Orange Crush -- After School -- April 16, 2025

Battle Creek Enquirer, 24-April-1925

"When they come trooping home from school, flushed and tired -- then's the time for generous glasses of Orange-Crush. Give them all they like."

San Francisco Incorporated 175 -- April 15, 2025

175 years ago today, on 15-April-1850, the City of San Francisco was incorporated by an act of the California legislature. It became the City and County of San Francisco in 1856.

Coca-Cola -- Zestful -- April 14, 2025

Atlantic City Gazette-Review, 08-April-1925

This ad touts the virtues of drinking bottled Coca-Cola, instead of Coke mixed in soda fountains.

Ten Knights of Syncopation -- April 12, 2025

Lexington Herald-Leader, 23-April-1925

Lois Deppe (a male) was a popular baritone singer. He played in Lexington, Kentucky with his Ten Knights of Syncopation. The ad mentions Edgar Hayes, "piano artist." A few years before, Deppe's pianist was Earl Hines. They made a few records together. Edgar Hayes became a successful big band leader during the Swing Era. He made the original recording of "In the Mood."

Virginia Mob of 1,000 Seeks Fake Rapist -- April 11, 2025

Baltimore Afro-American, 25-April-1925

In Briston, Virginia, a mob of one thousand whites hunted for a black man accused of raping an eleven-year-old white girl. The police arrested two African American men before the girl confessed that she made up the story because she was late for school.

VIRGINIA MOB OF 1,000 SEEKS FAKE RAPIST

Crowd All Set For Lynching When Girl Confesses Hoax

INNOCENT MEN FREE

"Didn't Know I'd Cause All This Excitement," wails Girl

Briston, Va. -- A mob of 1,000 persons aided by the entire police force and accompanied by bloodhounds gave up a search of a colored man supposed to have committed rape upon an 11 year old white girl last week after they found out it was a joke.

In the meantime nearly evey foot of nearby counties was searched over, homes of colored persons entered and persons on the street held up in the effort to find traces of the alleged assailant.

The girl was 11 year-old Thelma McCary She came to the Sixh Street filling station about 1:15 Monay afternoon and told several men a colored man had attacked her on the road a few hundred yards away in broad day light. The child semed to be in a nervous state and her clothing was torn.

In the next half hour, the entire white citizenry turneout and formed a mob.

According to the child's story, she was on her way back home from school to get a geography when a colored man who stopped her suddenly stepped from behing a large rock by the roadside, confronted her and told her that someone on the knobs wanted to see her. This was not more than 20 feet away from the roadway of the Sixth street extension. The child, badly frightened, tried to back away but the Negro seized her and placed a large revolver against her chest and warned her not to scream. In his struggle to subdue her he choked her and ripped her clothes from her shoulders. When she finally pulled from his grasp, the child ran, fearing to look back. She crossed the foot-bridge across Beaver Creek and kept going until she met a man on the railway. He accompanied her to the Sixth Street filling station where a call was put in for the officers.

News Spread Quickly

News of the occurrence spread like wildfire over Bristol and in less than an hour after the attack more than 100 men were assisting police in effort to locate and arrest the Negro. Two Negroes were arrested as a result of telephone calls made to nearby places by local police. One of these was at Blunt City and another at Bluntville. The little girl was taken to both places by Officers WJ Rogers and Paul Saker but was unable to identify either of the two Negroes who were subsequently released.

Assailant Minutely Described

The child described her assailant as follows: light complexion, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, dressed in gray suit, gray flat-top hat, white shirt with blue stripes, tan shoes and a bow tie. He is said to have a mole on the right-hand cheek near the nose.

When the grim-faced body of men heard the pathetic story from the lips of the little child it broght tears to the eyes of a number of the crowd. Owners of twenty-five automobiles offered themselves at once and the search began.

Confession is Made

Then in the midst of all this turmoil came Thelma's confession. She said no one attacked her, that she spread the alarm because she was late for school and was afraid her father would whip her for it.

"I tore my dress to help make the men believe me."

"I am sorry I told anything about such an occurence for I did not know it would cause all of this trouble or I would never have told the tale."

The Great Gatsby 100 -- April 10, 2025

Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, 25-April-1925

100 years ago today, F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was published. I used to read it every year or two. Gatsby was neglected for years, and then people called it The Great American Novel.

Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, 25-April-1925

"THE GREAT GATSBY is vital, glamorous, ironical, compassionate. It is a living thing as spontaneous as THIS SIDE OF PARADISE, yet mature."

