Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Dr Alfred Charles Hunter (1891-1893)

Dr. Alfred Charles Hunter (1891 - 1973) was born in Cherokee County, Georgia, the son of Charles Jefferson and Paraline Victoria Dobbs. Charles Jefferson Hunter is Frank Hunter's oldest brother. Charles owned Hunter's Store and was Postmaster and gossip columnist of the community. Alfred went to Atlanta Dental College, before it was part of Emory. After he got his degree in dentistry he moved to Texas and hung his shingle in Kerrsville, Texas, which is just north of San Antonio Alfred married Mamie Mae Akridge (1892-1933). They had one son, Dr. Akridge Charles Hunter (1917-1997). Akridge marred Helen Crain. Akridge became a dentist also. He also had the same initials as his father. If they were partners, they could save on stationary. Dr. Akridge Hunter married Helen Crain (1920-2003) in 1946, and they had three daughers. As far as I know Alfred never returned to his homeland but his son Akridge made up for it. In the mid 1980s he and his wife vested several times the same times as the Hunter Reunions in Marietta and Blairsville.

Monday, February 27, 2023

Posted on Facebook 5 years ago:
Paris, Texas, and Frank Paris Hunter According to Uncle John's Bathroom Page-A-Day Calendar, 2018, Tuesday, Feb 20, 2018: Paris, Texas, was founded in 1844, when a farmer, storekeeper, and postmaster, donated 50 acres of land to establish the town. The town was named after the general store, the busiest store in town. Why the owner named the store Paris, no one knows. There is a 70 foot Eiffel Tower replica wearing a cowboy hat in town. Also, that is believed to be where our grandfather Frank Paris Hunter was born in 1879. Also, 1879 is the year Frank's family left Texas to move back East. I think they had plans of moving back to Franklin, North Carolina, Frank's father William A. Hunter's hometown, but had second thought, maybe because he was wanted for murder in Franklin, and instead moved to the Woodstock, Georgia, area, where William recuperated from a knee wound where he was shot during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Frank was probably named after where they were leaving and where they thought they were going.

Saturday, February 25, 2023

Jimmy Pat and Delivery & Taxi Services

The other day I heard a commercial for a certain pharmacy. They vaguely said they could deliver your prescribed (for an additional price). It reminded me of the drugstores in Marietta like Atherton’s, Dunaway’s, Hodges, Jones, Williams’s, and more that delivered. And not only would they deliver prescriptions but also whatever your heart desired from the soda fountain. When we lived on Manget Street in south Marietta one time Atherton came to the door with some over the counter medicine the man said we ordered. We didn’t. As he was backing out Dunaway’s deliverer was waiting, and more came. They tried to deliver Ex-Lax, banana splits, Sundaes, milk shakes, cherry Cokes, French Fries, and more. And then Victory Cab Company came to pick up somebody at our address. Then two or three move taxi came. My mother was having a fit. Somebody was playing a joke. Then my mischievous friend Jimmy Pat called. He happily said to my mother when she answered the phone, “Hi Mrs. Hunter, this is Jimmy Pat. What’s new?” My mother did not use fowl language much, but with Jimmy Pat this time, it was an exception. She more or less said, “Jimmy Pat you know damn well “what’s new”!” And I think he probably sat and held the phone to his ear and giggle as she chewed him out. Jimmy played a lot of practical jokes that I am surprised somebody didn’t shoot him. He died as a young man stooping over picking up his miniature dog. Heart attack.

