Cape Girardeau History and Photos

December 22, 2014May 4, 2021

Top 13 of 2014

#1 – Dancing in the parking lot

That’s a headline that’s going to drive Wife Lila crazy. She HATES it when I tell her I’m going to take a 19-minute nap or set my alarm for 9:32.

I learned a long time ago if you fill out your expense report and round stuff off to even 5s and 10s, you are more likely to get it kicked back than if you say, “Breakfast – $3.97;” “Lunch – $6.43;” Dinner – $16.22.” Mileage should never be 100 miles (even if it was); that sounds like an estimate. Make it 98.7 miles and it’ll sail right through.

She complains when I set the microwave for 2:22 to make popcorn, but I’ve found 2:25 produces some burned kernels, and 2:15 leaves a bunch of orphans behind. It’s all about precision.

Since everybody else does Top 10 lists at this time of the year, I thought I’d find out what the 13-most read posts were in 2014. Interestingly enough, some oldies floated to the top of the heap.

The most-viewed post this year was the 2010 account of the Teen Age Club dance that set the floor bouncing and caused it to be moved to the bank parking lot at Broadway and Main. You can click on the photos to make them larger if you want to see if you were there.

# 2 – 43 years of Cairo photos

A 2011 post of 43 years of Cairo photos slotted in as Number Two. The sad thing is that even most of these buildings have disappeared since the picture was taken in 2010.

#3 – The house in a hole

Readers kept asking me about the “house in a hole,” which ended up as the third most-read story. I ran these photos made earlier, and promised I’d tell the rest of the story later.

The next time I was in Cape, I knocked on the door and was given a complete history of the home and how it got tucked in between commercial properties and the Interstate, but she asked that I not publish it. I’m respecting her wishes. Sorry to disappoint you.

#4 – Dino’s Pizza is doomed

It was a sad day when a fire closed Dino’s Pizza in 2011. These pictures of the last days of Dino’s were taken in May of 2014. A follow-up showing the empty lot where the pizza joint once stood didn’t make the top 150.

Sounds like we’d rather remember that which was there rather than that which is gone.

#5 – Photographs of Smelterville

People still come back to look at a 2011 post I did of Smelterville residents I photographed in 1967. I posed the question, “Where are they?”

I’m happy to report that I’ve been successful in locating almost all the families of those pictured. I’ve produced three “works in progress” books, and am editing video interviews I’ve done with some of the folks who lived there. It’s been a rewarding project.

#6 – Jo Ann Bock’s book

Jo Ann Bock’s book, Around the Town of Cape Girardeau in Eighty Years plows a lot of the same ground I do, but decades apart. She was getting married (1950) just about the time I was getting born (1947), so we’ve viewed the town through different lenses.

By the way, a lot of you have ordered her book through my Amazon link, we both thank you for that. Click here to order your copy of Around the Town of Cape Girardeau in Eighty Years.

#7 – Town Plaza Shopping Center

A photograph of the Town Plaza Shopping Center that ran in the 1962 Girardot drew 20 comments from readers who remember when the Town Plaza was a Big Deal.

#8 – Ruth Ann Seabaugh 1947 – 2012

The dictionary could save a lot of words by just putting a photo of Ruth Ann Seabaugh next to the word “Majorette.” This gal from the Class of ’65 knew how to dominate a street. What I didn’t know until her daughter contacted me was what an extraordinary woman she grew up to be. If you missed the story the first time, it’s worth a read.

#9 – Purple Crackle becomes The Pony

A 2011 story about the Purple Crackle’s transition into “the ultimate strip joint” continues to attract readers and comments.

Even Mother said “I’ve danced there.” I’m assuming she was talking about in the old days when she and Dad would go there and not recently.

#10 – Crash on Independence

It was amazing how many Cape Girardeau landmarks and cultural icons showed up in a simple three-car crash at Independence and Henderson. The photos capture a simpler time when the whole neighborhood would turn out to speculate, estimate and ruminate about exactly what caused the vehicles to try to share the same space at the same time.

As I pointed out in a comment, “Estimates of how much it would cost to repair the damage would be exchanged. Skid marks, the dirt that falls from a vehicle at the point of impact and broken glass would be analyzed by people who were probably as good as most investigators of the time.

“Of course, the fresh crash would cause past crashes to be brought up and compared in detail.

“Any injuries would take the excitement to the next level. That afternoon, everyone would rush to pick up The Missourian to find out how many mistakes they made in their account.”

#11 – Blechle’s Grocery

Posts about neighborhood groceries are always popular. Blechle’s Grocery was no exception. Some readers documented shenanigans that are, hopefully, outside the statute of limitations.

#12 – Founder of McDonald’s killed in crash

Jerry Davis died in a plane crash in 2003. Mr. Davis was not only the founder of Cape’s McDonald’s, but he also owned at one time or another some of Cape’s best-known restaurants: Royal N’Orleans, Ricardo’s, Shakey’s Pizza and Pfister’s Drive-In.

