Cox Esso Puzzle

I found this old card inside a board game box. It predates zip codes so it is at least pre-1963. The phone number dates to the Circle exchange era.

So have fun and see if you can solve it.

Is the Gem Theater Haunted?

The folks who work there say it is, haunted by a friendly ghost they call Lucy.

Who could Lucy be? Any thoughts on who might be haunting Kingsport's oldest movie theater?

The Gem opened in 1916 and has been home to a movie theater, a saloon, a church, a country music show and now the Downtown Kingsport Association offices.

Myrtle Beach Nights

The Myrtle Beach Pavilion closes after this vacation season and will be torn down for condos or a hotel or upscale shops. It was an oceanfront mecca for little kids for 58 years. Here are a few old postcards of the place along with a snapshot of the old Mystic Swami fortune teller both. The roller coaster postcards are of the old Wild Mouse ride. The fortune teller photo comes from this website, which offers a wealth of information about old arcade games.

Big Birds

There must be thirty or so blue heron nesting in the trees along the ridgeline below Patrick Henry Dam. You can see them from Fort Henry Drive but it's safer to turn off on Wesley Road to get a look. Here are a few photos I took of the nests.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

My old barber in Louisville is hanging up his clippers. Wilbur “Wib” Scarboro was the Claude Russell of Louisville. He started “cutting heads” in 1956 and was a downtown institution for half a century. His son is helping him clean out the old place, selling 50 years worth of barbering equipment, and memories, on eBay.

I used to tell the story of the first time I went to Wib’s. The place was packed and I turned to leave - I was on my lunch hour - when all the regulars yelled, in unison, “You’re next.” No one else was there to get a haircut, just to chat. Here’s part of a story I wrote about Wib. He’s also in my book about barbershops, “Do Bald Men Get Half Price Haircuts?”

Here’s the story:

Wib Scarboro's Barbershop on Fifth Street is a three-chair shop, room enough for three barbers. But it's down to one barber now: Wib. The other two chairs remain, a reminder of flusher times.

On this Thursday in September regulars are perched in the two empty barber chairs. The waiting room is full, too, save for one solitary chair.

A visitor would be tempted to turn around and head elsewhere, rather than fight the wait. But the visitor who pushes open the door this afternoon is greeted with a hearty chorus of "You're next!"

Wib Scarboro's Barbershop may be full, but no one's there for a haircut. They've come for the company and it is available in abundance on this afternoon.

"Open the door to this barbershop and the lies just pour out onto the street." says Don Miller, a long-time customer. "This is the place for decent haircuts and great stories," jokes Wib-regular Miller. And the crowd whoops. "Wib doesn't give a haircut worth a damn but the conversation is wonderful," he adds.

Wib Scarboro is not one to take a punch without fighting back. "Don, I've seen better heads on cabbage....I've seen better heads on a ten cent beer." And the crowd whoops some more.

Barbershops have been around at least since the days of Samson. In fact the crowd at Wib's might say he's been around that long, too. Not quite. Wib Scarboro's shop has been in existence since 1880, in the same location since 1935. Wib's been cutting hair there since 1956.

Ben Bodie, an industrial fan salesman from South Carolina, is in the chair at Wib's. He has been directed to the place from the Delta Lounge on Market. Bodie is on a lifelong quest to find America's best haircut. "Last month I got one in Detroit. Before that San Francisco." And how does Wib compare? "This young man's got a steady hand and he knows what he's doing." The crowd suggests the steady hand is because Wib just had a shot of a refreshing beverage. Bodie appreciates the humor but he wants everybody to know, Wib knows his stuff. "I guess the next time I need a haircut I'm gonna have to figure out a route back through Louisville.

…Scarboro says, "Once my son asked to borrow twenty bucks - he wanted to see the Beatles. I said you got to be kidding. They caused me to starve for about ten years."

…School is letting out and young boys are lining up along the walls in the barber shops around town. Except at Wib Scarboro's. Wib is putting his clippers back in the drawer. He says he has the best hours of any barber cutting hair in Louisville: "Monday through Friday 8 to 2, or whenever I get tired or someone wants to go fishing or squirrel hunting."

The smell of the ditto, the roar of the crowd

The photocopy has displaced the mimeograph and with good reason: it's a superior technology.

But when I was in grammar school every handout was a mimeograph.

The mimeo has it all over the photocopy in one area: smell. I used to love that mimeograph smell when I was a kid and my teacher passed out our homework assignment.

