The House of Magicians and Comedians

Earlier today by the buffet line at John Boys' All You Can Eat Country Cooking restaurant an elderly man showed a lady his plate piled with food and said, "I am a magician, I will make all this disappear!"

Edna Garrett White

This is a distant relative of mine, Edna Garrett White.  We are both descended  from  Joseph Garrett  (1822 - 1900) and Nancy Elizabeth Mashburn (1823 - 1921).  They both died in Fannin County, Georgia.

Edna and her husband, lived in a very pretty white house on Frances Avenue in Marietta.   One day I spent the day with them going through old documents and photographs.  She is  one of the most hyper-super organized person I have met.   On my visit she praised me for taking the research initiative and turned around and in the same breath criticize her poor husband for just wanting to sit on  him rump.   

She and he probably died over 30 years ago.  

Sadly, after I visited her a couple of times and she took me on a private tour of a general's house she had the keys to, I went almost a year without contact with her, and when I checked on her apparently her and her husband no longer lived on Frances Avenue.  I don't know if they moved or died.  I couldn't find her in the obituaries.

I have found a lot of information about a lot of my relatives who have passed on, but this time I let a pair of live ones slip throuhg my fingers.

Sprayberry Highschool's Yearbook ECHO On-Line

My friend and  ex-fellow postal worker Skip Are  has a couple of very good and interesting websites.

One is a collection of Sprayberry High school yearbooks THE ECHO, page by page, student by student.  Of course at first you have all the ECHO annuals in front of you.   First, once you are at the sight select Enter, then you will see a menu on the left.  Select ECHO. Then you pick one of the years you attended, click and look at it, page by page and see old school mates, forever young, just like yourself. 

It took Skip many hours of detail work to do all this.  I know, I did something similar with Marietta High School's THE OLYMPIAN, but not nearly as many.

The reason I am sharing this with you is that I don't think every one who went to Sprayberry is aware of this site.

the address of the site is:

http://www.sprayberry-echo-project.com/

Enjoy!

SUNDAY FUNNIES!!! HUMBUG'S WORLD SERIES

Here we are facing the 2013 World Series. 

Over the next week or more the trend will be a big interest  on this year's World Series.  Any mention of on any item with the World Series name will be hot.  That is the way trends go.  So, in keeping up with current events, or hopping on the Band Wagon early, here is a generic cartoonist's  view of the World Series, being watch on TV.

The cartoon is by Blechman and was originally in HUMBUG #4 in 1957.

NOTE:  The other day a friend of mine told me he could not read my blog comics because they were too small.  I told him to put his courser on the image and click it.  It will make it bigger and readable.  Now, try it:

Pre Zombie Walk

Above is a 5 minute video to show what you missed today.  Below are some still pictures of the same.  As you can see, if you made the wrong move you could have been eaten alive.

This has become an annual thing.  Today was for a good cause; food for the needy.  People were invited to donate cans of food.

I think the walk and the "best" contest was to start at 5pm.  We were an hour early.  And left before the official ceremonies began.   

Cuties are they?

The Zombies At Glover Park

This afternoon and evening at Glover Park in Marietta will be a Zombie fest, sort of.  People come and dress like zombies or Zombies come as you are.  The admission is a can of food, food for humans consumption that is, no pickled fingers or anything like that.

The above video is a Zombie video I made in October 2011.  It is timeless, so go ahead and watch it.

This falls under my "Getting More Mileage" category. 

O.M. Davis McCollum Did a SHOW AND TELL

Last night we went to a talk at the Marietta Museum of History given by Davis McCollum.  Davis is the creator of the OLD MARIETTA (O.M.) site on Facebook.  It is all about the history of Marietta and other places in Cobb County.  He showed examples and more examples of his vast collection of old pictures of structures, businesses, and people.  It is a paradise for Marietta trivia nuts.

He said a lot of people go to the O.M. site and just look at one picture after another.  He explained that you can get much more out of it if you click on Photos and when photos come up click on Albums and from there on handle it like an index (I think).  That way, you have a method in your madness, as they say.

