September 2012
 |
09/28/12Movie Theater Historian Vincent Astor To Speak at Main LibraryIf I were a betting man, I'd wager that nobody in Memphis knows more about the history of old movie theaters in Memphis than my pal Vincent Astor. The well-known actor, historian, and man about town has amassed an impressive collection of photos, postcards, and other images showcasing some of our city's long-lost movie and vaudeville theatres, and beginning next week, dozens of those images will be on display in the Memphis Room (top floor) of the Benjamin Hooks Central Library . On Monday, October 1, Vincent himself will be in the Memphis Room from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. to chat with anybody and everybody who wants to see the photo collection, and to answer any questions. Ever heard of such theaters as the Ruby, the Palace, or the wonderfully named Amuse? Well, they... Posted at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
 |
09/25/12A Reminder of Memphis' Great Corncob Fire of 1952Just before 2 a.m. on Monday morning, September 24th, an explosion wrecked the Penn-A-Chem chemical plant at Chelsea and Holmes in north Memphis, destroying buildings and sending two critically injured employees to the hospital. The blast, which rattled windows in homes miles away, was a reminder of another disaster that took place 60 years ago at the same site, when the Quaker Oats Company operated the plant there, extracting a variety of chemicals from corncobs. Yes, corncobs. Until the evening of January 15, 1952, most Memphians probably thought corncobs were pretty harmless things. The worst that could happen to you was getting lung cancer from puffing on a corncob pipe. But on that evening, a five-story pile of corncobs somehow burst into flames, and quickly erupted... |
 |
09/18/12Window Shopping at Fortner Furniture in 1979 — The Hard WayAs you know, I've been talking recently about the old Fortner Furniture Company clock, and thought I'd share a story about an interesting event in the life of that building. On June 15, 1979, Mrs. Joy Butler was driving east on Summer at National, when she "accidentally" ran the red light at that intersection. Bad timing. Her car was struck broadside by a Memphis sanitation truck. Butler lost control of her vehicle, and here's the result — her car ended up parked inside the furniture store after crashing through one of the big windows. Her five-year-old daughter suffered a slight cut to her leg, but that was the only injury. Nobody was hurt on the truck. Scribbled notes on the back of the original Memphis Press-Scimitar photograph tell us that... Posted at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments: 3 |
 |
09/12/12The Fortner Furniture Clock Before the Building Was DemolishedAll this talk about the old clock that once topped the Fortner Furniture Company building, and not a single image of the clock itself. Until now, provided by my pal Max of Max Savant Photography. As you can see, until its last days the huge metal disk still carried traces of the neon tubing that outlined the numbers and hands. This photo also shows some of the nice ornamental stone (or concrete) work that adorned the building, located at Summer and National. Richard Smith also posted a terrific picture of the clock on my Facebook page. I've recently been in contact with members of the Fortner family, and yes I know who now owns the old clock, so once I talk to them, I should be able to give you the whole story — past, present, and future — of this... Posted at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments: 2 |
 |
09/11/12Fortner Furniture: The Giant Clock Came LaterI know you think I spend most of my days rooting through the old Press-Scimitar files at the University of Memphis, but you'd only be half-right. I just spend my waking hours there. But I did turn up a newspaper article about Fortner Furniture Company, at National and Summer, and judging from the artist's rendering, it's obvious that the giant clock was added later. If you've been paying attention, the "Giant Clock Mystery" was discussed here a few days ago. And apparently the photo that I ran at that time was not retouched after all. If you're having trouble reading the article, let me give you a hand (or an eye, or whatever). Dated April 29, 1960, it says: "An artist's sketch of Fortner Furniture Co. at National and Summer shows... Posted at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
 |
09/10/12Fortner Furniture Company and the Giant Clock MysteryFor decades, one of the enduring landmarks along Summer Avenue was the giant round clock mounted on top of the old Fortner Furniture Company (most recently BoJo's Antique Mall) at the corner of Summer and National. Once illuminated by neon numbers and hands, in recent years the huge clock was little more than a rust-covered (and -colored) disk overlooking the intersection. But still, it was something that almost everyone remembered, and like everyone else, I just assumed the clock was installed whenever the building was erected. But then I found this old photograph, tucked away in the Memphis Press-Scimitar files at the University of Memphis Libraries Special Collections Department. As you can see, it's a fine image of the furniture store in its heyday, and it's... Posted at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments: 4 |
 |
09/05/12Balton Sign Company's Neon Display at the Tri-State FairgroundsIn the current issue of MBQ: Inside Memphis Business, I tell the story of the Balton Sign Company, which has been manufacturing signs and displays in our city for more than five generations. The company's archives hold nice photos of some of the great signs they have made here over the years, and while looking through them, I found this old (somewhat grainy) photo of the company's booth promoting its newfangled neon signs. Neon — an inert gas that glows bright orange when exposed to high voltage — had been discovered in the late 1800s, but it really wasn't until the early 1920s that scientists figured out a good way to use it commercially, by encasing it in narrow colored-glass tubes. One problem was that neon didn't really produce enough light to... |
