A Family Visit to Vulcan Park & Museum

This past March our daughter Becca, her son Ezra and stepson Zach visited us in Pelham. She came to help us pack for the upcoming move and to give the boys a last visit to the house and to see a couple of Birmingham sights. One of those trips involved an afternoon at Vulcan Park and Museum.

Vulcan is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and was designed for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair by sculptor Giuseppe Moretti. The 56-feet tall statue arrived at the fair site in pieces--the chest alone weighted 8000 pounds and the head 15,000. Only partly erected by the time the fair opened on May 1, its completion by June 7 made Birmingham's entry a sensation. 

The iron man's history after the fair has mirrored the city's, full of ups and downs. Returned in pieces to Birmingham, they were left beside the railroad tracks for two years. Finally, Vulcan was rebuilt at the Alabama State Fairgrounds and remained there for three decades. Since then he has been taken apart and moved to a park atop Red Mountain, and in 1999 disassembled again for restoration. Since 2003 Vulcan has once again become the star attraction of the park and the city's best known symbol. This summary has only touched the many insults and issues suffered by the statue over the decades; read more here and here. 

The literature about Vulcan is large and much can be found via the two websites linked in the previous sentence. I would also like to note an article by Karelisa Hartigan, "A Roman God in Alabama: Birmingham's Vulcan" in Alabama Heritage winter 2004, pp. 4-7. She includes much information about Vulcan's role in Greek and Roman mythology. 

A few of the photos I took that day are below. 

Becca, Zach and Ezra pose in front of the great view of Birmingham available at Vulcan Park. 

The visitor center houses an excellent museum devoted to the history of Vulcan and Birmingham and Jefferson County. Fun stuff for kids, too!

Efforts to create a museum devoted to the history of city and county began in 2004. The museum was eventually named the Birmingham History Center, and son Amos and I visited one of its many locations as it searched for a permanent home. Those rich collections were finally transferred to the Vulcan Park Foundation in 2017 and now form displays at this museum. 

I was glad to find this exhibit highlighting the extensive histories of theaters and theatrics in Birmingham. 

Ah, Tallulah...one of Alabama's best-known and most notorious exports. 

Over the years many postcards featuring Vulcan have been published. 

This postcard features "Vulcan--Forging by Moonlight" a photograph by Thomas Kingsley. You can see more of his Vulcan photos and other work here.

The day before the Vulcan visit we took the boys to Oak Mountain State Park for a little hiking--or running-- on one of the trails and a walk through the Alabama Wildlife Center. 

Youth Hockey in Birmingham, 1975-2001

In his middle and high school years our son Amos played youth hockey in the Birmingham area. Three different organizations have supported this activity: the Birmingham Youth Hockey Association [1975-1989], the Birmingham Youth Hockey League [1993-2001] and the Pelham Youth Hockey League [2001-current]. Amos played primarily in the BYHL and then the Pelham league. Teams of all ages were involved, playing at the Oxmoor Ice Lodge [later the Alpine Ice Arena] in Homewood and the ice rink at the Pelham Civic Complex. Amos' teams practiced and played at both places until the Homewood location closed in 2000. The teams often traveled to play other youth hockey programs. 

During his BYHL years I created a WWW site to document and promote the league. The Internet Archive's Wayback database captured that site. Pages included "BYHL in the News" and such. 

Some of the adults involved in the BYHL were also associated with the original Birmingham youth league. One of them, Steve Cagle, wrote a nice account of the BYHA for the web site in May 2000.

"The BYHA was formed in 1975 by Mr. Morehouse of Harbert Construction. The first president was Buddy Emerkie. In 1978 the BYHA had a home and home series with a team from Toronto. The Birmingham teams did quite well. There is a book called "The Road To Toronto" which contains articles and pictures from this series. I will look for my copy and let you take a look at it. I hope I still have it.

At the BYHA's heyday there were 16 house teams and 4 travel teams. The travel team players also played in the house league. The house teams played games during the week and practiced on the weekends while the travel teams played. There was a separate practice for the travel teams. The travel team players turned in their jerseys after the season. If I am not mistaken, the squirt travel team went to the Silver Stick finals in 1978. My brother was the goalie for that team. I will have to ask him to make sure.