Did you know that Thomas Edison invented the mimeograph, along with the electric light, the phonograph, the all-concrete house, and 1,089 other "modern conveniences?"

Here is the complete patent application for the mimeograph, which he called "automatic printing." No where does it mention that wonderful smell.

Rutgers University has posted all of Edison's patents on the Internet. That's 1,093 in all. Read them at your leisure here.

Four Decades at Lincoln

Jeannie Hodges, the long-time office assistant at Lincoln School, was feted Tuesday with a limo ride to Meadowview for breakfast and a program in the auditorium for the entire school. Here are a few photos from the soire along with the program.

I also have a story that didn't make it into my column:

Teacher Jennifer Griffin told me that as Jeannie left in the limo for her celebration breakfast, her own first grade son asked, “Mommy, when you’ve been here forty years will they send a limousine to pick you up?

“No,” she told her son. “They’ll send a hearse.

Here's the program for the event.

Going for the record

I was in Knoxville last week at the Ace Hardware on Maynardville Highway to tape yet another episode of "Modern Marvels" for the History Channel. Yes, another one. I think this is my sixth. I'm on "Hardware Stores," "More Hardware Stores," "Power Tools," "Hand Tools" and "Garage Gadgets."

This episode is titled "Drilling" and focuses on all manner of drilling, from the kind they do in coal mines to the kind you do in your home. That's where I come in. I tell a couple of stories from my book "Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench" about power drills.

The folks at Actuality think I may have the record for most appearances on "Modern Marvels." I doubt it.


The producer was Kristina Djokic, from Actuality Productions in Woodland Hill, California.

Back to the 60s

This monstrous record player - a 1963 Magnavox Stereophonic Hi-Fi - has been sitting in this same spot in my living room since, well, since 1963. It still plays, although with a bit of a crackle. And it plays 78s, 45s, 33s and even 16s. Of course I don't have any 16s. Apparently 16s had a life as Talking Books but I've never heard one played.

It works great playing 45s and I've got a whole box of them.

Before Eastman

Kingsport's first industrial giant was Federal Dyestuff and Chemical Company, which opened during World War I and at its peak employed more than a thousand workers.

Paul Arnold (Richard's dad) loaned me the above photo from about 1919 of Federal Dyestuff's successor, Union Dye. It comprised 29 buildings in the area where the Toy Reid Center and Riverview are today. It went broke. You can read more about it here.

Dead Mayberry

A reader sent me a list of all the stars of "The Andy Griffith Show" who have gone on to that great Mayberry in the Sky.

Here's that list:

