Bit of History - December 28, 2022

In much of the world, quilting has a rich history and so it is true for Ridgeway as well. The earliest article about quilting in the Ridgeway Journal, dated July 31, 1891, was not specific to Ridgway, but was an explanation of how a quilting frame could be a useful and convenient addition to your sewing machine.  Another general article discussed how even though many women considered patchwork quilts to be too simple, cutting, and basting quilt blocks could be considered restful and preferable to just “being idle while resting”.  

Much like the ladies at the Baptist Church meet now, the ladies Aid Society of the Methodist Church met frequently from the early 1900s onward to quilt, sew balls of carpet rags, make plans for the church, and visit. Gatherings in homes to quilt were often called “quiltings” and they might be held along with “singings” and suppers to create a social event.  The members of Kirkley Chapel also quilted and sewed as part of the Golden Hour Club in addition to their own ladies Aid Society.  

These ladies’ groups were quite industrious.  For example, twenty members and visitors of one Ladies club met at the home of Mrs. Billups for a day in November 1930 and by 4 pm, one quilt was completely quilted and taken out of the frame and a second nearly done.  They also enjoyed a nice potluck lunch and left “thinking the day well spent”.  Also in 1930, if you made a quilt top of your own and didn’t want to quilt it, Mrs. L. A. Hinkle advertised that she would do “plane” quilting and tack comforts.  She also would “weave as usual” at her home and offered rugs for sale.  

Bit of History - December 21, 2022

This week in 1939, Ridgeway residents were very busy preparing for Old Kris Kringle’s arrival.  The Opdyke post of the American Legion and the business owners in Ridgeway prepared a “gala day for the Youngsters and their parents”. The day included a kids’ Christmas parade and visit from Kris Kringle where he handed out free candy to the kids.  The Palace Theater showed a free movie for the kids.   Ridgeway merchants offered special pricing on their wares for anyone who was still Christmas shopping In addition to all these festivities, someone climbed to the top of one of the buildings on Main Street and threw presents down for anyone who could get to them. (I would like to know more about this tradition, but nothing more was written.) 

That evening, the Aldersgate choir performed a special, free Christmas cantata titled “The Christmas Glory”.  The twenty-two-voice choir had performed the concert at the Methodist church the previous week and included pieces such as “Adeste Fidelis”, Arise, Shine, for Thy Light is Come” and “Hark! The Notes of Joy”.  It ended with the choir singing “Joy to the World”.  Lowell S. Barnes directed the choir and Cecile Miner was the pianist. (Ridgeway Journal, December 21, 1939).

Bit of History - December 14, 2022

Here is a little Christmas shopping advice from the December 3, 1925, issue of the Ridgeway Journal:  

Shop early. 
The smile is the thing. 
The Christmas buying is on. 
Give Home Merchants a chance.
18 shopping days until Christmas. 

    (Note:  no shopping on Sundays.)
We warned you well to get your coal in early. 
Now is the time to begin some bad habit to swear off on New Year’s. 
Do your Christmas groaning early and avoid Christmas shopping surly. 
To conceal any small Christmas gift from little Johnnie, place it under the bathroom soap. 

Bit of History - December 7, 2022

This time of year, advertisers everywhere are pushing their Christmas sales.  In 1932, the advertisers weren’t quite as prevalent, but there were several interesting ads in the December 22 edition of the Ridgeway Journal.  For example, Simmons Café was Ridgeway’s headquarters for Christmas candies, cigars and cigarettes.  Missouri Public Service offered electric gifts such as irons, toasters, lamps, and waffle irons.  The Ridgeway Journal suggested that a Remington typewriter might make an excellent gift.  

Jerry Katz at K. C. Jobbers had fur-trimmed coats, silk dresses and men’s suede jackets for sale as well as more practical garments such as union suits, winter caps, children’s bloomers, and men’s wool socks.  Stoner’s Drug Store had a big variety of dolls, toys, toilet sets, bill folds and many other gift ideas.  

Bit of History - November 30, 2022

In December 1942, Ridgeway was preparing for its second Christmas of World War II.  The Bethany Republican-Clipper was full of war news with instructions on how to properly handle black-outs, manage ration books, requests for farmers to donate scrap metal, information about a “victory tax” that would be withheld from paychecks to support the war effort, and reminders to write your name on gas ration books so they couldn’t be used by someone else.  There were many articles about local men leaving for boot camp, coming home on furlough to see family and girlfriends, or saddest of all, not coming home at all.

