Idle Hurst, Marietta, Ga, Old Post Card

This is an old postcard of some place in Marietta, Georgia, years ago. I don't know where Idle Hurst was or what it was.

Kennesaw Mountain is in the background. I think that is a clue.

Book Report: NIGHTWOODS by Charles Frazier

Look what I found in my piles of rubble and trash in the Word file! A book review I wrote that I never posted:

NIGHTWOODS by Charles Frazier is a book about the living in North Carolina, although I don’t think the book actually said it was taking place in North Carolina. Because Charles Frazier's other two books COLD MOUNTAIN and THIRTEEN MOONS did take place in North Carolina I assumed it was in the North West section of that state and I feel the geography described in the book proves I was right.

It also paints a southern town good but I think the interactions of the people and their relationships were to the extreme void or off.

Near the beginning of the book the protagonist was raped and she went to the sheriff’s office to report it. The deputy talked her out of pressing charges, saying no one would believe her. And she left. Over three quarters of the book later you learn that the deputy that talked her out of it was her estranged father.

The book has wonderful descriptions of the terrain, plant life, and the general typical local residents.

Many parts of the book have no introductory scene painting so you know what you are in. You have to read a while to adapt to whats going on where at. Quotation marks (“) are not used to separate the actual spoken words from the rest of the sentence - you are on your own to figure it out.




On several instances and items I predicted accurately what would happen later in the story. It wasn’t hard to figure out. I liked Frazier's COLD MOUNTAIN and THIRTEEN MOONS better, but it was still good.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! TRUMP's TRANQUILIZERS

This was first published in the first issue of TRUMP, March, 1957, almost 55 years ago, and it is timely now as it was then. Some things just don’t change. The artwork is by Al Jaffee, who later became a regular artist of MAD Magazine and had his own syndicated cartoon strip TALL TALES for a while. TRUMP was the combined brainstorms of PLAYBOY’s Hugh Hefner and MAD’s ex-editor Harvey Kurtzman. It had a short life of two issues.

ONE FOR THE MONEY On the Big Screen

Yesterday we went to a movie theater to see ONE FOR THE MONEY starring Katherine Heigl, Sherri Shepherd, and others; directed by Julie Ann Robinson; and produced by Tom Rosenberg. Based on the first book of the series by Janet Evanovich, I'd categorize it as a comedy/action story. Taking place in Trenton, New Jersey, everyone lives up to the stereotypes of that state.

I read the book a year or so ago. It is the only book of the Stephanie Plum 18 book series that I've read. The movie was good entertainment giving Katherine Heigi a good role to showcase her talents, if you know what I mean. The book described her being left handcuffed naked to a shower rod. I was curious to see how that was to be handled in the movie. It lived up to the story discretely.

The movie was enjoyable as are the books (Anna has read them all), but don't go looking for significant redeeming social qualities. The books and the movie are just good for a chuckle. See the trailer below:

Queen Kong by Frank Fraetta

Visiting St James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta

The Saint James Episcopal Church Cemetery at Polk and Winn Streets is a very interesting cemetery*. Local history comes alive there – well, I don’t think “comes alive” are the words I’m looking for. But you see the city leaders of the past, street names, and local business names, all crammed in a small cemetery.

Click on each photo to see the details.


Agricola Street is off Allgood Road.


Rip Blair was one of the city fathers who turned this town from a rural to an Industrial town. I don’t know if this is Rip’s grave but if not, I bet it is a relative.


The name Otis Brumby has been associated with publishing the Marietta Daily Journal for many years. Unfortunately, this Otis Brumby lived only 7 months.



Above two markers - a touch of the Old Country


Clark Gable? Not THE Clark Gable I was told by the grounds keeper.


Coryell is a street off Roswell Street.


Denmead owned a large plantation in the area of Hospital. He also owned Denmead Warehouse, by the railroad tracks on Mill Street. Notice the Glover memorials in the background?


Dupre’s Store on Whitlock Avenue by the railroad tracks. Dupre’s adjusted to the times all through its long history. When Cobb County was an agricultural community they catered to the farmers. Later when Bell Bomber and afterwards Lockheed subdivisions sprung up and with less farms Dupre’s sold less farm supplies and more appliances. Now, Cobb County is the home of many upper middle class yuppies who love antiquing – now Dupre’s is an antique center.


