Learning More about My Dad

Dad was born April 17, 1917, which would have made him 104 this year had he not died at 60 in 1977. I found some old letters in his files recently that have helped fill in some blanks and also confirmed stuff I had heard (or misheard) over the years.

I did a blog post in 2010 where I used a post out of his scrapbook to show me and a check he had received for what sounds like the first job he and his new partner, James Kirkwood, did in Ellington.

1949 letter to his brother, Paul Steinhoff

Here’s the three-page letter he wrote to his younger brother, Paul, on Oct. 3, 1949. You can click on any image to make it larger, then use the left and right arrow keys to move around.

I’ll pull out excerpts from it, and add comments.

Paul, Dad and Their Father

Paul – LV – Louis Steinhoff c 1934

This was in Dad’s high school scrapbook, so it must have been taken in the early 1930s. Paul is on the left, Dad is in the middle, and Louis Steinhoff, their father, is on the right. This may be the only photo I’ve seen of him.

It’s hard to read, but, based on other photos on the scrapbook, it was taken at 116 North Middle Street. That would have made it possible for him to be close enough to the Broadway theater to have used his toy wagon to carry music for the woman piano player to play in the silent movies. We always thought that to be a family legend until we saw an obit for the woman in the past decade or so.

Mexican Vacation

The folks wanted to take a trip so we, along with Mary Lee’s Dad and Mother took off to the south. We spent 3 weeks with everybody having a good time. Kenny finally had to give up his bottle in Mexico where we couldn’t get any milk. That was one good thing the trip did or he might have been on the bottle yet.

In February I took in a partner by the name of James Kirkwood. Kirkwood was an engineer for the Highway Dept. for 20 years, having a very good background.

Mother Had to Run Her Dad’s Store

We moved the trailer to Ellington and was there until July 14, except that Mary Lee had to come home in the late part of May and stay at Advance. Mr. Welch had a serious heart attack and was forced to stay at home in bed for three months. He is just now being able to do a little work at the store. Mary Lee had to take care of the business during this time. I moved the trailer to Charleston, but batched it during this time.

Steinhoff & Kirkwood Built Rt. W from Cape to Fruitland

On July 29th we were successful bidders on Route W in Cape Girardeau county. This job begins on Perry Ave. outside of Cape Girardeau city limits and runs to Fruitland, Mo. It’s a rather large job but are doing well, and except for weather conditions we should finish sometime this month or the first of next.

Our Trailer Was On a Now-Gone Hill behind Colonial Restaurant

We have moved the trailer to Cape and have parked it on Hyway 61 near the Colonial Restaurant in a private-owned yard. Kenny likes it back at Cape and has several playmates. Kirkwood has one boy 6 months older than Kenny and one girl that is just beginning to go to school.

Kenny is quite a big lad now and talks a blue streak all the time and is plenty heavy for his age. He has a tricycle and rides all the time. He is crazy about books and I do believe that he has well over 100 of them at the trailer and at his grandmother’s.

1949 Cardinals vs Cubs

There is one thing he will be able to say when he grows up, and that will be that he saw a National League baseball game as soon as his daddy. We went to St. Louis a week ago Sunday and saw the Cardinals play the Chicago Cubs. He finally went to sleep before the game was completed. We spent the morning at the zoo taking in the Monkey show.

Ice cream and a life of crime

He goes to the stores here at Advance and gets his own ice cream cones and soda by himself and he really thinks he is doing something.

Regions Bank – Colonial Tavern

Regions Bank Building 12-12-2015I was stuck at the traffic light at Broadway and Kingshighway back in December, so I had time to shoot this photo of Regions Bank.

It’s still the Colonial to me

Colonial Resturant CrashI can’t sit at that light, though, without seeing the Colonial Tavern in my mind’s eye. When I shot this picture of a wreck, it was branded the Colonial Restaurant. It was also called the Colonial Inn, too, if I remember right.

It’s worth revisiting that post for the comments people left.

 

Cape: Future Unlimited!