Lance Harless and I are the only former BYHA players still involved with the youth league. Bobby Garove, who has a son in the mites, Lance and I played on the same team one season. There have been three former BYHA players play college hockey. The board back then served 2 year terms and had to wait at least one season to be nominated again. The membership voted for the board members unlike how it is done today.

The BYHA had a concession stand at the BJCC. Each parent that worked got money off their child's dues. The Birmingham Bulls, WHA team, held a summer hockey camp at Alpine called "The Heart of Dixie Hockey School" I went to it twice. The BYHA had a trophy in honor of my late father. He was a board member and team manager for several years. This trophy went to the parent who did the most for the BYHA in a season. The trophy was called the Don McCullar Memorial Trophy. When the league folded in 1989, it was given to my mom.

I remember that we didn't have many kids. We had to play scrimmages and play teams from other cities when we could. I took 11 players that consisted of peewees and bantams to Lexington, Kentucky. We practiced four times and bought our own jerseys. I still have one, and I have the team picture. When we got there, the Kentucky people decided we were only going to play one game. I was furious that we had driven that far just for one game! WE won the game 9-2.
It was hard to keep the league going without a pro team in town, so the league folded.

I got this info from my memories and from my mom who served as a board member."

The Birmingham Bulls have played in the area through several incarnations since 1976. Since 2017 they have been based in Pelham in the Southern Professional Hockey League. 

I don't remember ever seeing "The Road to Toronto" book Mr. Cagle mentions. 

Below are some images and a few more comments. If you have more information about this topic, let us know in the comment section! 

 

These photos show Amos on the right with one of his coaches and his son. Oh, and that's Amos' sister Becca in the top one.

This image and the two below appeared on BYHL t-shirts. 

The Birmingham High School Hockey League existed  for a brief period, and Amos played in the first season. I don't remember anything else about this organization. 

Three Alabama Library Bookplates

Many books that have come through my collection over the years are ex-library and thus have library markings of various kinds, including bookplates. Below are examples from Birmingham and Vestavia public libraries and a specialized medical library at UAB.

I've written a number of posts about libraries in the state and hope to do more. A list of some is here. A chronology of early Alabama library history is here. I've also done a post on state library bookmarks. 

Bookplates and other marks of book ownership have a long and fascinating history. 

Some more comments are below. 

This bookplate depicts the 1969 library building. The current facility opened in December 2010; a photo is at the Bham Wiki site. 

The facility was briefly named after Richard M. Scrushy, CEO when HealthSouth donated a building occupied by the library in 1995. 

Source: BhamWiki

In 1925 most of the collection of Birmingham's twelve year-old public library was destroyed in a devastating City Hall fire. A new library opened in 1927 and is depicted on this bookplate. The current Birmingham Central Public Library opened in 1984 and after renovation this building reopened as the Lynn-Henley Research Library. 

This bookplate features an electrocardiogram, which for decades was used as the logo of the UAB School of Medicine's Department of Anesthesiology. The department's library opened in 1980; I served as the Clinical Librarian from 1983 until 2015. I began when the library was located in the Kracke building, which UAB demolished in 2021. After a few years the library moved to the ninth floor of Jefferson Towers; the photo below shows the main room there. 

 The structure opened in 1929 as the dormitory for nursing students at the Hillman Hospital next door and operated as such until 1963. In July 1965 the building reopened as the Roy R. Kracke Clinical Services Building, named in honor of Dr. Roy Kracke, the first Dean of the Medical College of Alabama. Various clinics and offices were located there over the years. I think Kracke was the third oldest building on campus, behind only Old and New Hillman.

Colony Motor Hotel in Birmingham

As one often does, I was recently perusing the March 1963 issue of the Junior League of Birmingham Newssheet and came across this advertisement for the Colony Motor Hotel on the corner of Highland Avenue and 21st Street South. Constructed in 1961, the hotel originally opened with over 200 rooms, nightly dancing in the "Cloud Room" and a penthouse restaurant. In the mid-1960s the hotel became a Sheraton Motor Inn. The facility is now Highland Manor, an assisted living complex for senior citizens. 

