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