History Archives ~ Not Good At Normal

December 8, 2024December 8, 2024

Influencers…A New Thing?

Think influencers are as new as Social Media? Think again!

You think the Kardashians started the influencer crazy? Social media as the downfall of our young people? Fads of following the famous?

Long before Instagram and TikTok, the internet and social media, before filters and photoshop twisted our vision of ideal and unattainable beauty, there were real celebrities. Movie stars and before them, the drawings in newspapers of ‘the ideal women’.

Ideal Woman

Long before movie stars even had names and vaudeville had its favorites, there was the ‘Gibson Girl’, the Coca Cola Girl and the Biograph Girl and Vitagraph Girl.

The Gibson Girl, was the ideal woman, She was active, progressive, attractive and yet the ultimate feminine female. First appearing in magazines and newspapers such as Life and Harper’s Weekly in the 1890’s. The Gibson Girl is said to be based on Camille Clifford.

The Biograph Girl was Florence Lawrence, who was one of the first named motion picture stars. The other was Florence Turner, the Vitagraph Girl, who when making appearances would hand out personalized photos

The Best Foot Forward

Hollywood soon followed. The actress Joan Crawford never left her apartment without full makeup and glamor because as she said “People expect to see a movie star”!

The It Girl, Clara Bow, an early influencer

Known as the Femme Fatale, Veronica Lake

Mary Pickford was the girl with the curls. Everyone wanted to look like her. There was the waif or waifish, Lillian Gish, The It Girl, Clara Bow (also a flapper). In the 1940’s everyone wanted the Veronica Lake hair. Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy in the 60’s, Farrah Fawcett in the 70’s

Influencers are nothing new, most Hollywood stars would appear in advertisements for beauty products. These women embodied the idealized, perfect woman, what woman should strive to be.

The beauty industry has long been a major contributor of the decline of the mental health of women. Using our favorite stars to hawk beauty products, making women, younger and younger, feel worse and worse about ourselves. Even young girls are scared to get old. Anti-age this, and stop aging that. Why do we hate old(er) woman or getting old??

One of my personal favorites, Judy Garland

As Lucy Moore states in her book “Anything Goes, A Biography of the Roaring Twenties” it was during the 20’s when psychology and research was used. Cigarette ads like Lucky Strikes were linked to female emancipation. Smoking meant freedom. And dying your hair and wearing lipstick wasn’t just for “the fallen woman”.

It wasn’t until the 1980’s where girls began to form their own individuality. Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and Grace Slick. But even then, girls wanted to just like them!

Even today, in the “Everyone and everybody is beautiful, big is in, all bodies are beautiful age, we still see ‘use this face cream to stop wrinkles’ ‘look younger and more youthful’ use this hair dye.. Older women aren’t supposed to be sexy. Yet the messages are still be you, be authentic, just do it while using this product, everyone does! Its the standard of beauty you too can attain. Only you can’t.

This ad came out around the time the movie “How To Marry A Millionaire” was released.

Social Media

Influencers/Youtubers/ Creators/Tictokers and so called social media celebrities, what a load of crap. They are paid highly to get you to believe what they post is reality. Filters and photoshop so much, if you saw them in real life you wouldn’t even think it was the same person!

Snake Oil

Years ago they were called Snake Oil Salesmen. People who would travel from town to town selling their goods…’Look younger and attract a mate, look darker, look lighter. Make your skin glow.’ They would be run out of town for selling lies.

Lasting effects

The ads and media scrolling doesn’t just affect women and girls, men and boys see this and think that is what women should be. How they should act and dress. They have an unnatural idea that they will find a woman or girl like that and when they don’t, they wonder why or keep leaving to go find her.

This goes back far beyond the printed advertising, even ghost signs, telling woman they are not enough as is, be sexier if, whiten your teeth, erase your wrinkles, use this corset, wear this wig, this product,that product.. be the happy housewife…. and on and on. Only now ad fillers, botox, boob jobs, laser peels, ect.

A happy housewife! Both ads have the woman in heels and skirt!

Watch out!

Do you follow or buy something just because your fave star/celebrity or ‘influencer is using it?

Snake oil salesmen are still out there, they just use filters.

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January 1, 2023January 13, 2023

The Great Fire and Brick City

The Fire of St. Louis

Ever wonder why St. Louis is called Brick City? Read on, and find out.

Every great city has had a “great fire” in the 1800’s, and St. Louis is no exception. However, the Chicago fire in October 1871, began in a barn outside of the city and killed 300 people, lasting about 24 hours.

Chicago fire of 1871 Currier and Ives print

London

London’s great fire, during King Charles II’s reign, in 1666, started in a bakery when a spark from an oven lit the fuel in the kitchen. This truly was a great fire as it lasted 4 days and happened during a plague. Almost 13,000 of the mostly wood buildings and churches were leveled. The best part is only 6 people died during this fire, although some died jumping from windows.

San Francisco

Even the San Francisco fire, burning not only City Hall and killing nearly 3000 people, was started after an earthquake. It lasted three days and burned about 500 blocks. The photos are devastating. You can find more pictures and information here.

More than one

St. Louis has the distinction of having two ‘great fires’ and the first did not start on land, no, the first one started on the Mississippi River in 1849.

ships on fire on the St. Louis riverfront — The ships on fire at the St. Louis riverfront another Currier and Ives print

The quiet evening in May started as any other. Ships moving in and out of the busy port city to and from destinations all along the might river. Volunteer fireman, Captain Thomas Targee was at home settling in with his family, when word spread of a mattress on fire on the levee.