Davis  also weaved  his genealogy research of 40,000 + names on Ancestry.com and findagrave.com into how he researches and files his vast amount of information.

It was a good informative  lecture.

Skip Are, friend

Skip was a co-postal worker in our time.  He has taken on the giant task of putting pages from the Sprayberry High School yearbooks on Facebook.

Sitting On My Yin Playing With My Yang

Yesterday my dentist told me his theory on Yin and Yang.  He said if he gained weight and did not want to, somebody who wanted to lose weight just lost the weight that he gained.  He said he believes for every negative action there is a negative reaction.  I agree.  He said something about it is a energy thing.  I thought it could be.  He said in so many words that is what makes the world go around.  He might have a point - and somehow he threw in Einstein's theory that energy cannot be creative or destroyed.

I don't think the Yin/Yang business means for every poor person there is a rich man or visa versa.   Because  there are a whole lot less rich people than they are poor people.    

Run and duck, the YIN/YANG is off balance!

Memories Again

We were coming home from dinner the other night and as we past a little shopping center I was studying the names of the stores.  We were looking for a live music venue we read about some time ago.  We are not sure if we saw it or not, but we did see a dog grooming shop I heard about  almost 30 years ago.  It still had the same name.

About 1983 or 84 I transferred to the Marietta Post Office.  One of the first people I got to know was a guy named Robert.  Robert had a full gray beard and liked to dress western.    He always wore cowboy boots and western shirts. His co-workers called him "Cowboy".  I wondered why.

Robert, aka Cowboy, told me he had just won a dog grooming business in a poker game.  And told me what shopping center it was in.  He said he was going to let it run itself, the same groomer would stay there, he didn't know a thing about dog grooming and did not want to know.

The grooming  business also reminded me of a romance he had with a young lady who came to work at the Marietta Post Office the same time I did.  The lady was married.  I met her husband at a party one time and found him very timid, out of place,  and shy.  She told her mother of her problems with her husband and she suggested to her daughter she find her a part time lover.  One night, her mother came to our work area and the daughter introduced her mother to her potential lover.  Her mother met him and approved of him.   It was no secret, the young lady was never lost for words for what to talk about.

We worked at Station A Post Office on Gresham Road.   Just down the road at the corner of Roswell Road was a Hardee's Restaurant.   We worked through the night and at 7am we took our lunch break and all went to Hardee's most mornings. 

I always somehow miss serious action.  I was not at Hardee's one morning, for what reason I forgot.  About 7:15am one morning at Hardee Robert and his girlfriend were sitting in Hardees eating their breakfasts and about that time Robert looked up and saw a gun aimed right at his face.  He finally got to meet his girlfriend's husband face to face.  The gun fired.

Robert ducked and the bullet hit the lady friend in the cheek.  It went in one side and exited the other side.  The husband went to prison over that incident and she and Robert married, built a very nice house near Cartersville, Georgia, and the last time I talked to her she said they were very happy. 

Of course, unfortunately,  the story did not end happy for every one.

Brothers Charles and Paul Foster

The little boy saluting is Paul Everett Foster, Jr.  (1922-1995).  The younger boy is his brother Charles Jones Foster (1925-2012).  They are/were Anna's uncles.  They both were born and grew up in Marietta.  They both worked at the Strand Theater when they were teenagers.  Paul ran the projector and Charles did odds and ends jobs like distribute the weekly movie program guilds.

Charles loved airplanes.   Charles rode his bike to Atlanta to watch airplanes take off and land.

They both worked at the Marietta Post Office.  They both went into the service.  Paul was a Marine in the Pacific during WW II.  Charles was taught how to fly  airplanes in the Army and he flew supplies in during the war. 

After the war Paul returned to the Marietta Post Office.  He was a window clerk and wore his uniform professionally, just like he did in the Marines.  Many people thought he was the postmaster.  Several people have asked me "How long was Paul Postmaster?"  He was also an active leader in the Elks Club.

