Noccalula Falls Back in the Day [1000th post]

Well, here we are at my 1000th posting on this blog since March 2014. Scary. 

I thought I would devote this one to a bit of family history. 

In July 2016 I wrote a series of five blog posts about a cedar chest full of personal items belonging to my Dad's older sister Beulah Vee Wright. Part One gives a lengthy introduction. She died in December 1939 at the age of eighteen, so the items date from the 1920's and 1930's. Beulah Vee and my Dad and their parents lived in Gadsden, Alabama. In 2021 I wrote a follow-up post describing our donation of much of the material in the cedar chest to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. You can see a short video about the Beulah Vee portrait among those donated items at the Archives page on YouTube. The actual cedar chest and a small group of other items remain in the family.

We also have numerous photographs taken by her parents, Rosa Mae and Amos J. Wright, Sr. Some of these include a trip to Noccalula Falls in October 1938 and feature Beulah Vee and her boyfriend Porter,  and Rosa Mae. I've also included some photos I took on a visit in 1968. 

The city of Gadsden bought land including the falls in 1946 and has been developing the park ever since. The now expanded area includes campgrounds, a wedding chapel, butterfly and botanical gardens, a covered bridge, pioneer village, minigolf and other amenities. 

My brother Richard and I have some memories of several visits to the falls in the 1960s. Every year in August the Griffith families and other relatives on Rosa Mae's side met for a large reunion, and we often came from Huntsville for the event. Lots of good food was eaten and while the adults talked the kids could play on the rocks, walk the trails to see the old cabins and ride the little train. I seem to remember Dad taking us down the steep trail and under the falls at least once. Of course, the statue of Princess Noccalula reminded us of her legendary leap. 

More comments are below some of the photos. 

Beulah V., October 16, 1938

Beulah V., October 16, 1938. Those shadows must be Amos, Rosa Mae and Porter. 

Porter Hill [her last boyfriend] and Beulah V., October 16, 1938

I've obtained a copy of Beulah Vee's death certificate, which shows her passing at 9:30 a.m. on December 10, 1939. She was attended by Dr. J.W. Ford, who was the family physician. Cause of death is listed as bilateral pulmonary tuberculosis, which I guess explains why her funeral was held the next day. 

From September 7-27, 1939, Beulah Vee kept a diary in a small notebook while she was a patient at Holy Name of Jesus Hospital in Gadsden. A page is included above dated September 14. She notes that "No flowers came" but "Porter came." The notebook records such events as well as how she felt on particular days. In the back the names of her attending nurses are recorded. 

Some years later my mother's obstetrician in Gadsden, Dr. Ford's son, told her his father decided after her death that Beulah Vee may have died of leukemia. People can live for years with tuberculosis, but Beulah Vee's sickness began in March 1939 and she deteriorated rapidly until her death. There was also no treatment for leukemia at that time. 

Rosa Mae Wright [1900-1997]
You can see more photos of her and my grandfather Amos J. Wright, Jr., here and here. 

This photo and the ones below were all processed in June 1968; presumably the family trip to the Falls was in or around that month. I took the photos with a camera I bought on Friday, July 29, 1966, according to notes I made at the time. 

I'm not sure what this mound of stones was or if it's still at the park. Perhaps someone can tell us in the comments. 

I have been unable to determine who is buried beside this cabin. 

Here are a couple of postcards from my collection. 

Source and other photos of the Falls are here. A good account of the legend and its literature can be found on the BhamWiki site. 

Football in Gadsden in 1908

In recent months I've gone through numerous 1930s and 1940s issues of the Gadsden Times. My grandmother Rosa Mae Wright saved these publications, especially during World War II. I found a lot of fascinating articles [and advertisements!], and this blog post features one of them. 

I've also recently enjoyed Lars Anderson's 2007 book, Carlisle Vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner and the Forgotten Story of Football's Greatest Battle. He's written several books, lives in Birmingham and is on the University of Alabama faculty. I find early college football in the U.S. to be fascinating, and there is a lot about the game in those days in this book. Jim Thorpe, Pop Warner and the Carlisle Indians also form a number of incredible stories.

American football was a very different animal in those early days before World War I. On November 6, 1869, Rutgers and Princeton played what is considered the first intercollegiate game in the U.S. Each side had 25 players and tried to kick a round ball across the opposing team's goal; carrying or throwing the ball was not allowed. By 1872 several other schools in the northeast including Columbia and Yale began play. Over the next two decades more teams entered the sport and the rules of play and the size of the field underwent great changes, many introduced by Walter Camp such as the system of downs and the line of scrimmage. In these early years betting on games was common as were hired players who did not attend the schools. 

By the early 20th century football had become so violent that efforts began to change or ban the game. A military formation called the flying wedge had been used in that first 1869 game and caused numerous injuries and even deaths. Nineteen players died from various causes in the 1905 season alone. The forward pass was legalized in 1906 to hopefully reduce injuries, but did not catch on for some years. The flying wedge was banned about the same time. Although various conferences had already been founded, a national organization to oversee college athletics was organized in late 1905 by 62 schools that met in New York City. 

The article below, published October 29, 1940, describes Gadsden football in 1908. By that time the game had already started to develop on college campuses in the state. Auburn and Alabama fielded their first teams in 1892 and played each other initially in 1893. The rivalry paused in 1908 for many years due to arguments over player payments and other money issues. Both teams became charter members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association when the group was organized in 1894. 

This article outlines the history of football in the Gadsden area in 1908. Former college players met and an eleven man team was proposed and a "complete schedule for the season." Possible players who attended the meeting included two former Alabama stars, two from Auburn, one from "Carolina", another from the University of Chicago and four "regarded as apt pupils of the game." The two Alabama players were selected as coaches.

Opponents would include Ninth and Seventh District schools, Jacksonville, Anniston, and "other cities in the district." Thanksgiving Day contests with Jacksonville Normal School [now Jacksonville State University] and the Seventh District Agricultural School were scheduled. 

At the time Jacksonville, captained by "a local boy", presumably one from Gadsden, was undefeated. Gadsden actually played Jacksonville in one of the Etowah County team's earliest games on November 2, 1908, and won 7 to 0 with one touchdown and a safety. At this time a touchdown gained a team five points and a safety two. The article includes the lineup of Gadsden players for that game.

The team lost its next game on November 14. "Gadsden football enthusiast" Lonnie Noojin coached the Blountsville Ninth District School to the win 20-2. A contemporary account is given in the second article below: "Gadsden Downed by Farmer Lads." The school is described in the article as Blountsville Agricultural College. 

Another team in the area was Disque High School [1901-1924, when it became Disque Middle] coached by Prof. J.R. McClure. That team beat Gadsden Athletics 20-15 and tied Birmingham's Woodlawn 5 to 5 on November 23, 1908. On Thanksgiving Day Birmingham High School beat the Gadsden Athletics 19 to 4. 

The 1940 article and the two 1908 ones below are a good start for a history of football in Etowah County. I found the 1908 ones on Newspapers.com; I'm sure more could be located. Several of these games are noted as taking place at Elliott Park, which was just west of Alabama City. One research area that would be interesting is to search for all these names of individuals at Ancestry.com, Find-A-Grave, etc., to learn something about them. Perhaps another day....

The history of football in these early decades at the high school and self-organized levels is largely unknown. You can read more about early high school football in the state at the Alabama High School Football Historical Society. 

Gadsden Times 14 November 1908

Gadsden Times 9 December 1908

Desires, Passion and Sin!

You know, you can find some interesting stuff in the advertisements in old newspapers. Even juicy stuff. Case in point: these three ads from 1940 and 1941 issues of the Gadsden Times. My grandmother Rosa Mae Wright saved numerous front pages from that paper during World War II and others for significant events in the 1950s and 1960s. Luckily she did not detach the front page, but kept the sheet attached to it--four pages of the daily paper. Sometimes she kept more. So there are lots of advertisements.

Naturally my attention was riveted by these three ads for movie showings at the Capitol Theatre. In the June 13, 2010, issue of the Times, local historian Mike Goodson published an article about city theaters, "Gadsden Goes to the Movies". He notes that the Capitol opened June 16, 1928, and gives other details about the features and conveniences of this latest addition to the Crescent Amusement Company chain based in Nashville. The first film shown was "The Gray Vulture" with Ken Maynard, one of Hollywood's biggest western stars of the day. 