Apparently, the Colony's existence was brief, but see below for at least one piece of memorabilia that has survived. 

This image from the BhamWiki shows the building in its Sheraton Motor Inn days.

Highland Manor in 2006

Source: BhamWiki

I found these matchbook images on eBay.

Birmingham Postcard: Electrik Maid Bake Shop & Restaurant

I recently added this postcard to my collection and decided to find out what I could on the business, "The South's Finest Retail Bakery & Restaurant". I didn't uncover much, but here we are.

A business named the Electric Maid Bake Shop filed incorporation papers with the state on November 15, 1929. The Bizapedia site where I found that information did not include an address, but gave the names of three incorporators: Bessie Helms Clark, Ralph Clark and S.J. Redmon. Via Ancestry.com I found these individuals, all living in Andalusia in Covington County. Bessie [1897-1995] was married to Ralph, an attorney who died in 1963. In the 1910 U.S. Census S.J. Redmon was listed as a carpenter. Huh. 

Well, that strangely named shop may have operated in Andalusia, not Birmingham. Let's move on.

The BhamWiki site has a massive listing for the occupants over time of addresses along 20 Street South in the Magic City. Lo and behold, at the address 1014 20th Street, we find the Electrik Maid Bake Shop operating from 1941 until 1953. The last image below is taken from the 1945 Birmingham Yellow Pages and shows the bakery, designated "No. 1", phone 7-5871. That spot on 20th is now occupied by the Homewood Suites Five Points South. Other business once located on the site include Piggly Wiggly, Winn-Dixie, and the Five Points Music Hall. 

I next found the business later in the 1950s at the Alabama Company Directory site. That listing describes a Jefferson County incorporation on April 25, 1956, for the Electrik Maid Bake Shop. Three individuals were listed, and I located some information about them via Ancestry. William S. Levey was 25 years old in the 1950 U.S. Census, living in Mountain Brook and his occupation given was partner in a retail bakery. He died in 1996 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery. All I found on Mary Joe Rice were dates, born in 1924 and died in 1972. Ralph Bryant Tate was a 38-year old attorney in 1950, living in Birmingham. He died in 1999 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. 

According to the Directory, the business was dissolved on February 12, 1957, less than a year later. Perhaps the partners had a falling out. At any rate, as we can see on the card, the bakery AND restaurant operated in the Shephard-Sloss building at 2011 Highland Avenue when the card was issued. Bhamiki's entry for Highland Avenue tells us the business was located there from 1946-1964. The address has also been the location for an antique shop and several bars over the years.

I suppose we can conclude the Electrik Maid Bakery etc [what a strange name!] was open  until at least 1964. Further research into old telephone directories, city directories, etc, would probably turn up more details. 

As we learn from the back, this "Natural Color Post Card" was manufactured by the E.C. Kropp Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which was active from 1907 until 1956. Thus the card is perhaps early or mid-1950s. We are also informed that the Electrik Maid "offers the public the finest in Home Cooked Meals and Baked Delicacies" and is "Recommended by the American Automobile Association." 

You can actually visit the Electrik Maid Bake Shop today, but you'll have to go to Biloxi, Mississippi. That so-named business has operated there for over 100 years. The use of "Electric" or "Electrik" Maid has popped up in other areas of the country as well.

Isn't historical research fun?

More comments below some of the images. 

This photo is from Google Maps and taken May 2024. The door in the center and window to the left in the building now at 2007 Highland Avenue would seem to match the postcard view. 

Birmingham Yellow Pages 1945

 

Birmingham Photo [88]: Arms & Cycle Company

Our photograph this time shows the interior of the Birmingham Arms and Cycle Company taken before 1920. The entry for this photo at the Alabama Department of Archives and History credits the Grand Rapids Show Case Company and notes, "Among the items on display are bicycles, guns, knives, watches, safety razors, and boxing gloves."