The steamboat White Cloud was moored at Cherry Street on the landing, when a mattress caught fire. The men on board tossed the mattress overboard while it was still smoking. It hit the large ropes holding the ship in place. The mooring ropes caught fire and quickly set the White Cloud a blaze. The White Cloud had then broke free and was setting adrift down the river. Eventually 22 more boats and barges were lit as well.

Captain Targee had alerted the volunteer firemen and had 9 hand cars and hose reel wagons enroute.

The flames were leaping high into the night sky and leaping onto the nearby wooden structures on the waterfront. Soon four blocks of buildings were engulfed. Main Street, Olive, 2nd and Market. 3 blocks away, a copper shop was burning down.

In defensive actions, 6 buildings were blown up to prevent further damage and stop the spread. The last of the six to be strategically used as a fire break, was the Philips Music Store.

Loss of life

It was during this last blast that Captain Targee lost his life. Thus giving the St. Louis Fire department the distinction of being the first city to have a firefighter lose his life during a fire. In the aftermath, boats and nearly buildings burned. Alarms were used to warn people and surprisingly only 3 people lost their lives.

New Codes

Building codes in the city were quickly put in place requiring new structures to be made of stone or brick. Multiple brick manufacturing companies sprang up throughout the city.

Most buildings and homes in the city of St. Louis are now made of bricks.

The St. Louis Fire Department is the second oldest paid department in the United States. It began in 1822 as a volunteer fire department and became a paid dept. in 1857.

Second large fire St. Louis 1976

127 years later, a fire broke out or was set, on automotive row on Locust Street in an abandoned building. It spread so quickly six surrounding buildings and a fire pump truck was destroyed. In all 200 firefighters and 51 trucks were called on the scene and 8 people were injured.

It was later determined scrap metal thieves were the cause of the igniting.

This area looked so bad that it was used as a backdrop for the movie Escape From New York with Kurt Russell in 1981. It remained seedy and run down for several years.

Several local engine companies worked together

Today, this area and buildings have been restored. Very few abandoned.

Filmed in St. Louis, Mo in the former Automotive row, now on the National Register of Historic Places

I may do another blog on the locations used for this 1981 film. I guess I should watch it first.

What areas of history or St. Louis do you want to learn about next? Leave a comment, like and share.

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February 6, 2022

The Tobacco History of… St. Louis?

The hidden history of tobacco in St. Louis

Yes, St. Louis was founded on more then beer. At one time St. Louis was the world’s largest chew tobacco supplier! Why is this history hidden? Being a non smoker, I had no idea the midwest held this distinction. I thought tobacco was a southern crop. If you know where to look, you can see there are signs of the once great tobacco mecca.

Star Tobacco

John Edmund Liggett was born in St. Louis in 1826, but lets go back even further in time. J. E. Liggett’s grandfather, Christopher Foulks, owned a snuff mill in New Jersey. Along comes the War of 1812, and his mill is destroyed. So in 1822 Christopher decides to leave Jersey for the open spaces of the mid-west to IL to open a new snuff mill. Then 10 years later, he moved to St. Louis, MO. and opened the Foulks and Shaw company, only to be changed to Hiram Shaw and Co. when Christoper died. Shaw brought on J.E. Liggett, who worked for his grandfather, as a partner. It was then called JE Liggett and Bro before becoming Liggett and Myers. But lets not get ahead of our story.

The Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company complex it St. Louis, MO, in its heyday with 13 buildings.

A brief History

Way back before St. Louis was a city, and the French controlled the territory (Blog on French histroy in STL soon), growth occurred after the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark’s exposition. The area became one of the largest port cities for shipping along the Mississippi river.

The tobacco history seen on smoke stack from the plant still visible with the popular brand.

Here is a very short timeline of tobacco:

~1492 Columbus notes tobacco use in ‘new land’ ~by 1558 it was wildly popular in Europe ~1600 tobacco is used as a monetary standard ~1624 the Pope bans tobacco use in holy places calling it “too close to pleasures” ~1730 first tobacco crops are grown in Virginia ~1794 tax on tobacco ~1847 hand rolled cigarettes are sold in Great Britten ~1849 Liggett and Myers is producing tobacco under this name

Advertisement for Star Plug chew in the Missouri of To-day Progress and Process booklet

~1880 Rolled Cigarette machine is invented ~1890 the American Trust Company buys up lots of companies

Just west of St. Louis, in Defiance, MO and further west, large farms and crop plantations could expand as needed. Hemp was also a large crop, but by 1890 the largest cash crop was tobacco. It grew in the Mo river towns in great number, leading to Liggett & Myers becoming the largest in the world. St. Louis was one of the first in the country to sell rolled cigarettes in 1849 by Liggett and Brother. Chew and plug tobacco was still very popular.

Covering several city blocks, the Star Tobacco brand was one of the most popular.

Plug Tobacco

Plug tobacco was made by hollowing out the center of a maple or hickory log and mixing the tobacco with honey, apple brandy or other flavors and putting it back in the log and plugged and left to dry out. After the drying process, the log would be opened and the cured tobacco would be ready. Through the years different flavors and spices were added after production was industrialized. Plug was the most popular form of tobacco and St. Louis produced about 40% of the nation’s sales until World War one, when the army issued cigarettes to soldiers and chew became less and less popular. The decline was due to manufactures in St. Louis not leaning into the changing tastes and continuing to sell primarily chew and cigars.