Robert Flouroy was a colorful mayor and later a colorful judge.


Freyer Drive is off Cherokee Street. Freyer Drive was the addresses of at least two of Marietta Mayors.




In early times of Marietta the Glover family just about owned the town, really! Even down to the very center of it – Glover Park, which they donated to the city.


Abraham Green was born in 1802. Unless he was an Indian, I doubt if he is a native of Marietta. Marietta was not opened to white settlers until 1832.


Harold Willingham was the county attorney at one time and another time the city Attorney. He was also a powerful influential state representative. With his legal fees as an attorney for the local governments he died a very rich man.



Eldred Tait Hunter, Jr. is no relation to me as far as I know, even though we have the same initials, including the Jr.




PROVIDENCE, edited by Connie M. Cox & Darlene M. Walsh is an excellent book about the history of this region before, during, and after the Civil War. It follows the correspondence of mainly George Camp who was an officer in the Roswell Mill, working directly for Roswell King, the owner of the mill and the founder of Roswell, Georgia.. George Camp bought Tranquility and the parcel of land came with it the subdivision of Keeler Woods was developed. Look at these names on the above memorials – the same names of the streets in Keeler Woods.


A Massey was president of the First National Bank of Marietta.


The McNeel family owned McNeel Marble and developed Cherokee Heights, Marietta’s first subdivision.


Across the street from the cemetery is Marietta Junior High school. It was Marietta High School when I attended. The steps in front lead up to the administrative offices. I spent many hours in those offices explaining myself.




The Noble family owned the Pontiac Dealership in Marietta. Their son Ben was a friend in high school and had plenty of parties at their home near Little Kennesaw Mountain on Old Mountain Road. In Ben Senior senior years he took an active role in protecting small family cemeteries. After I was married we sold Mrs. Noble a baby schnauzer that our Schatzi had.


The Northcutt family has been business leaders in the downtown Marietta since before 1900




Jon Benet and her mother Patricia Ramsey’s graves. The poor little girl was bludgeoned to death in her home in Boulder, Colorado, making national news. The murder was never solved.
The tree that hangs over Jon Benet’s grave used to have many cards and plastic angels on it, now, there are only two.



Mr. Schilling, an immigrant from Germany owned a very successful hardware store on the Marietta Square. Now, Schilling’s Restaurant is in the same space.


The Skinners have interesting markers and interesting places and dates.



The Tumlin family owned Marietta Lumber Company and a descendant, Steve “Thunder” Tumlin is now Mayor.


The lady and her babies need a nice bubble bath with a pressure washer. It has been rumored for years that the marker is haunted. The rumor is that at midnight if you circle her three times and asked her what happened to her babies she will cry. I don’t believe in such nonsense but I am afraid to be in the cemetery at midnight to prove the rumor wrong.




Grady Veach owned Veach’s Wholesale Groceries. His warehouse was the old Denmead warehouse on Mill Street.


Whitlock as in Whitlock Avenue or Whitlock Inn.



Winters was one of the early pioneers of Marietta, and Winters Street was an early street in downtown Marietta also.

Studying local cemetery markers is sort of creepy isn’t it?

On This Date in History, January the 25th

1741 Benedict Arnold General /traitor (US revolution) was born.

1938 Etta James [Jamesette Hawkins], US singer (Roll With Me Henry) was born. She died January the 20th, 5 days ago.

We Were Delighted With DELI DELIGHTS!

Today Anna and I were West of the Marietta square looking for a place to eat lunch. We were not completely sure where we wanted to go when on Whitlock Avenue we saw what looked like Tony the Tiger doing some kind of wiggle dance and holding up a sign advertising a new deli. Who could resist?

We were directed into the same shopping center as Gabriel’s and Chicken and the Egg, . Both places are good, but both have drawbacks. Gabriel’s is always crowded at lunch by locals who want to be seen at Garbriel’s, which makes for longer waiting time. The Chicken and Egg is just too pricey for a quick lunch.