After the war Charles became a pilot for TWA.  He and his family settled in Kansas City.  After he retired they moved back to Marietta.

Charles was very health conscious and tried to avoid food that was not healthy.  I think Paul enjoyed life too much to be picky over what he ate.  Once at either a Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner I overheard  Charles talking Paul  and his wife Barbara to share their cemetery plot with him and his wife Florence.  Apparently they came to an agreement because that is where all four of them are buried.  The ironic part,  at that same dinner Charles was trying to convince Paul to not drink whole milk, it had too much fat in it .  Paul died  the following January, at the  most 6 weeks from their discussion.

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY SALE!!!

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! MAD's SOUND EFFECTS! POW!! BANG!!

This is ripped from MAD comicbook #20.  The title is self-explanatory.  The story is by Editor Harvey Kurtzman and the art is by Wally Wood. 

Tuba Skinny AT THE MILL or Shake a Leg

Naw, "Shake a Leg" is not part of the title, but look:

Alex Can't Say "Y'all" Convincing

I  like to give credit where credit is due.  Alex Trebek  is a master of languages.  I have heard him roll off his tongue French,  Spanish, Cantonese, Japanese, and I don't know what else - and they all seemed to have the right accents and pronunciations - or at least they sound right to me..

  And I am impress with his  knowledge nightly on JEOPARDY.  He knows much about  a lot.  I watched someone get something wrong on JEOPARDY and he would say, "No, you must be thinking of so and so (similar name) who died 128 years before.  He is crammed  with trivia knowledge like that.

And I noticed he has a hard time being humble about his intellect.  While Goggling Alex I came across several negative posts, such as ALEX IS A POMPOUS JERK.; ALEX IS A JERK;  ALEX IS A SNOB;  ALEX IS A DICK; and so on.

I can forgive him for that, that is just a fault of human nature, the fault of people who know a lot - they are a bit snobbish about it.

But what I cannot forgive him for is the way he does such a terrible job when he tries to put on a southern accent.  It is terrible attempt and unforgivable.   It is real upsetting to hear him quote something out of a Tennessee Williams' play or something else southern fried - he just can't.

Word Association

This old postcard of hauling oil to Arizona mines  reminds me of 20 Mule Products and Boraxo, which reminds me of Death Valley, which reminds me of Ronald Regan.  Which reminds me of BEDTIME FOR BONZO. 

Allen Moody (1820 1872)

It is always nice and relaxing to read someone else's mail;  You  get to pry into the lives of other people without actually being involved..  Just ask a former Postal employee.    That is also why it is so nice to be a family reseacher.


Allen Moody (1820 - 1872)  

Allen Moody [5173], son of Allen Moody [141] and Nancy Murphy [142], was born on 29 Oct 1820 in Pendleton Dist, Pickens Co, SC, died on 23 Feb 1872 in Tunnel Hill, Whitfield Co, GA at age 51, and was buried in West Hill Cem., Dalton, Whitfield Co, GA.

General Notes: A letter written to William Moody from M.J. Moody:

New Orleans, La, Nov 16 1903

Dear Uncle,

     I have been a long time find out your post office and when I was at home in Dalton a few days a just learned that ya was still alive and got you mail at Jockey and nowI will write you a letter so I am proud to have the chance as writing you again.  How I learned that your post office was Jockey your son Alfred is at work for a R.R. co at contracting co. near Rockmart, Ga., and my brother William's son Bedney is at work for the same company near Rockmart and the boys found out each other and through Bedney I found out your post office and I want to come out and see you next summer when I come home and I want you to write me as often as you can for I am always pleased to hear from you and I hope everything will be so I can come and see you next summer.  I am still on the Railroad.  I am a conductor on a passenger train run from New Orleans to Vicksburg, Miss.  Have a good job an am doing well.  Have a very good start.  My wife and children live in Dalton, Ga., and my oldest girl is most grown and the second one is a good large girl.  I have 4 girls.  The 2 oldest have a very good education and play the piano.  I want to give them a fine shcooling and if nothing happens to me I will give them all a good education.  Now uncle write to me soon as you get this and I will write you often.  You can send my letters to Dalton, Ga., and my wife will forward them to me as she always know just where I am.  Uncle I will close for this time hoping that you and all the family are well and getting along alright.