Elliott	Dick	Mayor Pike	1886/04/30	1961/12/22
Wright	Will	Ben Weaver I	1891/03/26	1962/06/19
Dumke	Ralph	Mayor Purdy	1899/07/25	1964/01/04
Meredith	Cheerio	Emma Brand Watson	1890/07/12	1964/12/25
Hamilton	Joseph	Chester Jones	1897/??/??	1965/02/20
Sloane	Everett	Jubell Foster	1909/10/01	1965/08/06
Ford	Wallace	Roger Hanover	1898/02/12	1966/06/11
Paiva	Nestor	Big Jack Anderson	1905/06/30	1966/09/09
Antrim	Harry	Fred Walker	1884/08/27	1967/01/18
Clyde	Andy	Frank Myers	1892/03/25	1967/05/18
Latell	Lyle	Farley Thurston	1904/04/09	1967/10/24
Kreiger	Lee	Merle Dean	1919/06/30	1967/12/12
Erwin	Stu	Tom Silby	1902/02/14	1967/12/21
McNear	Howard	Floyd Lawson	1905/01/27	1969/01/03
Sherman	Fred	Fred Goss	1905/05/14	1969/05/20
Ryan	Dick	Mr. Wilson	1896/08/26	1969/08/12
Barcroft	Roy	Clint Biggers	1902/09/07	1969/11/28
Gerstle	Frank	Dirkson	1915/09/27	1970/02/23
Foulger	Byron	Harry Bosworth/ etc.	1899/08/27	1970/04/04
Swoger	Harry	Barbershop customer	1919/03/06	1970/06/14
Ruggles	Charles	Congressman Canfield	1886/02/08	1970/12/23
Westerfield	James	Uncle Olie	1913/03/22	1971/09/20
Nesmith	Ottola	Mrs Dennis	1889/12/12	1972/02/07
Keith	Sherwood	Sam	1905/03/25	1972/02/21
Andrews	Tod	Ralf Case Inspector	1920/11/10	1972/11/07
Randolph	Isabel	Mrs Bixby	1889/12/04	1973/01/11
Reid	Carl Benton	The Governor	1893/08/14	1973/03/15
Avery	Tol	Ben Weaver II	1915/08/28	1973/08/27
Hartman	Paul	Emmett Clark	1904/03/01	1973/10/00
Farrar	Stanley	Mr. Foley	1910/10/04	1974/04/05
Sutton	Frank	SGT. Vince Carter	1923/10/23	1974/06/28
Johnson	Chubby	Mr. Carter	1903/08/13	1974/10/31
Fax	Jessly	Mrs LeGrande	1893/01/04	1975/02/16
Roberts	Roy	J. Howard Jackson	1900/03/19	1975/05/28
Patterson	Hank	The Hobo	1888/10/09	1975/08/23
Prickett	Maudie	Aunt Nora	1914/10/25	1976/04/14
McDevitt	Ruty	Ethel Pendleton	1895/09/13	1976/05/27
Halop	Billy	Prisoner	1920/02/11	1976/11/09
Baldwin	Walter	Floyd the Barber #1	1889/01/02	1977/01/27
Mustin	Burt	Jud Fletcher/ etc	1882/02/08	1977/01/28
Adams	Stanley	Ralph Campbell	1915/04/07	1977/04/27
Lewis	Forrest	Luther	1899/11/05	1977/06/02
Barnett	Vince	Elmo	1902/07/04	1977/08/10
Bouchey	Willis	Mr. Brady/ etc.	1907/05/24	1977/08/26
Hagen	Jean	Elizabeth Crowley	1923/08/03	1977/08/29
Bardette	Taylor (a.k.a. Trevor )	Wally	1902/11/19	1977/11/28
Goff	Norris	Mr. Doakes	1906/05/30	1978/06/07
Williams	Robert B.	Millie's Uncle Phil	1904/09/23	1978/06/17
Ferguson	Frank	Charlie Foley	1899/12/25	1978/09/12
Swenson	Karl	Mr. McBeeVee	1908/07/23	1978/10/08
Inness	Jean	Woman	1900/12/18	1978/12/27
Fritzell	Jim	Writer	1920/02/22	1979/03/16
Buchanan	Edgar	Henry Wheeler	1903/03/21	1979/04/04
Cisar	George	Sheriff Mitchell	1912/07/28	1979/06/13
Parnell	Emory	Uncle Edward/ etc.	1892/12/29	1979/06/22
Summers	Hope	Clara Edwards Johnson	1902/06/07	1979/06/22
Hunnicutt	Arthur	Mr. Wakefield	1911/02/17	1979/09/26
Lewis	Charles	Pete	1920/11/02	1979/11/09
Pearson	Jesse	Keevy Hazelton	1930/08/18	1979/12/05 (cancer)
Warde	Harlan	Mr Williams	1917/11/06	1980/03/13
Fay	Herbie	Mr. Clark	0000/00/00	1980/05/28
Thompson	Charles P.	Asa Breeney/Asa Bascomb/Doc Roberts	0000/00/00	1980/10/26