We considered the new Mexican restaurant, Loco Willie’s, but then there was the Tiger attraction. We kept driving toward the end of the shopping center, and DELI DELIGHTS was there, just like Tony the Tiger said near the Burnt Hickory Road entrance.

We were the only customers until several others came as we finished. I ordered a Reuben sandwich on rye, and Anna ordered a turkey sandwich on multi-grain. Both sandwiches were plentiful and fresh! The sandwiches were very typical deli-type, each coming with a bag of chips of your choice. They were delicious!! The cookies are good too!!

The lady-owner was sitting next to us and spoke with a strong New York or New Jersey accent. The décor is done in 50’s diner style with her touch of antique collectibles. She and her husband, who was behind the counter, knew their deli foods. She was very friendly, discussing various restaurants in the area and seems to enjoy going to different non-franchised restaurants as much as we do.

We wish DELI DELIGHTS the best in their new business adventure. We will be back! Yummmm!

Patricia Whiten Had to Leave Us

Patricia Whiten Morton died last night.

Back in high school one summer Patricia rode with me to summer school. One day after we left class we were chasing a friend on Polk Street. On the back side of Mountain View Cemetery we were going at a fast speed and I suddenly had to stop for whatever reason I forgot. My parents car, a '53 Chevvy, did a complete spin. Patricia chewed me out and called me every curse word she could think of. She knew how to humble me, for sure. She inspried me to drive safely, especially when I had passengers.

Horace Armfield told me this morning that one time Patricia had a wreck driving his motor scooter. Dogs were chasing her and she raised her legs to keep from the dogs getting biting her legs and she lost control and had a wreck which broke a leg. She missed much of school that year and graduated the year after her original class graduated.

She will be missed by all that knew her.

Visitation will be at Mayes-Ward Tuesday, from 6:00 to 8:00PM
Funeral will be Mayes-Ward Wednesday at 3:00PM
Burial will be at Cheatham Hill Cemetery.

Curses!! I Think I Have A Curse!

Have you ever read the book THINNER by Stephen King? There was also a movie by the same name that I didn’t see. The plot is that protagonist accidentally runs over a gypsy woman and the woman’s gypsy father puts a curse on him by touching him and simply saying, “Thinner!” And then he rapidly got thinner.

I wonder if we have been cursed too. I’m trying to remember if I treated somebody unfairly or was rude to someone and their father touched me and said “Your basement floods!” If that happened it was probably right before Thanksgiving.

A day before Thanksgiving while washing clothes our septic tank let loose and flooded our basement. We cleaned it up and had a septic tank company to pump out and repaired our septic tank.

Three days after it was repaired it happened again. We had the septic tank company to come out again and dug it up and said the problem was not with the septic tank but within the house but he put his suction machine on full power and popped out what was blocking the system, within the house. And, it was fixed again.

We thought our water problem in the basement was behind us and then a few weeks ago it happened again while we were washing clothes. We had a plumbing company come out and check it out. They duplicated the situation by running the washing machine. The washing machine filled up with water and then went into the spin cycle, which shot the water out to the septic tank. They didn’t see a thing wrong. They didn’t change us anything.
We thought maybe it was a one-time freak combination of things and now maybe it was over with.
Saturday I went down to the basement to put the washed clothes into the dryer and the basement was flooded and water was still flowing from the washer. The washer was completely full of water and was overflowing and the water was still being fed to it. The washer did not turn automatically turn its water supply off and go into a spin cycle to rid itself of the water.


We manually turned the dial to spin cycle and it stopped the incoming water and centrifugal forced all the water out to the septic tank.

With the shop-vac I vacuumed up the water. The canister holds 6 gallons. I started off counting the times I dumped the water into the back yard and lost count. I think it was either 48 or 54 gallons dumped.

How does one go about ridding themselves of a curse? Stay tuned?

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! MAD #17's CAESER

The last time I put a MAD story in SUNDAY FUNNIES it was from MAD #18. Now, I am back on MAD#17. I did it for timely reasons. So, was I jumping forward then or falling back now? Never mind, it doesn't matter.

The story was written by Harvey Kurtzman and illustrated by Wallace Wood. Enjoy!