     I remain as such, Your Nephew,

                M. J. Moody

               #1416 Peniston Street

                 New Orleans, La

Noted events in his life were:

•  He served in the military. Mexican War (applied for a pension)

Allen married Elizabeth J. Nichols [5174] [MRIN: 1877] on 21 Mar 1848. Elizabeth was born on 1 Mar 1824 in Greenville, , SC, died on 22 Feb 1901 in Tunnel Hill, Whitfield Co, GA at age 76, and was buried in West Hill Cem., Dalton, Whitfield Co, GA. They had eight children: Ora, Mary Bell, John Allen, Chloe Jane, William Christopher, Henry Bedney, Minnie, and Monroe Jackson.

Marietta's James Wilder

James Wilder - He is one of the many people who parade through my life that I found amazing.  He owned WBIE Radio Station, which was a walk up to the second floor, on the first block of Atlanta Street.  He was an indebt reporter of local news and was a hands on operating owner of the radio station he owned.

He drove a two-two baby blue and white Ford, something like a 1956 model.  It had emergency lights on it which helped him get through traffic to a fresh accident.  I was told he made a lot of money being the first photographer on hand at automobile wrecks, not for the news for his radio station but to sell the photographs to insurance companies involved.

At times he would work endless on his prerecorded radio program and lie down on the floor of his office, take a brief nap, then, get up and back at it.  I have heard Jim giving the time and the whole show was recorded days ago.  I guess he had a system or a formula  by the rolling digits on the tape recorder that he could translate into minute and seconds, and if the tape started playing the exact moment it was suppose to, then the time of the day could be accurately said.

WBIE played country and western.  It also played lived Rock-a-Billy.  True,  Billy Joe Royal and his band performed live for a short time on a week day (after school.  I forgot the exact time of their show, I think it was something like 5:00 pm, I think it was either a 15 or 30 minute show.  Which, I was fortunately enough to attend several of the live shows.

At the time we lived on Richard Street in Marietta.  Jim and his family lived on the street behind us on Toliver Street.  It was not a pretentious house at all.  It was  a house that could have very well be the farmhouse of a poor family.  The type of house with big rooms with high ceiling - like a 4 room house.

When he died in the 70s his station was worth millions.  His son was a musician with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.  I don't know, but I doubt if country and western music was his son's forte'.   

No Bullying and Walk To School Day, the same Dat

Today is Stop Bullying Day and also Walk to School Day.   That is almost an Oxymoron.  That is when the Bullies do their most inspirational  bullying when little harmless kids walk to school.   

National Face Your Fears Day

Today is National Face Your Fears day.  Good luck!

Fantastic Voyeur

The images are not my innards.  They are some I found goggling "FANTASTIC VOYAGE"

I decided to get my prostate shaved.

After looking at my penil system via a cystoscope with my urologist explaining  what Anna and I were seeing and what will happen about a year or two down the road. My bladder is overworked, which will eventually collapse, which will mean catheter  ... oh me.

The view from the cystoscope gave the illusion that we were slowly driving a vehicle through a pink tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a larger room We just dove in, we were fearless. It is my bladder. One wall had a big hole, big enough to drive a truck through....if we are in a vehicle. The doctor explained that the hole is damage from over working, the pressure made it give.

We returned to the opening of my pee-pee. It appeared we were backing out. Strangely, as we backed out my urethra tube in front of us. The two walls were closing, i'm not sure if that is natural or something caused by my enlarged prostate.

As the cystoscope was almost out I had a very strong urge to piss. I almost expected in the monitor to see a huge flood of yellow liquid rushing at us.

The doctor said if I don't get my prostate shaved I will be getting urinating assistance from  a mechanical instrument within two years.  That doesn't leave much of a choice.  Gulp!