The Grand Rapids Showcase Company was founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1901 and operated under that name until a 1926 merger. The firm's factory built furniture and other equipment--such as display cases-- for different kinds of retail stores.

The BhamWiki site has an article with some history of this establishment. According to that piece, the shop was founded by C.J. Chunn, a North Carolina native who had owned a gun store in Baltimore. He opened the Birmingham store in 1887 at 1904 2nd Avenue North. By 1895 Robert Baugh was co-owner and manager. Baugh was an active golfer who laid out the city's first course; he was also involved in local baseball.

As BhamWiki notes, the store was located at various locations on 2nd and 3rd Avenues North. The final one may have been at 2017 3rd Avenue as seen in the 1920 telephone directory excerpt below between the Birmingham Apothecary and the Birmingham Artificial Limb Company. Today that block includes First Horizon Bank and Jim Reed Books.

Birmingham Arms and Cycle Company before 1920

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives and History 

Birmingham White and Yellow Pages March 1920

Source: Library of Congress

Six Thousand Attend Birmingham Rally in 1935

For more than a year now my brother Richard and I have been conducting a deep dive into the massive amount of family memorabilia at mom's house in Huntsville. Much of it comes from dad's parents, Rosa Mae and Amos J. Wright, Sr., who lived in the Gadsden. I've previously written about my grandfather's World War I army training at Auburn and the contents of their daughter Beulah Vee's cedar chest. 

In a recent round of exploration, we've found a lot of material related to Amos Sr.'s years working for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. According to an entry in one of Rosa Mae's journals, he began his employment with L&N on May 15, 1923, and retired September 1, 1962.He was a yard foreman for many of those thirty-nine years. 

One item we found was the October 1935 issue of the railroad's employee magazine. Inside was an article titled "Six Thousand Attend Birmingham Rally". So what was that all about?

On September 26, 1935, the L & N Railroad held its third in a series of rallies in cities along its rail system. The event took place at the Municipal Auditorium n Birmingham. Both Vice-President T.E. Brooks and President James B. Hill addressed the 6000 employees and family members in attendance. Brooks had served for many years as division superintendent in Birmingham.

The anonymous author noted that the purpose was primarily one of entertainment, but apparently Hill had some extensive remarks before the fun. He noted that the "railroads are almost completely regulated in everything they do" unlike competitive forms of transportation by road, air and water. Plus, almost 7.5% of gross earnings were paid in taxes. Remember that in 1935 the nation was in the depths of the Great Depression.

The article does include a portrait of the L & N Railroad both nationally and in Alabama at that time. President Hill noted in his remarks that L & N operated in 13 states with 26,000 employees, 5000 miles of track, 1000 locomotives, over 50,000 freight cars and more than 700 passenger cars. In Alabama 4700 people worked for L & N, which paid $776,000 in taxes to the state, $350,000 of which went to schools.

So what about that entertainment? "Talented members of the L & N family entertained the large audience with 17 acts that would have done credit to the best vaudeville circuit," wrote the author. Most of them were from Birmingham or Boyles, a community that no longer exists but was the site of L & N's Boyles Yard. Others came from Kentucky. The audience enjoyed a piano trio, tenor solos, a tap dance, and baritone solos. Two male employees "provided many laughs with their blackface act."

Black employees appeared in "Darktown Strutters" accompanied by a pianist. "The finale featured the  Southland Colored Ensemble and Quartette, fifty voices directed by Paul Cooper." the author wrote. "This chorus was composed of many colored employes [sic] at Boyles and members of their families. They rendered an enjoyable selection of spirituals and melodies."

I don't know if my grandparents from Gadsden attended this rally, but perhaps they did. 

My grandfather Amos J. Wright, Sr., is on the left posing with his crew in the Gadsden L&N railroad yard sometime in the 1930s. 

Birmingham's Municipal Auditorium ca. 1937. The facility was later renamed Boutwell Auditorium after Albert Boutwell who was mayor from 1963 until 1967. 

Source: BhamWiki