Friday, February 24, 2023

Waterman Street School & Miss Whitehead

I still have Waterman Street School on the brain after the picture the Marietta Daily Journal ran yesterday morning. It brought back memories. Like for instance: When my first grade teacher Mrs. Oliver shook me in class for something, I don't remember what. Mrs Oliver lived in Calhoun, Ga. and took the bus there often. She had to walk right by our apartment in the Clay Homes. I remember a couple times she invited herself in and told my mother the latest no-good acts I did in class. I remember in the second grade in Mrs. Killenbek's class in the lunch room one time Mickey Wilbur and I got into a scuffle. Mickey smeared a little pack of honey in my hair. In the 3rd grade Mrs. Jessie McCollum was our teacher, the wife or fiancé of future Commissioner Herbert McCollum. I remember one time I was playing with a moth-ball, I liked the smell. I sucked in the smell through my nose so hard the moth-ball went into the cavity of my nose. I was so embarrassed I went hid the fact a moth ball was inside my nose. I slipped out of the classroom into the coat room and with a pencil pried it out. Mrs. McCollum had me sit in the hall often for cutting up in class. I think the ideal was to sit there and when the principal made her rounds she would talk to you and get to the bottom of it. I found out early to hide when I heard her (Mrs. Whiteheads's) high heels click down the hall. The 3rd grade class was right beside the stairs going down into the basement to the boys bathroom, an off limits place for Mrs. Whitehead. On one of our talks in the hall she let me know she was on to me... she said she taught my father and his brothers and stayed on to them and she would me too.... she was true to her word. The 4th grade was first Ms. Rakestraw and she left, probably got married and Mrs. Pool took over her class. Ms. Rakestraw was pretty and pleasant. Mrs Pool was like a ugly hateful witch. I told Mama that Mrs; Pool picked on me, not knowing she would call Mrs. Whitehead. Mrs. Whitehead and Mrs. Pool glared at me the rest of the year. The 5th grade our teacher was Mrs. Miller. I don't remember getting into trouble with her or anything. but one time I remember. The Duncan Yoyo man came on campus at recess time to show off his yoyo tricks. and I messed up his act and somebody told on me and Mrs. Miller scolded me. Oh me. The 6th grade was Miss Shouse. Elberta Shouse, before the year was out she became Mrs. Bill Kinney, Marietta Journal reporter. One time Van Callaway pushed me against the fire escape during recess and it put a big gash in my forehead. Elberta took me to the teacher lounge and she had me put my head on her lap, her soft thighs, while she held ice onto my forehead and a a cloth to keep it from bleeding. It was my first contact with the female body, and although I was in pain and bleeding I enjoyed every minute of it. Daddy came in his police car and carried me to the Old Hospital to have Doctor Haygood put stitches to sew up the head split. Looking like Frankenstein for several months to a year was another good thing to come out of that. One time Miss shouse, or Elberta had me to walk to her boarding house for a pigeon that somehow she saved for a storm. She gave it to me for a pet. I carried it home and put it locked in a little empty chicken coop we had in the backyard. The next working there were nothing but feathers; The bird was probably consumed by our cat. I didn't have the heart to tell Miss Shouse that our cat ate probably ate that nice pigeon. I lied the couple of times she asked me but then I told her it got loose and we didn't see it anymore. That was also the year I think that us boys had pissing contests in the boy's bathroom. Nobody could piss higher than Archie Richardson. He could arch his back back and hold and aim his penis upward and urine would go up the wall and then to where the ceiling meets the wall. We were all envious. It was also the year that James the Janitor left and went to work for the Red Cross on South Avenue and his replacement was Cliff. One time our little gang slipped into Cliff's work space in the basement, a dark room with a big furnace and a plain straight back chair. Hidden in the shadow was a box full of comics. We wondered if they belonged to James or Cliff. He must have confiscated them while cleaning up after everybody went home. Again, we don't know who "He" was, James or Cliff. Sometime between the 5th and 7th grades two refuge families moved to Marietta into the Waterman Street District. I think they both were from Poland. They lived just down Atlanta Street from one another. One lived on the corner of Atlanta and Goss Streets, and the other lived a a few houses south of Crain Garage. The kids of the family that lived south of Crain Garage quit coming to school. One cold and rainy day Mrs. Whitehead got me out of class. She wanted me to walk (in the rain) to the refuge family's house south of Crain's and ask them why haven't they been coming to school. I don't know why she chose me for this errand. Maybe it was because I was about the most unattached unofficial of Waterman Street School she could find. I did as she asked, and no one came to the door. I think they moved out. I walked back and made my report, verbally, of course. In the 7th grade Mrs. King was our teacher. She was freshly married and good looking. All us boys had a low grade crush on her. She was always smiling and always making school fun, not a drudgery. Once we had to do some creative writing as homework. . I put it off and put it off.. Then one evening we visited my grandmother, aunt, and cousin who lived in the Clay Homes. Archie Richardson lived next door to them. I visited Archie. He had a new comicbook I had never seen before. It was MAD Comic book. It made fun of things. It was a laugh a panel. I focused in on a story illustrated by Wallace Wood, called SUPERDUPERMAN. It had all the SUPERMAN icons and looks, but it was making SUPERMAN look like a farce. I was immediately addicted to MAD. But I wasn't above plagiarizing their material. I was so impressed with the SUPERDUPERMAN I remembered every line and punch line and sat down and wrote it down on paper. The next day we had to read the stories aloud in class. With my story I had Mrs. King and the students rolling in the aisles with laughter. Archie's face turned red, he knew the real inspiration. Mrs. King told me I was going to make a great writer someday. I beamed with pride. One time at night I caught a bat that was diving for bugs in front of our house below a street light. I planned it pretty good. I would throw a rock and the bat would dive at it. Then, I figured if I threw a rock across the road as a car approached there was a good chance the car would hit the bat. I did and after several attempts a bat got hit by a car. I thought it was dead. I put it in a netted orange bag and carried it to school the next morning to show to Mrs. King. The next morning I was standing with some other kids in front of the door of our classroom waiting for the morning bell when somebody looked down and saw the bat. The bat was prying open the net and squeezing out... and out he flew. Suddenly the whole school panicked. The bat flew crazily up near the ceiling of the wide hall and kids were screaming, and Mrs. Whitehead and Cliff was chasing it with brooms swinging at it. After it was brought down Mrs. Whitehead with a red face and trembling bent over and chewed me out good and asked hatefully was I going to tell my parents what a foolish thing I did like when I told on Mrs. Pool (3 years ago) - she wasn't the type to forget and forgive. It got where after school several school a few of us would walk downtown and hangout. We wanted to be teenagers badly. We were teenager wannabes. We went to the T.A.C. above the fire station and City Hall a lot and got ran off a lot. And we played across the street a lot in the front yard of a a female co-student named Dona LeVann. Dona lived across the street from Mrs. Whitehead's boarding house. One day Mrs. Whitehead walked over and said someone had just called her and said somebody left the paper drive house opened, would we go down, make sure everything is OK, and if not call the police. She even gave us keys to the paper drive house. We did, I think somebody just forgot to shut the door and they left. But it made me feel good to know I was in Mrs. Whitehead's trust again.