Jot'Em Boys, Solo and Downsized

The Jot'Em Down Boys did a solo performance Saturday night.  Not only were they* solo they were also downsized.

By solo I mean it was just them.  Usually at the Woodstock Bluegrass Jamboree on the first Saturday evenings of every month the Woodstock Community Church there are two bands.   For the first hour it is the visiting band or guest band and the second hour it is the hosting band The Jot'Em Down Boys.

Jack, the banjo player, is no longer with them.  They said Jack, health-wise, just wasn't up to it anymore, or something to that effect and they wish him the best.  I looked closely at their eyes as they were talking to see if I could see any flicker of eye contact interaction but they were looking completely innocent, so maybe Jack is not buried behind the barn.

I thought Jack was a good banjo player and was the one-liner, or is it two-liner corny joker of the group.  He was his own straight man.  He would ask himself a question and answer himself, like why he knew the Toothbrush was invented in Alabama:  Anyplace else it would have been named a Teethbrush.   On jokes he had good delivery and on banjo picking he had good delivery.   Once  at Woodstock Bluegrass Jamboree I saw Jack drive up in an antique car which I think he refurbished himself.  It showed he had an interest beyond his banjo niche.

Saturday  night the jokes still came but fewer one or two lines.  These were more spontaneous bursts of wit.

Downsized, the Jot'Em Down Boys did great.  However, I think they could even be better with a banjo player.

Jokingly, I say, "HIT THE ROAD JACK!!"

THE JOT'EM BOYS, Jackless

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! HUMBBUG''s PRIDE AND PASSION

Remember last Tuesday this blog had a post about the Pride and the Passion and comparing it to some Marietta Good Old boys in the 50s?

I dug this story up out of HUMBUG #4,  1957, which lampoons the movie THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION.   The story was written by Harvey Kurtzman and illustrated by Georgia's own, Jack Davie.

Remember click on each image to be able to read it and it will make more sense.

Brandy

Adam and Brandy

\

Brandy, Rocky, and Adam

Brandy and Rocky

Back when our kids were kids Brandy came into our life.  The mother, Daisy, lived next door.  Daisy had pups and we picked our the prettiest one of the litter .  She was part German Shepard and part Husky.

In those days I ran with her down Sandy Plains Road and Post Oak Tritt and it never occurred  to me to use a leash.  Not until a Cobb County Animal Control truck  pulled alongside and asked me how come the dog did not have a leash.  "Is that a law?" I asked.

She retorted that she would write a fine to show me it was a law.  Somehow, I didn't get a ticket.

Above are pictures of Brandy when she was just a pup.

When we were having our den and deck built in 1992 Brandy and a big  dog by the name of Stormy, that lived behind us, were playing wrestling on the deck, one house level up, and fell, one house level down.  Then she yipped but she seemed to have got over it.   But as she grew older she got where she just could not walk, she lost use of her back legs.  She died at about age 14.

Bob Pullen (1873 - 1961)

In genealogy it is always nice to come across a person that had his toil and troubles, I don't mean it is nice to hear he had troubles, just it is nice to read about the salt of the earth and their real life experiences.

Robert Virgil "Bob" Pullen [5504], son of Greenville Pullen Jr [282] and Elizabeth Frances "Eliza" Bookout [283], was born on 29 Nov 1873 in , Murray Co., GA, died on 3 Jan 1961 in Cleveland, Bradley Co., TN at age 87, and was buried in Dill Cem., Old Fort, Pope Co., Tenn.

General Notes: Bob's father died when he was only six years old.  He worked the farm. In 1901, he bought 80 acres of land (Lot #131) north of the Temple Grove Road in 1901.

1923- Bob sold the Murray Co. farm, half to B.L. Wittermore and half ot nephew John Pullen, a bachelor.  John lived on this property until he die in 1966.

Bob purchased 160 plus acres in Old Fort, Polk Co., Tn. and the family moved there.

In Old Fort the families were members of the Blue Ridge Baptist Church. The children had to dust the pews and sweep the church floors.  Lou provided the flowers or plants for each service and all items necessary on Communion Sunday.

