[The Budweiser Clydesdale Team]

A scene in the 200 block of North Oak, looking towards the south on Oak Avenue, taken in the 1930's is illustrated here. (Shadows indicate the picture was taken in the early morning.) The Budweiser Clydesdale team was introduced to the public in 1933, and is shown here along the 200 block west. The "CRAZY" sign that spanned Hubbard Ave. (now [2016] US Highway 180) a block behind the Clydesdale team was erected in 1933 also, probably later in the same year the picture was taken. A two-story garage/office building, the former Seaman's Pontiac Agency (still standing in 2010) is visible alongside the Anheuser-Busch beer wagon. Other businesses noted are: Dr. M. S. Green, Chiropractor; Kay's Cafe. The prominent building behind the Clydesdale team is still standing at the corner of Hubbard Street and Oak Avenue. Advertising signs are also noted: Texaco, Mobilgas, and a sign on the seaman's building for Crazy Water Crystals.
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[The Crazy Hotel Barber Shop]

A photograph of the barber Shop in the Crazy Hotel is shown here, including a long row of mirrors and waiting area on the far right, and stations for cutting hair on the left. In the center of the image, "Shoe Shine Boy" Leon Cross is seated next to a shoe-shine stand and an unidentified man (presumably, a barber) is seated near him in a barber chair.
Date: 1974
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[The Hexagon Hotel]

The Hexagon Hotel was built in 1895 by David G. Galbraith, the inventor of the paper clip (not the familiar one, but another one very much like it) , and co-developer of acetate synthetic fiber. According to Ellen Puerzer ("The Octagon House Inventory", Eight-Square Publishing, copyright 2011), the building was twelve-sided, clad with clapboard, built on a stone foundation. Two English stonemasons did all stonework, presumably also the work on the DC generating plant next to the hotel. The rooms within were hexagon-shaped, with a bath being shared between every two rooms. The top floor was a reading room--popular at the time. The well-ventilated "honeycomb" structure (a master-stroke in the days before air-conditioning)opened in December 1897. The stone building behind and left of the Hotel is the plant for generating electricity used for light and fans (for a fee) in every room in the hotel. It also contained a steam laundry and an ice house on the first floor. The second floor was given over to a dining room for the hotel guests.
Date: 1897/1924
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

D. M. Howard Millinery Department

The D. M. Howard Department Store was once located at 101 SW 1st Street. This photograph illustrates its millinery department. The portly gentleman on the far left has been identified as D. M. Howard himself. The identities of the five ladies, the girl, and the remaining gentleman have not been discovered. If one may judge by the clothes of the people shown in the picture, it is conjectured that the photograph was taken within the first two decades of the twentieth century. Five Howard brothers came from North Carolina to settle in Palo Pinto County. D. M. was the first one to come He later sent for his other brothers. The first Howard buildings were at the northeast corner of Oak & Hubbard Streets, facing Hubbard. This picture is featured in "Time Once Was" on page 123.
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[The Tour of Homes, 1976, (2)]

This concrete-block house, of Queen Anne style, free classic subtype, parapeted gable, was built in 1904 by Robert Wylie, rancher, at 416 NW 6th Street. This view is of the front, southern elevation of the house. There are 10 room and 8 fireplaces (all coal-burning), each one unique, and believed to have been imported. There are many stained- and leaded-glass windows. The house was purchased in 1917 by the attorney of Mrs. Wylie, Judge W.H. Gross. The Gross family lived there until Mrs. Gross' death in 1952. Subsequent owners were the Luther Waddy family, and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Catrett in 2006. Another view of it is in "Time Was...", by A. F. Weaver, on page 141. This negative was part of a collection of photographs taken by A. F. Weaver, and was found in an envelope marked "Homes, Tour of, 4/76" The following names were listed: "McFall, Brewer, Catrett, John Moore, Hull, McLaughlin."
Date: unknown
Creator: Weaver, A. F.
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[A Lion's Club Christmas Project]

