I work for The Kansas City Star. I'm doing a piece where I might mention SDC, so I decided to check our old photo files. Lots of old B & W photos. Here's a couple. Interesting, huh?
http://lockerz.com/s/136632273 (http://lockerz.com/s/136632273)
good stuff! thanks for sharing!
Looks like it says "Copper Kettle Candies" on the store directly next door. Is that it's original location?
I believe it is. Thats where it was located on many of the old maps, so it has to be the place.
Yup, vintage 1960s, SDC! MORE...MORE!
sweet! ;D thanx
Quote from: Junior on September 07, 2011, 04:02:45 PM
Yup, vintage 1960s, SDC! MORE...MORE!
ask and you shall receive
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/coalesce99/sdc1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/coalesce99/sdc2.jpg)
WOW!!! I have never seen this precise of a photo for the jail/ gazette. What I would give for that one! If I came across those, I think they might have just walked off....I do have 2-3 photos from a newspaper that I have purchased that show the crop marks-like the one with Shad- as they were used in publications as well.
Many, many more where that came from ;)
The printer in the photo above is none other than the famous early citizen, Bruce Seaton. If you have ever seen those hillbilly calenders and hillbilly post cards (in circulation from the 1960s to present) they are of Bruce and his wife and kids. Bruce is nice and clean looking in the photo, but soon after he arrived at SDC he began cultivating a fine crop of whiskers and transforming himself into a genuine manufactured hillbilly. Bruce also worked at Shepherd of the Hills at the play for years and years, playing Preachin' Bill, if I am remembering correctly. Bruce apparently died at an early age, don't really know when, but allegedly he had trouble dealing with his fame and with the money...a pretty large amount apparently...that the postcards and calenders generated. I think his widow (now remarried) or some of his kids may still operate the novelty company their dad founded. By the way, his wife, Dorothy, still works the play at Shepherd of the Hills. I think she may be the longest serving cast member still in place from the early, early days.
I would have loved to meet Marshall Hooker. I have his book that I purchased at SDC: "Born Out of Season". A very interesting man.
Duelist: could you tell me a bit more about the book you mentioned above by Marshall Hooker? Was this something sold at the SDC shops back in the 1960s or 1970s?
the knowledge you accumulate here! It is fantastic! Thank you guys for sharing your knowledge to make my knowledge sstronger. It really impresses my professors ::) lol.
Those are wonderful gems you have there coalesce99!
I am curious though, does the old jail, or newspaper building exist in some form today? The newspaper building looks similar to the current General Store, but that's about it. :)
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/41F9FFFKNDL__SL500_AA300_.jpg)
From 1982, 110 pages
"The true story of a modern-day frontiersman. From his early years in Oklahoma, to his walks of the Santa Fe Trail and Boone's Wilderness Road, Marshal Hooker's story is told in an honest, down-home way. Truly one of the great pioneers in reliving history! His experiences as a modern-day frontiersman should be read by all who, like the old marshal, were "born out of season."
I will have to pull my old photo of the print shop out, it is a post card, that only gives a view of the porch. I can't seem to find my scan of it anywhere!
I miss the old Print Shop. I always enjoyed the old wanted posters with your name on the poster using the old press.
When did all that die?
How about this one? [NEW] the caption is "CLEANING UP -- Workers are clearing the burned out site of structures at Silver Dollar City near Branson, Mo., lost in a $50,000 fire early yesterday." It ran on Oct. 1, 1968.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/coalesce99/sdctrainbuild.jpg)
in the early days at SDC, a fire damaged the old, original part of town. I think two or three buildings were lost. I don't know if that is what is depicted in this photo, although it appears jack and pete are standing at the side, looking at the dozer work. This photo could also be of the expansion of the original buildings. Do the photos in the newspaper morgue/photo file have captions or descriptions of what was going on, and the dates and times of what was happening, and who is in the photo? And these are GREAT shots...please, MORE MORE MORE postings!
MOre details about the Marshall Hooker book...where did you find it? Is it still available? How much chatter is about SDC? THANKS!!!!!!!
I'll look on Monday. Some of them do have captions (or the actual physical newspaper clipping) on the back. I don't think that one w/ the dozers did, though.
I've got a few more ready to go. One depicts a train robbery w/ 1 of the robbers on TOP of the train.
More, more, more! Please! ;D
These sort of wonderful finds is why we come here. Thank you so very much. This is hope for the items that we still haven't seen yet, it really makes you wonder what still could be out there! We will find it! (on that note, I got 15 more post cards this week-6 of them were SDC, the rest SOTH, and branson) all CHEAP! I really have to fire up the Wayback Machine! Thanks Coalesce99!
Quote from: Junior on September 09, 2011, 07:07:58 PM
MOre details about the Marshall Hooker book...where did you find it? Is it still available? How much chatter is about SDC? THANKS!!!!!!!
