What's Coming to the Blog in 2026?

 Since 2015 I have started each year with a post outlining some of the pieces I'd like to write in the coming months. These posts have become a history of futility on this blog. I list some topics I'd like to cover, and over the year I might get one or two of them done. So many topics, so little time, so many new topics popping up all the time. If you have the inclination, you can read all about it: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.  

This past year I did manage a post on a 1987 brochure of Birmingham's Five Points South area; I had been planning that one for some time. I also posted one about the Paul Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa which my son Amos and I visited in January 2023. Among the other posts for the year were the usual pieces on Alabama-related photos, maps, postcards, movies and bookstores. Only 38 items were posted in 2025, the fewest ever, no doubt due to the move we made from Pelham to Saint Johns, Florida in May and June. 

So what might be coming in 2026? No doubt more of those photos, postcards and such. I also hope to finally get around to part 2 of "Alabama on the Hollywood Walk of Fame". I only managed the first half of the alphabet in part 1. I've already started work on "Tallulah, Gary, Cary & the Devil" about Bankhead's 1932 film Devil and the Deep. Her co-stars include Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, and Charles Laughton in his first film. There's lots of excitement involving Tallulah's gowns and a submarine voyage.

I thought about doing an inventory from all these "What's Coming" posts of ideas I listed but have yet to write about. That thought quickly gave me a headache. Well, I guess I'll be back in January 2026 to see how all this speculation for 2025 turned out.

Talking Pictures & TV Come to Shelby County

Well, not in the same year, of course.

Once upon an Internet time there was a marvelous genealogical complex known as RootsWeb that offered vast resources free of charge. I know, the stuff of fairy tales. The early Internet/WWW was like that. Then Ancestry.com bought it in 2000 and has since pretty much destroyed it. But I digress...

I once found on RootsWeb excerpts from the Shelby County Reporter of various dates. One described "Talking Pictures" in Columbiana in 1929; the other television in 1949. I did not find the actual 1929 newspaper online, but here's the text I found via RootsWeb: 

"Shelby County Reporter, February 28, 1929. Palace Theatre Offers Talking Pictures March 5. The Palace Theatre, Columbiana, offers an opportunity for the people of Columbiana and vicinity to hear and see Talking Pictures, Tuesday night March 5. The program will consist of six all talking vaudeville acts on the screen. A special representative from the factory will come to Columbiana to install the machinery and wire the house for the showing of the Talking Pictures."

Sound and films in the U.S. have a long history. Hollywood studios began making sound films in earnest in the wake of the 1927 success of The Jazz Singer in that year. However, as Wikipedia notes, "Yet most American movie theaters, especially outside of urban areas, were still not equipped for sound: while the number of sound cinemas grew from 100 to 800 between 1928 and 1929, they were still vastly outnumbered by silent theaters, which had actually grown in number as well, from 22,204 to 22,544." The article also notes that the studios, uncertain about the ultimate success of sound, were making dual versions of their films until mid-1930. 

I have been unable to find anything on the Palace Theatre in Columbiana in the way of photos or history. However, I did find the article below indicating the venue was operating and showing "the usual program of pictures" in April 1927. 

With one exception as noted, I found these articles and advertisements at Newspapers.com, which kindly offers you a paywall to access. 

And by the way, vast resources available free of charge are still out there at the Internet Archive, Wikipedia, Library of Congress and numerous other libraries and museums, and so forth. 

Found on the Shelby County Reporter 14 April 1927 front page

Source: Internet Archive

I did find the actual June 16, 1949 article related to TV sets in Columbiana. I also found various ads from issues of the Shelby County Reporter in June and July 1949. See below. At this time the paper was known as the Shelby County Reporter-Democrat. 

The first television broadcast in the United States occurred in May 1928. Programming and technical efforts continued with various stations through the 1930s. World War II halted TV developments although a few stations remained on the air. After the war the FCC received numerous applications for new stations. That process was halted in 1948 until interference concerns could be worked out. The freeze was lifted in 1952.

No TV stations were operating in Alabama in 1949, although two were on the air in Atlanta. You can read about TV developments in 1949 here. By 1950 some  3,880,000 American households had television, a 9% penetration. I wonder how many of those were in Shelby County. 

The U.S. Census in 1950 counted 1761 people in Columbiana and 30,362 in Shelby County. That's not a large population base, but these stores no doubt attracted shoppers from other rural counties to the south such as Chilton and Coosa. I imagine not many could afford the sets. The GE 12.5" "daylight television" advertised below cost a cool $379. You could also get a GE 10" for $249.50. 

The "Olen Jackson" mentioned died in 2000 and is buried in Columbiana. 