A note by A.F. Weaver identifies this group as "Left to right: Lions, Cary Lodal, Moon Mullins, Charlie Johnson, "Santa Claus", Jess Pervine, Noble Glenn." The last four are pictured as sitting on the running board of a General Motors truck, which appears to be loaded with wrapped gifts. (No connection is known or implied, but since the "Santa Claus" in the picture is not identified, an interesting bit of local history is offered by way of suppletion: Rancher Charley Belding, a bachelor living west of Palo Pinto, was known annually to contribute (anonymously) truckloads of Christmas Gifts for needy children in the county.) Note the Hexagon Hotel in the upper right corner and the two gasoline stations, Gulf and Sinclair (H.C.) The picture appears to have been taken on the east side of N. Oak Avenue in about the 500 block. The Lion's club, mentioned in the title, is a service organization.
Date: 1938?
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

Hal Collins

The name "Hal Collins", manager of the Crazy Hotel in the early 1930's, is printed on the back of this photograph, as well as his autograph on the face. He and his brother Carr bought the burned-out shell of the original Crazy Hotel; and built another, much more elaborate, in its place. He became convinced (by a salesman, according to one story; by his vice-president by another) that by advertising on the new medium, radio, that he could sell a boxcar-load of Crazy Water Crystals (evaporated from the now-famous water) each week. As a result, the "Crazy Gang" began broadcasting from the lobby of the Crazy Hotel over the Texas Quality Network. Hal Collins himself went on the radio air with his spot called "One Mans' Opinion." The noon broadcast became so popular that the sponsor was shipping, not one but several, carloads of Crazy Water Crystals per week to a nationwide audience of devoted listeners. More than one well was required to fill the orders that came in. He was one of 22 alternates in 1941 for the position of United States Senator on the death of Morris Shepard. He moved to Reynoso, Mexico to look after his brother's …
Date: unknown
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

The American Legion Drum and Bugle Corp at Their 1933 Convention in Chicago

This much-battered picture has obviously been pinned to a cork-board in order for it to be made into a photograph. Enough of the legend at its bottom survives to proclaim that the picture commemorates the attendance of the Drum and Bugle Corps of Mineral Wells' Farris Anderson Post No. 75, at a national convention of the the American Legion, in Chicago, Illinois, on October 2-5, 1933. The photograph was taken, the legend states, compliments of the Majestic Hotel. Please note: The American Legion provided the following names to accompany the picture: David Burnswick,[sic] Director; Paul Grable, Drum Major; Tommie Burns, Trumpet; James W. Calvert, Trumpet; E.M. Davidson, Trumpet; Lawrence Davis, Trumpet; Sam Goldman, Trumpet; Jack Armstrong, Trumpet; Bob Echols,[sic] Clarinet; (?) Davidson, Clarinet; Lloyd Kendall, Clarinet; Bob Irvine, Clarinet; (?)Brady, Piccolo; Arly (?) Bolfour,[sic] S. Drums, B. Drums; Dan Raeffell,[sic] Bass; W.E. Davis, Bass; Roy Prince, Trombone; Vaughan Davis, Trombone; (?) Trombone; Franz Schubert, Baritone; Alex Pavlovsky, Horn; W. W. Woodward. Horn; George Oliver, Horn; Bill Chancellor, Color Bearer; W.H.H. Smith, Color Bearer; Allan Wallace, Color Guard; George Barber, Color Guard. This band was awarded a state championship three times.
Date: October 1933
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History

[West Ward School]

This photograph appears to have been given to A. W. Weaver with the following information on the back of it: "Wasn't it Whittier who said 'Still stately stands the old school house, beside the babbling brook'?--well this one no longer stands. It was a firm & strong old building when they tore it down 4 years ago. I thought you would cherish this picture as a fond recollection of yours, mine & Hugh's school days & days of happy childhood, where, as we romped & played barefoot in the soft sands & green grass, we were not as yet familiar with the hidden stones & thorns that one encounters down the highway of life. "All the sheet metal contained in the top of this building including the tin roof was made & fabricated by Papa in Grandpa's store. The metal work consists of the ornamental cornice fittings, the steeples at each corner of the building, metal banisters on the roof top, pinnacles around cupolas, flag pole with large metal ball on top & all drain piping and roof ventilators. "The barren oak trees in the yard are very familiar. Far to the right, not shown in the picture were several …
Date: 1909?
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Photograph
System: The Portal to Texas History