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03/06/12

Lost Memphis: Boss Crump's Totem Pole in Confederate Park

Over the years, Confederate Park in downtown Memphis has acquired a lot of curious things that have nothing to do with the Civil War. The most bizarre example of this was the totem pole that political boss E.H. Crump brought back to Memphis after a trip to the Northwest, and plunked down right in the middle of the park. Most people find this hard to believe until I show them an actual photograph of the thing, such as the old color postcard shown here. The story goes that back in 1941, Crump had journeyed to Seattle on a vacation. Like most travelers, he brought back a souvenir. Unlike most travelers, his keepsake was a 26-foot wooden totem pole, handcarved by a tribe of Indians somewhere in the Northwest, and purchased from the Hudson Bay Company. For some reason, $200...

Posted at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1

02/28/12

My Desperate and (So Far) Futile Search for the Davis White Spot Restaurant

A popular TV show called Without a Trace features the FBI searching for people who have run away, been kidnapped, or otherwise vanished "without a trace." By the amazing miracle of television, they usually find their victims by the end of each episode. My own life doesn't work that way. I'm tempted to start my own show, focusing on Memphis places — not people — that have seemingly vanished without a trace. By that I mean, even though these were places that so many people fondly remember — that's what they tell me, anyway — they have left behind no photos, menus, matchbook covers, postcards, drawings, or anything at all to show they actually existed. Places like the Tropical Freeze and the Luau come to mind. And now Davis White...

Posted at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments: 18

02/22/12

When the University of Memphis Almost Became the University of Tennessee

Well, the big news lately is that the University of Memphis is now a member of the Big East, so that should make Tiger fans happy — for a while. But over the years, it seems the university has always strived to be part of greater things, and one of the strangest incidents in its 100-year history took place back in 1951, when Memphis State College — as it was called at the time — almost became the University of Tennessee. "MSC" would have changed to "UTAM" — which just sounds odd to me. The whole story is told in the school's 1951 DeSoto yearbook, and for some reason the editors chose to illustrate this section with the curious photo shown here — students pushing a broken-down jalopy through the entrace gates. I suppose...

Posted at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments: 5

02/16/12

Did Memphis Serve as the Inspiration for "Glee"? I Believe the Answer Is YES.

Our city has been the birthplace of so many wonderful things, among them: rock-and-roll music, Sun, Stax, FedEx, Holiday Inns, the world's first self-service grocery store — oh, the list just goes on and on. And then, of course, there's me, Vance Lauderdale. But did Memphis also serve as the inspiration for the hit television series Glee? I had wondered about that, until I turned up this photo of the Memphis Glee Club — the one, the only, the original. Just look at these happy-go-lucky gentlemen, and I think there's no question that they were the basis for the various free-spirited members of William McKinley High School's "New Directions" ensemble. They may be posed rather formally here, but you can tell they are just ready to burst...

Posted at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1

02/15/12

New Book Features Memphis Light, Gas & Water Pumping Stations

You probably drive by these massive structures on North Parkway, Southern, Summer, and elsewhere in the city without even thinking about them, and that's a shame, because they play a critical role in our city. No, I'm not talking about the buildings on the grounds of the Lauderdale Estate. Instead, I'm referring to the complex of Memphis Light, Gas and Water pumping stations, which supply a clean and steady source of water to every home, business, factory, and every place else in Memphis. James Ingram, a longtime MLGW employee, has just published a very handsome book that takes a close look at these stations, inside and out, and it's packed with really wonderful information. The book has a lengthy title, which gives you a good idea of what it covers: Memphis...

Posted at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

02/08/12

The Madison Heights Baseball Team — Where Are They Now?

In the past few weeks, I've devoted a good bit of space here to the old (and now gone) Madison Heights Methodist Church. My pal C.L. Mullins sent me this interesting photograph, showing the church's baseball team. He points out, "Madison Heights shared a sports program with St. John's Methodist. So, who got the uniforms?" Good question. I wouldn't mind having an old Madison Heights baseball jersey, though I doubt if I would be able to fit into any of these. Because of my tremendous muscles, you understand. We can easily date this photo to 1963 or 1964, since in the background the Mid-South Coliseum is under construction, and it opened in 1964. Does anybody recognize any of the fellows in the photo?

Posted at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments: 4

02/06/12

Lost Memphis: Madison Heights Methodist Church — An Update

In the January issue of Memphis magazine, I told the story of Madison Heights United Methodist Church, a fine-looking stone structure that stood for more than a century at the corner of Monroe and Claybrook. I had mentioned that the church met a sad fate: Its members had moved away (I said), the church was abandoned, and the empty building was consumed by a fire of "undetermined origin" on April 14, 1997. That's not the whole story. A former church member, Mary Evelyn Goodwin, wrote to tell me the actual details of the church's demise. Here's what she had to say: "Thank you for your January article regarding the Madison Heights neighborhood and the former Madison Heights United Methodist Church. My parents also married there in 1928, and I and my...