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Aise 4

This is Big D’s BBQ, across HWY 400 in Dawsonville. Next door is a little BP convenience store. Back in the 1980s a Postal coworker Ken,bought some land nearby, which was also near Urara where they mined for gold in the 1800s. WAIT!! I have told this before so if you know what I’m about to tell move over and not waste your time. There is a little creek running through his property. With a 2 cycle engine Ken rigged up a gold panning machine. He was pleased with his contraption and wanted to show. He suggested I bring Anna and my two boys and meet him at the BP Station next door to the above BBQ eatery. On a Saturday afternoon we met. Ken suggested he and I go into the store and buy hotdogs, buns, soft drinks, etc. We went into the store and found all but the ketchup and mustard. Ken asked the lady behind the counter. He asked her where the condiments are. She said on aisle 4. We went to aisle 4 and no condiments. We went back and told her we couldn’t find the items. She madly said come she will show us, she stocked them on aisle 4 herself. Meekly we followed her back to aisle 4 and said halfway angrily “THERE IS THE CONDIMENTS!” as she pointed directly at the little displays of condoms. By the way, Adam and Rocky mined several tiny gold nuggets that day.

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Osmo Petty & Family visit Marietta

In the early 1950s in Indiana Uncle Osmo threw his family in the car and drove to Marietta, Ga. to see his siblings and their kids. There we are, in our front yard on Manget Street. When he came usually he started a fight among his sisters. then he left. It probably happened on this visit too. In the background look! Larry Bell Park!