This ad and the one below, like the article, are from the Shelby County Reporter 16 June 1949

Note the "Television Radio" combination from Westinghouse. You could watch it demonstrated "free" from 112 to 2 every afternoon as you shopped for a stove or deep freezer. 

Shelby County Reporter 16 June 1949

Tenen's was a drug store in Columbiana. You could go and get a soda and watch TV all afternoon and night. Buy a novelty gift, too. 

From an ad for Cardwell Furniture in the Shelby County Reporter 23 June 1949

Birmingham's Five Points South in 1987

The historic Five Points South area of Birmingham's Southside has been in the news over the last year or so and not in positive ways, unfortunately. In September 2024 four people were killed and 17 injured in a shooting outside the Hush Lounge. This past Halloween a fire did extensive damage to the Cobb Lane block of structures including an historic home and buildings housing many cultural and eating establishments over the years. This fire echoed the 1986 blaze that heavily damaged the iconic Studio Arts building in 1986. A new reproduction of that structure opened in 1994.

Five Points South has seen waves of positive development and decline over the decades. This pamphlet reflects one of the former efforts. Fifty churches, businesses and historic houses are highlighted in this "Walking Tour". A history of the area and a map are included and then descriptions of the various locations. Thus we also have a snapshot of Five Points South in 1987, when the publication was apparently issued. I base that conclusion on the "SM 2-87" code on the last page.

Although I began working at UAB in 1983, in a building just down the hill, I didn't visit Five Points South much in those days. I do remember making the hike one lunch hour to visit a book store, sometime in the mid-eighties, but I forget the name. I do remember when Pickwick Plaza with its retail shops and hotel opened in 1987, and the 1992 controversy about the installation of Frank Fleming's sculptures at the Storyteller fountain, which happened after this pamphlet's publication. I did visit Charlemagne Records a couple of times and once ate at Highlands Bar and Grille. 

Visiting Charlemagne was a deja vu experience. During my decade in Auburn I visited Aboveground Records many, many times, a store up a steep flight of stairs in an old building just like Charlemagne. AR is one of many gone but not forgotten Alabama record stores included in the long list at the bottom of this article from 2018 by Matt Wake. In the October 13, 2011 issue of the Black & White ["Birmingham's City Paper"], Ed Reynolds published an article  about Jimmy Griffin who worked at Charlemagne for many years. 

I wonder how many businesses have come and gone since 1987. Five Points South has a long positive retail and cultural history, such as Gene Crutcher's bookstore that operated from 1962 until 1974. I hope that continues.

Of course, many places on this list still exist, such as Highlands United Methodist Church and Highlands Bar and Grille. In more recent years Dianne and I were regular patrons of such eateries as the Original Pancake House and Makarios. 

Stewart Post Office Closes in 1982

Since the United States Post Office Department was established in 1792, numerous post offices have opened and closed around the country. The current Postal Service maintains a state-by-state listing of open and closed facilities, but even there many discontinued offices are not listed. 

One post office that has come and gone in Alabama was in Stewart in Hale County. Below you can see the sign from my collection posted there ahead of its closing. Stewart was founded in 1844 as a stop on the Alabama Great Southern Railroad. Akron is also located on that railway. 

According to Virginia Foscue's Place Names in Alabama [1989] the community was first called Stewart's Station, in honor of an early settler of the area, Charlie Stewart. A post office operated under the name Stewart's Station from 1871 to 1903, and under the name Stewart from 1903 to 1982. That's a pretty long run for a small town post office, 1871 until 1982.

Also below I've included a list of the Stewart postmasters--or "officers-in-charge" as some are labelled-- from 1951-1981. Only two are male. Then there's a photo of Stewart in 1961, taken by our own William Christenberry. Finally, I've added a clip from a 1930 state road map showing Stewart and Akron. I checked the most recent official Alabama highway map and did not find Stewart. 

Stewart Postmasters 1951-1981

Source: U.S. Postal Service

Stewart in 1961

Photo by Alabama native William Christenberry

Source: High Museum of Art

A 1930 state highway map shows Stewart and Akron on the railroad line. Wedgeworth had its own post office 1895-1955. 

Source: University of Alabama historical maps collection

Eve's Books in Helena

I've done a lot of postings about bookstores on this blog, including a few I've never visited because they are no longer open. Many of the earlier ones are listed in this post. In 2024 I wrote pieces about Branch Books in Hartselle and Branch Books 2 in Cullman. Earlier this year I posted an item about a "bookstore tour" of Huntsville my brother Richard and I undertook one weekend. 

This post covers one of those shops requiring a Tardis; I never visited during its lifespan, unfortunately. I first ran across the store's existence on the Shelby County map shown below. Then I discovered the photo on Helena's Wikipedia page, which at least tells us the store was presumably in operation in January 2008.