Baltimore Sun, 18-April-1925

Motion Picture Magazine, September, 1926

The first film adaption of Gatsby was a 1927 silent starring Warner Baxter as Jay Gatsby. The caption for this image from the September, 1926 Moving Picture Magazine says "The Great Gatsby has been a successful character.  He was a best seller when he made his first public appearance between the covers of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.  Then he made his stage debut and there was a continual line at the Broadway box-office.  And now he is to try his fortune on the screen.  Warner Baxter, judging from this photograph, will do well by Gatsby."  The movie is lost, but all accounts say that Baxter did not do well by Gatsby.

Motion Picture Magazine, February, 1927

Neil Hamilton, who later played Commissioner Gordon on the Batman television show, played Nick Carraway.  Lois Wilson played Daisy Buchanan.  Hale Hamilton played Tom Buchanan, Georgia Hale played Myrtle Wilson and William Powell played George Wilson. I find the latter hard to picture. 

Photoplay, February, 1927

listal.com

The second film adaption, made in 1949, starred Alan Ladd as Jay Gatsby.  I have never seen this version, but most of the stills that I have seen make it look like a film noir. 

Betty Field played Daisy Buchanan, Barry Sullivan played Tom Buchanan, Macdonald Carey played Nick Carraway, Shelley Winters played Myrtle Wilson, and Howard Da Silva played George Wilson. 

coverbrowser.com

The third theatrical film version of the story came out in 1974.  The 18-March-1974 cover of  Time Magazine featured Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan, and referred to the "supersell" of the movie.  I thought the movie was ok, but rather slow.

Sam Waterston played Nick Carraway and one of my favorites, Bruce Dern, played Tom Buchanan.  Karen Black was very good as Myrtle Wilson. Scott Wilson played George Wilson. 

listal.com

The fourth theatrical film version of the story came out in 2013.  Baz Luhrmann directed and Leonardo DiCaprio played Gatsby and Carey Mulligan played Daisy. The movie didn't do anything for me. 

Tobey Maguire played Nick Carraway and Joel Edgerton played Tom Buchanan.  Isla Fisher played  Myrtle Wilson. Jason Clarke played George Wilson. 

Educational Players Do Their Stuff on the Air -- April 9, 2025

Moving Picture World, 04-April-1925

Radio station KFWB went on the air in March, 1925. It was founded by Warner Brothers and served as a publicity arm for the studio. KFWB no longer belongs to Warner Brothers, but it is still on the air.

Educational Players Do

Their Stuff on the Air

JACK WHITE'S Mermaid Comedy Company, together with performers appearing in other units producing comedies for distribution through Educational Film Exchanges, Inc., last week staged a very successful exploitation tieup when stars of the various companies broadcast a program from the recently opened radio station KFWB at Los Angeles, operated by Warner Brothers.

The program was opened by Eddie Nelson, now starring in Mermaid Comedies, who delivered a monologue and some of the vaudeville chatter which he used on the Orpheum Circuit in the West, where he is known as "The Sunkist Kid." This was followed by the Mermaid Quartette which sang two numbers.

Following this came Clem Beauchamp, an assistant director and a promising lyric tenor, who delivered two songs. The O'Neal sisters, Zelma and Bernice, then sang two of their latest songs, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie," a la 1925, and "Log Cabin." Zelma O'Neil sang a special comedy number, "I'm a Pickford That Nobody Picked," one of her successes from Harry Carroll's "Pickings," the show in which she was appearing when Jack White discovered her. Miss O'Neal is a Cameo star.

Lige Conley, Mermaid star, followed with a display of his versatility in rendering a piano, banjo and saxophone solo. At this point the entire radio program was tied up with the showing of two Mermaid Comedies in Los Angeles, when it was announced that Conley could be seen at Loew's State in "Fast and Furious" and in "What a Night" at the California.

Joseph Diskay, the tenor, a favorite with radio fans, contributed his services to the program and sang two numbers, and Miss Hilda Goldman, operatic soprano, also popular with radio fans on the West Coast, obliged with selections.

Comic Book -- Blue Bolt -- April 8, 2025

coverbrowser.com

Dick Cole, The Wonder Boy carries on the fine tradition of punching fascists. On the cover of Blue Bolt Comics, he dreams of taking care of Hitler, Mussolini and either General Tojo or Emperor Hirohito.