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Surprised Ending at Wesr Point

Movie, THE PALE BLUE EYE. The movie takes place at West Point Military Academy in the mid 1830s. The way I figure the time was that Edgar Allen Pole is a cadet there, probably in his 20s. Allen died in 1848. I have been to West Point in upstate New York at least three times when I was stationed in New Jersey. A route to my uncle’s home in Carmel, NY, was to drive north through or around NYC, hit a freeway and go north until you reach West Point at Bear Mountain State Park, then turn to go east. In The movie apparently a serial killer is slipping around killing cadets and cutting out organs out of the victims’ stomach, except the one that was castrated. The school called for an educated scholarly woodsman to solve the mystery. Everything seemed so darn gloomy and Edgar Poe too. It reminded me of a serious British who-done it?. By the way, I could not figure our Poe’s role. I knew he was a cadet there. Sometimes he was dressed in uniform and sometimes, when he dined with West Point’s leaders, he dressed like a civilian. He seemed to always be in a gloomy mood, even pissed off. He really was a cadet at West Point. I was hopping to hear his rendition of THE RAVEN or ANNBALE LEE but didn’t. I leaned THE RAVEN from a MAD Comic that took it on to satirized and had to memorized ANNEBEL LEE for high school English,…..”I was a child, she was a child, my Annabella Lee…cha cha” The movie has a surprised ending.

Monday, February 20, 2023

Tne Englands Mine For Gold in Helen, Ga

In doing a little family research this morning I came across an article about a near relative Richard England who owned a gold mine in Helen. Two of his children married my ancestor John Hunter's children. He owned the property that became the England Gold Mining site which is now in Helen, Ga. Richard sold the in 1831 making a huge sum of money. He bought more land and farmed. He died in 1835 and was buried in the England Cemetery in Helen,. from the book THE HERITAGE OF UNION COUNTY GEORGIA, 1832-1994.p 144, by Lillian Gibson, Hayesville, NC.

Sunday, February 19, 2023

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! MAD #17, MAD's competition

When MAD was a comicbook it had more than its share of competitors. MAD’s creator and first editor put it best: “Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery.” Today is only one page. It is smirking at MAD’s competition, by name. Ironically, a few years later when the original MAD creating crew were fired some of the artists, like Will Elder, Jack Davis, and Severin went to work for some of their "Imitators". Text by editor Harvey Kurtzman and illustrated by Wallace Wood.

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Strange Looking Bloom

Getting more mileage out of my old photos: This is another picture from just after I bought my close-up lens over 30 years ago. I have no idea what kind of plant this is. It may not even be a plant, it might be a member of a little squad of tiny aliens sent here to destroy our planet and I accidentally stepped on their leader, and saved the world, without even knowing it.... could be.

Friday, February 17, 2023

Saw Tina Turner in concert, spilled beer

Not long after we were married, probably in 1968 we went to the annual Atlanta Jazz concert at the Ted Field (Atlanta Braves). A lot of top names were therfe. The one I wanted to see mostly was Tina Turner. We went with Pat and her boy friend Allen. I had recenty saw Ike and Tina Turner play live at the Royal Peacock, and then she was at a reachable distance. I was still dazzled by Tinas hyper musical show. Ike and Tina Review was about the 3rd that night. As they ran out on stage I jumped up and started filming. What I forgot was that I was holding a containe of beer between my knees. The bee quickly tilted and it spilled all over the young lady in front of us. The beer drenched lady and her male companion jumped up. He reached for his pocket. Allen reached for his pocket. Anna reached for her pocket with tissues and paper towels. And cash money to pay for th lady's drycleanin and hair. All's well that ends well.

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Bonnie & Abe

A few days ago was Abe Lincoln's birthday. This is a picture of my younger sister Bonnie posing with President Lincoln at the 1965 NY World's Fair. Bonnie died this past April. In Today's Trivia On-Line- Page a Day Calendar it told me it was Lincoln's Birthday today also this: In an odd coincidence, it was Edwin Booth, the brother of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin. Robert was on a train platform in New Jersey when a crowd of passengers knocked him into the path of a train. Edwin Booth reached out his hand and pulled Lincoln back to safety. Robert recognized Edwin, as he was a well-known actor. It wasn't until a few months later that John Wilkes Booth shot and killed Abraham Lincoln.