This Shelby County map has nothing on it anywhere to indicate a date, issuing entity or creator of the map. The map is similar to one of Pelham from 1989 that I've written about and a 1985 Hoover one. I found Eve's Books on two business sites. One gave a different phone number but little else new or useful. The other noted that Eve's Books was founded in 2010, had one employee and an estimated annual revenue of $47,000. So perhaps the store existed in the 2008-2010 period. 

If you have any more information about Eve's Books, fee free to share it in the comments. 

Photo taken on January 19, 2008, during a central Alabama snowfall. 

Source: Wikipedia 

Random Alabama (2)

Earlier this year I began a blog series intending to share some of the odd materials I've saved over the years that relate to Alabama in some way. As brother Richard and I cleaned out mom and dad's house in Huntsville from January 2023 until March 2025, we waded through many items saved by our parents and paternal grandparents. We also found a good many pieces that were not really family memorabilia.

This post examines two of those, both small cards the size of standard business cards. I discuss them below each card. Lots of history can be learned from just two pieces of ephemera.

Expect more randomness in the near future!

This card is blank on the other side. "J.C. Inzer" would be James Clarence Inzer, born in St. Clair County in 1887 and died in 1967. He graduated from Howard College and then the University of Alabama Law School. Inzer served on the Etowah County Board of Education for many years and then the State Board 1923-1933.

He won the election advertised on this card and held that post until 1927. He was also elected the 16h Lieutenant Governor of Alabama serving 1947-1951 during Jim Folsom's first term as Governor. 

J.C. Inzer

Source: Wikipedia

I found a merchant/store owner Frank Augustus Duncan [1884-1943] in Gadsden in the 1930 census. He owned the Popular Price Store in that city; see below for a photo. He may have passed out these tickets as a promotion, although odd the store name wasn't on it if that's the case. The "war tax" noted could be the War Revenue Act passed by the U.S. Congress in October 1917 six months after the U.S. entered World War I. 

Was this ticket number 1039 that he had passed out to customers? I could find no information on "I.C. Holloway"; perhaps he was a customer. 

The Princess Theatre originally opened in 1924 as the Imperial Theater at 503 Broad Street in Gadsden. The venue became the Princess Theater on September 11, 1926. The Princess Theater was destroyed by fire on November 4, 1963 and not rebuilt. You can see photos via Alabama Mosaic.

Frank Duncan's Popular Price Store, Gadsden

Source: Worthpoint.com

Alabama Postcard: Wetumpka Penitentiary in 1912

I don't know about you, but I find a postcard featuring the Wetumpka State Penitentiary to be strange. Yet such postcards seem to have been a thing at one time. Let's investigate this one. 

The Alabama State Penitentiary opened near Wetumpka on the Coosa River in 1842. Both men and women were housed in the facility until 1922, when a new men's prison opened, and Wetumpka became female only. In 1942 the new Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women opened nearby and the state had little use for its original penitentiary. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, but by the end of the 20th century every building had been demolished. All that remains is an historical marker and a few brick chimneys and pillars. 

With help from my wife Dianne I managed to transcribe most of the message and other information on the card. Postmarked from Tallassee, the date seems to be December 6 [?, that may be 6 PM when the card was mailed], 1912 [?].. The card is addressed to Miss Nammie [Nannie?] Woods, Route 2 Tallassee. So the card was mailed from Tallassee to someone in Tallassee. Hmmm...

"Dear little one:" the message begins. "How are you nowadays? I am fine and dandy. Listen: I saw Willie Saturday night at the party. Will tell you all when I see you. Be sure and go to Mt. Olive 2nd Sun. Yours, Peala [?]." An added note seems to say, "Frankie [?] says hello."

Well, what do we have here but a quick note from more than 100 years ago that's  full of mysteries. Who were Nammie and Peala? I found women of both names in Alabama via Ancestry.com, but none fit the place or year. Who was Willie? What party? Who gave it and who came? What secrets were revealed when Nammie and Peala got together? Who was Frankie?

The reference to Mt. Olive and Sunday may indicate some special event at church. Perhaps a revival was coming or a dinner on the grounds being held. 

This card was one of many from the Alfred Holzman Company of Chicago. Holzman was a German immigrant who founded one of the nation's largest postcard companies. Unfortunately, it closed in 1910. You can see a postcard of the factory here. If the year of mailing 1912 is correct on this card, then the company's products may have still been available in Alabama. 

If any reader has a better interpretation of the postmark and text on this card, please let us know in the comments!

Source: This card is not from my collection, but from the Wade Hall Collection at Troy University Library. 

Source: Find-A-Grave

Main building, ca. 1900

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History