Pulp -- War Aces -- April 7, 2025

mutoscope.listal.com

At first, I thought the cover of War Aces might have shown an Allied pilot chivalrously saluting a defeated Central Powers pilot, but then I noticed that both men were wearing the Iron Cross (Second Class?), so perhaps they are intended to be the same man.

Toonerville Trolley -- Safety First in the Skipper's Dental Work -- April 5, 2025

Oakland Tribune, 05-April-1925

I love Fontaine Fox's The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All the Trains. The Skipper takes advantage of the powerful springs that support the trolley pole.

Oakland Tribune, 26-April-1925

Cities and towns all over the nation claim that their transit systems inspired Fontaine Fox's The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All the Trains. Fox himself said that he got the original idea from a decrepit streetcar in the Pelhams. This article claims that a fleet of cars that in Monterey inspired Fox. The cars, which had only one survivor, were bought from San Francisco in the 1890s. I wonder if they were grip cars from cable lines that were shut down or upgraded.

Washington Times, 30-June-1918

Krazy Kat -- Three in One -- April 4, 2025

Kansas City Post, 04-Aoril-1925

Spring has sprung. I love George Herriman's Krazy Kat. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Washington Times, 30-June-1918

Senator Cory Booker -- April 3, 2025

cnn.com

Senator Cory Booker gave the longest speech in the history of the Senate, by speaking for over 25 hours. He didn't use the restroom, eat or drink. He broke the record set by Strom Thurmond, when he tried to filibuster a civil rights act.

Booker spoke against the nihilistic actions of President Elon Musk and his flunky, T***p. He concluded with a tribute to John Lewis. 

I watched some of it Monday night, then Tuesday morning at breakfast, and then all afternoon. I missed the last few minutes, just after 9pm.

George Foreman, RIP -- April 2, 2025

listal.com

George Foreman died last month. My condolences to his family. When I first remember him, he seemed to be a giant thug. There was a lot of prejudice against him. Then he came years later and seemed like everyone's favorite uncle. 

In 1973, George Foreman knocked Joe Frazier down six times and earned a TKO in the second round to stop Frazier's unbroken streak and take his heavyweight title. I think I heard it announced on the radio. It was a great shock to everyone. I admired Joe Frazier and I wanted him to fight Ali again, with the title on the line.

The documentary When We Were Kings told the story of The Rumble in the Jungle, Ali's 1974 fight in Zaire against giant George Foreman.  No one expected Ali to win.  Some people expected Ali to die.  I still get the chant "Ali, boma ye!" stuck in my head.

April 2025 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- April 1, 2025

I just put the April 2025 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:

http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:

1. Picture of the Month: A first day of issue cachet for the cable car stamp from 1988. Note that the Powell-Hyde car is numbered 146. Does anyone recognize the artist's name?
2. On the Cable Car Kitsch page: 
3. More collectible items about cable cars, including: three first day of issue cachets for the 1988 cable car transportation stamp; a Matchbox auto decorated with a cable car; moved Santa Clara University's Cable Car Classic to its own section and added a program from 1969; added a Christmas ornament with Santa on a cable car; a wooden locomotive decorated for the San Francisco Giants (not a cable car); 1949 Examiner ads for cable car pins and wheel spinners and gearshift knobs with pictures of cable cars
4. Changed the toy cable car picture on the main page to Department 56 cable car.
5. Added News items about cable car service interruptions

Ten years ago this month (April 2015):

1. Picture of the Month: Fillmore Hill Counterbalance cars coupled together to run in Multiple Unit for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. (Source: "Two-Car Trains on 25 Per Cent Grade," Electric Railway Journal, 22-May-1915.)
2. On the San Francisco page: The Fillmore Hill Counterbalance and the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition
3. On the Kitsch page: A Melbourne stamp; a new toy cable car 504; a bottle of fingernail polish; a refrigerator magnet; a Starbucks mug; a Cal Tjader album cover; a Vince Guaraldi/Bola Sete album cover with a photo of California Street Cable Railroad car 10 at the San Francisco Zoo;
4. On the Market Street Cable Railway page: Thanks to Val Lupiz, a circa-1885 Market Street Cable Railway advertisement
5. Changed toy cable car picture on the main page to rear three-quarter view of toy cable car 504, with free-standing figures.

