St. Louis | dual personalities

This and that

by chuckofish

Tomorrow (June 24) is the 141 anniversary of the formal opening in 1876 of Forest Park here in my flyover hometown.

This 1,380-acre tract had been purchased by the city a year earlier for just under $800,000. Because more than 1,100 acres of its land was forested, the name Forest Park was agreed upon. At the time of its purchase the park was considered ridiculously far from the city–of which it is now a central and integral part. The Republic reported that the opening of the park “was something of a revelation to the public, very many having then for the first time become aware what a really beautiful place the park is, and what delightful possibilities of lovely landscape it possesses.”*

1915 glass plate photo by Thomas Kempland

Well, Forest Park has always been important to me since the days of my youth when we lived just a hop, skip and a jump from it. We never went there without a parent–it wasn’t deemed safe enough, not after our older brother famously lost his fishing rod when some thug took it and tossed it into the pond. But a trip to the Art Museum or the Zoo was always fun whether planned or spur-of-the-moment. When I had my own children, we also went frequently. There are still a lot of fun things to do there.

In fact, it may be time to venture back for a visit this weekend. (This is opening.)

This also brings to mind memories of the wedding of the boy and daughter #3 almost five years ago…

…which reminds me that a week from tomorrow is daughter #2’s Big Day! And I am freaking out just a little.

Bear with me.

*St. Louis Day by Day, Frances Hurd Stadler

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May 24, 2017

“It was once in the saddle, I used to go dashing.”*

by chuckofish

I recently bought a little book entitled St. Louis Day By Day by Frances Hurd Stadler at an estate sale.

51s9IV09MjL._SX363_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

It is a treasure trove of interesting information about our fair flyover city. For instance, I did not know that the famous American artist Charles Marion Russell was born on Olive Street in St. Louis on March 19, 1865. Furthermore, he was the great-grandson of Silas Bent, Missouri territorial judge, and of James Russell, a Missouri legislator and judge of the St. Louis County Court. Who knew?

Silas Bent, you will recall, was the father of Charles, the famous fur trader who was appointed as the first territorial governor of New Mexico. His other sons, William, George and Robert, were also in business with Charles and built Bent’s Fort and other outposts of trade in the southwest. One of his daughters, Juliannah, became the first wife of Lilburn Boggs, who later became governor of Missouri. Their son Thomas O. Boggs, an Indian trader and cattle dealer (who married 14-year-old Rumalda Luna Bent, the stepdaughter of Charles Bent, who was an heiress to land grants in Colorado) built an adobe house on the 2,040 acres grant and established Boggsville, Colorado where our ancestor John Wesley Prowers built a two-story 14-room house at that functioned as a house, a school, a stagecoach station and after 1870 as the Bent County seat.

Anyway, back to Charles Russell. He grew up in St. Louis County, and in 1876 a wax figure he sculpted won the blue ribbon at the St. Louis County Fair. In 1880 he moved to Montana, where he wrangled horses and herded cattle and began sketching western life.

Lewis and Clark Meeting the Flathead Indians hangs in the Montana State House

Charles_Marion_Russell_-_The_Tenderfoot_(1900).jpg Russell produced about 4,000 works of art, including oil and watercolor paintings, drawings and sculptures in wax, clay, plaster and other materials, some of which were also cast in bronze.

How did I not know he was from St. Louis?

P.S. The C.M. Russell Museum (including the artist’s log cabin studio and gallery) is located in Great Falls, Montana. Add that to the list.

*Streets of Laredo

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October 28, 2015

As the French would say, “de trop”*

by chuckofish

Fifty years ago today, the Gateway Arch was “topped off” when the final section was inserted on October 28, 1965.

Hubert Humphrey, V.P. of the U.S., watched the proceedings from a helicopter which hovered nearby. The ceremony had been postponed, so I guess the President was busy.

Today there will be a celebration, but it seems to me, it is being downplayed. Cupcakes will be served.

Anyway, the Gateway Arch (630-foot, 192 m) in Saint Louis is the nation’s tallest monument and has welcomed visitors for fifty years with its iconic, awe-inspiring shape. As envisioned by renowned architect Eero Saarinen, the Arch represents the westward expansion of the United States and typifies “the pioneer spirit of the men and women who won the West, and those of a latter day to strive on other frontiers.”

Pretty cool.

I was in the fourth grade at the time and I honestly have very little memory of the proceedings. Now a project to renovate the arch grounds is underway and will, we hope, be completed by 2017. Stay tuned.

*Cole Porter, You’re the Top

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October 29, 2014

Way back when Wednesday: Steve McQueen comes to St. Louis

by chuckofish

Spoiler alert! Crime does not pay!

The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery is a 1959 heist film shot in black and white. The film stars a 28-year old Steve McQueen as a college dropout hired to be the getaway driver in a bank robbery. The film is based on a 1953 bank robbery attempt of Southwest Bank in St. Louis.

It was filmed on location in south St. Louis in 1959 and for anyone who grew up here, it is a fascinating movie, which captures a moment in time, that is gone, gone, gone.