Chambliss	Woodrow	Mr Hendricks	1914/10/14	1981/01/08 (cancer)
Dodd	Molly	Mrs Bracey	1921/00/00	1981/03/26
Shimoda	Yuki	Mr. Izamoto	1924/04/07	1981/05/21
Markey	Enid	Mrs. Mendelbright	1896/02/22	1981/11/15
Albertson	Jack	Bradford J. Taylor	1907/06/16	1981/11/25
Shaw	Reta	Big Maude Tyler/ etc.	1912/09/13	1982/01/10
Dunn	George	Pete	0000/00/00	1982/04/27
Tully	Tom	Walt Simpson	1908/08/21	1982/04/27
Marlowe	Hugh	Mr. Maxwell	1911/01/30	1982/05/02
Albertson	Mabel	Mrs. Sprague	1901/07/24	1982/08/00
Phillips	Barney	Eddie Brooke	1913/10/20	1982/08/17
Novello	Jay	Sheldon Davis/ etc.	1904/08/22	1982/09/02
Tobin	Dan	Gentleman Dan Caldwell	1909/10/19	1982/11/26
Weaver	Doodles	Geroge Bricker	1911/05/11	1983/01/17
Fix	Paul	Mr. McCabe	1901/03/13	1983/10/15
Coogan	Jackie	George Stevens	1914/10/24	1984/03/01
Raaf	Vicki	Sue Grigsby	1921/06/30	1984/04/06
Jewkes	Delos	Glenn Cripe	1895/10/21	1984/07/17
Veazie	Carol	Mrs Harriet Wicks	1895/07/27	1984/07/19
Sherman	Orville	Billy Gordon	1916/01/18	1984/10/01
Reese	Sam	Photographer	1930/00/00	1985/00/00
O'Malley	J. Pat	Mr. Fields	1901/03/15	1985/02/27
Andrews	Edward	Hubert St. John	1914/10/09	1985/03/09
Bryar	Paul	Mr. Osgood	1910/02/21	1985/08/30
Lormer	Jon	Parnell Rigsby	1906/05/07	1986/03/19
Robinson	Barlett	Mr Roberts	1913/00/00	1986/03/26
Tuttle	Lureen	Annabelle Silby/ etc	1906/08/29	1986/05/29
Mackenzie	Ida Mae	Millie's Aunt Hannah	1905/03/26	1986/06/29
Vigran	Herb	Bill Medwin/ etc.	1911/12/22	1986/11/29
Jameson	Joyce	Skippy	1932/09/26	1987/01/16
Rorke	Haydon	A.J. Considine	1910/10/23	1987/08/19
Qualen	John	Henery Bennett	1899/12/08	1987/09/12
Sundberg	Clinton	Farley Upchurch	1906/12/07	1987/12/14
Greenway	Lee	Make-up	1914/00/00	1989/03/07
Frome	Melton	Ralph Kingsley	1908/01/24	1989/03/21
Treen	Mary	Rose/ etc	1907/03/27	1989/07/20
Bavier	Frances	Aunt Bee	1902/12/14	1989/12/06
Van Cleef	Lee	Skip	1925/01/09	1989/12/16
Hale	Alan Jr.	Jeff Pruitt	1918/03/08	1990/01/02
Lynch	Ken	Capt. Barker/ etc.	1910/07/15	1990/02/13
Oliver	Susan	Prisoner of Love	1937/02/13	1990/05/10
Quillan	Eddie	The Bellhop	1907/03/31	1990/07/19
Seegar	Sara	Mrs Buntley	1914/07/01	1990/08/12
Steele	Tom	Character ?	1909/06/12	1990/10/30
Luke	Keye	Charlie Lee	1904/06/18	1991/01/13
Thomas	Danny	Executive Producer	1912/01/06	1991/02/06
Winslow	Dick	Earl the bandleader	1915/03/25	1991/02/07
Hamilton	Joseph	Chester Jones	0000/00/00	1991/06/09
McCallion	James	Lou Bailey/ etc	1918/09/27	1991/07/11
Tinti	Gabriele	Mario Vicente	1932/08/22	1991/11/12
Wolfe	Ian	Reverend Leighton	1896/11/04	1992/01/23
Dehner	John	Colonel Harvey	1915/11/23	1992/02/04
O'tool	Ollie	Man on train	1912/00/00	1992/02/25
Allman	Elvia	Herrietta Swanson	1904/09/19	1992/03/06
Hickox	Sid	Sid the cameraman	1889/07/17	1992/05/00
Sweeney	Bob	Director	1918/10/19	1992/06/07
Atterbury	Malcolm	Luke Jensen	1907/02/20	1992/08/18
Sale	Virginia	Mrs. Beggs/ etc.	1899/05/20	1992/08/23
Seay	James	Agent Boughton	1914/09/30	1992/10/10
Holloway	Sterling	Bert Miller	1905/01/04	1992/11/22
Myers	Frank E.	Production Manager	1909/12/10	1992/11/28
Simon	Robert F.	Mr Crawford	1908/12/02	1992/11/29
Thom	Ruth	Maggie Peters	1914/04/15	1992/12/07