Posted at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2

02/02/12

Look at the Traffic on East Parkway in 1912

Even by modern-day standards, East Parkway has never seemed, to me, to be a particularly busy street. But goodness gracious, it's like the Autobahn compared to how it used to look 100 years ago. This view shows what I believe to be the intersection of East Parkway and Madison in 1912. If that's true (and it's just a guess, really), then we are looking south. The picture is taken from a wonderful series of books called The Art Work of Memphis, published by the Gravure Illustration Company of Chicago. The book — actually a series of nine large-format softcover booklets — contains wonderful views of our city's homes, churches, streets, cemeteries, and other landmarks. The book actually belongs to my pal Lee Askew, of Askew Nixon Ferguson...

Posted at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments: 3

01/29/12

Meet Tim Johnson, Who Solved "The Mystery of the Old Postcard" — and He Tells Us How

Last week, after I posted the solution to “The Mystery of the Old Postcard,” I got an email from the detective himself, Tim Johnson. Here’s what he said about himself: “Hey there, I'm the one who got the postcard figured out. My dad is also named Tim Johnson with a different middle name, so we're not Sr./Jr. He saw the postcard on the "You're probably from Memphis If…" Facebook group and asked me if I could figure it out. I'm not good at describing myself, but I'm 30 years old; we've lived in eastern Kentucky since 1998. I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2010. I was working on a degree in Computer Science with a minor in Philosophy, but then switched to General Studies later because of the math. I work...

Posted at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments: 4

01/26/12

The Mystery of the Old Postcard — SOLVED!

Yesterday I posted an image of a postcard, mailed in 1909 to a young man in Memphis named George Cooper James, which contained a rather puzzling message. Well, I must say that we have some exceedingly intelligent people in our city, because it only took a few hours for one reader to break the secret code. Someone named Tim (last name unknown, I'm sorry to say), left this comment on the original blog post: It reads: "Dear Cooper, when are you going to write to an old friend? How are your mother and father, hope you are well and having a good time." Tim explains, "It doesn't have any punctuation or separation of words, and 'write' is even broken up on separate lines. I don't know the bottom 3 characters — might be a key for shared...