I bought in in 1991 at the old bookstore/tintype shop. Mr. Hooker talks some about being the Marshall at SDC but it's mainly about the walks/horseback rides he took on the Santa Fe and Western trails and the Cumberland trail. He led a very interesting life and is inspirational. I highly recommend it. There are some copies available at amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?field-keywords=ralph+l+hooker&url=search-alias%3Daps
Keep em comin! thanx!
Awesome pictures! They are so rare, and yet such a pleasure for the eyes. I'm learning more, and more about the rich history of Silver Dollar City each day.
I'd love to see the picture of the train robber on top of the train! :)
This is just great! I have been trying when the time to get through old photos/clippings that G'ma & G'pa kept not only on SDC but the whole area. I can't wait to get back to it and hopefully share along with photos from SDC when I was a kid and Dog Patch. It will probably have to wait until we close for the season, but I will do my best as I know there is some cool things/stories to share! :D
WOW...thanks for the info on the book, Duelist!
Quote from: Junior on September 10, 2011, 06:01:53 PM
WOW...thanks for the info on the book, Duelist!
You're welcome, Junior. One of my favorite stories from the book is the one where Marshall Hooker said he was "patrolling" SDC when a guy with a new straw cowboy hat and a girl on each arm kept following him around and calling him Wyatt Earp and asking him how quick on the draw he was. Finally the Marshall got fed up and told the guy to throw his hat in the air. The guy did and Marshall Hooker drew and blew the top of the hat off with a blackpowder blank. I can't imagine that happening now. Ah, the good old days!
Quote from: Ozark BBQ on September 10, 2011, 10:44:15 AM
I'd love to see the picture of the train robber on top of the train! :)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/coalesce99/sdctrain2.jpg)
Note the above shot is of the old, smaller train originally used. The cars are different, smaller, too! Good shots...and again, MORE!!!!!! :)
Thanks for the photos coalesce99! Very much appreciated.
Very nice. I have a color postcard of a similar train robbery. More please!
Awesome picture once again!
I just love these old classic shots. To just the casual observer, it looks like an authentic train robbery photograph from the 1880's! :)
WOW! Thank you so much for posting these! I love seeing old photos that I have never seen before. This made my day!
The caption on the bulldozer pic is:
"CLEANING UP -- Workers are clearing the burned out site of structures at Silver Dollar City near Branson, Mo., lost in a $50,000 fire early yesterday."
It ran on Oct. 1, 1968.
According to Leon Fredrick in his book"Ozarks Hillbilly Editor," here are some details from his memory about the fire:
"The city was building a huge mill building next to the print shop. The exterior was completed. Very early one extremely
cold morning Pete (Herschend) came in and built a rip roaring fire in the King heater stove in the old mill to enable workers
to come in later and work on the building's interior. He then went to eat breakfast. When Pete and the other workers
arrived for the next days work, there was no mill building, no print shop and no photo gallery. All were rebuilt in time for
the opening of the tourist season."
Fredrick does not say what year the fire took place, but did say it happened in Februrary.
Note: An autobiography is a bit untrustworthy, as the guy writing it often gos by memory and nothing else. So, either there was more than one fire at SDC in the early days, or Fredrick remembered things wrong, because although he does not say what year the fire was in, he said it was in February, different from the photo caption in the Kansas City Star. Fredrick also says in his book the fire happened in the opening years of the park. Fredrick operated the print shop and photo gallery in the early years and it indeed was located in the area behind the current jail in the vicinity of the blacksmith shop and Sullivan's Mill.
wow, thanks for sharing,
interesting.
Assuming the story is somewhat true, I wonder what would have happened had it been an employee that lit the stove and went to breakfast...
In the early, early days, there were less than two dozen employees. My guess is that in most cases when a mistake was made, all was forgiven soon after...probably with the warning "don't repeat." From what I've heard and read, they were a pretty tightknit group. Some are still with the company, others have retired, some have passed on.
Hey all! That 1968 press photo of the workers clearing the burned out area is on Ebay right now!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-Workers-Clearing-Off-Burned-Out-Site-In-SILVER-DOLLAR-CITY-Press-Photo-/111679171854
Oh, and I did a quick Google search, and here's the text I found from the Sept 30, 1968, issue of the Garden City Telegram (Garden City, KS) (http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/486526/):
"Silver Dollar Buildings Burn
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) - A wooden building housing five shops at the Silver Dollar City resort west of Branson was destroyed by fire Sunday night. Two other structures in the development were scorched. A fireman, Jim McLain, 58, of Branson, was overcome, apparently by heat exhaustion. Mrs. Mary Herschend, owner of the destroyed building, estimated loss at $50,000. It was one of 45 in the resort, which opens for business as usual today. The fire broke out in the candlemaking shop and destroyed the basketmaking shop, the grist mill, broom factory and print shop. Countless items of antique tools, furniture, costumes and equipment were kept in the shops. A week long national festival of craftsmen will be held as scheduled, starting Saturday, the resort announced. Firemen from Branson, Hollister, Galena, Reeds Spring and School of the Ozarks fought the flames."
Sept 30 was a Monday, so the fire occurred on the night of September 29, 1968.