Cape Girardeau History and Photos

January 14, 2013

Matt’s Savings Bonds

Wife Lila has been doing some major reshuffling of her office since she retired in November. Part of it is moving all the DedicatedIT business records and stuff to Son Adam, her co-owner’s, care. One of the things she’s finding is that your kids may move out, but some of their stuff lingers behind “so it doesn’t get lost.”

One of the things that lingered was a envelope with two U.S. Savings Bonds and the gift envelopes they and other bonds had lived in. Dad and Mother gave Son Matt bonds when he was a baby, and Mother made some out in memory of her parents – my grandparents, Roy and Elsie Welch.

“For when you are a big boy”

This one was for his first birthday. “From Pa Pa and Grandmother: Matt, this is for something you need when you are a big boy. Love forever.”

For his 4th Christmas

Mother wrote “My dear little boy, this coming year will be a special time for you! I know this paper means very little to you today, but in a few years it could become something very good to have – Have a wonderful day! I’ll be thinking of you this Xmas day. Love Gran.”

$25 DID grow over the years

Matt sent this note:

The back of the envelope shows when the bond was purchased and the amount for which it was exchanged. I’m pretty sure every bond was $25 face value and each was purchased for $18.75. Those bonds were
redeemed in December 1998.

The two remaining bonds are worth…

October 1975… $133.15
December 1975… $134.75

Both stopped earning interest in 2005. You can calculate their value here…

I would have sworn those bonds paid for part of my Stidham house furniture but, given the 1998 date, those bonds probably paid for my Kirkman apartment furniture… which is still in use in my Camellia house 14 years later. So, many thanks to Pa Pa and Gran.”

Three generations of furnishings

We’re going to use the proceeds of those last two bonds to open a savings account for Malcolm. I’m sure he’ll need to furnish an apartment in a few years and it seems only fitting that his great-grandparents buy him a sofa since they bought me and you both a sofa.
Three generations of furniture from those two, right? Didn’t they buy your original fold-out sofa?

He was right. When Lila and I got married, the only things we had in our living room were some concrete block and board bookcases and a twin bed mattress Lila had covered with corduroy, plus a few cushions, that served as a couch.

The first time Dad and Mother came for a visit and had to sleep on the floor on the “couch,” he pressed $300 in my hand and said, “Before we come back, make sure you have a hide-a-bed sofa for us to sleep on.”

Here Lila, Brother Mark and Dad sitting on the sofa in our first house in West Palm Beach. The Cape Steinhoffs had come down to Florida for Christmas.

January 12, 2013February 21, 2015

How to Shoot an Ice Storm

From the look of the Cape forecast, you might be able to use some of these hints this week. I never was all that great at shooting ice storms. First off, I was lucky enough not to encounter all that many of them. Secondly, what you see is not necessarily what you get. Your eye sees things your camera may not be able to record, particularly if you leave it set to automatic. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

RULE 1: Move in close

I used to tell reporters and amateurs that the easiest way to make better pictures is to compose the photo until you think it looks perfect, then take one GIANT step closer. (If you have short legs, make that TWO steps closer.)

There are two things that make ice photos interesting: the detail of the ice buildup on leaves and plants and / or the magic that happens when the sun hits the glaze. That leads us to…

RULE 2: Shoot into the sun

You probably have had drilled into you that you should always have the sun or other light source behind you. Well, that’s the SAFE thing to do, but it almost always makes for a dull photograph. That’s particularly true when you want your ice to sparkle.

This shot of our back yard is far from spectacular, but it gives you a clue of how the light coming from behind the trees causes the ice to light up. You can tell from the gray skies in most of the frames that I didn’t have much help from the sun. That’s another reason for shooting the closeups.

Remember RULE 1

This shot comes close to working, but it’s still pretty dull. Notice how I followed RULE 2: you can see the sun peeking out from behind the pole. I did that so the direct sunlight wouldn’t cause lens flare.

See, Closer IS better

This is the same ice-covered fence, but shot from closer. It’s still not a stunner, but it’s a better photo than the long shot. I like the way it looks like a honeycomb.

Sounds of an ice storm

I know that ice storms can cause a lot of damage to trees and power lines, but they are still an awesome event. There’s nothing like the sounds of the ice clinking together when the wind blows, punctuated by cracks that sound like a gun shot when a branch breaks. The negative sleeve was undated, but I’m guessing these were take somewhere around 1964 or 1965. One frame I didn’t bother to process had a mailbox that read L.D. Smith and the address 168.

