Ask Vance

06/08/12

Update: Henderson Business College

Last month, I told you about Henderson Business College, an establishment that stood on Linden but is now a parking lot. A reader, Doris Jacobs, wrote to tell me that she had been researching an old diploma that had belonged to her mother, who had attended that school, and was (as you might expect) pleased when my article came out, since it told her a few things about Henderson Business College that she didn't know. She graciously provided me with a scan of her mother's fancy old diploma (it's a bit blurry because it was too large to fit on her scanner). The diploma is dated 1925, and you'll see that Kiziah E. Smith earned a degree in Stenography. Although you can't see it here, the diploma was signed by the president of the school, George Henderson....

Posted at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1

06/07/12

FOUND: The Actual Cable for the Old Lakeland SkyRide

I've written about the old Lakeland amusement park before on these pages and in my regular "Ask Vance" column in Memphis magazine. And working with my pals Bonnie Kourvelas and Kip Cole, we produced an entire Southern Routes segment on the place for WKNO television. Did you see it? Even so, despite all this work, I wouldn't consider myself an expert on the subject. I would give that honor to Walt Drissel, who has been roaming around the old property a few miles east of Memphis, and discovering that interesting parts of the old place have survived, if you just know where to look for them. His latest discovery: A big chunk of land sticks out into the southwest corner of the lake. It's just about the only part of the former park site that's not covered...

Posted at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments

05/29/12

When Amelia Earhart's Plane Crashed — in Memphis

Some of you may know that former Wonders director Jon Thompson has embarked on an ambitious campaign to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart, the famed aviatrix who disappeared while attempting a round-the-world flight in 1937. In a few months he will embark on a search for the remains of her plane on some uncharted islands and atolls in the South Pacific. But did you know that six years after Earhart vanished, her airplane crashed and burned at a little-known airport in Memphis? If that sounds like an episode from The Twilight Zone, let me explain. A Lockheed Vega was one of the first airplanes that Earhart purchased, but she replaced it with a larger plane shortly before attempting her doomed flight around the world in 1937. The Vega crashed upon takeoff at Wilson Field...

Posted at 07:38 PM | Permalink | Comments: 4

05/26/12

A Pentecost-Garrison School Graduation Program from 1930

The firemen keep saying if I don't clean up the clutter that blocks every room and hallway of the Lauderdale Mansion, they will issue me a citation. Good. I'll hang it on the wall with my other diplomas, awards, spelling-bee tropies, and what-nots. Because every time I start to make a clean sweep of things, so to speak, I find items of historical interest. Not necessarily important, but interesting. Well, they are to me, anyway. Case in point: this single-page 1930 graduation program for the old Pentecost-Garrison School. This little private school, tucked away in its early days in former homes on Idlewild before it moved to bigger and nicer campuses and eventually evolved into today's Presbyterian Day School, attracted students from some of our city's top...

Posted at 06:47 PM | Permalink | Comments: 3

05/23/12

Lost Memphis: Henderson Business College

Digging through some old boxes in the Lauderdale Library the other night — I was sure I had squirreled away some tasty cans of Hormel potted meat for a midnight snack (yum!) — I happened to come across a nice booklet for an interesting old school, and since you have absolutely nothing better to do, you should read what I'm about to tell you. So gather 'round and stop playing "Words with Friends," or updating your Facebook page, or Googling "potted meat" or whatever else you are doing, for just a minute, if you can. Anyway, the booklet was the 1950 "Official Catalogue" of Henderson Business College, located at 530 Linden. The school was a two-year institution for African-Americans, offering degrees in "Stenographic,...

Posted at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1

05/22/12

Lost Memphis: The Dobbs House Mark IV

I wonder why people think the name "Mark IV" is synonymous with elegance and class? As far as I can tell, no great world leader was ever called Mark IV. For years, though, Lincoln sold a Mark IV version of its Continental line of fine automobiles. And in Memphis, Dobbs House opened a fancy restaurant on Poplar called, quite simply, the Mark IV. Someday I'll do a whole column on the Dobbs House restaurant chain and their influence on dining in Memphis. For now I'll just remind readers that the company operated a chain of home-cooking restaurants after they took over most of the old Toddle Houses around town. In addition to those, they turned a rather staid restaurant across from East High School into the bizarre, Polynesian-themed restaurant called the...

Posted at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2

05/09/12

New Website Offers Old Aerial Views of Memphis — Or Anywhere Else, For That Matter

I know that the Lauderdale Mansion is a bit tumble-down, but have I actually been living under such a pile of rocks that until yesterday I was completely unaware of a rather amazing website called Historic Aerials? In fact, I would have probably remained blissfully ignorant for years, until my pal Walt Drissel, who has been researching the history of the old Lakeland amusement park, told me he had been using Historic Aerials to track (pardon the pun) the route of the old Huff 'n' Puff Railroad. As the name implies, this site offers old aerial photographs of just about any place in the country, taken over a period of years. I spent most of yesterday evening "flying" over parts of Memphis, seeing how neighborhoods, streets, and individual houses and buildings...