#13 – Those are SOME Cheerleaders

A photo from the annual CHS student-teacher basketball game. It contains some the hairiest-legged cheerleaders Central ever fielded. For cheerleader fans, the post contains 10 links to other cheerleader stories and photos.

Honorable Mention – Randy Morse

This post finished just out of the money, but I just had to include Randy Morse, 1947 – 2014. He and his escapades, including a trip to Florida in a hearse, were well-remembered.

Shameless plug

I want to thank those folks who have used the yellow Donate button at the top left of the page. I appreciate your support and wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

If you celebrate something else (or nothing), I’m still going to send you Best Wishes.

December 21, 2014January 7, 2015

The Dreaded Word Problem

$Math book$ Let’s get this out of the way first: I was a lousy math student. I could, with some tutoring from Friend Shari and Dad, grasp the concepts, but I was too interested in debate and photography to waste time (from my perspective) doing the homework.

Geometry was even a bigger bore: I mean, why bother “proving” stuff that had already been “proven.” Come on, let’s plow some new ground here.

We had soft-cover books

$Math book 2$ We folks in the Class of ’65 had “proof” books of the Concepts of Modern Mathematics. They books were printed on regular 8-1/2 x 11″ paper and had a pink heavyweight paper front and back with some kind of black tape binding, if I recall correctly.

By the time Wife Lila’s Class of ’66 got there, the book was a real hardback with Grace Williams’ name on the flyleaf as an author.

Misses Williams and Rixman were good teachers and extraordinarily patient with the likes of me. I mentioned to Shari one day not long ago that I was sure they gave me a higher grade in their classes than I deserved.

Her theory was that if they thought a student had the potential to accomplish something if they ever pulled their act together, they’d cut them some slack rather than give them a low grade that might torpedo their chances to go on to college. I’m not sure I was THAT pitiful, but I appreciate them giving me the benefit of the doubt.

Wife Lila was more diligent

$Math book 5$ My pink-covered books are lost in a box somewhere in my storage shed, but Lila’s are out on a shelf in plain sight. You can tell from her notes that she took the class seriously. (And, seriously enough that she bought the books at the end of the year.) You can click on the images to make them larger, by the way.

This is a management problem

$Math book 3$ The problem read, “Mary and Jane complete a typing task together in 3 hours. If Mary types for 2 hours and Jane 4-1/2 hours, they complete the same task. In how many hours could Jane complete the task working alone?”

Well, this sounds more like a management problem than a math problem.

Is Mary a Chatty Cathy who distracts Jane from her typing duties, which would mean that Jane would be faster alone.
Is Jane a supervisor, who is helping Mary learn the job, so she has to do the work of two?
If Jane is that slow, shouldn’t we fire her and hire another Mary?
What if Jane is the only one in the office who knows how to make good coffee or clear the jam in the copier, and she’s constantly interrupted?

Don’t even get me started on all the unlisted variables in the touring group problem at the bottom of the page.

Who cares how high the tree was?

$Math book 4$ Problem 8 says “During a storm a tree is broken and falls with its tip touching the ground 24 feet from its base. If the top part makes an angle of 30 degrees with the ground, what was the original height of the tree?”

Who CARES how tall the tree was originally? It ain’t never gonna be that tall again.
If I’m going to climb up the trunk to determine the exact angle, why don’t I just measure the stump, then say, “Hey, Joe, catch the end of the tape and tell me how far it is to the tip of the tree.” Height of stump plus the distance from the stump to the tip of the tree equals the original height.
Of course, you’re going to take a productivity hit for the time you take to answer Joe’s question, “Hey, boss, why’d you do that?”
While I’m up there measuring the height of the stump, I might as well drag along a chainsaw to whack off the widowmaker.
If I do that, I don’t even have to throw the tape to Joe: I can just say, “Joe, cut those pieces up into four-foot lengths, then let me know how many there are.” See, simple math, I get the truck loaded and I don’t have to explain anything to Joe.

Maybe THAT’S why Misses Rixman and Williams held out hope for me: they saw me as a budding practical mathematician, not a theoretical one.

Or, more likely, they didn’t want me to repeat their course.

December 20, 2014

Fred McLard’s Log Cabin

Class of ’66 buddy Dick McClard and I were driving around after trying to locate the mass grave from the steamboat The Stonewall near Neely’s Landing this spring. We think we’re getting close, but it’s going to take some more looking.

Anyway, he suggested we go see Fred McLard’s log cabin. (That’s not a typo: those folks never could get the spelling of their names right. They answer to McClard, McLard, McLaird and MacLaird, among other things.) Dick’s on the left, Fred’s on the right.

Cabin lives inside barn

At some point long ago, a barn was built around the log cabin. The farm is across the street from the New Bethel Church, close to the intersection of County Roads 532 and 525. It’s on private property, but Fred’s a nice guy and would probably give you permission to take a look if you knocked on his door.