Despite the war, Ridgeway still tried to keep things as normal as possible for the ones at home. The “Ridgeway News” column still wrote about all the visiting back and forth between families.  By mid-December, the Ridgeway area had already had three snowfalls. Mr. and Mrs. John Samuel Rankin celebrated 70 years of marriage and Mrs. Rankin’s 89^th birthday with a turkey dinner at their home with four of their five children.  The Christian Church announced they would perform “The Beautiful Story” pageant on Dec. 20; the first through sixth graders held a Christmas program at the school; and the Methodist church had a Christmas Eve program.  The Harrison County Times reported on December 17 that there would be additional trees on the square that year, but without lights due to the blackout restrictions and energy conservation efforts.

Bit of History - November 16, 2022

In 1932, deer were not so abundant around Harrison County as they are now.  Back then, it was estimated that there only about 2500 deer in all of Missouri and they were mostly in the southern Ozark counties.  So, when Grant Price’s fox hounds scared up at two-point buck on the Hank Small farm southeast of town, it was quite a surprise to all. The buck was first seen on a tract of land owned by Albert Harding.  The hounds chased the buck up the public road by the Hugh Scott farm, then northeast to just east of the J. P. Jackson home.  It was last seen going northeast.  

Deer season that year only lasted three days and was closed October 29.  It was speculated that deer may have traveled up from the south to escape hunters and although hunters all Ridgeway were looking, the deer’s whereabouts were still unknown. (Ridgeway Journal, Dec 1, 1932). 

The Missouri Department of Conservation closed deer hunting in the 1930s and, with careful management, the deer population slowly revived.  The first archery season was held in 1946 in only Taney County, and though 73 bowhunters (including five women), tried, none brought home a deer.  It took six years before the first archer, a man named Jack Compton, shot a legal deer.  (“Fifty Years of Archery Deer Hunting”, Tom Cwynar, Oct 2, 1996) 

Bit of History - November 9, 2022

In 1930, the Ridgeway Journal hosted a contest to increase the number of annual subscriptions to the paper.  An annual subscription was $1.50 and candidates received “votes” when someone sent in and entry form with the candidate’s name with their subscription to the paper or paid an outstanding balance to the contest.  The more people the candidate could get to buy a new subscription or renew one, the more votes they got and they received extra votes during the first week of collecting and for new subscriptions.  The calculation of votes seemed to be rather complicated but the winner of the contest would receive a 1930 Imperial Chevrolet Sedan, fully equipped including bumpers and spare tire.  The car could be viewed at the Bartlett Chevrolet Co. in Ridgeway.   (Ridgeway Journal, Feb 20, 1930)

The contest didn’t quite do as well as the Ridgeway Journal hoped, but the Journal did get a good number of new subscribers.  They didn’t get as many renewals or payment of outstanding balances as they wanted but conceded that the roads were bad due to the late winter weather and rural subscribers were hard to reach.  They also had some drama around candidates who didn’t seem to put in as much effort as others and a few that tried to bribe the editor and/or contest manager for votes.  They found the attempts at bribery to be the most disappointing.  Still, they did raise enough to give out all the prizes.  Mrs. Jessie Buzzard won the car.  Dorothy Booth won the second prize of $100 cash, Gilbert Champlin won $50 and Jake Cocklin won a Corona typewriter.  (Ridgeway Journal, Mar 3, 1930)

Bit of History - November 2, 2022

A couple of weeks ago, I asked if anyone knew what happened to the second story of the old Ridgeway telephone central office, located on the corner of Main and Pine streets.  No one that I asked ever remembered the building having two stories.  This weekend, I got a wonderful phone call from Beverly S  and she gave me the final clue I needed to find the answer:  as far back as 1940, when she and her siblings were attending the Ridgeway school, that building had only been one story. 

Given that bit of information from Beverly, I searched the Ridgeway Journals and found an article published December 3, 1936, that the telephone exchange was getting a new switchboard and the building was to be remodeled in 1937 to be reduced to just one story.  The building needed considerable alteration and they decided that a second story was no longer needed.  The switchboard was located on the second story and patrons found it “rather inconvenient” to go upstairs to use the phone.  The remodel would move the switchboard to the front room facing Main Street and the remaining three rooms would be the living quarters for Mrs. Katy Taff, the chief operator at the time.   So, my little mystery is solved and thank you, Beverly, for giving me that clue so that I could search papers in the correct time frame and for the enjoyable phone conversation!