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Brother & Sister Austine Hunter Wallice & Charlie Hunter

This is Charlie Hunter and his sister Austine Hunter Wallis (1927-2006). They are the 3rd cousin, once removed of my Hunter first cousins and me. Austine and I sort of bumped heads when we were researching the same Hunters. She was a principal of a grammar school in Athens and her husband was s professor at UGA. We swapped information and personal antidotes back and forth that we became good friends, which I told her our friendship was unnatural because principals have always been my natural enemy. Austine and her husband George settled back at her home place in Union County after they retired. And so did Charlie. Austine return to the home place she grew up in and became the caregiver for her elderly father. In time George died and then Austin became sickly and died. The picture of her was taken just a couple of weeks before she died. Charlie wasn't much for computers but at times he would call me and we would talk. One time he called me and told me our ancestor, the first Hunter in Union Count John Hunter's cabin was to be demolished, the land had been bought by someone who wanted it gone. Charlie called me a couple weeks later and told me he paid someone to disassembled and number all the boards and bricks, whatever, and reassembled one day in the future at the Choestoe Museum, which has not been founded yet. For a while Charlie was calling me often. He told me war stories and Marietta stories. One time he was stationed at Dobbins and the bank was always getting his checking account and another Charlie Hunter who owned a laundry near Page and Hunt Streets mixed up. He also told me he had a good friend in the Air force that lived in Marietta, his nickname was Smokey. His last name was Stover. Smokey Stover. A guy that went by Smokey Stover did all the carpentry maintenance for my in-laws. It was his friend Smokey. small world. The last time I saw Charlie, a couple years ago, we were in Union County, in or near the Choestoe District, and lunched at Jim's Que, one of the best barbecue places in Georgia and I thought I would drop by and pay Charlie a visit. We knocked on his door and he came, drowsy, he was taking a nap. We talked for a while and he told me of his latest projects and other small talk. I felt we needed to go before we wore our welcome out so thanked him and we walked out to the car. He stood on his porch just as we were leaving and said, "Who did you say you are?"

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Valentine Story

This is a Valentines Story, sort of: The next town north of where our Navy base was in Lakehurst, New Jersey, is Lakewood. It had a theater we went to and a bookstore, and several bars. It was less than ten miles away. Off the main street, down a couple of blocks was a bad neighborhood. It looked like it may have been a high crime area. There on one side of the street was a bar we named BAR X. BAR X was a seedy looking bar, that all the patrons looked like they were up to no good. Across the street from BAR X was another seedy looking Bar, which we named BAR Z. If we were just visiting it in today's time, we would probably name it BAR XXX. The place had a few prostitutes hanging out and at the door was a big black woman that always seemed to be at the entrance who always tried to impress new comers with her song she made up "Play with my Box and I'll suck your Cock!" I don't know how she did it, but Box and Cock rhymed. Another bar in the Lakewood area we found interesting was a few miles south of town. It was a rural bar that mostly farmers hung out at. Video juke boxes were just becoming popular in bars, they were cheap entertainment. One evening I drove into Lakewood by myself to go to a movie. My friends had duty. After the movie on the way back to the base I stopped by the rural bar to have a drink. The joint was crowded. The only seat available was at the bar by a woman that was sitting by a man, who I found out soon enough the man was her husband. She whined to me that her husband would not dance with her. He was a chicken farmer and believed in working all the time. It was their 25th anniversary and he was not going "get out there and make of fool out myself" he said. I jokingly said, "Aww come on! Twenty five years, celebrate! dance with her!" He never smiled. He turned around and looked me up and down and said, "You dance with her Butter Ball!" I laugh jokingly. He said, "I mean it, you want to see her dance you dance with her now!" I nervously laughed again. He said, "Now Butter Ball!! I mean it!" I said, "Let me go to the head first..." And walked towards the John. And pass the MEN sign and walked right out the door, hopped into my PV544 Volvo and hauled ass.

WE GOTCHA!

WE GOCHA! Counted, that is. Including you we have had least 220 visitors today; 136 yesterday; 4049 so far for this month; and 10362 for total visits since this blog has been in existence )2006). The numbers mean nothing to nothing except my ego. Thanks for visiting.