Twenty years ago this month (April 2005):

1. Picture of the Month: The cover of the second edition of Of Cables and Grips: The Cable Cars of San Francisco.
2. On the Kitsch page: A Downbeat magazine cover and more Hard Rock Cafe pins.
3. On the New York/New Jersey page: A contemporary newspaper article about the experimental non-grip line on the grounds of a lunatic asylum in Binghamton, New York
4. Added News and Bibliography items about the wildcat strike by Cable Car Division crews and the proposal to drastically increase cable car fares
5. On the Roster page: Powell Street Paint Schemes, with early examples of Blue and Gold and Green and Cream cars. Photos courtesy of Walter Rice.
6. Walter Rice provided another Sutro Railroad ticket and two current $3 collectors’ series tickets for the Cable Car Transfers, Tickets and Tokens page. Val Lupiz provided a rare Clay Street Hill Railroad ticket.
7. Changed toy cable car picture on the main page to red Number 28.

125 years ago - 1900
Apr 01 - Denver City Cable Company (Denver, Colorado) Larimer line converted to electricity
Apr 24 - Andrew Smith Hallidie died

50 years ago - 1975
Apr 08 - Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, taking the lifetime home run record from Babe Ruth

25 years ago - 2000 Apr 24 - The California street line back in service after conduit reconstruction

In January 2024 I started on a long overdue process of cleaning things up on my site. I started with the development pages. Actually, I guess I started the year before with making most thumbnails 200 pixels instead of 100.

Coming in May 2025: On the Cable Car Lines in Saint Louis page: A ten-year update about the Peoples' Railway, including contemporary newspaper items.

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

The Cable Car Home Page also has an Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/cable_car_guy/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-April-2025)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-October-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-December-2024)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (updated obsessively)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/

OH BOY! Baseball Season is Here! -- March 24, 2025

Seattle Star, 20-March-1925

I sure am looking forward to the new season. The Seattle Star offered to help kids acquire the tools of the trade, a bat, a glove and a ball, in return for taking subscription orders.

Pacifica Pier -- March 23, 2025

On 14-March-2025, I went for a walk by the Pacifica Pier. The waves were moderate. Wednesday, we had thunderstorms and violent rain. I was surprised that the power stayed on.

SMART at Rohnert Park -- March 22, 2025

On 08-March-2025 we drove to Rohnert Park to visit my mother-in-law. I ran over to the train station to see the 12:39 northbound SMART train go by. The DMUs look nice and don't smell bad. Note the gauntlet tracks. The outer pair allows freight trains to pass the platform. SMART runs on the tracks of my favorite railroad, the Northwestern Pacific.

Swastikar -- March 21, 2025

I took this photo of a Swastikar in the parking lot at Pedro Point on 02-March-2025. When Tesla first started, I thought it would be wonderful to see a new American auto manufacturer be born and thrive. But then it turned out that the primary owner of the company had fascist sympathies and actively participated in destroying our government. I find the concept revolting, but I like the color.

Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 35 -- March 20, 2025

Detroit Free Press, 30-March-1950

After World War Two, 35mm cameras became popular in America. Zeiss-Ikon, a subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG, a German company, made the Ikonta series of cameras.

Sweeping Reductions on All Kodaks -- March 19, 2025

Brownsville Herald, 22-March-1925

Holm's Camera Art Shop offered "Sweeping Reductions on All Kodaks." I see Vest Pocket Box Cameras were reduced from $1.00 to $0.68.

Transit Driver Appreciation Day, 2025 -- March 18, 2025

I am grateful to the men and women who bravely face San Francisco traffic and San Francisco people every day. Thank you all.

I am grateful to transit drivers/motormen/gripmen/engineers/conductors and all the people who keep the vehicles clean and running and the wires and tracks in good shape all over the world. Thank you all.

Answer to Saint Patrick's Day Crossword Puzzle -- March 18, 2025

Oakland Post-Enquirer, 18-March-1925

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, 2025 -- March 17, 2025

Oakland Post-Enquirer, 17-March-1925

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, everyone. 100 years ago today, crossword puzzles were a craze. Note that the numbering on this one is not what we are accustomed to with current crossword puzzles. I like "Pat gave her his 27-28-29 and off they went."

I will post the answer tomorrow.

Orange Crush -- Wherever You See These Signs -- Stop! -- March 16, 2025

Miami Herald, 08-March-1925

We recently polished off a twelve-pack of Orange Crush. It was nice.

Baseball and Coca-Cola -- March 15, 2025

Macon Telegraph, 22-March-1925

This ad announces that "Coca-Cola Will Be Sold INSIDE The Baseball Park This Season." The Macon Peaches played in the South Atlantic League. 