Liggett & Myers

Terra cotta Stars on the corners of the buildings

In 1873 George Myers bought into Liggett and Bros and was incorporated in 1878. By the 1890’s they were producing cigarettes. Covering several city blocks and 13 buildings, the Liggett and Myers tobacco company had several large brick buildings in the complex and even had housing for employees around what is now the Botanical Heights/Tiffany neighborhood (Both Tiffany and Liggett & Myers Districts are now on the National Register of Historic Places).

Liggett and Myers was part of the trust and rebranded in 1911 after dissolution. After WWII, some of the buildings were sold at the St. Louis plant. They expanded in 1964 to include pet foods and wine and spirits. In 1980 they were acquired by a British based company and sold to Philip Morris in 1999. When John Edmund Liggett died, he was one of the riches men in the city and is buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Photo by Joyce Payne~ An RJ Reynolds Co product

Competition

Other tobacco companies in St. Louis were Wellman and Dwire Manufactures (down the street), makers of smoking and chew tobacco. J.N Wellman was from Missouri and William T. Dwire from Quincy, IL.

The history of tobacco is alive and well in St. Louis with this ghost sign. Building still in use as multi use.

Drummond Tobacco Co. from 1873 to 1898. James T. Drummond, born in St. Louis, went into the business as a bookkeeper for Meyers Tobacco in 1862. He was mayor of Alton , IL in 1868- 1871. He died in 1897, one year before being bought by the American Trust Company for ten million dollars. He is buried in Alton Cemetery.

Christian Peper Tobacco started in 1852, and had a warehouse built in 1874 on the site of the Old Missouri Hotel on First Street, by the river front. The warehouse live on today in two parts, The Peper Lofts and as offices and The Old Spaghetti Factory.

The John Weisert “Big John” Tobacco Co. on French Market and LaSalle St. in St. Louis. The Weisert Co was one of the few to not only survive the Trust co, but thrive and continue becoming the last to produce tobacco in the city until 1989. They did so by providing many different brands and flavors. At one time over 100 brands. By the time they closed, the grand son of the founder was working alone adding flavors to cigars himself. Thus ending the St. Louis Tobacco legacy.

Fire Map of St Louis showing John Weisert Tobacco CO

A few more companies and advertisements:

Leave a comment if you learned something new or knew of these companies.

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October 26, 2021February 3, 2022

Vincent Price

The Ties to St. Louis History

By now, most people know Vincent Price was born in St. Louis, Mo in May, 1911. But what most don’t know is the full story of his family and the historic contribution they made.

Vincent Price the actor in the movie Shock

Vincent C. Price

Baking powder, extracts and flavorings. Items used everyday in every home around the world. Often taken for granted, but who invented them? A Dr. and chemist named Vincent Clarence Price. After moving back home with his parents after his family grew with two kids and a wife, he was watching his mother bake biscuits and wanted to help. With a background in pharmacy and chemistry he set out to find a better way to make the biscuits rise.

A silver embossed lid of Dr. Price’s baking powder.

He patented the invention and thus began Dr. Price’s Cream Baking Powder. Next he conducts more experiments and came up with fruit and herb flavorings and vegetable colorings and manufactured breakfast foods.

booklet — Booklet cookbook from Dr. Price

St. Louis and The National Candy Company

So, how do the Price family get to St. Louis and what is the candy connection? V.C. Price and his son, the first Vincent L. Price (father of the actor) started selling all the goods traveling the country. When they heard that St. Louis, Mo was to hold the Olympics and a World’s Fair, V.L Price decides to move his family to the big city and buy his father’s company. The National Candy Company was formed by merging several local and national companies and the headquarters was the STL location.

The former National Candy Company a ghost sign now, the building is currently in use
as a Uhaul facility.

The National Candy Company was incorporated in 1902 and is comprised of in part by: the O.H. Peckham Co., J. Waters Candy Co., F. D. Seward Confectionery Co. and others. It was, at one time, the largest manufacturer of candy in the United States

The National Candy Co. specialized in jaw breakers and jelly beans. Thousands of new kinds of candy bars appeared in the 1920’s and one of the best sellers for National was the Bobcat bar. The top seller sold for .5 cents.

New building

The nine story National Candy Company building in St. Louis, Mo as it is currently.

In 1927 a new building opened in south St. Louis with 9 floors and air conditioning. The A/C was a big deal at the time as it allowed certain candies to be made all year. The new building included a printing shop, a cooking area, a box facility and a shipping department. The building, on the National Registry of History places, is currently in use as a Uhaul facility.

The company was sold in 1948 to the Chase Candy Co. The building sat vacant for several decades before being bought by Uhaul.

Actor and art connoisseur

Vincent Price’s star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame

Vincent L. Price Jr., the Master of Horror, appeared in over 100 movies and hundreds of television shows. He went to Yale and attended an art institute in London. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and one on the St. Louis Walk.

Some of his most well known movies are The House on Haunted Hill, The Raven, House of Wax and Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. Two of my favorites are not of the campy horror genre, but one, a thriller called Shock, where he plays a Dr. who tries to get a witness to think she is going crazy. The other is The Last Man On Earth, where he thinks he is the last man alive after a plague/pandemic but there are a few others hiding and there are zombie type people trying to get to him. In the ’80’s he drew more fans from his famous ‘rap’ in Michael Jackson’s song Thriller. His last screen appearance was in Edward Scissorhands.