Posted at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments: 3

05/03/12

The Eads School Bus Tragedy of 1941: A Survivor's Story

Way back in our February 2004 issue, I told about the horrible Eads school bus tragedy that took place on October 10, 1941, right at the very spot shown in this photo. Though they were pulled up years ago, in 1941 railroad tracks ran straight towards the viewer, and this now-peaceful scene was the site of the greatest disaster in the history of Shelby County Schools. A school bus carrying students home from the George R. James School came down the hill at the far right in this photo, turned and and crossed the tracks here — right into the path of a locomotive heading towards Memphis at 50 miles per hour. Killed that day were the bus driver, Benjamin Priddy, and seven students: Guy Anderson Jr., Hayden Austin Williams, Norma Jean Seward, Melvin Richmond, Murry Kenneth Bryan,...

Posted at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments: 2

04/30/12

Now, Why on Earth Would Anyone Need an ARMORED Ambulance?

I believe I've pondered this issue before, but I was reminded to ponder it again while looking through the curious old ads in the back pages of a Memphis University School yearbook from the late 1920s. Pretty much how everyone else in Memphis spends their Saturday nights, I presume. I was struck by this handsome ad for J.T. Hinton & Son, promoting their armored ambulance service. I just don't understand why anyone would need such a thing. Now look. As a Lauderdale, I have to be more security-conscious than regular citizens of our city, what with our family's coveted collection of bowling trophies, roller-skating medals, and assorted other treasures. But even so ... Let me give this by way of example. Let's just say, hypothetically speaking, that I find...

Posted at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2

04/26/12

Lost Memphis: Whistle Bottling Company

In our February issue, I told the dramatic and heart-rending story of the Whistle Bottling Company, a soft-drink manufacturer that operated on South Main in the early 1900s. I ran a nice photo of the old building, courtesy of the Memphis Room at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library, which is still standing today, though it's changed considerably over the years. The old Whistle building, I mean, not the library. Please — pay attention. What I did not do, however, was include a photo of an actual Whistle Bottling Company bottle. Until now. Thanks to a very comprehensive website operated by a nice fellow named Chris Weide, who is quite an authority on the American soft-drink bottling industry, I found a photo of an old Whistle bottle with its distinctive...