History & Kin in Them Thar Hills

Postal stuff: Yesterday at the UPS Store I saw a postal employee with a Postal vehicle backed up dealing with parcels. Considering where the store was, she had to be working out of the same Postal facility I retired at (Sprayberry). I told her I retired from the Postal Service at Sprayberry in 2000. She said she came to work there in 1998. She did not remember me. Actually, I retired the first day of 2000, which was January the 1st, which was a holiday, so I was off on my last holiday. But, we still had two years together in the same building and we still didn’t know each other. I know I was invisible, but I suppose she was too. Also, speaking of Postal stuff: I am reading and looking at the pictures of an Arcadia Press book about UNION COUNTY, GEORGIA edited by the Union County Historical Society. I have several ancestors from of different linages to live in Union County. One interesting article I read yesterday tells Postal Carrier Marvin Akins who delivered mail from Blairsville to Blueridge in 1913. His route required him to spend the night in Blueridge, which he did most of the time. “One time in particular he chose to stay overnight in Blueridge in order to see a public hanging at the railroad depot the following morning.” Why am I not surprised?

Monday, February 13, 2023

I'm Ashamed of This, but Its a Good Story Anyway

New Years Eve is coming up in about four days, which reminded me of a New Years Eve story: Remember this event happened when I was a teenager with a very low ethics code. I’m a nicer person now. I think it was 1958, my junior year. Then Cobb County was a dry county. Selling hard booze was illegal. So, we had to drive to the Fulton County, at the county line, The River Package Store, to get our whisky. It was December the 31st and we had a party we were invited to, but it was a BYOB party. We were under age to buy alcoholic beverages anyway. At the River Package store, hanging out in the parking lot we could not talk anybody getting out of their cars to go in to do us a favor and buy us a bottle. So, finally we drove back to Marietta empty handed. We were sitting in Monty’s mother’s car wondering what next when I saw my uncle stumbling down the street. My uncle was a casualty of WWII. He never got over all the killing he did and saw in the war. I think he was homeless off and on. He saw us sitting in the car and walked over. I’m not sure he recognized me or not. He asked how “You boys doing?” “Fine, what about yout?” Then he asked would we mind giving him a ride someplace. “NO, of course not.” He asked us to carry him down to a Shell Station on Powder Springs Street. We did. He asked us to wait on him. We did. He went in and came back out with a brown paper bag, about pint size. He then asked us to take him north of Marietta where a new subdivision was being built. We did. The new subdivision was off Kennesaw Avenue. It was Keeler Woods. He asked us to wait on him. We did. He, with his brown paper bag, went behind a partially built house and behind some foliage and returned without the brown paper bag. We carried him back to the North Park Square and let him off about where we picked him up. After dark we went back to Keeler Woods, with the car lights burning went back to the house my uncle left his brown paper bag and looked behind every bush and tree and found what we were seeking, a pint bottle of moonshine. We went to the party and with the moonshine and grape juice we made “Purple Jesus”. Purple Jesus got a number of us teenagers drunk that night and even temporarily blinded one. Well, not really blinded, but he could only see blue and red smears of light. HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Saturday, February 11, 2023

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! Li'l Abner in TRUMP Mag, art by Will Elder

I should tell you this magazine had no connectons with Donald Trump. It wasf published by Hugh Hefne of PLAYBOY. It lasted only 2 issues in the 1950s. The creative staff was the creative staff of MAD comicbook.

Tangled Trees

Researching my family tree has had some interesting curves thrown at me. While following a tree up (or is it down?) tonight on Ancestry.com one of my ancestors is Thomas Alexander, born in 1548, in Ayrshire, Scotland. His parents are listed as Thomas Caldwell and Alice Tomlinson . He married Elise Muir, born 1558 in Lanarkshire, Scotland. her parent s were Robert Muir and Alice Tomlinson. Alice Tomlinson? That is the name of her husband Thomas Alexander Caldwell's mother? So, going a notch higher I found that Alice Tomlinson was married to Thomas Caldwell and later married to Robert Muir. Thomas Alexander Caldwell married his half sister! I thought Ray Stephens made all that stuff up!

