Cape Girardeau History and Photos

When I was a kid, there was a tiny building – I think it was white – at Bloomfield and Kingshighway that sold the cheapest gas in town.

The formal name was Thoni Oil Company, but everyone always called it Thoni’s, pronounced Thone-Eyes. There was a price war once where I saw the cost of gas go down to 19 cents a gallon. That’s as low as I’ve ever seen it anywhere since I got my license.

My family didn’t buy gas there, probably because my Dad had heard rumors that the gas was “watered.” On the other hand, other folks told me that they seen tankers from major oil companies making deliveries there. Who knows?

At Muny Airport

Airport news was worth a mention in the 50s. There is a column in The Missourian called At Muny Airport that reported on April 5, 1952, that Richard E. Thoni of Nashville flew here Monday in a Navion to attend to business in connection with the opening of a new filling station on Kingshighway here. He returned the same day.

The Mar. 6, 1953 Missourian dutifully reported that Richard Thoni of Nashville flew home Tuesday after attending business here in connection with his service station. He flew here Sunday in his Navion, using an automatic pilot.

There was a lawsuit filed in 1953 that said that Thoni Oil Company had 23 stations in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky. The Cape stati0n didn’t merit mention.

Nothing left of Thoni’s

The 60s were pretty quiet, but The Missourian reported an armed robbery at the station Jan. 17, 1972. The bad guys got away in a stolen car with about $50. Then, in 1976, the soda machine at the station was broken into and $6 or $7 in change was taken.

The crime spree continued. On Oct. 7, 1977, The Missourian said that Charles Salvatore reported to police that a woman came into the office asking for change, and then grabbed a $10 bill from his hand and left in the company of three other persons.

I didn’t find a story that told when the station closed.

These two boys must have stopped by my house on their way back from fishing on Cape LaCroix Creek. I see my old toy tractor on the left behind them and the family’s 1959 Buick LaSabre station wagon on the right.

I think the fellow on the left is one of the Fiehler boys and the fish killer on the right is Kent Verhines‘ brother (Brad?).

A lesson in photography

I ran into this boy on Broadway at Capaha Park. It was a rainy day around dusk, do I debated whether to shoot him with flash or available light.

The flash photo is crisper and more contrasty, but the raindrops reflected light back at the camera and the background went almost all black.

Available light photography

The available light shot isn’t quite as sharp, but it more accurately captures the “drowned rat” look of the kid. I almost avoided flash whenever possible. After all, if God wanted you to use flash, he’d have lit the world with lightning instead of the steady light of the sun.

More kids in the rain

These kids were walking along splashing in puddles right about the time I saw the fisherman. You can tell it was shot with flash because of the light reflecting off the raindrops. That’s the reason why you don’t drive with your high beams on when it’s snowing or foggy. The light will reflect back off the snow or fog.

I saw a mention of an Air Festival  on the City of Cape Girardeau Facebook fan page. That, in turn, led me to the Cape Air Festival 2010 homepage.

Follow that link to get tickets for the 2010 Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival to be held June 19 and 20. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will be among the performers.

10,000 attended 1963 Aviation Day

Sounds a whole lot bigger deal than the July 26, 1964 Aviation Day I covered. I don’t have any details because that week is missing from the Google Archives. An advance story said that about 10,000 people attended the show in 1963.

Today’s tower looks more substantial

I don’t know if the thing that looked like a plywood tower in the old photos was something cobbled together for the air show or if it WAS the tower.

Municipal Airport Terminal

Today’s Cape Regional Airport has a modern tower, but I don’t think it’s populated. In fact, I’m not sure there are any commercial flights coming into Cape these days. I can remember climbing onto those old lumbering DC-3s for the Ozark Airlines hop into St. Louis.

Airport Security 1964-style

Flying was still special

Flying in those days was still special.People dressed in their Sunday go-to-meetin’ clothes and were greeted by stewardesses (they were all young women then) who were actually pleasant. Kids were given tours of the cockpit and given pilot’s wings, among other things.

Airlines worked hard to hook young fliers by promoting discounted “student standby” flights. I recognize my caboose has expanded since those days, but I believe the seats WERE larger back then.

I cheated a bit with the shot on the right. It wasn’t taken at Cape. We talked an airline into letting us shoot an illustration of some kind on one of their jets while it was at the gate at Palm Beach International Airport.

My son, Adam, who was used as a model, took advantage of the opportunity to see what’s behind the curtain.

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport