Alabama Yesterdays

Friday, June 9, 2017

On the Shores of Weiss Lake, mid-1960's

Sometime in the mid-1960's my parents and dad's parents bought a lot together on Weiss Lake in Cherokee County. The lake spreads over 30,000 acres in both Alabama and Georgia and was created by Weiss Dam which Alabama Power completed in 1961. The dam and lake are named after a company engineer, Fernand C. Weiss.

At the time there was little development around the lake, and dad and pawpaw proceeded to build a cabin on their property. Since he was retired, pawpaw did much of the work, and dad would go down on weekends to help and bring supplies he purchased. I remember the place as somewhat spartan but comfortable. Younger brother Richard and I had fun exploring the shoreline and surrounding woods.

After a few years the property was sold, and I've never been back. I'm sure the place has changed a lot and probably features the kinds of lakefront development so popular and profitable everywhere. You can see some contemporary photos here.

Below are a few photos taken on one of our trips to Weiss Lake along with some comments. The pictures were probably date 1966 or 1967.

For more information on the dam and lake, see Douglas Scott Wright's book, A History of Weiss Lake [History Press, 2008].

Here I am on the road trip to the lake, looking nerdy!

That seems to be younger brother Richard hanging out on and under the pier .

Here I am with Junior, who belonged to a next door neighbor. He was a very friendly dog.

A nice view of the shoreline

Dad must have joined us for some rock throwing.

Here's mom with Junior

Dad photographed us in a moment of pretended contemplation. That's the cabin in the background. Here you can see not only that cool hat but the cool socks I'm wearing

Another shot of the cabin with our Chevy station wagon in the background

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Elegy for a Small Pelham Bookstore

Back in 2015 I did a couple of posts on bookmarks and business cards related to Alabama bookstores. In the second one I included a card for Betty's Books in Pelham. Mostly a used paperback store, Betty's Books opened sometime in the 1990's. I remember visiting once before the store relocated to a small commercial area across U.S. 31 from its original place. Seems like I went to the new location once as well.

The store changed ownership and became Books Etc. I visited that incarnation several times and always found something to buy. The place was small but packed with goodies. Unfortunately, Books Etc has recently closed, and I'll miss knowing it's there when I want to stop by.

Son Amos worked at that Food World, which opened in 1974, during part of his high school years. Eventually the store closed, and a few years ago was replaced by a Mi Pueblo Supermarket.

The sign says "New and Used Book Exchange" but most of the inventory was used books and those were mostly trade and mass market paperbacks. The store did have large selections of classics, westerns, science fiction, and horror in addition to the usual contemporary fiction and romances.

At one time Books Etc also occupied the storefront to the left of this photo, but I started going just after the owner had given up that space.

Unfortunately, I totally missed that "Big Sale"!

Friday, June 2, 2017

Alabama Highway Map Cover from 1973

I've done a lot of map posts on this blog, and there's a reason for that--I love maps! Back in March I did a couple of posts on "Some Alabama Highway Map Covers" using mostly official maps from the state highway department in my collection. Those are the free maps you can pick up at state welcome centers and rest stops.

The oldest one in my collection was an example from 1976. Recently I explored a consignment shop here in Pelham and came across this one from 1973. I thought I'd post it here.

The map has a theme of "Alabama Has It All", something Governor George Wallace explains in his message on the back cover. There's also a quaint template for a stamp and address; I guess the highway and tourist departments would mail them on request and not have to use an envelope.

I wonder when the earliest of these maps was issued. If you know, leave that information in the comments!

This map was modestly priced, but I didn't buy it. Can't collect everything, you know.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Yes, There's a Booth for That Art

For more than 50 years my mother, Carolyn Shores Wright, has been painting, mostly in watercolor. Her subjects have ranged from many types of birds including hummingbirds to landscapes, flowers, and still lifes. She's also had a long-running series "Bird Life" featuring birds in humorous--and human--situations. You can see many examples on Pinterest. You can follow her on Twitter too: @CShoresInc

Mom's had success selling both originals and licensing rights, so her art appears on many things from prints to greeting cards, coasters, pillows, sun catchers, Franklin Mint plates, bookmarks, and mugs and much else. As I noted in a recent post, we found one of her licensed pieces in a shop in Manitou Springs, Colorado. In 1994 we took the kids to Disney World. The first shop we entered at Disney Marketplace had several prints of mom's art hanging on the walls. These encounters have been frequent over the years.

A few years ago we opened a shop for mom's work on ArtFire, and subsequently on Etsy, two online sites for the sale of arts and crafts. Dianne also sells her original jewelry on the ArtFire site.

Recently we've opened two physical locations in Pelham, Alabama, at Encore Resales and Vintage Interiors. These are reminiscent of the booths mom operated at art shows for many years across the Southeast. However, these booths last longer than just a weekend!

The booths feature prints and other licensed items with mom's work and Dianne's jewelry. Just recently we've added some work by my nephew Ashley Wright, a Birmingham attorney.

More comments are below the photos.

NOTE 19 August 2021

The Vintage Interiors booth is no longer operating.

Here's the booth as it currently looks at Encore.

Those two oyster prints are Ashley's.

Here's the booth at Vintage which gives us lots of room for hanging items. We also have space for some non-art items and furniture.

Ashley's oysters are also available here, both framed and unframed.

For years mom did the painting and matting, and dad made the frames.

And here's mom at an art show booth in Huntsville in November 1991. For some years she did a weekend show in late January at Brookwood Village mall in the Birmingham area, and I remember taking the kids to see her on Friday night or Saturday.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Alabama Author: Garrard Harris

Garrard Harris is one of many now forgotten authors who were not state natives but have some other connection to Alabama. Let's investigate.

He was born close to us, in Columbus, Georgia, on May 14, 1875, the son of James and Gertrude Harris. He attended the University of Georgia and North Georgia Agricultural College before earning a law degree from Millsap College, located in Jackson, Mississippi, and founded by Methodists in 1890. He remained in the state capital practicing law for about a decade before embarking on a career of government service. While in Jackson he married Mary Lou Sykes in November, 1906.

Harris was a special agent with the U.S. Department of Commerce to Latin America from 1914 until 1917; a specialist and editor at the Federal Board of Vocational Education in Washington, 1918-1919; and finally a commissioner at the U.S. Department of Commerce during 1919 and 1920. Several of his publications reflect his government work: Central America as an Export Field [1915], Redemption of the Disabled [1919] and Elements of Conservation [1924].

Harris had an interest in writing fiction which began at an early age. As the list below indicates, he published a short piece in the magazine Short Stories in November 1893. He continued publishing short stories until his death.

He also wrote three novels during his years with the federal government: Joe the Book Farmer [1914], Trail of the Pearl [1917], and Treasure of the Land [1917]. All three were published by Harper and Brothers, an American publisher founded in 1817 and adopting that name from 1833 until 1962. The global firm is known as HarperCollins today.

Joe the Book Farmer and Treasure of the Land depict the programs developed by state and local governments to bring modern farming methods to rural America. The optimistic young people who are attracted to these efforts reflect the beliefs of the author and many others in government trying to address rural poverty. Trail of the Pearl follows young orphan Buckner Allen as he tries to educated himself and escape the poverty and moonshine culture of the mountain people around him.

After those years in government, Harris and Mary settled in Birmingham, where he worked for the Birmingham News from 1920 until his death in March 1927. Mary apparently never remarried and was living with her mother in Ashville, North Carolina, at the time of her death in 1944. She is buried alongside Garrard in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. The couple had four children, Louise, Frank, Frances and Garrard II, who died in 1979.

Further comments follow some of the items below.

This novel was serialized in four issues of American Boy in 1911. Joe Weston is the son of a sharecropper. Joe, his father and the landowner Mr. Somerville enter into an agreement that allows Joe and the landowner to work four of his father's acres for a year according to the progressive methods taught in books about modern farming and lectures by men from the state and federal governments. Joe's father Tom is dismissive of such ideas, but gives permission since Mr. Somerville has offered to erase his $160 debt.

Source: Internet Archive

Source: Google Books

This digitized The Treasure of the Land originated with a print copy at the University of Illinois library. At the time of digitization, the book had only been checked out once--over ten years after Harris' death.

Source: Internet Archive

Harris is buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery, along with his wife Mary.

Source: Find-A-Grave

Fictionmags Index for Garrard Harris as of April 2017. There may be other published stories not yet indexed in the FMI.

HARRIS, GARRARD (1875-1927); (about) (chron.)

* Along the Brink, (ss) 10 Story Book Jun 1927
* Ambushed, (vi) Short Stories Nov 1893
* Below the Surface, (ss) Adventure Jan 20 1924
* The Control of Cotton, (ar) Pearson’s Magazine (US) Nov 1912
* The Darkest Hour, (ss) The All-Story Magazine Aug 1910
* Don Juan of Tombigbee, (ss) 10 Story Book Jul 1934
* Edith’s Return, (ss) Snappy Stories May #1 1922
* Fate and Mr. Suggs, (ss) Argosy All-Story Weekly Aug 27 1921
* The High-Graders, (ss) Action Stories Nov 1924
* The Hope That Failed, (ss) Smith’s Magazine Aug 1921
* The Ignorance of Bliss, (ss) Snappy Stories Apr #1 1922
* Joe Weston, Book Farmer, (sl) The American Boy Apr, May, Jun, Jul 1911
* Kisses, (pm) Pearson’s Magazine (US) Aug 1910
* Kitson’s Oranges, (ss) The All-Story Sep 1913
* Lost Reputations, (ss) Snappy Stories Apr #1 1923
* Mme. Frizzelli Finds Two Easy Marks, (ss) 10 Story Book Apr 1910
* Money Isn’t Everything, (ss) Droll Stories Apr 1923
* The Pearls of Mrs. Stuyvesant Watts, (ss) 10 Story Book Jun 1924
* “The Poor Devil”, (ss) The All-Story Magazine May 1911
* The Price of Freedom, (ss) Munsey’s Magazine Feb 1915
* The Promised Land, (ss) Munsey’s Magazine Oct 1923
* “Rendering Unto Caesar”, (ss) The All-Story Magazine Mar 1911
* The Spell, (ss) 10 Story Book Mar 1913
* Springtime in the Heart, (ss) Argosy All-Story Weekly Jun 17 1922
* The Tinkling Cymbal, (ss) Munsey’s Magazine Mar 1913
* To Him That Hath, (ss) 10 Story Book May 1910
* Tomato Magic, (ss) The Delineator Sep 1914
* Unfashionable Sally Creates a Scandal, (ss) 10 Story Book Feb 1910
* When the Admiral Waked, (ss) The American Boy Feb 1922
* White Eye, (ss) Adventure mid-Jan 1921

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Alabama Library History: A List

I've been pulling together some of my related blog posts and other materials into lists. So far I've done "Film Actresses from Alabama Before 1960" and "Medical History in Birmingham". This post is the third in the series.