Phone photo 3038

An army of chocolate Christmas bears

Aberdeen, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: Kiss of Death

"Everybody's got a reason to lie."

Phone photo 3037

Aberdeen, Washington

Phone photo 3036

McCleary, Washington

Morty Comix # 2675

Morty Comix # 2675 was placed under a pot of decorative holiday plastic flowers in a great restaurant in Montesano, Washington, one of my fave places to eat breakfast. Yes, Christmas is coming.

Phone photo 3035

McCleary, Washington

Oscar Toney Jr. Sings Bacharach

 

Any Day Now

Phone photo 3034

The Fab Four Flopped Flat

Reeves Family Album

I have a couple old puffy Victorian-era family photo albums, both tracing back to my Mom's relatives. Some of the photos are tintypes, and I know a few were taken during the Civil War. They are pretty interesting as artifacts, and in many cases I have no idea who the subject is, or otherwise have little information.

The first of the two albums apparently belonged to my great-grandmother, Jennie Melissa Reeves, who married Theodore Jacob Hoss. I'm going to try and spare all of you any lengthy genealogical narratives, but I will supply some brief facts with each photo as we go.

This particular album was handed down to Jennie's oldest child, my grandmother. After she died in 1978 my Mom picked it up as the surviving heirs divided up the estate. It was given to me quite some ago when I was still interested in family history. The advent of Internet sort of spoiled the hunt for me, I must say. At least I got to talk to all those oldtimers in the 1970s and 1980s before their entire generation passed on. My grandparents and their siblings were born mostly in the 1880s or 1890s.

When I hauled this monster into the living room Hettie had to come and check it out.

Phone photo 3033

Test

Thank you for participating

Phone photo 3032

Tumwater, Washington

Alan Price Set Sings Bacharach

Any Day Now

Phone photo 3031

Tumwater, Washington

Postcard - Wilmcote, Warwickshire

"Mary Arden's House, Wilmcote. William Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, lived in this lovely Tudor farmhouse in the Warwickshire village of Wilmcote before her marriage to John Shakespeare. Situated about three miles from Stratford-upon-Aven, its barns now house a fine collection of old agricultural implements."

1960s?

Phone photo 3030

Tumwater, Washington

Chuck Jackson Sings Bacharach

Any Day Now

Phone photo 3029

Tumwater, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: King of the Gypsies

"Maybe I was born too late. But who gets to pick when they're born? Or pick their mother and father? The biggest decision in your life-- nobody even gets to say anything about it. But all the rest of your life you live with it, or fight it."

Phone photo 3028

Olympia, Washington

Phone photo 3027

Olympia, Washington

The Ribbon Device featuring Richie 1250 Sings Bacharach

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Phone photo 3026

Olympia, Washington

Postcard - Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

"Elizabeth Knott Garden, New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon. Here is the site of New Place, purchased by Shakespeare in 1577. He lived here in retirement during the last six years of his life, and died here in 1616. Adjoining this site is the home of Thomas Nash, who married Shakespeare's grand-daughter." 

1960s?

Phone photo 3025

McCleary, Washington

The Wild Russian Boars of Grays Harbor County

 

Remember about a dozen years ago how the proliferation of wild Russian boars terrorizing the hills of northern Grays Harbor County was in the news?

Seattle Times 8/9/2001

I remember seeing one that had been killed and then became a guest of a taxidermist and was on display in the front window of a Montesano sports shop. The thing had tusks and was about the size of a small couch.

The Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife ruled that hunters could shoot these boars any time of the year, no permit needed, according to a June 22, 2001 press release.

Anyone out there have any update on this story?

The Catala Tilt, 1976

Selections from An Interpretive Survey of the Grays Harbor Area, Chapter 7, Interpretive Program

Goat Man, a Hero For Our Times

 

A man in Utah had been spotted climbing around behind herds of mountain goats about a year and a half ago. He wore a goat suit and crawled on all fours. The media dubbed him "Goat Man."

This is my kinda guy. But now he is forgotten. That really gets my goat, man!

Hepfinger's Western Washington Exhibit

This article was found in the Jan. 31, 1903 issue of Gant's Sawyer, a newspaper from Hoquiam that ran from 1902-1903:

Apparently Mr. Hepfinger did indeed carve out the spruce log. The final image comes from an auction website that has this description:

Hi Folks, Here we have a nice antique cabinet photo. This is a photo of a hollowed out log on its ways to the 1904 St Louis Worlds Fair. The sign on the log reads, GRAYS HARBOR TOOTHPICK. THE LARGEST TREE EVER HANDLED WORLDS FAIR AT ST LOUIS. WESTERN WASHINGTON EXHIBIT TENT. Where the bars are is titled, ANIMAL DEN. Inside is a Mountain Lion and a Bear. Next room is titled, PIANO ROOM, SOCIAL HALL. Then a sign on the side reads, WE ARE GOING TO MISSOURI AND WE HAVE TO SHOW EM. The photo measures, 5 3/8' by just about 12". Pretty cool antique photograph.

Other photos of this project can be found on websites from Tacoma Public Library, and Washington State University.

William J. Hepfinger was born Dec. 1865 in Ohio to German/Swiss immigrant parents. By 1900 he was living in Aberdeen/Montesano and serving as a deputy sheriff for Chehalis County. In that same year he had taken out a patent for a puzzle map.  

For most of his life he made a living as a house painter and interior designer, as well as a novelty salesman. By 1910 he was living in Nebraska and by 1930 in Chicago where he died Apr. 19, 1941. He apparently never married. 

Does anyone out there know whatever became of this amazing exhibit? 

Addendum:

Got this great email from Ted Tanner of Kenton, Ohio:

"About the spruce log....

I have a postcard that features this log, It seems after the worlds fair it was given to a senator Palmer of Michigan...After the property was given to the city and it became a park, this was one of the attractions along with an old log cabin...the spruce log is mentioned on the Palmer Park web site under the history page.
I find this very interesting having been born and raised in Grays Harbor."

And here's the link:

 http://peopleforpalmerpark.org/2012/05/15/history-of-palmer-park/

Thanks Ted! 

The Mysterious Odor of 1941, Grays Harbor

The approaching American involvement in the Second World War was not the only concern on the minds of Grays Harbor residents. I ran across this article from the Oct. 25, 1941 Aberdeen Daily World, page 3.

All these towns not claiming responsibility makes me think of a what happens in a crowded room when everyone is trying to find who is guilty of flatulence! Not me! Not me!