Covington Pictorial Map Presented

In 1985 A. G. Crowe of Slidell began producing large three foot by five foot posters of my maps. Here is a photo of him (at left) presenting Mayor Ernest Cooper of Covington with a framed copy of the 1986 Covington area map which included Abita Springs and Hwy. 190 down to the interstate. 

Together, we also produced maps of Slidell; Mandeville; Hancock County, MS; St. Bernard Parish, and New Orleans East. 

Drunk Driving Reminder

One of the cartoons I did for a safe driving campaign showed what happens when a drunk driver gets behind the wheel. The message was "Call home or crawl home, but don't drive home if your drunk."

Toy Museum in Branson

Last year I went to Branson, Mo., and while there I stopped in to visit the toy museum. Did that bring back memories! Not only of the toys I once owned, but also the toys advertised on television throughout the 1950's and 1960's. The place was huge, and it was divided into shelves full of toys in various categories: planes, cars, buses, police cars, Star Wars, Disney toys, and cap pistols. I can't even begin to list what was on display. There were a variety of old cars, scooters and advertising memorabilia also on hand. 

So if you ever find yourself in Branson for the fishing, history, or music shows, you might want to stop by the toy museum. On the way out it has a gift shop (surprise) that had a lot of the great novelties for sale that I remember from my youth. The slide whistle I bought is great. 

Here are some pictures. 

Ponchatoula Map - 1985

The pictorial business map for Ponchatoula was drawn in 1985, and the chamber of commerce and the newspaper welcomed the project and were helpful in letting people know it was available. Here is the map and the newspaper article that appeared about it. Click on the images to see larger versions.

101 Uses For Old Fruitcake

In 1993 a friend of mine Pat Smith published a book called "101 Uses for Really Old Fruitcake." It sought to answer the question of what to do with years of fruitcakes given to you by friends that you really didn't want (the fruitcakes, not the friends.) Suggestions ranged from anchor weights for swingsets to barbells to spare tires. I supplied the cartoons to go along with the suggestions.

Here is an article that appeared in the newspaper announcing a book signing for the new book.

When Southeastern La. College Became A University

Back in 1970 when Southeastern Louisiana College in Hammond was in the process of becoming a university, there was a lot of excitement. I was a writer on the student newspaper at the time, and the transition from SLC to SLU seemed to me to be a good opportunity to write a humorous article, one of my first attempts at writing something that would make people think and then laugh. 

So here is the article about the challenges of changing over from Southeastern Louisiana College to Southeastern Louisiana University, particularly in the area of acronyms for the various college departments. I was told that after the president of the university read it, he laughed and said he had enjoyed it. I was certainly relieved to hear that. 

Click on the image to make it more readable. 

Wylam Pictorial Map

One of the most enjoyable maps I drew was that of the community of Wylam, Alabama. It was a small business district, in the process of being overshadowed by urban Birmingham, but walking around the town and talking to the business people was uplifting and inspiring. Many of them had been there for decades, proud of their town's history, and their business had played a part in the development of the area. It probably isn't the same today, since this map was drawn in 1988, but I hope the people are doing fine and the memories of their community's better days are fondly recalled.

Wylam was founded in 1886 by Joseph Martin, named after a town in England. Settled by Scots, Englishmen and Poles who worked in the nearby coal mines and steel mills, the town was incorporated in 1900. It became a part of the City of Birmingham in 1910. 

We even produced a postcard using the map. Click on the images to make them larger. 

Wiggins Pictorial Map

Here is a pictorial map of downtown Wiggins, Mississippi.

Wearing the Hat

Below is a photo I took on a street car ride where the conductor shared his cap for a few moments with one of the younger passengers. 

3-D Photography

I've been taking 3d photographs for decades, viewing them starting with stereopticons, then through lenticular screens, and now into digital MPO files that can be viewed on some computer monitors and TVs. 

My 3D photo hobby has involved several cameras over the years, each new technology getting better than the last. Here are a few images converted to red/cyan blended images which means, unfortunately, that you have to be wearing red/cyan glasses to see the  3D effect. So pull out those red/cyan glasses and click on the images below. 

Cheaha State Park

Cheaha State Park near Anniston, AL, is one of my favorite places to spend the night on any long vacation trip up that way. It's the highest place in the entire state, and it has great views of sunrises, sunsets, and the whole sky, plus it offers a restaurant overlooking the cliff edge. Here's a picture of one of the views. 

Battleship Alabama Park

Every so often I stop by the Battleship Alabama Park on the east side of Mobile to take a walk and take some pictures. Here are a few of them, with the interior shots of the submarine.

The story of what Hurricane Katrina did to the park is pretty interesting.  Besides damaging a lot of the ground-level aircraft exhibits, the surge knocked the battleship six degrees off the vertical, and getting it back level again was quite an engineering feat. The submarine had already been raised up on blocks so it wasn't affected as much. Last time I was there I had a great conversation with two of the volunteers in the submarine who were overseeing extensive repairs to the vessel.

Cat In Window

One day I saw this white cat sitting in the second story window of a house. So I stopped and took a picture of it. For a second I thought it was a statue, but then it moved. 

Double Rainbow

Traveling down the interstate one day, I drove into this double rainbow. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Campus Modulation

Back in 1970 Jim Martel and I started the "Campus Modulation" weekly radio program on Hammond's radio station WTGI. We used the radio production facilities of Southeastern Louisiana University to tape the program. Segments included interviews with campus personalities, news announcements and, of course, the required goofy stuff that college students like to listen to every so often to take their minds off college stuff.

This was even before the college broadcasting club was established, so we were really winging it.

When the new humanities building was constructed, it had a elevator in it, but it was to be used only by handicapped students. Since most students would not have access to the elevator, and everybody wanted to know what it was like,  I was assigned the task of tape-recording the sounds made by the elevator as it went from the first floor to the second floor. I set up a large battery-powered reel-to-reel tape recorder, spread out two high-performance stereo microphones, and pressed the second floor button. Up we went. It was not that exciting, the various hums, creaks and clunks that elevators make in their journeys. But it was important, and more than that, it was history in the making, the first elevator on Southeastern's campus. 

Here's a picture of me at the control board while we were making a program.

 

 

 

Madisonville Movie Making

Walking around the set of the movie "Nightmare Honeymoon" back in 1972 was an opportunity to talk to the cast and crew, but mainly the technical people who made it all happen. The film location was on the Tchefuncte River near the Penick Plantation, which is now a part of Beau Chene Subdivision.

The name of the movie was "Nightmare Honeymoon" when it was released, but while it was filming in Madisonville the working title was "Blood Song" for a while, then it was "Deadly Honeymoon." Changing it to something else was probably a good decision. Here are some of the photos I took while on the set, as well as the interview with the guy in charge of special effects. 

Click on the images below to see the larger (and more readable) version.

Dack Rambo went on to star in the TV show  "The Guns of Will Sonnet."

Interviewing David Huddleston