Cape Girardeau History and Photos

January 8, 2012

Crash Damages Church Sign

I see what looks like car juice on the street, sidewalk and lawn in front of a sign that’s taking a nap in front of the Evangelical United Church of Christ at the corner of Merriwether and South Ellis. Based on other photos in the envelope, I’m going to guess these wreck pictures were taken some time in September of 1966.

Evangelical United Church of Christ sign back up

I checked out Google Earth this evening, it looked like the sign has been replaced.

When I called Cape this evening, Mother said, “Looks like you’ve been slacking off the last few days.” I tried to explain to her that I’ve been working on a project that’s kept me busy, so I’ve been reaching into the negative drawer for stuff that doesn’t require a lot of research. It’s tough when your own mother gives you a C-minus grade. I’m probably going to have to turn in some extra homework to bring up my grade.

By the way, if you’ve noticed something new at the top of the page – three rotating photos of Central High School cheerleaders, the CHS Alma Mater and something touting the Cape Central High Centennial, click on them and you’ll be taken to a website with information about how you can order a quite nice book celebrating 100 years of Cape Central High School. I was going to have a story about the book and the high school’s new library, but Mother was right: I WAS slacking off today. I took advantage of a perfect Florida afternoon to go bike riding with a couple of friends. I’ll be pounding dusty erasers for a week for playing hooky.

January 7, 2012January 7, 2012

Antique Car

Everybody’s heard about the vintage automobile that was put aside for whatever reason in some farmer’s barn, to be long forgotten until decades later when it’s found in mint condition by someone who knows its worth. I don’t have any idea of this is such a car. I vaguely remember shooting it, but I couldn’t find a story in September 1966 that went along with it. This looks more like an assignment than something I stumbled onto.

Maybe someone can identify the car and / or the woman in the pictures.

The automobile in Cape Girardeau

Here’s a piece about Cape’s early car history. Cape’s first car hit the street in 1904, for example. Cape’s first car theft happened a year later. A car ran over the first pedestrian on July 21, 1910; the next day, a car driven by R.B. Oliver, Jr., collided with a Western Union bicyclist. Cape hasn’t been safe for cyclists or pedestrians since.

More mystery car photos

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery. Happy hunting.

Some of you have been interested in how the photos were taken. It must have been fairly dark in the garage, so I used an electronic flash held at arms-length high and to the left to keep the harsh shadows from falling directly behind the subject. That give the subject more modeling than if the flash was bolted onto the camera.

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012

No Leaf Loafers Here

OK, I kinda missed the season on this one, but you get ’em as I find ’em. This was on the same roll as the Atlas Plastic strikers, so it must have been taken in September of 1966.

This is what’s called “wild art” in the business. It’s a feature shot with no real news peg. I don’t think it ever ran, so I wasted a few minutes of time and three or four frames of film that were going to be processed anyway.

Following rules can make for dull photos

This photo breaks several of the normal snapshotter rules that say you should always have the sun at your back and never shoot into it. Those are good rules, but they also make for dull photos.

In this case, I let the foreground detail go dark, creating a partial silhouette effect. I was hoping that the backlighted smoke would separate the subjects from the background, which it did. I like the composition of the woman holding her rake down, while the boy on the left has his pitchfork up in the air.

I wish the boy with the cart had been half a step to the left, but the other elements were missing when HE was in the right spot. This wouldn’t be a good picture if you wanted to be able to identify the people in it, but it’s captures the feeling of raking and burning leaves in the late afternoon.

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012

Atlas Plastic Workers Strike for More Money

The Missourian caption under my photo on the front page August 29, 1966, read, “A line of pickets bearing signs proclaiming a strike against Atlas Plastics Corp. here march in front of the company offices on Broadview. The walkout began Saturday afternoon. From left, the men are Lawrence Hagan, Glen Grojean, Tom Gibbar, Joe Gockel, Mitchell Gill and Earl Rhodes. (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

Albert M. Spradling, the company’s attorney, said the union was asking for an across-the-board wage increase of nearly a dollar an hour plus additional fringe benefits. Atlas Production workers earned an average of $1.88 per hour, Spradling said.The company wanted to spread the increase over a three-year contract; the union was holding out for a one-year agreement.

Atlas was third Cape strike

A September 21, 1968, story said that a walkout of 200 employees had shut down the Atlas plant, the city’s third industrial strike in three months. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local went on strike July 29 at Davis Electric Co., and IBEW Local 1601 employees of Superior Electric struck Aug. 18. I wonder if these strikes were tied in with the parent and student protest at the Jackson Junior High School in 1964.

Six employees were arrested September 24, 1968, when they blocked a truck leaving the plant after being served a restraining order.