Posted at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

	06/08/12 Update: Henderson Business College Last month, I told you about Henderson Business College, an establishment that stood on Linden but is now a parking lot. A reader, Doris Jacobs, wrote to tell me that she had been researching an old diploma that had belonged to her mother, who had attended that school, and was (as you might expect) pleased when my article came out, since it told her a few things about Henderson Business College that she didn't know. She graciously provided me with a scan of her mother's fancy old diploma (it's a bit blurry because it was too large to fit on her scanner). The diploma is dated 1925, and you'll see that Kiziah E. Smith earned a degree in Stenography. Although you can't see it here, the diploma was signed by the president of the school, George Henderson.... Posted at 02:00 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 1
	06/07/12 FOUND: The Actual Cable for the Old Lakeland SkyRide I've written about the old Lakeland amusement park before on these pages and in my regular "Ask Vance" column in Memphis magazine. And working with my pals Bonnie Kourvelas and Kip Cole, we produced an entire Southern Routes segment on the place for WKNO television. Did you see it? Even so, despite all this work, I wouldn't consider myself an expert on the subject. I would give that honor to Walt Drissel, who has been roaming around the old property a few miles east of Memphis, and discovering that interesting parts of the old place have survived, if you just know where to look for them. His latest discovery: A big chunk of land sticks out into the southwest corner of the lake. It's just about the only part of the former park site that's not covered... Posted at 10:32 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	05/29/12 When Amelia Earhart's Plane Crashed — in Memphis Some of you may know that former Wonders director Jon Thompson has embarked on an ambitious campaign to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart, the famed aviatrix who disappeared while attempting a round-the-world flight in 1937. In a few months he will embark on a search for the remains of her plane on some uncharted islands and atolls in the South Pacific. But did you know that six years after Earhart vanished, her airplane crashed and burned at a little-known airport in Memphis? If that sounds like an episode from The Twilight Zone, let me explain. A Lockheed Vega was one of the first airplanes that Earhart purchased, but she replaced it with a larger plane shortly before attempting her doomed flight around the world in 1937. The Vega crashed upon takeoff at Wilson Field... Posted at 07:38 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 4
	05/26/12 A Pentecost-Garrison School Graduation Program from 1930 The firemen keep saying if I don't clean up the clutter that blocks every room and hallway of the Lauderdale Mansion, they will issue me a citation. Good. I'll hang it on the wall with my other diplomas, awards, spelling-bee tropies, and what-nots. Because every time I start to make a clean sweep of things, so to speak, I find items of historical interest. Not necessarily important, but interesting. Well, they are to me, anyway. Case in point: this single-page 1930 graduation program for the old Pentecost-Garrison School. This little private school, tucked away in its early days in former homes on Idlewild before it moved to bigger and nicer campuses and eventually evolved into today's Presbyterian Day School, attracted students from some of our city's top... Posted at 06:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 3
	05/23/12 Lost Memphis: Henderson Business College Digging through some old boxes in the Lauderdale Library the other night — I was sure I had squirreled away some tasty cans of Hormel potted meat for a midnight snack (yum!) — I happened to come across a nice booklet for an interesting old school, and since you have absolutely nothing better to do, you should read what I'm about to tell you. So gather 'round and stop playing "Words with Friends," or updating your Facebook page, or Googling "potted meat" or whatever else you are doing, for just a minute, if you can. Anyway, the booklet was the 1950 "Official Catalogue" of Henderson Business College, located at 530 Linden. The school was a two-year institution for African-Americans, offering degrees in "Stenographic,... Posted at 10:28 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 1
	05/22/12 Lost Memphis: The Dobbs House Mark IV I wonder why people think the name "Mark IV" is synonymous with elegance and class? As far as I can tell, no great world leader was ever called Mark IV. For years, though, Lincoln sold a Mark IV version of its Continental line of fine automobiles. And in Memphis, Dobbs House opened a fancy restaurant on Poplar called, quite simply, the Mark IV. Someday I'll do a whole column on the Dobbs House restaurant chain and their influence on dining in Memphis. For now I'll just remind readers that the company operated a chain of home-cooking restaurants after they took over most of the old Toddle Houses around town. In addition to those, they turned a rather staid restaurant across from East High School into the bizarre, Polynesian-themed restaurant called the... Posted at 12:50 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 2
	05/09/12 New Website Offers Old Aerial Views of Memphis — Or Anywhere Else, For That Matter I know that the Lauderdale Mansion is a bit tumble-down, but have I actually been living under such a pile of rocks that until yesterday I was completely unaware of a rather amazing website called Historic Aerials? In fact, I would have probably remained blissfully ignorant for years, until my pal Walt Drissel, who has been researching the history of the old Lakeland amusement park, told me he had been using Historic Aerials to track (pardon the pun) the route of the old Huff 'n' Puff Railroad. As the name implies, this site offers old aerial photographs of just about any place in the country, taken over a period of years. I spent most of yesterday evening "flying" over parts of Memphis, seeing how neighborhoods, streets, and individual houses and buildings... Posted at 10:50 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 3
	05/03/12 The Eads School Bus Tragedy of 1941: A Survivor's Story Way back in our February 2004 issue, I told about the horrible Eads school bus tragedy that took place on October 10, 1941, right at the very spot shown in this photo. Though they were pulled up years ago, in 1941 railroad tracks ran straight towards the viewer, and this now-peaceful scene was the site of the greatest disaster in the history of Shelby County Schools. A school bus carrying students home from the George R. James School came down the hill at the far right in this photo, turned and and crossed the tracks here — right into the path of a locomotive heading towards Memphis at 50 miles per hour. Killed that day were the bus driver, Benjamin Priddy, and seven students: Guy Anderson Jr., Hayden Austin Williams, Norma Jean Seward, Melvin Richmond, Murry Kenneth Bryan,... Posted at 11:10 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 2
	04/30/12 Now, Why on Earth Would Anyone Need an ARMORED Ambulance? I believe I've pondered this issue before, but I was reminded to ponder it again while looking through the curious old ads in the back pages of a Memphis University School yearbook from the late 1920s. Pretty much how everyone else in Memphis spends their Saturday nights, I presume. I was struck by this handsome ad for J.T. Hinton & Son, promoting their armored ambulance service. I just don't understand why anyone would need such a thing. Now look. As a Lauderdale, I have to be more security-conscious than regular citizens of our city, what with our family's coveted collection of bowling trophies, roller-skating medals, and assorted other treasures. But even so ... Let me give this by way of example. Let's just say, hypothetically speaking, that I find... Posted at 10:25 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 2
	04/26/12 Lost Memphis: Whistle Bottling Company In our February issue, I told the dramatic and heart-rending story of the Whistle Bottling Company, a soft-drink manufacturer that operated on South Main in the early 1900s. I ran a nice photo of the old building, courtesy of the Memphis Room at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library, which is still standing today, though it's changed considerably over the years. The old Whistle building, I mean, not the library. Please — pay attention. What I did not do, however, was include a photo of an actual Whistle Bottling Company bottle. Until now. Thanks to a very comprehensive website operated by a nice fellow named Chris Weide, who is quite an authority on the American soft-drink bottling industry, I found a photo of an old Whistle bottle with its distinctive... Posted at 11:44 AM \| Permalink \| Comments