Movie advertisements for Shock, starring Vincent Price

Among the several books he authored are cookbooks and art books. He had an art museum named after him and a cooking program on British tele. On October 25, 1993, Vincent Price passed away. One of St. Louis’ most famous sons will live on in the hearts of his many fans.

This show is very entertaining!

Catahoula dog in car — 18 month old, Vincent

My Catahoula Leopard dog is named Vincent Price. He is not scary…most days.

What is your favorite Vincent Price movie? Did you know of the family/St. Louis connection?

Cooking and entertaining was one of Vincent’s passions.

Find more Hollywood here.

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June 19, 2021June 20, 2021

Signs of the past, ghost signs and buildings

Part 2

The signs are all around us. The ghost buildings that once held businesses, homes and even churches still sit, beckoning those passing by to stop and take a look. To look past the rubble and broken glass, tall grass and graffitti to the past life it held.

Photo of the shell of what is left of the St. Louis Southwestern
RY Freight Depot. As I was about to take this photo, a train passed by. Years ago this would be an all day occurrence.

I recently drove around the northern part of the city of St. Louis, MO just north of the Gateway Arch grounds where the history is rich with ghost signs and buildings on every corner. This area was spared from the wrecking ball that demolished 37 blocks to make way for said Arch. Now I am a St. Louisan through and through and love the city and am proud of the arch, but as a historian and preservationist, it saddens me that so much history was lost because of it. Not to mention the people that were displaced by it~but that is a blog unto itself(I will link it here, when it is posted).

Multiple ghost signs on this building originally for the Mound City Buggy Company

The signs show us what it was like and how far we have come. In one sign, we see The Mound City Buggy Co all the way up to auto transmissions!

What can we learn from the signs and buildings? How we have evolved. How we lived once or made due with what was available at the time.

Power to the people (of St. Louis)

The Laclede Power Co on the Mississippi River front, St. Louis, MO

The Laceled building is just a shell left to the elements and urban decay. Note the rainbow, no rain in sight!

The Laclede Power Company began in 1891 and this building, built in 1901 was a power generating facility. The building has sat empty since the 1970’s.

Another Power company building and sign is the Union Electric Light and Power Company.

The Union Electric Light and Power co. on Ashley street, St. Louis, MO

This great ornate building was built in 1902( some say 1889). It provided steam heat to the downtown area. It was then converted to oil in the early 70’s and to natural gas in 1996. There was a greenway walking/riding trail area built around here, but recently it was closed off, along with multiple points of entry to the riverfront. I drove down here and didn’t know what was going on, as ‘the greenway trail’ started and ended here!

Click here to see the first video of ghost signs around STL. More to come and will be updated. Click here for part one blog.

More signs of the past that connect us

A closer image of the “D E trademark” sign. A.F Shapleigh Hardware co.

Wow. This one took a while to figure out and find info! I
do know there were a few businesses that had multiple warehouses around this area. As you can see this is Warehouse #3.

One of seven buildings for the Crunden-Martin MFG Co.

The complex that made up the Crunden-Martin Manufacturing Co. is down to 4 from the seven in its heyday. They were makers of wood and metal household goods, toys and paper products. The buildings were built between 1904 and 1920. They were an early supporter of the flood wall along the Mississippi in St. Louis. It closed in late 1990.

No info on this building or sign. If you can read it,
leave a comment, please! A true sign of the past!

The big one, building, ghost sign and oldest business!

Of course, the Gateway Arch would not be built for another 60+ years when this building was built.

The A. F. Shapleigh Hardware Company began when Augustus Frederick Shapleigh came to St. Louis from Philadelphia in 1843 to open a branch of the Rodgers Brothers and company firm. The name changed to Shapleigh Hardware not long after and continued to grow very quickly. The picture with the DE trademark is from the Shapleigh Hardware co. “The Diamond Edge is a quality pledge” Click here for detailed history from family descendants.

The other sign visible on this one is harder to read, J. Kennard and sons Carpet Co. Building possibly built in 1901.

This one really upsets me that it wasn’t repurposed.
Left to the urban elements. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

More ghost signs

The only thing I can make out is ‘Transfers & Forwarding Co.
Not sure what the bottom row says. St. Louis was a port city
handling lots of freight, so this makes sense.

Back side of cold storage building. Built in 1908

Front side of the St. Louis Refrigeration & Cold Storage Co. There was once several blocks of these.

The other side of Beck and Corbitt Iron Co.
Circa 1903

If you know of any ghost signs I missed or where any unusual ones are located, drop a comment. These were all from the Near Northside St. Louis City. There are more and I intend to go back! Stay tuned for part 3!

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March 17, 2021July 1, 2021

Hysteria: What the Diagnosis really meant.

While doing research for the last blog, Women in St.Louis, I learned about The Social Evil and the hospital for women and all the implications thereof. So much info, I had to write a blog about it. Women were diagnosed with ‘hysteria’ up until 1980, when it was removed from the medical terminology as a disorder. It was really a general diagnosis when no other would suffice. Mostly anxiety or nervousness would be happening, but no one knew why.

A woman who was irritable, fainted, or had a loss of appetite. Hysteria. A woman who was sexually forward or enjoyed it, or who didn’t. Hysteria. Any woman who did not act like a proper woman, made a scene or was out of line and different were all thought to have hysteria.

