Period Costumes at Church

The street signs in the background say Cape Rock and Rand. There’s no listing in the 1968 City Directory for a church in that neighborhood, but Google Maps shows The Church of God located at 209 E. Cape Rock Drive today. You can click on the photo to make it larger.

Horsin’ around at the church

A comely lass boldly exhibits an ankle getting out of the wagon. (That’s the way caption writers talked back in those days.)

Anyone know what was going on?

I didn’t have enough information to do a meaningful Google Archive search, so you’re going to have to provide any thing beyond the address.

9 Replies to “Period Costumes at Church”

  1. This was most likely the the preliminaries to building the present church. This reenactment is called a brush arbor meeting. Traveling preachers, when they arrived in an area in the olden days, were treated very well by the public. It was a big deal to have an ordained preacher conduct services so more than the normal amout of folks would attend from a wide area. To accomodate all the folks, services would be held outside under a temporary shelter framework with brush thrown on top to afford shade. It would more than likely last a few days with a party atmosphere, with young folks being married, many souls saved and parishioners baptized (and of course the hat was passed). I attended this church at one time by invitation of some friends.

  2. I used to live in that neighborhood while in the 3rd or 4th grade. Seems to me at the church there at that time was called New Testament Baptist.

  3. Ken,

    I remember my mother’s neighbor Bill O’Howell was involved in forming that church and involved in it’s construction. He was a carpenter and would talk to my mother, Pauling Gaither telling her the latest. She lived on Cape Rock Dr and he built a house on Howell Lane for his family behind her place. He was a good, well thought of neighbor.

  4. The gentlemen in the first and last photo in the suit and top hat is Ellis (Buck) Whittaker. I believe his wife Helen is in one or two photos but I’m not sure.I’ll check with family and see if they know any of the others. Great photos as usual! Thanks for the memories.

  5. I remember once driving near Lake Wappapello and at an intersection deep in the woods were the remains of a “brush arbor”. It was huge, with lots of mature trees supporting saplings covered with “brush”. A common shrub in some areas is called the “serviceberry” because (I have read) it was often the brush for the “service”.

  6. i am pretty sure that the two girls on the end are carol whittaker and cecilia mott duley, probably carols dad’s church?????

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