Posted at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments

	03/06/12 Lost Memphis: Boss Crump's Totem Pole in Confederate Park Over the years, Confederate Park in downtown Memphis has acquired a lot of curious things that have nothing to do with the Civil War. The most bizarre example of this was the totem pole that political boss E.H. Crump brought back to Memphis after a trip to the Northwest, and plunked down right in the middle of the park. Most people find this hard to believe until I show them an actual photograph of the thing, such as the old color postcard shown here. The story goes that back in 1941, Crump had journeyed to Seattle on a vacation. Like most travelers, he brought back a souvenir. Unlike most travelers, his keepsake was a 26-foot wooden totem pole, handcarved by a tribe of Indians somewhere in the Northwest, and purchased from the Hudson Bay Company. For some reason, $200... Posted at 10:58 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 1
	02/28/12 My Desperate and (So Far) Futile Search for the Davis White Spot Restaurant A popular TV show called Without a Trace features the FBI searching for people who have run away, been kidnapped, or otherwise vanished "without a trace." By the amazing miracle of television, they usually find their victims by the end of each episode. My own life doesn't work that way. I'm tempted to start my own show, focusing on Memphis places — not people — that have seemingly vanished without a trace. By that I mean, even though these were places that so many people fondly remember — that's what they tell me, anyway — they have left behind no photos, menus, matchbook covers, postcards, drawings, or anything at all to show they actually existed. Places like the Tropical Freeze and the Luau come to mind. And now Davis White... Posted at 10:58 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 18
	02/22/12 When the University of Memphis Almost Became the University of Tennessee Well, the big news lately is that the University of Memphis is now a member of the Big East, so that should make Tiger fans happy — for a while. But over the years, it seems the university has always strived to be part of greater things, and one of the strangest incidents in its 100-year history took place back in 1951, when Memphis State College — as it was called at the time — almost became the University of Tennessee. "MSC" would have changed to "UTAM" — which just sounds odd to me. The whole story is told in the school's 1951 DeSoto yearbook, and for some reason the editors chose to illustrate this section with the curious photo shown here — students pushing a broken-down jalopy through the entrace gates. I suppose... Posted at 10:05 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 5
	02/16/12 Did Memphis Serve as the Inspiration for "Glee"? I Believe the Answer Is YES. Our city has been the birthplace of so many wonderful things, among them: rock-and-roll music, Sun, Stax, FedEx, Holiday Inns, the world's first self-service grocery store — oh, the list just goes on and on. And then, of course, there's me, Vance Lauderdale. But did Memphis also serve as the inspiration for the hit television series Glee? I had wondered about that, until I turned up this photo of the Memphis Glee Club — the one, the only, the original. Just look at these happy-go-lucky gentlemen, and I think there's no question that they were the basis for the various free-spirited members of William McKinley High School's "New Directions" ensemble. They may be posed rather formally here, but you can tell they are just ready to burst... Posted at 11:36 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 1
	02/15/12 New Book Features Memphis Light, Gas & Water Pumping Stations You probably drive by these massive structures on North Parkway, Southern, Summer, and elsewhere in the city without even thinking about them, and that's a shame, because they play a critical role in our city. No, I'm not talking about the buildings on the grounds of the Lauderdale Estate. Instead, I'm referring to the complex of Memphis Light, Gas and Water pumping stations, which supply a clean and steady source of water to every home, business, factory, and every place else in Memphis. James Ingram, a longtime MLGW employee, has just published a very handsome book that takes a close look at these stations, inside and out, and it's packed with really wonderful information. The book has a lengthy title, which gives you a good idea of what it covers: Memphis... Posted at 01:16 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	02/08/12 The Madison Heights Baseball Team — Where Are They Now? In the past few weeks, I've devoted a good bit of space here to the old (and now gone) Madison Heights Methodist Church. My pal C.L. Mullins sent me this interesting photograph, showing the church's baseball team. He points out, "Madison Heights shared a sports program with St. John's Methodist. So, who got the uniforms?" Good question. I wouldn't mind having an old Madison Heights baseball jersey, though I doubt if I would be able to fit into any of these. Because of my tremendous muscles, you understand. We can easily date this photo to 1963 or 1964, since in the background the Mid-South Coliseum is under construction, and it opened in 1964. Does anybody recognize any of the fellows in the photo? Posted at 03:10 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 4
	02/06/12 Lost Memphis: Madison Heights Methodist Church — An Update In the January issue of Memphis magazine, I told the story of Madison Heights United Methodist Church, a fine-looking stone structure that stood for more than a century at the corner of Monroe and Claybrook. I had mentioned that the church met a sad fate: Its members had moved away (I said), the church was abandoned, and the empty building was consumed by a fire of "undetermined origin" on April 14, 1997. That's not the whole story. A former church member, Mary Evelyn Goodwin, wrote to tell me the actual details of the church's demise. Here's what she had to say: "Thank you for your January article regarding the Madison Heights neighborhood and the former Madison Heights United Methodist Church. My parents also married there in 1928, and I and my... Posted at 12:05 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 2
	02/02/12 Look at the Traffic on East Parkway in 1912 Even by modern-day standards, East Parkway has never seemed, to me, to be a particularly busy street. But goodness gracious, it's like the Autobahn compared to how it used to look 100 years ago. This view shows what I believe to be the intersection of East Parkway and Madison in 1912. If that's true (and it's just a guess, really), then we are looking south. The picture is taken from a wonderful series of books called The Art Work of Memphis, published by the Gravure Illustration Company of Chicago. The book — actually a series of nine large-format softcover booklets — contains wonderful views of our city's homes, churches, streets, cemeteries, and other landmarks. The book actually belongs to my pal Lee Askew, of Askew Nixon Ferguson... Posted at 03:56 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 3
	01/29/12 Meet Tim Johnson, Who Solved "The Mystery of the Old Postcard" — and He Tells Us How Last week, after I posted the solution to “The Mystery of the Old Postcard,” I got an email from the detective himself, Tim Johnson. Here’s what he said about himself: “Hey there, I'm the one who got the postcard figured out. My dad is also named Tim Johnson with a different middle name, so we're not Sr./Jr. He saw the postcard on the "You're probably from Memphis If…" Facebook group and asked me if I could figure it out. I'm not good at describing myself, but I'm 30 years old; we've lived in eastern Kentucky since 1998. I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2010. I was working on a degree in Computer Science with a minor in Philosophy, but then switched to General Studies later because of the math. I work... Posted at 11:12 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 4
	01/26/12 The Mystery of the Old Postcard — SOLVED! Yesterday I posted an image of a postcard, mailed in 1909 to a young man in Memphis named George Cooper James, which contained a rather puzzling message. Well, I must say that we have some exceedingly intelligent people in our city, because it only took a few hours for one reader to break the secret code. Someone named Tim (last name unknown, I'm sorry to say), left this comment on the original blog post: It reads: "Dear Cooper, when are you going to write to an old friend? How are your mother and father, hope you are well and having a good time." Tim explains, "It doesn't have any punctuation or separation of words, and 'write' is even broken up on separate lines. I don't know the bottom 3 characters — might be a key for shared... Posted at 02:41 PM \| Permalink \| Comments