Truth and History Behind Hysteria

The real reason so many women were diagnosed with hysteria was because her husband or father could not control her. She would ‘have a mind of her own’ ‘wasn’t thinking straight’ or ‘proper women don’t behave like that’ or even possessed. Men were scared of a strong woman and didn’t want to be thought of as not being able to control or keep quiet, his woman. Sometimes, if a woman caught her husband having an affair, he would say she was hysterical and have her committed.

Close to home, I pass the second oldest mental institution in Missouri, almost daily.

For hundreds of years this catch all diagnosis was used and a wide range of ‘treatments’ were given as a ‘cure’. It was thought that this woman’s disease was due to the uterus. It was thought the uterus moved around in the body. In ancient Greece, the uterus was described as “an animal within an animal” and was “sad and unfortunate when not joined with a male or bears child”. It was chronic and common. Mostly it was synonymous with normal functioning female sexuality. Often times the woman diagnosed was placed into an insane asylum.

The St. Louis Lunatic Asylum was built in 1869 and was an architectural dream built on the highest point of land in the city(at the time it was considered the county). The Dome was fashioned after the White house and only one other remains in the area, atop the Old Courthouse in downtown. I often drive by and wonder how many women were sent here because their husband’s couldn’t, or wouldn’t, deal with them.

The Cure

Several horrific and gruesome things have been done in the name of science and medicine to women as a ‘treatment or cure’. The simplest was scent therapy whereby good smells were placed under the genitals and bad odors at the nose. (who went to school for this?!) Rubbing ointments, sexual intercourse, and fulfilment of natural desire. The fact that these doctors thought nothing of virtually rapeing women in the name medicine! Some treatments also included electroshock therapy, water massage, manual stimulation and lobotomy. A transorbital lobotomy was like an ice pick going through the eye cavity to cut certain nerves in the brain. Some patients were tied to beds, and given medication.

Behind Closed Doors

What went on behind the locked doors of insane asylums? There has been much written about and sensationalized into dramatic movies, one that comes to mind is the movie Frances Farmer, based loosely on books about and by Frances. She was an actress in the 1940’s and was institutionalized several times. She was different, and did not conform to the gentile way a woman should behave. The book is a good read. Did it all happen? Only those there know for sure.

Actress Frances Farmer wrote a book about her experiences called Will There Really be a Morning

In 1887 a female journalist went undercover for 10 days in an asylum and wrote about her experiences. Nellie Bly used an assumed name and began the saga. She saw women beaten and without covering when cold. Tied down if they were thought to be violent. Given only tea and bread to eat and hit if they didn’t eat. Cold communal baths, threats of sexual violence and crowded conditions of 1,600 patients in a hospital meant to hold only 1,000.

Sadly there are other ways women are kept ‘in line’ today. Not given promotions when of childbearing years, real illnesses not take seriously, thought of as too emotional. Some say not pretty enough or too manly, women shouldn’t have muscles and women tear down other women. Where does it end? History should be our guide. Learn from it and move forward better for knowing what not to do. Drop a comment what ways you still find this happening or what you want to read about next. Share the love.

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March 16, 2021March 20, 2021

Extraordinary Women: A Brief History of St. Louis Women

St. Louis: The Gateway to the West

St. Louis may be known as the gateway to the west or the beer capital of America, but the history of the area is much richer and more interesting. While there are extraordinary women all throughout history, when looking at the whole picture, some amazing women stand out. Doing research for this blog, gathering information from various sources and my own knowledge, it became clear: There really is no written history of the contributions of women to our great city.

First Mayor

Via City of St. Louis~ Honorable Mayor Lyda Krewson.

It was not until 2017 that St. Louis elected its first mayor, Lyda Krewson. Who is not running for reelection. It was 2020 before the first woman was elected for United States Congress to represent St. Louis for the state, Rep. Cori Bush. In 2021 a new mayor will be elected and she too will be a woman.

Sure there are a handful of well known women who were born in or call St. Louis home, even if for a little while. The dancer Josephine Baker, singer Tina Turner, Maya Angelou and Betty Grable to name a few. But a deep dive was needed to uncover those who helped shape the city. Even the state of Missouri, as there isn’t enough info on women of St. Louis alone. So we will discuss those that we found that had a lasting impact.

A Most Extraordinary Woman

As far back as the 1700’s we have three women who owned property. Not just any women either. Free women of color in French colonial times in the area while under the French and Spanish laws. This was at a time when most women could not own property unless they were married. Not much else is know about Ester, Franiose and Jeannette, but its important to add them. They couldn’t vote or have many other rights, but owning land was not common.

Early suffragette, Virginia Minor, while living in St. Louis, was an officer in the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. During the presidential election of 1872, Minor went to register to vote and was refused by a ward registar. She and her husband sued him( Minor v. Happersett) Virginia started the movement in St. Louis and helped found the Women’s Suffrage Association of Missouri. Thus a full two years before Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony started the National Woman’s Suffrage Association.

Virginia Louisa Minor, an extraordinary woman.

