Photos around Cape Archives

December 12, 2012

Lifesaving Class

I should have run these photos when it was unseasonably warm back in Cape a couple of weeks ago. They’ll have to serve as reminders of warmer days now that smoke is coming out of Cape Girardeau chimneys.

I’m assuming that it was a lifesaving class at Capaha Park Pool in 1964. I see some faces that look familiar, but I’ll let you put names to them.

Other pool photos

Lifesaving photo gallery

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery. Name guesses are encouraged.

December 7, 2012

Flo’s Only Accident in 29 Years

On the way to or from a basketball tournament Feb. 27, 1967, I encountered Flo’s Cab which had been involved in a minor crash. The hit was hard enough to dislodge the luggage rack from atop the station wagon, but I don’t see any windshield dimples, so it must not have been too bad. On top of that, it looks like I rated it worth only one shot.

What I didn’t know until I just read a Nov. 23, 1974, Missourian story was that I managed to capture Flo’s only accident. “Flo said she was involved in one minor accident in 1967 when the pavement was wet from rain. Her parked cabs have been struck at times by other moving vehicles, she said.”

As far as I know, I never photographed Flo. She was one of those formidable characters who intimidated me.

Flo stories

When you are one of the first female cab drivers and you are a fixture for 29 years, you are well known.

December 6, 2012

Cape’s Dew Drop Cafe

When I wrote about the Dew Drop Inn in Bloomsdale, I mentioned ones in nine other states. What I didn’t know until contacted by Jeffry Lynn Boswell Hawk was that Cape had its own Dew Drop at 111 North Main Street. She was kind enough to share some photos of her grandparents and the interior of the store. Here is her account:

MY GRANDPARENTS (Homer and Madge Boswell) OWNED A SMALL CAFE CALLED “DEW-DROP IN” IN THE LATE 40’S. It was located next door to The (OLD) First National Bank on Main Street. It was in the building that recently housed Brown Shoe Store (which has now moved out on Broadridge) in Cape.

As a little girl of about 3-4 years of age, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents in their cafe. The Tot & Teen Shop was a couple doors north next to Osterloh’s Book Store. I would run up there and see Miss Mercer, who would dress me in real cute little outfits and then tell me to “run back down and show your grandma how cute you look.” Of course, my grandparents couldn’t resist the outfits and I had many beautiful clothes as a little girl!

One day, I ran down the street in front of Hecht’s where a fire hydrant was sticking out between Hecht’s and the adjoining building. Curious, I stuck my hand in the hydrant to see what was in there and IT GOT STUCK on the swinging flap (like a Japanese finger lock). Anyway, the old night watchman, Sam Tucker, heard me hollering for my Grandma and helped me get out of the big trap and took me up to my Grandparents’ DEW-DROP IN and told them what happened. Everyone knew everyone on Main Street and they all watched out for each other. Those were some wonderful days!

Inside the Dew Drop Cafe

The Missourian had a business brief September 10, 1945: H.O. Boswell of Cape Girardeau has purchased the Dew Drop confectionery, 111 North Main Street, from Charles Barranco, who has operated the business on Main for 36 years. Mr. Barranco will retain the building.

Mr. and Mrs. Boswell will operate the business, and he said meals, as well as fountain service, will be featured. He and a son, Homer F. Boswell, for a year have operated the Plaza Cafe on Broadway, and Homer Boswell now has taken full charge of the Plaza. Mr. Barranco said he will retire from business, at least for the present.

December 3, 2012March 30, 2015

Jake Wells: Cape Artist

When I saw the name “Jake Wells” on a negative sleeve, it sounded familiar. There was a dim recollection that he had something to do with art, particularly since he had been photographed in a studio surrounded by easels.

The Missourian said he died in 1999 at the age of 81, after 34 years of teaching art at the high school and university level. Wells taught for 14 years at Jackson before joining the Southeast art faculty in 1960, where he served as chair of the department from 1972 to 1976. He retired in 1980.

The black and white photos were taken in 1966 to promote The Missourian‘s annual art show. You can click on the photos to make them larger.

Kent Library Mural

I discovered that he had created some works that hundreds of people see every day. He did a 20′ x 38′ mural in the lobby of SEMO’s Kent Library to commemorate the university’s 100th birthday. One of the largest indoor murals in the state, it was dedicated in 1973.

Bicentennial Mural on Broadway

This 40′ x 80′ Bicentennial Mural on the east side of 405 Broadway depicts the founding of Cape Girardeau. It was completed in July 1992 for the city’s 200th anniversary.

Known for his paintings of Missouri Mills

A Missourian to the core, Wells loved documenting his state. He originally planned to paint watercolors of seven of Missouri’s old water mills. The project grew until he done 27. They were displayed at the university and appeared in a book, Water Mills of the Missouri Ozarks, a collaboration with George Suggs, Jr.

The Missourian has run several interesting stories about Wells that are worth following:

Jake Wells, an “artist in touch with people”
The characters in the Kent Library Mural
Feature story after he died
Jake Wells obituary (I couldn’t create a link directly to the obit. Scroll to the right on the page.
A good 1966 feature about his love of the river