LastName	FirstName	Character	Birthdate	Deceased
Ames	Leon	Principal Hampton	1903/01/20	1993/10/12
Lanteau	William	Ed Sawyer	1922/11/12	1993/11/03
Aidman	Charles	Frank Smith	1925/01/31	1993/11/07
Bixby	Bill	Ronald Bailey	1934/01/22	1993/11/22
Prince	Jack	Rafe Hollister/ etc	1920/01/19	1994/01/08
Smith	Hal	Otis Campbell	1917/08/24	1994/01/26
Soule	Olan	John Masters	1909/02/28	1994/02/01
McLiam	John	"Mac" MacDonald	1918/04/01	1994/04/16
Neumann	Dorothy	Rita Campbell	1914/01/26	1994/05/20
Dulo	Jane	Sally (Convict)	1918/10/13	1994/05/22
Dodson	Jack	Howard Sprague	1931/05/16	1994/09/16
Taylor	Dub	Ben Beecham/ etc	1907/02/26	1994/10/03
Emhardt	Robert	Malcolm Tucker/ Willard Foster/etc.	1916/07/16	1994/12/29
Lucas	Karl	Seageant at table	1919/08/21	1995/01/16
Tedrow	Irene	Mrs Foster	1910/08/03	1995/03/10
Bronson	Lillian	Erma Bishop	1902/10/21	1995/08/02
Lamb	Gil	Lou/ Diner Owner	1906/06/14	1995/11/02
Corsaut	Aneta	Helen Crump	1933/11/03	1995/11/06 (cancer)
Scotti	Vito	Murrillos	1918/01/26	1996/05/05
Anders	Luana	Miss Clark	1938/05/12	1996/07/21
White	Jesse	Fred Boone	1918/01/03	1997/01/09
Leonard	Sheldon	Executive Producer	1907/02/22	1997/01/10
Slattery	Richard X.	Captain Dewhurst	1925/06/25	1997/01/27
Davis	Gail	Karen Moore	1925/10/05	1997/03/15
Ryder	Eddie	Practical Joking Private	1923/01/31	1997/03/29
Neise	George	Roger Courtney	1917/02/16	1997/04/14
Moore	Jack	The Salesman	1921/12/05	1997/05/04
Howell	Hoke	Dudley J. Wash	1929/08/27	1997/05/09
Petrie	George	Joe Layton	1912/11/16	1997/11/16
Moore	Joanna	Peggy McMillan	1934/11/10	1997/11/22
Pyle	Denver	Briscoe Darling	1920/05/11	1997/12/27
Hole	Jonathan	Orvill Monroe	1904/08/14	1998/02/11
D'andrea	Tom	Bill Stone	1909/05/15	1998/05/14
Fowley	Douglas	Warry Willy	1911/05/30	1998/05/21
Pitlik	Noam	Roy Swanson	1932/11/04	1999/02/18
Corby	Ellen	Myrt Lesh	1911/06/03	1999/04/14
MacMichael	Florence	Hilda May		1999/05/28
Greenbaum	Everett	Writer	1919/12/20	1999/07/11
Culver	Lillian	Mrs Fife	1896/03/23	1999/09/23
McQuain	Robert (Bob)	Joe Waters/ Ike Gordon/ etc.		1999/12/26
Batanides	Arthur	Ralph Neal	1922/04/09	2000/01/10
Adams	Casey	Ralph Mason	1917/06/02	2000/08/02
Gordon	Leo	Luke Comstock	1922/12/02	2000/12/26
Owen	Bush	Clothier/Mr. Hammond	1921/11/10	2001/06/19
Nader	George	Dr. Robert Benson	1921/10/09	2002/02/04
Blake	Whitney	Lee Drake	1925/02/20	2002/09/28
Baer	Parley	Mayor Stoner	1914/08/05	2002/11/22
Crenna	Richard	Director	1927/11/30	2003/01/17
Silver	Johnny	Prothro Hanson	1918/04/19	2003/02/01
Russell	Bing	Mr. Burton	1926/05/05	2003/04/08
Ebsen	Buddy	David Browne	1908/04/02	2003/07/06
Hovis	Larry	Gilly Walker	1936/02/20	2003/09/09
Bellamy	Earl	Director	1917/03/11	2003/11/30
Tremayne	Les	C.J. Hasler	1913/04/16	2003/12/19
Morris	Howard	Ernest T. Bass	1919/09/04	2005/05/21
Denver	Bob	Dudley J. Wash	1935/01/09	2005/09/02
Camp	Hamilton	Jeff Nelson (The Barbershop Quartet)	1934/10/30	2005/10/02
Carson	Jean	Daphne	1923/02/28	2005/11/02
Andes	Keith	Roger Bryant	1920/07/12	2005/11/11
Tyler	Beverly	Gladys Stevens	1928/07/05	2005/11/23 (pulmonary embolism)
Jackson	Mary	Mrs. Parnell Rigsby	1910/11/22	2005/12/10
Knotts	Don	Barney Fife	1924/07/21	2006/02/24 (pulmonary and respiratory problems)