However, we will not be discussing silent western movies in this post. No, these films fall into the exploitation category. The genre has appeared under different guises throughout film history. Such movies in the 1930s through the 1950s were sensationalist but presented themselves as educational. Thus normally taboo topics could be portrayed: unwed mothers, rape, abortion and venereal diseases were common topics.

Thus we come to the specific titles here. "No Greater Sin" was making "Positively the Only City Showing" according to the February 27, 1940 ad. In this one a city health official tries to stem the spread of syphilis in his town. Dr. Edward Cavanaugh is played by Leon Ames, one of several familiar acting faces in this film. Ames' career in films and television lasted from 1931 until 1986. He appeared in well-known movies such as 1946 original version of The Postman Always Rings Twice and served a term as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Other busy character actors here include Luana Walters [numerous film roles, many uncredited], Pamela Blake [lots of western films and serials], Guy Usher [more than 190 films 1932-1943] and Tristram Coffin [films & TV roles 1930s-1970s]. These actors and hundreds of others provided supporting and background roles in Hollywood productions ranging from big budget to exploitation. 

Also on that February 27 bill was Nude Ranch, "Direct from World's Fair" and featuring "Nudies, Beauties and Cuties." In smaller print is "Visit Sally Rand's Nude Ranch". The New York City World's Fair had opened in 1939 and ran in 1940 as well. In fact, my dad and his parents went to the Fair in August 1940. Sally Rand was a famous burlesque dancer, stripper and actress who also appeared at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. 

And you could see both of these films for only a quarter!

What Price Passion ran at the Capitol in June 1940. According to its listing in the TCM database it was released in January 1937 as Race Suicide. The cast is also made up of obscure working actors in a tale about the breaking up of an abortion racket, the "Unwarranted Maiming of Unwed Mothers." The best known name is probably Lloyd Ingraham, who in addition to his acting directed numerous silent films. This one also cost a quarter to see, and no one under 16 admitted.

The third ad promotes two films shown in August 1941. "Girls Get Up a Party" in Forbidden Desire showing with Half Way to Hell. Viewers only had to come up with twenty cents to see this pair. I've been unable to track down information on either of these titles. They might be included in Eric Schaefer's "Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959  ]Duke University Press, 1999]. 

Would you have expected films like these to appear in Gadsden, Alabama, in the early 1940s? 

Gadsden Times 27 February 1940

Source: Wikipedia

Gadsden Times 19 June 1940

Gadsden Times 22 August 1941

Ada, Lovell, Una & Professor Smith

Let's take a journey through some newspaper palmistry ads, shall we? 

The advertisements below are all the relevant ones I've spotted going through old Gadsden Times saved by my grandmother Rosa Mae Wright. She did not keep  entire papers, usually just the four-page spread that included the front page. What she kept dates mostly from the late 1930s until 1945; World War II, in other words.  More ads may have appeared on pages I haven't seen. 

I found a total of 14 different palmist advertisements. Madam Una outpaced the rest with seven. Madam Ada had three, Madame Lovell two with Professor Smith and Madam Smith one each. With one exception each ad uses the same image of a female figure in front of an open hand; some also feature the moon and a star. 

My grandmother also saved some newspapers from the 1950s and 1960s that featured significant events such as John Glenn's earth orbits and the JFK assassination. I found one outlier palmist ad in a 1954 paper; see the final entry below.

As the Wikipedia article linked above notes, palm reading is a practice found in variations all over the world and going back to ancient times. It was certainly available in the Gadsden area in these years. I looked at the 1939 Alabama state laws volume available at the Internet Archive and could find nothing on palm reading, palmistry, fortune telling, etc. Perhaps these activities were unregulated or subject to city or county laws.

Further comments are below the ads. 

A recent history is Alison Bashford, Decoding the Hand: A History of Science, Medicine, and Magic [2026]

UPDATE 25 Feb 2026

I recently came across a palm reader ad in several 1976 issues of the Auburn Plainsman student newspaper. See below. 

UPDATE 9 June 2026

I recent found an ad for a "Madame Lane" operating in the Gadsden area in April 1941. See below. 