I watched it one Friday afternoon at work–“previewing” it for a film course at school–and my assistant (who is from South St. Louis) and I had so much fun pointing out landmarks–

Planning the heist in Tower Grove Park

Tower Grove Park! Magnolia Avenue! The Southtown Famous Barr!

Love those St. Louis names!

We wondered where the bar was where Steve goes and drinks a Budweiser.

No need for a concealed carry permit in the good old days!

Well, it’s a small world really.

You want to know how small? The film was directed by Charles Guggenheim, who was a neighbor of ours on Westgate Avenue for awhile back in the 1960s before he got famous and won three Oscars for documentary films. His daughter Gracie was a friend of my dual personality. (Actually I don’t think my sister liked Gracie too much, but they got invited to the same birthday parties.) Be that as it may, the point is that there really are/were six degrees of separation between me and old Steve McQueen.

Anyway, Guggenheim’s switch to documentaries was a good move on his part. This movie is not very good, despite Steve’s ~~best efforts~~ trying really hard. Who knew he would become such a star? No one who saw this movie. (Don’t worry, I thought he was terrific!) But I do recommend it to anyone from St. Louis. It is a hoot and a half. You can find the entire film on YouTube.

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April 30, 2014

Meet me at the fair

by chuckofish

One hundred and ten years ago today the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (informally known as the St. Louis World’s Fair) opened in my flyover town. It was quite a Big Deal.

Are those elephants in the lower left?

The Fair’s 1,200 acre site was designed by George Kessler and was located on the grounds of what is now Forest Park and on the campus of my flyover university. There were over 1500 buildings, connected by some 75 miles of roads and walkways. It was said to be impossible to give even a hurried glance at everything in less than a week. The Palace of Agriculture alone covered some 20 acres.

Exhibits were staged by 62 foreign countries, the United States government and 43 of the then 45 states. 19,694,855 individuals were in attendance at the fair.

Here is a map of the Fair.

The fairgrounds were filled with spectacular buildings.

The Palace of Liberal Arts

The Aviary was built by the U.S. government and was the largest free flight birdcage ever built.

It is still here, a part of our zoo.

The administrative center of the Fair was none other than Brookings Hall at my home away from home.

The Fair hosted the 1904 Summer Olympics, the first ever held in the U.S.

Many of the events were held at Francis Field.

The field has been updated, but is still very much in use at my flyover university.

Well, it’s probably true that we peaked back in 1904, but we’re still a pretty cool place. And it’s fun to see that parts of our illustrious past are still very much a part of our everyday life in the twenty-first century.

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March 10, 2014

Don’t tell me the lights are shining any place but there*

by chuckofish

Did you have a pleasant weekend?

Earlier in the week my dual personality sent me a couple of old books that were right up my alley,

so I had those to peruse. I also picked up a pillow that I had left to be finished at the Sign of the Arrow.

If you recall, I bought it at an estate sale. I thought it was Edinburgh Castle, but a friend told me he thought it was Strasbourg. Well, hats off to Allan’s eagle eye, because when I separated it from its tacky polyester backing and took it apart, it said “Strasbourg” on the original canvas. The ladies at the Sign of the Arrow were impressed with the design and workmanship and it turned out really well, don’t you agree?

On Sunday afternoon, the OM had the bright idea to go down to the Riverfront to see the new Stan Musial bridge.

Here is the OM taking a picture of the bridge in front of one of the ubiquitous “cakes” that are found throughout the city and county celebrating the 250th birthday of our flyover city.

Standing four-feet-tall, each two-tier ornamental birthday cake has been decorated by local artists and marks a location of note in our region. Two hundred and fifty locations were chosen. We ran into two quite by accident on our adventures downtown.

Since we were in the vicinity, we had to go to Ted Drewes.

And there was a cake!

I think these cakes are kind of silly, but if it amuses people, who am I to quibble?

Meanwhile the amaryllis is going by having put on quite show.

Have a nice week!

“Meet Me in St. Louis” by Andrew B. Sterling

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October 22, 2013

Happy Trails

by chuckofish

Good-by is a prayer, a ringing cry. ‘You must not go – I cannot bear to have you go! But you shall not go alone, unwatched. God will be with you. God’s hand will cover you’ and even – underneath, hidden, but it is there, incorrigible – ‘I will be with you; I will watch you – always.’ It is a mother’s good-by.

–Anne Morrow Lindbergh, North to the Orient

Well, I got up at 4:30 this morning, after a fitful night’s sleep, to drive daughter #1 to the airport. I have a long day ahead of me at the salt mine, but c’est la vie, n’est-ce pas?

We managed to fit in every favorite hometown thing she wanted to do. Yes, we went to the zoo.

We went to Grant’s Farm,

the Missouri Botanical Garden,

and squeezed in some estate-saling and outlet mall shopping.

We also ate out four times. We even went to church!

And the Cardinals won the National League pennant for the 19th time.

The Missouri Botanical Garden displays its Cardinal pride.

I am not too sad that daughter #1 has jetted back to her glamorous life in NYC, because I am going to visit her there in a few weeks for a quick weekend. Then daughter #2 will be home for Thanksgiving. In between my life will settle back into its old routine.

Thank goodness! I couldn’t keep up this pace for too much longer!