Achievement Editon Census story 02-26-1966I was trying to find the story that went with some photos of a Notre Dame Highlites dance when I saw the February 26, 1966, Missourian Achievement Edition headline “Cape Girardeau: Future Unlimited!”

The Achievement edition – known internally as the Atomic Edition – was a yearly wrap-up of what SE Missouri had done in the past year and what was coming down the pike. (Literally, in this case, because they were talking about getting I-55 done between Fruitland and Portageville).

The paper was all excited because the population was estimated to have passed the 30,000 plateau, 1,349 more than the estimate a year ago. That estimate, in turn, was 1,144 greater than the one in 1964. State College students accounted for 671 of the 1,349 increase. That was kind of a big deal, because 30,000 was the tipping point between being a third class city and a second class city in Missouri. The larger population also meant a larger proportion of the gasoline tax rebate would be flowing to Cape.

Cape was disappointed in 1960 when the city fell 53 people short of having 25,000 people, even though The Missourian offered a silver dollar to each person coming into the office to fill out an affidavit that they had not been counted in the census. The official tally turned out to be 24,947.

Other front page stories

You can’t say we didn’t have interesting stories in The Missourian. Floyd McGregor, owner of McGregor’s Market, 1004 North Sprigg, accidentally shot himself in the head with a 22-caliber rifle. The bullet entered under Mr. McGregor’s right eye and passed through his head near his right temple. “He apparently thought the bullet had just grazed his cheek, I don’t think he was aware the bullet actually entered his head,” Sgt. Donald Roberts said. He was in the hospital in satisfactory condition. The story said that Mr. McGregor had borrowed the rifle to shoot a cat. He was unloading the rifle when it accidentally discharged. The fate of the cat wasn’t reported.

A more amazing story is that of Clarence D. Snider, who died at the age of 72, leaving an estate of $465,581.67 in stocks. What makes it amazing is that Mr. Snider worked for 50 years as a heeler at the International Shoe Company; he was paid about $80 a week at the time of his retirement in 1959. His coworkers said he would generally show up for work about an hour early and spend the time poring over newspaper stock reports. He and his wife, Ella, lived in a house he built in 1915 at 123 South Boulevard. It was valued at $7,500.

Car phones coming to Cape

Achievement Edition Car phones 02-26-1966Southwestern Bell was rolling out mobile telephone service in the Cape area. The only catch was that it only worked for a radius of about 25-30 miles and only one frequency was available for all users in the coverage area. If one person was using the service, everybody else would get a busy signal.

When I was bored, I’d monitor the frequency, which was around 152 MHz, just below Cape PD. Most of the conversations were people who wanted to impress their friends and clients with the fact they were calling from their cars. I was amused to hear a local radio station “newsman” recording a whole bunch of “actualities” from his car phone. “This is Joe Jones reporting from his mobile telephone in Cape Girardeau.” Followed immediately by “This is Joe Jones reporting live from his mobile telephone in Advance, Mo.” Followed by “This is Joe Jones bringing you news by mobile telephone from Perryville.” Rinse and repeat.

Ads for Colonial Restaurant and Sunny Hill

Colonial Restaurant CrashThe paper’s ad had interior and exterior shots of Colonial Restaurant. [That link will take you to the page NEXT to the ad. You’ll have to scroll left a page to see it.]

The ad said it was “greatly enlarged and newly remodeled.” That might be why it looked like the building was being worked on in my wreck photo.

Another full-page advertisement said, “Hospitality Unlimited at the in-town motor inn which will open soon to offer the warmest ‘welcome-come-again’ anywhere. Sunny Hill Motor Inn will be the most convenient place to stay in Cape Girardeau. It will have 48 Spacious Guestrooms and will be right next to Cape Girardeau’s Favorite Restaurant – Plus many other features.”

It featured interior photos of the Golden Coin Dining Room and Golden Coin Lounge “Now Open for your dining pleasure and convenience.”

P.S. I never did find the story I was looking for.