Life at the Home20

As reported in the Houston Chronicle, Ray Miller, a local journalist and historian recently passed away.

Mr. Miller was news director at Channel 2 until 1979 but I think he was best known for the 30-minute mini-documentaries which aired each week in the Houston area for three decades.  I don’t know how far reaching Ray Miller’s work was but if you have never seen an episode of “The Eyes of Texas” or “Ray Miller’s Texas” you have missed a real treat.  He covered every aspect of Texas history and culture you could imagine and then some.  Then he turned his travels and interviews into some of the best Texas travel guides to be found.

Ray Miller’s Saturday night episodes of “The Eyes of Texas” were so popular that they have recently been resurrected and re-introduced to a new generation by present day news anchors at Channel 2.

I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Miller a few years ago.  He was an extremely knowledgeable and entertaining speaker but surprisingly quiet in nature.  He will be sorely missed.

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I’m not 100% sure but I believe this was considered the Gibson Girl look from the turn of the 20th century.  My grandmother, who was a hairdresser in the 1950’s (and should know - right?), told me that women would save the hair from their hairbrush and stuff it up underneath the “bun” to get it poofy.  I’m also thinking the word “pompadour” would work as well.  This photo of Lela Simmons Eiland on her wedding day in 1898 was cropped from a larger photo.

From the same photo we have her father-in-law, James Eiland.  Now I don’t know about you but I’ve seen this hairstyle quite often on television lately.  Talk about fashion making a comeback.  I think they call it a fauxhawk.

This post was written for the 5th Edition of Smile for the Camera.

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Lori Thornton of Smoky Mountain Family History has challenged some Genea-bloggers to write about the Stores of Yesteryear, a look back at the special memories we all have of old stores and shops from our younger days.  I can’t narrow this down to one store or one memory so I’ll just make a list of memories from several stores and other similar establishments.

I remember:

• the restaurant in Woolworth’s in Sunset Center where you could sit at a booth or the counter.  The counter took up most of the restaurant because it had these penisula-like extensions that stuck out from the main counter.  And you could spin on the seats, although you got in trouble for it.
• the revolving doors at J. C. Penney’s downtown.  At least two trips around for every kid who went in or out were required.
• real carhops at Stanley’s Drive-in, in Daddy’s new ‘65 Mustang with air conditioning (where is that picture?).
• getting my ears pierced at Montgomery Wards.
• shopping for Girl Scout supplies in the back room at J. C. Penney’s.
• getting S&H Green Stamps at the grocery store or the gas station then going home to lick and mount them in the books.  The cashier would dial the amount of your purchase into a machine that spit out the stamps.
• the S&H Green Stamp Store where everything was priced by the book of stamps.
• the “Over 6 Million Sold” sign at McDonald’s and change back from your dollar.  The golden arches were part of the building back then.
• every gas station was full service and when you drove over the cable at the entrance, a bell would signal the attendant that he had a customer.  Need I mention that they checked your oil and cleaned the windshield?
• Gibson’s and Woolco.
• TG&Y (what on Earth did that stand for anyway?).
• the grocery store across from my grandmother’s house that had the life-size statue of a Hereford steer out front.  I think it was life-size.  Seemed like it to me.
• the Southern Maid (or was it Made?) doughnut shop.  I remember it being a small building and I think it had a drive-thru window.  There weren’t many of those back then.
• Myers Fried Chicken with the toy train that ran on a track near the ceiling.
• the cherry cobbler at Underwood’s Bar-B-Q Cafeteria.

And I had no idea I would come up with that many memories.

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Sometimes the best museums are the ones off the beaten path, supported solely by small town citizens eager to preserve their local history and heritage.  One such treasure is the Tomball Museum Complex in Tomball, Texas, near Houston.

The Spring Creek County Historial Association administers the museum complex.  Membership is open to anyone willing to volunteer to promote the work of this non-profit organization.

There are several buildings that have been moved to the museum complex and restored.

The Griffin House is the main museum building. Tours are conducted from this 1860 home.

The Theis Home is indicative of German homes in 1850 Texas.

The Oil Camp House exhibits local homes from the 1930-1950 era, a time when the oil industry was strong in the Tomball area.

The Farm Museum displays a wealth of farming equipment.

The Log House and corncrib were built by the Wendish community in the 1850’s.

There are some other buildings in the complex including a church, Fellowship Hall, doctor’s office and schoolhouse.

Tours are conducted for a small fee.  Candlelight tours are the highlight of the Christmas season.  Choirs sing in the Lutheran Church and punch is served in the Fellowship Hall.  Call ahead for group tours.

As an added benefit, if you have ancestors you are researching in the area, be sure to visit the Chaparral Genealogical Society just down the street.  The library has really grown over the last several years and they would love to assist you with your research.

Check it out!

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I caught a PBS rerun tonight called “A Cemetery Special“.  Apparently it originally aired a couple of years ago just before Halloween, although there was nothing scary about it. The producers visited several historic cemeteries across the country, each with its own special qualities.

• One of the oldest cemeteries in the country is Mount Auburn.  It sits on a hill overlooking Boston and is known for its parklike setting where many people visit just to enjoy the serenity of the surroundings.
• Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh was the site of a recent rededication of a Civil War grave which had been incorrectly inscribed for decades.  The location of the grave was facilitated by a man who enjoys walking among the numerous military graves there.
• Key West Cemetery in Florida has an eclectic mix of burial customs, both below ground and above, even a “double-decker” of sorts.  And wild roosters live among the trees there.
• Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, another parklike setting, is known for Daffodil Hill and the grave of President Garfield who was assassinated.
• Oakwood Cemetery in Atlanta has 6900 Confederate graves but only a handful of Union soldiers are buried there.  There’s a restaurant across the street called “Six Feet Under”.
• Waterloo, New York, known as the Birthplace of Memorial Day, really knows how to honor their fallen heroes.  Several ceremonies take place in the city’s cemeteries every Memorial Day and all the military graves are decorated with flags.
• All graves were removed from San Francisco about 1905 due to extreme neglect and moved to an area outside the city.  Seventeen cemeteries now reside in that area, representing a wide variety of cultural backgounds and include a Fung Shui cemetery for Buddhists.
• Finally, in Fairbanks, Alaska, the recently deceased are stored through the winter for burial in spring.  Birch Hill Cemetery has a very “natural” setting with numerous Alaskan native graves colorfully decorated with folk art type pieces.

Many of the cemeteries conduct tours on a regular basis so be sure to visit if you’re in one of these cities.  The architecture, gardens and artwork are beautiful.  The show is available on DVD and well worth the time.

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