The view across the fields from his house is just short of spectacular, too.

Photo gallery

Here are some detail shots of the cabin. Click on any photo to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move around.

December 19, 2014December 19, 2014

347 North Pacific Street

The building at 347 North Pacific was purchased by Southeast Missouri State University in 1980, but I’ll always remember it as Dorington Apartments, the place where Carol Klarsfeld lived.

Carol was a tiny little thing who was always up for an adventure. There was a tale that she put more miles on her mother’s car than she was supposed to. Having a logical mind, she thought, “The speedometer counts up when the car is going forward, so it should count backward if the car is going in reverse.”

The prospect of driving many miles in reverse didn’t seem practical, so she jacked up the rear of the car, put it in gear and gunned it. Her logical skills far surpassed her mechanical skills unfortunately. In the story I heard, the jack slipped and the car took off at high speed in reverse.

When she and her mother moved from a ranch house to the Dorington Apartments, Carol was afraid that her neighbors would keep an eye on her and rat her out if she came in late or engaged in other shenanigans. She quickly found out that apartment dwellers are more anonymous than people who live in houses.

History of 437 North Pacific

I wasn’t able to find out when Carol’s apartment was built, but a search through Missourian archives turned up information about some of the people who lived at that address, most notably R.B. Potashnick and his family. Here’s a sampling of stories. Longer one contain links for more information.

January 29, 1926 – Mrs. C.W. Stehr is confined to her home suffering from injuries received when she fell on the ice in front of her home, 347 North Pacific Street, her right wrist broken in two places.
October 19, 1926 – Mrs. Farnham Clark, who has been visiting Miss Lucille Buck of 347 North Pacific for several days, left today for her home in Menoninee, Wis.
August 11, 1931 – Miss Lucille Bock and Herbert Bock, 347 North Pacific, left today for a motor trip to New Orleans and other points in the South.
October 24, 1932 – Miss Marie Kinder, 343 North Pacific Street, and Robert Richards, 347 North Pacific Street, spend several days with friends in LaSalle, Ill. Mr. Richards also transacted business while away. (There’s another brief that says “Almost every night the young people of Cape Girardeau are driving out Sprigg Street to Blue Hole for delicious sandwiches and soft drinks.”)

Why we vaccinate kids today

January 31, 1934 – Today’s contagious disease list in Cape Girardeau contained nine new names, eight measles cases and one of chicken pox being reported to City Health Officer Henry Haman, Jr. The measles cases are Mason Martin, Red Star suburb; David Phillipson, 228 North Frederick Street; Bobby Johnson, 545 South Benton Street; Jimmy Bauerle, 916 Good Hope Street; David Samuels, 123 North Spanish Street; Mary Potashnick, 347 North Pacific Street; Bobby Adams, Perryville Road; and Landess Mills, 102 North Ellis Street. Virginia Hughes, 118 North Frederick Street, has chicken pox.
June 14, 1938 – Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Potashnick, daughters Mary and Ann, 347 North Pacific Street, Mrs. Ben Vinyard, 322 North Pacific Street, Mrs. Geraldine Young, 331 Bellvue Street, and Don Black, 316 Bellvue Street, spent Monday in St. Louis and attended the Municipal Opera that night. Mr. Potashnick remained on business.
February 6, 1939 – R.B. Potashnick, a contractor, 347 North Pacific Street, spent the weekend at his home here and returned to St. Louis today on business. Mr. Potashnick last Friday was awarded a contract, aggregating over $414,000 for construction of Rural Electrification Administration project lines in the vicinity of Macon. He was recently given a contract for constructing a similar project in Elsinore and district.
September 13, 1951 – A chauffeur-driven 1950 Cadillac sedan and a 1939 Buick collided at the intersection of Hopper Road and Kingshighway Wednesday. Both automobiles were damaged. The Cadillac was owned by R.B. Potashnick, 347 North Pacific Street, and driven by Joe Nelson of 605 Merriwether Street. The Buick was driven by Ben Seitze, 1514 North Rand Street.
June 8, 1962 – The second fire within 48 hours broke out this morning at the R.B. Potashnick home, 347 North Pacific Street. The original fire caused damage estimated at $75,000 to $100,000. Chief Lewis, commenting on the [first] fire, said when firemen arrived at the house a big hole had already burned through the living room floor and a radiator had fallen through to the basement. Mr. Potashnick, a widely-known contractor whose company has handled many multi-million dollar projects throughout the country, came from St. Louis to survey the damage, but later left for Georgia on business. Mrs. Potashnick was scheduled to arrive from Ohio today.
April 2, 1968 – About $100 in underclothing was stolen from a basement clothesline in an apartment belonging to Mrs. Wayne Nations, 347 North Pacific.
November 14, 1980 – The Dorington Apartments, 347 North Pacific Street, will soon house classes in the SEMO State University’s College of Business. The university purchased the structure this week for just over $300,000.