Arkansas Idea of Justice -- March 14, 2025

Hot Springs Weekly Star, 31-March-1899

I wonder if General Duckett really was trying to stir up a revolt, or if this was a case of white hysteria inspired by one killing. I suspect the "war of extermination" was more on one side than the other.

ARKANSAS IDEA OF JUSTICE

Seven Negroes Lynched Because One

Killed a White Man.

The wildest excitement prevails among the negroes or Little River County, Ark., and seven negro men have been lynched by the citizens of that section. The affair grew out of Ihe lynching of a negro named General Duckett, near Richmond, in that county, on March 21 last. On March 18 a prominent planter named James Stockton was murdered at his home near Rocky Comfort by Duckett. The negro escaped at the time but was captured, taken to the place where he had killed Stockton, and after making a confession he was lynched. After the lynching it was learned that Duckett had frequently tried to get the negroes in the county to join him in a race war against the whites. A few hours after he had killed Stockton he passed several negroes at a farm house and told them he had killed one white man, and if they would follow him he would kill more. It is now believed that the negroes had banded for a race war.

Among those who have fallen victims to the wrath of the whites are Edward Goodwin, Dan King, Joe Jones, Ben Jones, Moses Jones and still another whose name could not be obtained. The last three named were brothers, were intimate with the assassin of Stockton, and it was discovered that they were leading a scheme to avenge their comrade's death. The assault was provoked by the unearthing of plots that the followers of General Duckett bad concocted, and when the revelation was made the citizens began their search for the principals. All of the victims that have fallen before the whites were pursued singly over the country, and met their fate at different times and in different localities.

TEN DIE IN RACE WAR

Negroes Are Run Down by Mob of

Whites for Plotting Revenue.

A war of extermination is on between the whites and negroes in Little River County in the extreme southwest corner of Arkansas, and seven of the latter are known to be dead. Many other negroes are missing.

The wholesale lynching is the result of the murder of James A. Stockton, a planter, last Saturday by a big negro called "General" Duckett. After hiding for some time Duckett gave himself up and was being taken toward Richmond, the county seat, when he was taken by a mob and lynched. He confessed to a carefully laid plan by the negroes to precipitate a race war, and told of many whites who were marked for execution. It was learned from Duckett that there were twenty three negroes in the plot, and their names were given. Several parties of white men started out to execute speedy vengeance on the plotters. The negroes became panic-stricken and fled in all directions.

Willis Boyd, C. C. Reed and Minor Wilson, three negroes, were taken from an officer and lynched near Silver City, in Yazoo County, Miss. They were the ring leaders in a race encounter at the Midnight plantation. After being shot to death their bodies were cut down and thrown into the Yazoo river.

St Patrick Radio Program on KPO -- March 13, 2025

San Francisco Bulletin, 16-March-1925

Saint Patrick's Day is coming.

100 years ago this month, on the eve of Saint Patrick's Day, San Francisco's KPO broadcast a special program. KPO became today's KNBR (680 Kilohertz).

+

San Francisco Bulletin, 16-March-1925

Wilber Sweatman and Band -- March 12, 2025

Mount Vernon Argus, 12-March-1925

 Duke Ellington, who had been leading a small group that played around Washington, DC, moved to New York to join the Wilber (or Wilbur) Sweatman Orchestra. By 1925, he had already returned to Washington.

Comic Book -- The Spirit -- March 11, 2025

coverbrowser.com

The Spirit was created by the Will Eisner-Jerry Iger Studio to appear in a comic book that was syndicated to Sunday newspapers. Later he appeared in Police Comics. I bought at least one issue of the Warren reprints. I read it and reread it until the cover came loose.

Pulp -- The Whisperer -- March 10, 2025

coverbrowser.com

The Whisperer, a mysterious man in grey who spoke in a bellowing voice -- no, wait, he spoke in a whisper -- made his debut in 1937. I have not read any of his adventures, but I have heard that they are among the most violent of classic pulps.

Toonerville Trolley -- Youngsters Take Advantage -- March 9, 2025

Rutland News, 10-March-1925

I love Fontaine Fox's The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All the Trains.

Washington Times, 30-June-1918

Daylight Saving Time -- March 8, 2025

listal.com

Actress Adele Mara reminds us to set our clocks forward one hour before we go to bed tonight. Unless you live in Arizona. I like Daylight Saving Time.

Krazy Kat the Farmerette -- March 7, 2025

Kansas City Post, 30-March-1925

I love George Herriman's Krazy Kat. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Washington Times, 30-June-1918