2010 ice storm story

I ran some other ice photos about this time of year in 2010. If you compare them, I used some high-contract printing techniques to make them more interesting. That’s usually a good sign that the photo wasn’t all that good to begin with. Notice, though, that RULE 1 was definitely followed in the closeup photos of the ice hanging from the fences. Looks like that storm lasted a little longer than this one and it was a little bit windier. The icicles are longer and point away from the wind.

January 11, 2013

Men Playing Softball

There is a lot of softball action going on here: hitting, missing, jumping and anticipating. First Federal is playing somebody with NH on their hats. Having said that, that’s all I know.

These must have been taken after I graduated from flashbulbs to electronic flash because strobes do a lot better job at stopping action than the bulbs.

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.

January 10, 2013

Letters in the Mail

No, I mean LITERAL letters in the mail.

I’ve really enjoyed checking my real and virtual mailboxes of late. Shortly before the end of the year, I exchanged some email from a woman who asked if it was possible to buy some prints I had taken of the Esquire Theater when it looked like it might be reborn. One of the shots she was interested in was a stack of the marque letters. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

They’ll never see the marque again

I mentioned that I tried to buy some, but the supposed owner wanted to hold onto them for their original use. She said she had bought some in a local antique shop after the renovation project fell through.

We came to a mutually satisfactory agreement on the prints, and I thought that was the end of it. A couple of days ago, a box arrived in the mail. Strange boxes make me uneasy after I opened one with a live snake in it at the office. (Long story involving a staffer with a stalker ex.)

Inside it were the letters F, Z and J. Or, I guess you could say Z, F and J, or J-Z-F, depending on your perspective.

That beats a live snake all to pieces.

Wow! That’s not spam

I get a lot of messages claiming to be from the Better Business Bureau, banks I don’t do business with and the IRS that turn out to be cleverly disguised spam. At first read, I almost hit the JUNK button on this one:

Hello,
This email confirms that you have received a donation of $365.00 USD from [name deleted]
———————————–
Receipt ID: 2684-0226-3517-0502
———————————–
Donation Details
> Total amount: $365.00 USD
>Currency: U.S. Dollars
>Purpose: Ken Steinhoff / CapeCentralHigh.com

I’m going need a bigger hat

I didn’t recognize the person’s name, although I found they did subscribe to the daily email notifications, so I sent a thank-you and asked, as discretely as possible, “Who ARE you?” The response was so flattering that I’m going to have to spend the donation money on a bigger hat because it made my head swell:

I accomplished my New Year’s Resolution, to let you know how much I enjoy your web site. I go there almost every day to view your photos and read your interesting and quirky remarks and I feel like I’ve had a visit to Cape. It all started when my cousin mentioned your web site and told me I would like it. I’ve been hooked ever since.

I especially like hearing about your mother and the things your family has saved through the years, the photos of the special and historical spots around town and reading other peoples comments about the articles, and of course the river photos.

I appreciate your time, effort, and talent to make this web site so successful. Thought this would help. Thanks for starting my day with memories of Cape.

I offered to print favorite photos

I offered to have some prints made of some of the donor’s favorite photos, including the ones above. Here was her gracious response:

Picked up the photos this morning. They look good. Thanks so much. I wanted to let you know that your posting “71 years ago” is one of the reasons why I’m hooked on your web site.
A romantic story about of 2 people your viewers have come to know. I even knew who wrote in the sand because I know your Dad’s perfect printed letters. What a difference 71 years makes, your father on the beach in a suit in that gorgeous car and driving right up to the surf! Your mother is beautiful and so looking so absorbed in those vintage photos. Thanks for sharing your families’ memories.

One day it’s barges on the Mississippi, the next, Miss Ketterer yelling at wrestling match, or a birthday party on Themis…. I never know…the unexpected, almost everyday. Thanks again.

Where’s the donate button?

The DONATE button is at the top left of the page, along with a link to Amazon that gives me a cut of whatever you order at no additional charge to you. My latest donor has really put the pressure on me. When you get $365, that implies a dollar a day, which is going to force me to keep posting seven days a week. I’m going to feel guilty if I slack off. (Mother takes me to task any day I miss, anyway.)