Virginia Minor’s case was based on the 14th amendment. The amendment that stated “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. ~this meaning All persons born in the United states, were not to be denied the rights given to them as citizens. ALL Persons and that is where she hung her hat. She was a person, She was born in the United States and She was being denied the right to register to vote. In Missouri, as in many other states at the time, women could not own property in their name, nor could they file a lawsuit, or be counted as a person or vote.. Legally, women were treated as property or as children. One lawmaker even said Women were dead to the law. SIDEBAR(see end for Evil Hospital)

As luck would have it…

Virginia was married to a lawyer. It was both Virginia and her husband Francis that took the suit to the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit was thrown out as having no merit based on the assumption that the 14th amendment did not state voting as a right of citizenship. This did not stop Virginia. She would later not pay her taxes because, being a woman, she was counted as a ‘femme covert’ legal doctrine, meaning she could not own money, so legally, she did not have to pay taxes. The MO legislature, being held by all men, did not rule in her favor. Curiously because, it was by law her husband’s money, but she was held liable for it! Nothing like hypocrisy of men and politicians. Virginia Minor did not live to see Missouri become the 11th state to ratify the 19th amendment.

Other well known women

Susan Blow opened and ran the first public kindergarten in 1873. As a child, her home on the Mississippi riverfront was burned in the great fire and she lived through the cholera epidemic.

“If we can make children love intellectual effort, we shall prolong habits of study beyond school years”.

Harriet Woods became the first Lt. Governor in 1984, after getting her start in local politics. Jean Carnahan was elected the first female U.S Senator. Phoebe Couzins was the first US Marshal and the second female lawyer in the country, her mother, Adeline was an early suffragette. Margaret Bush Wilson was a lawyer and civil rights activist and the second person of color to practice law in Missouri. Virginia Masters, Sheryl Crow, Sara Evans, Rose O’Neal(illustrator of Kewpie dolls + suffragette), Jean Harlow, Phyllis Diller, Joyce Meyer and many more from the great state and everyday extraordinary women.

The Social Evil

When I first learned about this hospital, I thought it a joke. It was on a map I was researching for breweries in STL. In 1870, the boards of Health and St. Louis Police Commissioners initiated the Social Evil ordinance in an effort control and regulate prostitution. Taxing the brothels and women. Police were to visit brothels with a doctor to test and identify those infected with diseases and were then sent to the city hospital. When that proved to much, they established a separate hospital for prostitutes and a house of industry where they could be trained in vocational skills. This was called the Social Evil Hospital which opened in 1872. It soon became the Female Hospital for women and the training part closed. Evil women…how about curing the men from straying from their wives? In 1864 in England a similar experiment took place where women were tested for STD and locked away in ‘The Lock’ hospitals. Thus being why this experiment failed. The site of the hospital is now a park.

All through history, women are the ones expected to change, to get along. Not to speak out or not to walk alone at night, change our behaviour and men will not need to change theirs. We need More extraordinary women to keep up the right for equality. Remember, the Equal Rights Amendment has still not been ratified by all states needed to make it into law!?! Crazy right, 2021 and women do not have, by law, equal protection.(MO not one of the states to ratify). What are your thoughts? Who is a woman in MO history or history in general that you find extraordinary? Leave a comment.Video coming soon.

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December 19, 2020January 4, 2021

Ghost Signs (mostly of St.Louis)

And the connections to the Past.

Ghost Signs: “Old hand painted advertising sign that has been preserved on a building for an extended period of time”. Old and fading signs or ads on exterior walls. They are all around in every city, even on old barns along the highway in rural america. Every downtown in every city has them. You just have to be open to see them.

A happy find. Multiple layers of signs visible in the
historic Cherokee/Lemp district.

This image has multiple layers of advertising. It is located in the Lemp/ Cherokee historic district (on The Mud House).On the top is an advert for a chewing tobacco. Only the word ‘Chew’ is still available. The largest part of the sign says ‘Buettner’s’. It was a home and furnishings store in downtown in the old garment district. There is another large word toward the top that isn’t legible and a sign at the bottom looks like it says ‘cold’ and maybe ‘broadway’. That is part of the fun of these signs. Trying to read what it says and researching the products to see if it’s still in production or where it originated. The entire Washington Ave. garment district, several blocks, was nominated for the National Historic registry in 1986.

One of my favorite recent finds. This building is downtown in the old garment
district on Washington Ave, where the Buettner’s store was (a few blocks down).

The ghost signs above advertise: ‘King Bee Hats, King Brinsmade Merc. Co.’ ‘Wrigley’s Spearmint Pepsin Gum~ Trademark’ ‘Buettner’s Home Furnishing Seventh and Washington~Arrow Stamps’. Upper corner is part of the Gum ad. It says ‘Buy it by the Box~The Flavor Lasts’ and the last sign on the right is for ‘Antikamnia Tablets ~Ask for A-K Tablets’. Looks like there was a newer sign over the gum sign.

The fun part was learning about the products I’ve never heard of before. The Antikamnia Chemical Company manufactured the tablets in St. Louis from 1890 to 1930. They produced “cures” for pains using at various times heroin and quinine (now used to treat Malaria).

Beer Capital

Hyde Park beer ghost sign found in The Hill neighborhood of South St. Louis, MO.

At one time, St. Louis was known as the beer capital because of the many breweries around the area. Hyde Park Beer was one of many. This sign says “Hyde Park Bottled Beer” This Brewery was started in 1889 and closed during prohibition in 1919. The Hyde Park neighborhood was home to mostly German immigrants. The brewery was at Florissant and Salsbury in North St. Louis. They were sold and after prohibition ended opened again in 1933, they also once produced Stagg beer. The routing of the interstate through the middle of the area has left the once thriving area impoverished.

Another Hyde Park Bottled beer sign
at the corner of Salisbury and N. 20.