UPDATE 1 July 2026

I've found an item from "Indian Chief" in the Gadsden Times 15 March 1942 and added it below.  

Gadsden Times 27 Feb 1940

Madam Una sets the pace with various claims to be echoed by the others. She will tell the past, present and future; to whom and when you will marry. "She has helped thousands in all walks of life." Like most of these palmists, she kept long hours, 9 in the morning until 8 in the evening seven days a week. Ada includes her address, which Google Maps shows us does not exist today; the area is a vacant lot. 

According to state records, as of 1968 a Ratliff Sheet Metal Works had been in business for 57 years. Two of the incorporators were listed as James F. Ratliff, presumably father and son. The latter, a Gadsden resident, listed his occupation in the 1950 U.S. Census as "sheet metal mechanic." But I digress.... 

Madam Ada also declares, "Waiting Room for Colored." 

Gadsden Times 17 April 1940

Now we come to the pair of ads for Madame Lovell, identical and run in the same month in 1940. She is the only one who claims to be both a palmist AND clairvoyant. She charged 50 cents a sitting, double the cost of a movie ticket at the time. "I advise you on love, courtship, marriage, divorce and transactions of all kinds." She could settle lovers' quarrels and family troubles. She was also open seven days a week, from 9am until 8:30 pm. 

Her practice was "permanently located" at 1330 Forrest Avenue in Gadsden, and she offered waiting rooms "for white and colored." That address according to an April 2024 photo on Google Maps, is an empty lot but shows remains of what may have been part of the sidewalk to the house.

She is the only one using an "e" on Madam. 

The ads above and below from the Gadsden Times 21 April 1940

Madam Ada ads appeared in April, May and June 1940. "I Am Different From All Others", she declares. She "Gives Facts--Gets Results". "Reads entire life...she can help you" "If you are having bad luck or trouble." Ada was apparently a morning slacker; she doesn't get started until 10 am, but she does go until 9 pm seven days a week. "Everyone welcome." 

Her readings also cost 50 cents, and she was located at 214 South 5th Street in Gadsden. A Google Maps photo from August 2024 for that address shows a row of three small buildings with 214 in the middle. 

Gadsden Times 26 May 1940

This ad notes she is "Licensed by City, State, County". 

Gadsden Times 2 June 1940

Here Madam Ada's text differs significantly from the other two ads. 

Gadsden Time 8 April 1941

Madame Lane doesn't mention palm reading, but seems to offer similar services. 

Gadsden Times 14 Dec 1941

The text here differs from the February 1940 one. "Don't be mislead [SIC]! This is the same Madam Una you all know." Does this imply she has competition in the area? She has extended her hours, changed location to a "tent and trailer" and says nothing about waiting rooms. 

Gadsden Times 15 March 1942

Gadsden Times 16 June 1942

This ad is the only one I found for a male palmist. He gives location, but no hours or cost. 

Gadsden Times 11 February 1943

Here Madam Una tells us which bus route to take. 

Both of these ads appeared in the Gadsden Times 6 February 1945

Two years later Madam Una is still going. 

Madam Smith notes "Not to be classed with Gypsies. World's Star American Palmist and Life Reader. After noting her skills, she adds "She is the seventh daughter born with a double veil." Smith also charges 50s, reads seven days a week and operated from Thompson's Trailer Camp. "Look for sign." She had long daily hours and "All welcome. White and colored."

Being a seventh daughter, presumably of a second daughter, is a folklore belief granting that woman--or man--with psychic powers such as seeing the future.

 

Gadsden Times 24 April 1945

The Una ad above and the two below are all alike and similar to ones used earlier. 

Gadsden Times 1 May 1945

Gadsden Times 8 May 1945

Gadsden Times 5 May 1954

Madam Davis' ad was tucked between ones for a bait shop and a drive-in theatre. All of the other ads above were located pretty much by themselves on the page. The ad directs "See sign on Trailer at Glencoe", which is a small town near Gadsden. The illustration for her ad is also different from all the others in the 1940s, and the only one in which the phrase "palm reading" appears.  

 Auburn Plainsman 29 July 1976

I've also noticed the ad in one other issue about that time. A Sister Lee seems to be operating in Opelika these days.