In Old Fort, J.E. Bain lived with the family for about ten years.  His parents had separated and he needed a home.  He was treated as a family member all his life.

At the end of World War II all farm activities ended.  Bob retired at age 72.  The family moved to Cleveland, Bradley County, Tn.  They had a indoor bathroom, electricity, bus service and running water for the first time.  Big Springs Baptist Church became their church home.

1959 - Bob borke his hip and was bed-ridden until his death, about 2 years later, at age 89.  He had suffered from ulcers most of his life.

-Paul Pullen.

Robert married Lucreeda "Lou" Hayes [5505] [MRIN: 2013], daughter of Sylvester 'Bletcher' Hayes [5506] and Martha Ann Mantooth [5507], on 3 May 1903 in Crandall, Murray Co, GA. Lucreeda was born on 30 Mar 1888 in , Murray Co., GA, died on 9 Aug 1968 in Cleveland, Bradley Co., TN at age 80, and was buried in Dill Cem., Old Fort, Pope Co., Tenn. They had ten children: Homer Eldridge, Ruth Mae, Herbert Mitchell, Ishmel D.O. "Red," Charles Arnold, Addie Louise, Dorothy Lee "Tommie," Willie, Frances Betty Sue, and Paul Eugene.

James Marion Prance

This is from my mother-in-law Marie's collection.  This is James Marion Prance(1857 - 1935).  He is standing on his property which was at the corner of Ebenezer and Canton Roads.  That is a rock quarry.   

James is my wife Anna's great grandfather.

False Alarm

I announced yesterday that I was sick and would not produce my daily post.  It was a false  scare.  I found out I am OK.   If you don't like it, demand a refund from management.  

Calling in Sick

This is the post for today.  I don't feel well.

It might not generate in the next couple of days.  Who knows?

Keep checking, y' hear?

Atherton Park, Has a Life of its Own

Atherton  Park  is probably the most enlighten spot in Marietta .  It is in back of a coffee shop.  Young people hang around, sip coffee, read, make notes,  strum their guitars, you know, bohemian kind of stuff, like think.

Atherton Park is named after a Marietta the late Mayor, Howard "Red" Atherton.  

The above pictures were taken early one Sunday Morning on one of my downtown ramblings.   The moment of the pictures taking session no one was around.   No self acclaimed bohemian would be caught up so early.

Good Old Boys Pride and Passion

At the Bell Reunion this past weekend I heard an unusual story, which reminded me of the movie THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION.  

The movie was directed by Stanley Kramer in 1957 and starred Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, and Sophia Loren.  It was back in a time when the world was at war with itself. ... when is it isn't?  The whole story seemed to be about transporting a giant cannon through Spain.  And you toss in France and England who love to get their hands on the giant canon, the Weapon of Mass Destruction, and good looking Italian woman and you have the makings of a good movie.  I don't remember much about the movie but remember I liked the part where the cannon broke lose to the pull of gravity while trying to pull it up a steep mountain and it going down the side at super speed.  And oh yes, I also enjoyed watching Sophia Loren bath in a river one night.  The water was almost transparent, but not quiet.

In the movie Frank Sinatra was a  leader of the Spanish guerrilla forces. 

OK, that is what the movie was about.  Now, about the story I heard:   Back in the 1950s, a few good old Marietta boys stole a cannon out of a historical park.  They did it for the fun of it, but once they had it they didn't know what to do with it.  They hid it behind a service station on Roswell Street.  I remember the station, it had a large high bank behind it, not like most stations that you could see  all around it from the street.

Finally the owner of the station told them he didn't want that behind his station, for them to get rid of it.  If I heard correctly, they returned it.

I was thinking the guerrilla is another word for rebel.  Probably these good old boys would be considered rebels, or guerrillas.   And they had a cannon to deal with.  Doesn't that remind you of Frank Sinatra and the movie THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION?    Although I doubt if they wore makeup like the below movie poster.