Ghost Sign visible under the Mural for Hyde Park. Both of these signs border the Park by the same name. Salisbury and Blair Ave.

Green Tree Beer one of the larger brewery in the late 1880’s in St. Louis.

More Beer Ghost Signs

This whole article isn’t about beer, but what history of STL can one tell without the illustrious past. The Lemp Beer Factory is without a doubt on of the most well known, besides Budweiser, but Bud is still going strong, so I don’t have ghost signs of that advertising.

Originally the Lemp smoke stack, the tile coated bricks
were arranged to spell ISCO when the factory was
bought by the International Shoe Co. Yes, this is a ghost sign.

The Falstaff beer logo, (part of the Lemp products) still visible, on the south side of the city.

The Lemp family came to St. Louis in 1864, when William J. Lemp built the brewery near the Mississippi River, which had several caves in the area in which to keep the beer cold. The Lemp family has had many tragedies, early deaths and suicides are the legacy that is left of the once great beer baron.

You can tour the Lemp Mansion and book an overnight stay if you are brave enough. It’s said to be haunted. Or you can go for lunch or a four course dinner. After the family lost interest in the business and prohibition began, the complex was sold to the International Shoe Company and was for a time, the largest shoe manufacture in the world.

Other beverages

This sign is now in an alley behind an ice cream
shop in the Tower Grove area.

Least you think beer is the only advertising in the area, we see many signs for Coca Cola, the refreshing drink once made with cocaine from the coca leaf, where the Coca part of the name is from. Ghost signs are found everywhere. Some are ‘hidden’ behind other buildings or in alleys that over time have obstructed what was once visible street.

This next sign is completely hidden in an alley in the Bevo neighborhood. The alley was 18 inches wide, just enough for me to use the wide angle on the camera.

The word ‘Cream’ is visible and above it, a ‘W’ and ‘H’?

Some signs advertise local businesses and some nationally known brand products. The paints used in these early signs were mixed by the sign painters, usually with a mix of white pigment made with lead. The men that hand painted these signs were called Wall Dogs. The paint used was made to last a lifetime, sometimes longer! Its no wonder why there are so many that are faded or painted over. Someone buys a business and wants to put their own stamp on it, freshen up the outside. That is how we get some signs with more than three layers visible.

This sign was lost for over 100 years behind a building that crumbled and fell leaving this beauty behind. The Pattison Whisky Co. was only in production for a few years. The Star Saloon and Cafe opened during that time.

The works of art were visible from high above and ground level, easy to see by those on foot and horse and carriage. Then later the early automobiles.

Enjoy the rest of the photos. More will be added as I come across more!

Two old signs left on the
renovated Sun Theater in the
Grand Center Arts District.

Panda Paints ghost sign is on every
corner of the ole St. Louis Paint
Manufacturing Co.

1903 B+R Dry Goods, Close outs of Nationally Advertised Brands

Can’t find any info on this one found in the Cherokee/Lemp area.

Sign left on the building now known as the Knickerbocker lofts.

Not all ghost signs are painted. The business is
long gone, but the sign remains.

Gold Medal Flour and May and Sons Groceries and Meats advert.

Where are some of your favorite old ghost signs? Like and share, subscribe for more fun and historic content.

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December 8, 2020February 13, 2021

Hollywood by today’s standards

How Hedy Lamarr and the Metoo movement collide.

Hedy Lamarr was almost the most important inventor time forgot. Let’s remember a time, not so long ago when Hollywood and the world, i.e. men, didn’t give credit to women for being smart, or for anything for that matter.

Coming to America

image via MGM pictures: Hedy Lamarr in the MGM classic “Ziegfeld Girl” in the famous star costume.

In 1937 Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler came to America from Vienna, Austria, her birthplace. She had starred in a few films, one being the scandalous “Extase (Ecstasy)” when she was just 18 years old. Hedy was born in 1914 and was married and divorced before leaving her homeland for the lights of tinseltown.

The Glamor

By the 1930’s Hollywood’s glamor machine was in full swing. The ‘Studio system’ was churning out hundreds of movies every month and if you wanted to be a star, you played by their rules. The studio was not only where you worked but it was your life. They told you how to look, where to go to be seen and with whom. You were expected to appear in as many films per year as possible. You would have a seven year contract to which the studio owned you as their property and if they made you into a star, they would go to any length to keep you a star. This often meant being seen on arranged dates or they would give the stars strict diets to adhere to.

Hollywood was not for the faint at heart. You had to follow the studios every directive and that included the casting couch. Directors, producers and those in charge would make women sleep with them or give special favors in order to get a part. This practice remained a well known fact and was allowed to happen until very recently.

More Stars than there are in Heaven

MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) was one of the biggest and most successful of all the movie studios in Hollywood. It was a successful merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Studios and Louis B. Mayer studios. At its head in the early years were Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg as head of production. LB would proclaim to be the biggest studio and have the most stars. It was home to some of Hollywood’s biggest and brightest. In the 30’s it was where Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Mickey Rooney, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy and Judy Garland gained fame. It was here, at MGM that Hedwig became Hedy Lamarr.

The Beauty that Changed the World

The world’s most beautiful woman, and one of the smartest!

She was billed as the most beautiful woman in the world. The world didn’t know it yet, but this woman was much more than that. With an IQ of 150+, she regularly invented items and took things apart to find out what made them work.

