Author Archives: youroldpalmark

Edition Number Five

Posted on by March 26, 2014

Editions

The following is just a sample of the pictures and articles in the 20 pages of issue #5.

Cowboy Lingo
Mail Order Cowboy = Tenderfoot
Didn’t have a tail feather left = Broke
Bucket of Blood = A tough saloon
Boogered up = Crippled
Arkansas Toothpick = A large knife
Singin’ to ’em = Standing night guard
Put on the nose bag = To eat
Bar Dog = Bartender
Ace in the hole = A hidden gun
Prairie Tenor = A Coyote
Bone Orchard = Cemetery
Bending the elbow = Drinking whiskey
Clean his plow = Beat up in a fight
Chew gravel = Thrown from a horse
Cahoots = Partnership
Hair in the butter = A
delicate situation
Bean Master = Camp cook
Hot Rock = A biscuit

Overheard at a Northside Café:
A cowboy was complaining to his waiter that his steak wasn’t cooked enough, “Waiter, do you call this steak well done? I’ve seen cows hurt worse than this get well.”

Machine Gun Kelly
Notorious Public Enemy #1 George “Machine Gun” Kelly is buried in the Cottondale Cemetery in Wise county. Kathrine Kelly bought George’s machine gun in a Fort Worth pawn shop. That’s how he got his nickname. Sometime in the early 1930’s the FBI added Machine Gun Kelly to it’s Most Wanted List. What made the Lellys famous was the kidnapping of an Oklahoma city oilman Charles F. Urshel on July 22nd, 1933. They demanded and received a ransom of $200,000. Urshel was let go ten days later unharmed. Less than a month later the FBI agents caught up with them and surrounded them. Outnumbered, Kelly quickly shouted to his wife, “Don’t shoot! It’s the G-Men.” That’s how they acquired the nickname “G-Men”. Kelly was given a life sentence and sent to Alcatraz. Later he was transferred to Leavenworth in Kansas. Katherine Kelly was sent to the federal reformatory for Women at Alderson, West Virginia. Later she was transferred to a prison in Cincinnati. She was released Machine Gun Kelley gravein 1958 and it is not known where she ended up. Machine Gun Kelly died of a heart attack July 17, 1954. He was 58 years old. To find his simple marker: at the Cottendale Cemetery front gate, walk down the middle walkway just over half way down on your right. It’s close to the walkway. Continue reading →

Edition Number Four

Posted on by March 26, 2014

Editions

The following is just a sample of the pictures
and articles in the 20 pages of issue #4.

Things that I learned as I was putting together this issue of “The Journal”
That Fort Worth was the birthplace of the world’s first self-service laundry. In 1934 John Cantrell was the first person to rent out laundry machines for public use. The Central Cleaners and Dyers Washateria was located at 1344 North Main Street, now The Mulholland Companies. John Cantrell died in 1945. He never was financially successful in his venture.
How did the Trinity River get it’s name? In the late 17th Century a traveling Spaniard christened it “Rio De La Saintisima Trinidad or River of the Most Holy Trinity.
Almost everyone knows about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Well, Ft. Worth has one right here, in Pioneer Rest Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Indian Wars. Well, actually it’s a gravestone. See p.9 Issue Two…
That on April 3, 1909 a disastrous fire destroyed over 150 buildings in a 20 square block area bounded by the T&P yards, the M-K-T tracks, Petersmith St. and South Jennings Ave. The fire destroyed many of the Southside’s Victorian homes, shops, businesses and the roundhouse of the T&P Railroad…
That the world’s first indoor rodeo was held at the Coliseum on the Northside…
That the Justin Boot Co. building is sitting on the site of the old Ft. Worth High School.

Silly sign at a restaurant: Eat now – pay waiter.

Animal SubwayAnimal SubwayThis is the subway for animals that I was telling you about in Issue #3, page 7. This view is from the North looking to the South from the other end.

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Edition Number Three

Posted on by March 26, 2014

Editions

The following is just a sample of the pictures and articles in the 20 pages of issue #3.

The Golden GoddessGolden Goddess statueA six foot polished brass statue, The Golden Goddess rests in the waiting room of the Spaghetti Warehouse. The Goddess stood on a pedestal in the lobby of the Westbrook Hotel on the corner of 4th and Main Street. The Westbrook was the HQ for all operations, wildcatters and oil scam artists. Before any deal was made, each entrepreneur gave the statue a rub for good luck.

Who was Paddock?
B. B. Paddock was born in 1844 in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up in Wisconsin. At the age of seventeen he joined the Confederate Army in 1861 and soon became the war’s youngest commissioned officer. After the war he came to Ft. Worth where he became friends with K. M. Van Zandt, a banker. Van Zandt offered Paddock “The Democrat” newspaper if he would run it. Paddock accepted the offer. He edited The Democrat for ten years. He was instrumental for Ft. Worth’s first water system. He served five years as president of the Ft. Worth and Rio Grande Railway. Paddock became Mayor of Ft. Worth in 1892 and served four terms. He was a very popular mayor. He was also an author writing several books about Ft. Worth’s early days.

The reason so many weather vanes are silhouettes of roosters is because around 1000 AD the Vatican called for the likeness of a rooster to be erected atop every Christian church as a reminder for all the faithful to attend church regularly.

Ellis Pecan Co.Ellis Pecan Co.Located at 1012 N. Main Street, this building has been the Ellis Pecan Co. since 1946. It was built in 1924 by the Klu Klux Klan (Klavern no. 101) for about $50,000.00.

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Edition Number Two

Posted on by March 26, 2014

Editions

 

The following is just a sample the pictures and articles in the 20 pages of issue #2.

A Cowboy went to the best restaurant in the North Side Stockyards, ordered the best steak on the menu with all the trimmings. When he finished he summoned the manager. “Do you remember me coming in here a year ago, ordering a big steak like this? I couldn’t pay for it and you kicked me out like a dog?” The manager replied, “Oh yes, I remember!” The cowboy said, “Well then, I’ve got to trouble you again.”

Fire Station #5
Fire Station #5Built in 1911, 503 Bryan Avenue. It is a two story brick and similar in appearance to Station #10 on Lipscomb Street. The station was sold by the city in 1982. When I drove by in January 1997, it looked like work was being done on it.

fountain

BessieBessieThis is Bessie? The picture was taken in 1952. I found this picture at a flea market and don’t know if it was in Fort Worth or not. Check out those prices.

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