BSA Wallet Contains Surprises

Ken Steinhoff Boy Scout wallet 11-30-2021

When I was a kid, my grandmother gave me a small cedar chest to hold my “special” things. Nothing in it had much value – it had lots of Boy Scout detritus, including my Boy Scout wallet, some Scout rings and bracelets, a carved Order of the Arrow, and lots of certificates for awards. 

Is that green sticking out?

Ken Steinhoff Boy Scout wallet 11-30-2021

I thought I had hit paydirt when I opened the wallet and saw a green bill sticking up. Note my address: Kingsway Dr. Rt. 2. Our mailing address for years was just Route 2 because we were outside the Cape city limits.

Looks like a folded five-dollar bill

Ken Steinhoff Boy Scout wallet 11-30-2021

Yep, sure is. I don’t recall having many of those at that age.

All that is green is not money

Ken Steinhoff Boy Scout wallet 11-30-2021

When I unfolded it, it was only half as wide as a regular bill, and this was on the backside.

Note that the address was Highway 61, not Kingshighway, and the Area Code was still 314.

Esicar’s alas, went on the auction block in 2011, briefly became The Butcher Block, and is now empty.

My Totin’ Chip

Ken Steinhoff Boy Scout wallet 11-30-2021

Barely visible through the glassine sleeve is my Totin’ Chip, which attested that I had read Chapter 15 in the Handbook for Boys, and that I knew that ownership of the woodsman’s tools means responsibility and that I accepted it.

“In consideration of the above, ” he is hereby granted “Totin’ Rights.”

To this day, I remember how to hand someone an axe, and to say “Thank You” to signify that I am accepting a cutting tool from someone.

The ink has pretty much faded, but I think Scoutmaster Ralph Fuhrmann signed the card.

A Western Union Telegram

Ken Steinhoff Boy Scout wallet 11-30-2021

Also folded up was a bit of yellow paper that turned out to be a Western Union telegram from my grandmother, Elsie Welch, who must have been visiting Miami.

It was dated the day before my birthday in 1950. I don’t recognize the handwriting, so it may have been an actual telegram received in Advance, Mo.

As years went by, hand delivery was phased out, and Western Union would simply call the recipient for permission just to read the message over the phone.

In the kinder, gentler years between wars, when the arrival of a telegram was unlikely to start out, “The War Department regrets….” I was known to send girls “thinking of you” telegrams to be delivered in school when I was out of town on debate trips, and the like.

I don’t remember sending Wife Lila a telegram, but I DID send her flowers when she was at a weeklong water safety camp in Eldon, Mo. It caused quite a stir when the flowers arrived, and I assume I earned serious Brownie points.

My namesake uncle was killed in Eldon

Eldon, ironically, was where my namesake uncle, Kenneth Welch was killed in a car vs. train crash in 1935.

The hospital where he was taken sent a $5 bill (that was paid in full).

 

 

 

The Butcher Block Closes

The Butcher Block closes 06-27-2016The Butcher Block at 1157 North Kingshighway looked awfully dark when I passed it the other day, so I scoped it out on June 25.

The business was housed in the building that used to be Esicar’s, a meat-selling landmark that opened in 1934. It became The Butcher Block in 2012 after a fire and several changes in ownership caused Esicar’s to close for good.

Yep, dark and empty

The Butcher Block closes 06-27-2016The Butcher Block Facebook posted a notice on June 6 that “the doors are closed and the shelves are empty. Thank you all for your patronage.”

A reader who asked if “Anybody know why it closed?” got this answer: “Tired of trying to find a real butcher. And with living 2 hours away. And having several irons in the fire. Something needed to give. Sorry cape lost the only meat shop it had. But family always needs to come first. Thanks for your business though.”

Previous stories about 1157 N. Kingshighway

The Butcher Block (Esicar’s)

If you drove by Esicar’s at 1157 North Kingshighway this week, you might have noticed a neon OPEN sign in the front window. No, Esicar’s isn’t coming back after a March 6, 2011, fire that put it out of business. There’s a new meat store in town: The Butcher Block held its grand opening October 26.

I’m going to mark Day One as a success. When I stopped by Friday afternoon, owner Peter Whisnant and manager Dawn Petersen were so busy waiting on customers that they barely had time to tell me their names. Their new sign was supposed to be up, but it looks like it’ll be the first of the next week before it’s installed. Mail orders will be accepted.You can place an order by calling 573-339-8757 until a website goes up in the next couple of weeks, Peter said.

Owner Peter Whisnant

A Missourian story on October 22 had the new owner’s name spelled with a P on the end instead of a T, but I’m almost positive that I heard T. In addition, I did a search of The Missourian’s archives and saw it spelled with a T in two other stories. I’m going to call The Missourian’s latest name spelling a typo unless I hear otherwise.

Peter, who owns Fruitland American Meat, decided that Esicar’s was the perfect place for a specialty meat market because of the location’s long association with country hams, bacon and sausage.

Kelley bakes the bread

In addition to selling Bunny Bread, the store carries Kelley Whisnant’s own special Mennonite / Italian bread. Right now, she’s baking about nine loaves of bread a day (while  chasing Daughter Abbigail, 1).

“What happens if you become a success and you need 25 or 30 loaves a day,” I asked.

“I guess I’ll just have to get a bigger mixer,” she replied. “Maybe that’s what I’ll get for Mother’s Day.”

Earlier stories about Esicar’s

The Butcher Block photo gallery

Here’s a collection of photos taken in and around the store. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to mover through the gallery.

Esicar’s Auction Aug. 21

Rumors have become reality. The building that housed Cape Girardeau’s landmark business, Esicar’s, will be sold at auction Aug. 21 at noon. Missourian business reporter Melissa Miller wrote that the three-story building, its contents and the one-acre site it sits on will be sold. Included in the items up for sale is Esicar’s original brass cash register, antique furniture, meat processing equipment, coolers, and a concession trailer.

This will be the end

A business like Esicar’s can survive one owner change, but I gather from comments that I’ve read and heard that the current owner didn’t have the loyal following of the original family.

When it’s sold this time, it’s going to be like the classic story of the man who was offered an axe owned by George Washington. The prospective buyer hefted it and said, “It looks awfully new to have belonged to George Washington.”

“Well, to be honest, it’s had three new handles and two heads since Washington used it.”

I think the Esicar spirit left the building well in advance of the auction. I’m going to predict that an entirely different business will go into the building when it’s all over.

Earlier links

I admit never having been a fan of Esicar’s and was taken to task by my readers. You’d have thought I had said that McDonald’s was better than the Blue Hole.

I speculated that Esicar’s was closed because the store didn’t show any signs of life.