, at the intersection of Mill Street, just a few blocks north of St. Joseph Hospital.It's an amazing scene, and do you know what's really remarkable about it? See the people gathered in the boats outside Knox's Drug Store? Despite the flood waters, that sturdy... Posted at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments: 3 |
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05/13/11The Cannon in Court SquareWhile I was roaming through the Lauderdale Library, searching for photos of the floods of 1927 and 1937, I came across photographs that were not flood-related, so to give you a bit of reprieve from the river, I thought I'd share one of them with you. I hope you don't mind.It's a nice shot of the massive old cannon that once guarded the northwest corner of Court Square — the popular downtown park that, over the years, seems to have acquired just about everything except the courthouse it was designed for.At any rate, despite our involvement in the War Between the States, this fine old cannon was actually a relic from the Spanish-American War. I managed to turn up an old newspaper story that says the gun was placed in the park in 1917. The photo above clearly shows a date of May 1901... Posted at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2 |
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05/11/11Looking Back at the 1927 Flood - TIME MagazineWe're keeping our fingers crossed, of course, but except for certain low-lying areas of north and south Memphis, most of our city has — so far — been spared from what everyone is calling "The Flood of the Century."They can call it that, though, only because the most damaging floods in our city's — or for that matter, our nation's — history took place in the previous century — in 1912, 1927, and 1937. Since Time magazine has recently put its entire archives online, we were curious what they had to say about the great flood of 1927, which is usually considered the worst of all time.The April 25, 1927, issue painted this dire portrait of affairs in our area, as the flood was really just beginning: "Last week residents of Memphis, Tennessee, saw... Posted at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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05/10/11Terrible Flooding in East Memphis!With so much attention focused on the Mississippi River, I'm rather surprised that so few people are paying attention to the flooded parts of East Memphis.This view, taken yesterday, shows Colonial Road, looking north towards Park Avenue. As you can see, the desperate residents of the area are forced to use their elaborately decorated fishing boats to get back and forth to the grocery store.The large building in the distance, with the large domes, is believed to be Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Target is just out of view beyond the trees in the background. Posted at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments: 4 |
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05/06/11Lauderdale Mansion Deemed Safe from FloodingI appreciate all the letters of concern, but wanted to reassure my half-dozen readers that the Lauderdale Mansion, Lauderdale Library, and Lauderdale Sn0-Cone Parlor are — for now — safe from the rising flood waters.As you can see from this exclusive photo taken from the Memphis Flyer's "Fly-Witness News" helicopter, the sprawling Mansion — perched high atop Mt. Moriah — is well out of reach of the murky waters that have swallowed the neighborhoods surrounding it.I feel somewhat (but not entirely) bad for my neighbors, who clamored at the gates all night long, hoping to find refuge inside my estate, but what was I supposed to do? They are not Lauderdales, and never will be.And as for the poor little children at the orphanage just down the street, the... Posted at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments: 3 |
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05/05/11The Memphis Flood Protection WallsMost people realize that our city is perched on high bluffs that will keep most of downtown safe in case of a flood. And to the south of the city, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has erected a levee system for that same purpose — to keep high waters at bay. Anybody driving south on Highway 61 as it crosses Nonconnah Creek can look down and admire the nice levee there.But not many people, it seems, know about the massive concrete flood wall system, part of a $12 million project completed in the late 1940s that the newspapers called "the greatest engineering project ever undertaken in this city, and probably the one most vital to our city's commercial life." If you ask me, $12 million seems kind of cheap, but that's what the newspapers said it cost.You probably know this... Posted at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments: 9 |
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05/03/11The End of "The Lovin' Kate" — the S.S. Kate AdamsWith all our attention nervously focused on the river these days, I thought I'd lighten the mood by telling the story of the Kate Adams. It's not a happy story, but compared to what happened to her, it will lessen our own troubles, you see.The Kate Adams — actually the third riverboat with that name here — was built in Pittsburgh in 1898. The big sidewheeler was 240 feet long, with a pair of tall smokestacks, three grand decks, and a main cabin stretching more than 175 feet, that was lighted with newfangled electric chandeliers. When the foundry cast her great bell, the new boat's captain dumped 2,000 silver dollars into the mold to give it a more "silvery" tune. Workers along the river swore they could recognize that distinctive clang 14 miles away. Or so they... Posted at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments: 5 |