Friday, February 10, 2023

Greyhound Bus Station

This was the old Greyhound Bus Station before and after. I remember when he ground was bulldozed to make the station. Before a two story home was on the grounds. After they bulldozed it we would play war... after all, this was at the climax of WWII and it was on our minds, playing war. I remember throwing a rock over a bank into a bunch of kids and it hit Tommy Hadaway in the head. He had to have stitches. After it was completed, it had two waiting rooms: segregation. And behind the waiting room was a diner that smell like burnt bacon and grease. It had a jukebox and a pinball machine, which one of them was usually at work making noises. It was one of our stops walking home from Scout meeting. On the dock, where passengers loaded onto buses was several vending machines. One of the machines you could make your own metal sheriff badge with a big star in the center. There was also a photo booth where I suppose was the original "selfie" machine. 4 photos for a quarter. Once Jimmy stood in the booth's chair and made several quarters worth of pictures of his genitals. He had nothing very little to show off or brag about but did it anyway. Then, knowing how "small" he was he pinned the pictures to various bulletin boards around Marietta High School taped or stapled to a sheet of paper saying, "Girls, how would you like some of this?" After the demand for a big bus station the building was sold and became a lawyers' building (below). The latest bus station is on the edge of Kennesaw University, South Campus, near South Marietta Parkway (a.k.a. Clay Street. From the outside it looks no bigger than a single-wide trailer.

Thursday, February 09, 2023

Bob & Ray

Bob Elliott of the Radio comedy team Bob and Ray died last Tuesday. His partner Ray Goulding died in 1990. Back in the day, NBC had a weekend show that ran from Saturday morning to I suppose Sunday night or Monday morning. It covered everything , Interviews, music, news, sports, and all weekend it was sprinkled with hilarious skits by Bob and Ray. Their format was usually an interviewer and interviewee. They were a riot, in a dry subtle British-cool type of humor of course. I read once that their unique chemistry was strictly business behind the mike. Off the air they hardly spoke and certainly didn't socialize with each other. It took strange birds to produce their brand of humor non-stop for over a long time span.

Wednesday, February 08, 2023

Glover Park - One Big Difference

Marie's Postcard Collection continued. This is Glover Park in the center of downtown Marietta. It is sort of a Mecca of OMs and OCs. They gather here for festivals, outside concerts, and just to sit. It was donated to the city by John H. Glover. The back of the card says Major John H. Glover but I'm not sure it wasn't MAYOR John H. Glover instead. See how one letter can change everything? Do you see anything different about the park than any other time you have seen it? There are no drunks! I have been going to that park since I was a toddler and there were always staggering loudmouths drunks! I remember when I was just a tiny kid I saw old weathered men take a brown paper sack out of their hip pocket and take a swig from it. Now, it is socially chic to sip wine there and get charmingly woozy.

Sign: BRIDGE WASHED OUT

Tuesday, February 07, 2023

John Hunter's Cabin Moved

I got an interesting email yesterday from Betty, a long time friend, fellow researcher, and distant cousin. I haven’t heard from her in years. But first let me fill you in. My great-g-g-grandfather John Hunter (1775-1850) built the above cabin in Union County, Georgia, not far from Volgel State Park and Blood Mountain. Up until recently, although deserted, was considered the oldest man-made dwelling in Union County. It sat in the middle a field with Notley River behind it. Not that it has anything to do with this but the Notley River is one of the rare rivers that flow north. Once my sons and I visited the cabin and I was amazed how small it was inside. I think our den is bigger than the whole cabin. About five years ago, the land John Hunter’s cabin was on. The new owners said it would have to be destroyed to make way for a “mountain cabin” development. Nope! My distant cousin Charley Hunter came forward, bought it, and paid to have the boards and thing marked and cataloged so one day it could be reassembled. Picture: Charlie Hunter, his nephew Prof Andrew Wallis, and behind them, the cabin packed and tagged. Betty’s email said that the day is here. The reassembled cabin will have its grand opening at the Blairsville Farmers’ Market, this Saturday, I suppose it will be on display there from now on. In care any Hunter relatives are interested in attending, I Googled the Blairsville Farmer's Market and it is 148 Old Smokey Road.