It was during WWII, at a party one evening with an equally intelligent composer, George Antheil, she set out to form a way to jam frequencies so that torpedo locations could not be found by the enemies. They invented frequency hopping communication and had a patent placed on the invention. This later formed the bases for wireless technology used today in bluetooth and WiFi. She grew tired of the Hollywood scene, playing the exotic femme fatale and having everyone think she was window dressing. She would say anyone can stand and look pretty, even stupid people.

Admired as the most beautiful woman in the world,
not for her intellect.

No one believed she was the inventor of such magnitude. Some claimed she stole the idea. Some said she was too pretty to be smart. Still others said she was a spy.

My #metoo story that I’ve never shared with anyone before!

Hollywood isn’t the only industry that uses or takes advantage of women or thinks a woman can’t think for herself. So many stories of how women are treated when they walk into an auto part store. Or when a woman owns a show car and enters it into shows, most of the guys ask her where her husband or boyfriend is so they can talk to him about it. Or when a customer asks for the manager and they are talking to her, a young lady. My Aunt was told she couldn’t be hired because she was of the age where she would be starting a family!

Me Too

Take Kim, she was in the only female student enrolled in a fire academy. One of the recruits pinned her on the ground and tried to kiss her as the others watched. She was able to knee him and get away, earning the respect of the other students. I have to say that should never happen. Ever. Being the only woman in a male dominated work environment, like Amber and Jamie and Tory. The girls were told to only do certain jobs and leave the hard or heavy work to the men. Talked about behind your back because you are a woman. Double standards.

My own story was as an 18 year old working at my first radio station and working closely with an older man who was showing me the ropes. He kissed me without provocation or wanting from my part.

Hedy Lamarr was paid less then her male counterparts. She wasn’t given the proper credit for her invention until decades later, and she died at 85, in 2000, without much money. It was only recently that people and Hollywood are taking notice of the beauty with the high IQ. Hedy Lamarr was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame posthumously in 2014.

Your turn

What are some of the ways you have experienced or seen a situation that you were treated different because of your sex or you were taken advantage of and told you need to do or act or wear something in order to get a job or keep one? Tell your story in the comments.

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October 31, 2020December 8, 2020

How The Salem Witch Trials Continue

Why witch hunts could still happen today

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692, in what would become the state of Massachusetts, are world renowned. Everyone knows or at least has heard the story. Could it happen again? The hysteria? The events may change, but the mob mentality continues. Can we stop it?

It’s just a witch hunt

The church plays a powerful place in a community.

Let’s take a minute to look at what really went on in Colonial Mass. In 1689 war between France and American colonies sent refugees into the Massachusetts bay colony. Salem already had slim resources and splintered families. By 1692 tensions were high. In the strong Puritan area, it was believed the devil would give people powers to harm others. These people were mostly women. Older or single and different. They were called witches. The Salem witch hunts were about to begin.

First Minister

The Reverend Samuel Parris became the first ordained minister and was immediately disliked as a greedy, ridgid leader. It was the reverend’s own daughter Elizabeth and niece Abigail who started having what were called fits and could not control themselves. Other girls soon began acting the same way. These girls began to blame their behavior on witches. Names were demanded. 3 women who were poor and different from others. Two had claimed innocence and the third confessed to the devil giving her powers and claimed there were many more like her as well.

Twenty people died during the Salem Witch Hunt.

The Real Threat

The real threat was that there were people who were different and willing to change or challenge the way of life in the puritan village. The word of someone without evidence, can and is taken as fact. Luckily, the Salem Witch Trials didn’t last very long. But history shows us that hysteria leads to the mob mentality and it happens often.

World War II, German and Italian Americans were harassed and thought to be sympathizers with Stalin and Hitler. Even worse, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were held in camps. Americans were scared of those different than us, even if they were born here. Hitler was one that grew as a result of mass hysteria. The mob mentality made him a deadly leader.

It wasn’t long before another witch hunt took place here in America. In the 1950’s Senator McCarthy began what has become “The Red Scare” finding communists or those who joined the communist party. This action caused many to lose their jobs and split friendships as people were asked once again to name names.

“Drinking the Kool-aid”

The sign welcomes the unsuspecting
sheep to Jonestown. (photo-jurist.com)

In the 1970’s people followed Jim Jones, the term Drinking the kool-aid is from his when he talked people into killing themselves, by drinking poison kool-aid. The expression is used for when people blindly believe anything they are told as the truth. In the ’90s David Koresh in Texas became the name to follow.

Think it can’t happen again?

Questions about a persons politics or personal political beliefs. It happens all the time. That’s the thing about mob mentality. Otherwise educated, reasonably responsible people follow a slick campaign or believed injustice or made up news. They call people with a different opinion names. Look at both political parties. The Democrats and the Republicans, both have the party faithful who will go along with and even try to persuade others to follow as well. It may not be a cult or as dangerous as other times and situations in history-but remember, in this sound bite society when most people believe the 5 second headline anyone can rise above the noise to gather followers and lead them astray.

The Facts and Freedoms

I look for facts. I base not on TV news, social media or what an online acquaintance may say. I don’t vote on party lines but on evidence of how a person has and may vote that best represents my view and values. In recent years, the girls from Salem have been thought to have eaten fungus that caused muscle spasms and vomiting and hallucinations.

Charlatans, haters, rioters, movements, snakes, conspiracies, witches. A few causing mass hysteria and lost lives. Real or imagined, it can and will happen again. A Witch Hunt. The Salem Witch trials. Don’t be a follower and go with the flow.

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