Monday, February 06, 2023

Us at 1965 New York Worlds Fair

The 1965 NEW YORK WORLD;S FAIR. Near the near center right are my folks: my late mother, Ethel Janie Petty Hunter, sisters Bonnie* an Frances Hunter. And Hey! That’s me behind the camera! *Bonnie, the youngest is the first one of us kids to die, April 2022. Click on picture to make it bigger.

Sunday, February 05, 2023

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! MAD Comics #17's MEET MISS POTGOLD

With my senility I cannot reemember the artist's name. Please tell me if you recognize his distinct style so I can... wait! nevermind, it just came to me: Basil Wolverton.

Saturday, February 04, 2023

Digging Up Dirt on Ancestors

We just ordered a small Dyson Vacuum Cleaner. Every time I hear the word Dyson I think of my ancestor. I won’t mention her name here. On the 1850 Census she is living with her husband Solomon Dyson in Union County, Georgia, with several kids. Also on that census, nearby was a family with several children, one single male was in his early 20s. Censuses are taken every ten years. On the 1860 Census in Union County Solomon Dyson’s wife was not the same female the was on the 1850 census. And close by the young man, who would have ten years older was not listed either. In the country east, Murray County the young man, that is missing on the census with his parents is now head of the household and his wife is the same name as Solomon’s wife on the 1850 Union County, Census., only ten years older. Apparently, she and her neighbor’s boy ran away together. They are my great great grandparents. A few of my years after that I heard how good Dyson Vacuum Cleaners are, and wondered if Solomon Dyson’s kids’ kids started the company and whatever happened to Solomon. Again, back to the Censuses. On the 1870 Census I found Solomon Dyson and wife and kids living in Indiana.

Friday, February 03, 2023

We Don't Text

We went into a restaurant this evening . There was a crowd of people standing around, who were apparently waiting for a table.. This hostess said there was about a 35 minute wait. She asked our cell phone number so they could text us when our time came for a table. We said, "We don't text." We were something the hostess could not comprehend. She did not know how to communicate with someone who did not text. She had her assistant take us to a available table immediately.. When we were walking out I was planning on telling anybody we saw walking in to "tell the hostess you don't have a phone."

Thursday, February 02, 2023

PostaL

Postal stuff again: Most of the time I worked for the Marietta Post Office the Postmaster was the late Garth Cain. Every employee that worked under Garth has their own Garth Cain story. Garth had an unpredictable hot temper at times and a flirt. To the women he found attractive he was charming and witty and to others sometimes vicious or unpredictable. This morning on TV I heard a commercial that had a let dog named “Lucky” in ir.. It reminded me of Garth. One time at the Sprayberry Post Office, above the carrier’s time clock was a make-do sign on the bulletin board of a missing dog, it said their dog was one-eyed, tail chopped off, missing one paw, and other signs of mishaps. It said his name is (punchline) “Lucky”. Garth saw the sign and, in a rage, ripped it off the wall and stormed off. People close by who witnessed Garth doing that wondered why? Did he have a dog named “Lucky”? Did Garth sleep well the nigh before? What did he have for breakfast? What side of the bed did he get out of?

Wednesday, February 01, 2023

Al Capp's Last Li'l Abner Comic Strip

Last LI’L Abner comic strip by Al Capp. I read that this is the last LI'L ABNER comic strip drawn by its creator Al Capp (1909-1979). The strip is dated November 1977. Al Capp was getting to be a bitter about the production of the strip. Actually Detective Fearless Fostick was a comic strip within in a comic strip. If was Li'l Abner's favorite comic strip.. In the above comic strip reminds me the results of placing a species where it has no natural enemies. Here is Georgia years ago the government officials imported kudzu from Japan to do help prevent soil erosion. With no natural enemies it flourished and now is almost uncontrollable. Also I remember hearing years ago when Australia was under British control a wife of a British officer bought come cacti for her garden. The cacti got carried away and became a nuisance. Then the Bits imported rabbits to take care of the cactus problem. Then, rabbits, with no natural enemy there became the problem. Then snakes were hauled in to take care of the rabbits, and then they had a new problem. I haven't heard the latest problem.