This week: "How High The Moon" A 1952 Hit by Les Paul and Mary Ford
BREATHLESS: Any person interested in Vermilion history - especially the early years of the 20th century - will soon find that one of the common forms of local entertainment was known as the Minstrel Show. These civic sponsored productions took place on the stage of the Opera House at Vermilion's Township Hall and generally featured a cast of local citizens. There are a few photographs of (unknown) citizens in blackface still in circulation. But this photograph? It leaves me breathless. Nowhere, in any of the archived files, have I ever seen any reference to such a show featuring a cast of children - until now.
To digress for a moment let's reflect a bit on this entertainment genre. Historically (or better said, in retrospect) the Minstrel Show is now considered to be "politically incorrect". Some historians of the American Musical refer to these shows as being "shameful" productions embodied in racial hatred. However; they also recognize that the "minstrelsy" born and developed as an entertainment form in mid 19th century America was a product of its time; that both white and black performers donned blackface; and that multi-racial audiences enjoyed these productions.
And while the genre is very likely (as those same historians say);
"the only entertainment form born out of blind bigotry..."A History of the Musical Minstrel Showsby John Kenrick
I would emphasize that it is highly unlikely that many of these productions were motivated by racial hatred. Moreover; it is very likely that if persons in those productions, or in their audience(s) had thought that to be the case the genre, as an entertainment form, would have disappeared long before it did (1840's to early 1900's).
The shame of it all (from my point-of-view) is that there is an inclination to closet/eradicate these historical truths because, and as previously mentioned, it is now deemed to be "politically incorrect".
Be all that as it is this (pictured) is the way it was - in turn of the 20th century Vermilion, Ohio, and in virtually every other community throughout the United States. These youngsters pictured on the southern steps of Vermilion's Town Hall were just having a good time. It may not have been "politcally correct" but it is most assuredly "historically accurate".
THE FROSH OF '37: This is one quarter of the Freshmen Class of 1937 at Vermilion's South Street High School. Many "Viewers" will recognize some of the students. They are:
Standing L-R: Lucille Claus, Dolores Corlett, Ivar Ford, Jesse Greene, Margie Brown, and Vera Griggs.Sitting L-R: Betty Croll, Elaine Blaser, K. Dickerhoff, and Annabelle Derby.
Ivar Ford is Ritter Librarian, Janet Ford's father.
Jess Greene worked for Hull. He and his wife, Marian, had two children (Mark and Jess). Their daughter is still about town and is married to (I believe one of the Shafer boys). Marian lives in the old Captain Moody house on the northwest corner of Exchange and South Streets.
If I'm not mistaken Betty Croll is now Betty McMillen. Her uncle was Ben Sutliff - the boy who blew the whistle on the conditions of the place some folks refer to as the Gore Orphanage in Swift's Hollow. (An interesting story.)
Of great interest to me is K. Dickerhoff.It's not because I know her or anything about her. It's because her great niece, Lisa Dickerhoff Naill, bears a striking resemblance to her. It's amazing.
And then there's Annabelle Derby Kuhnle; destined to become Vermilion's Centennial Queen. She was, indeed, a pretty girl. And she was, in fact, a very nice lady. Beside the "roll call" in the "Hi Times" book from which this pic is taken it says of Anne, "Man Hater (Oh! Yeah!)".
These are great photographs from old times at VHS.
BUILDING UPDATE: Construction atop Vermilion's old Post Office building is rapidly progressing. This really a substantial addition. It is actually one of the most dynamic improvements to the old downtown business section of town since, perhaps, the day the building was originally built.
Hopefully, this is but the beginning of some positive building improvements in this part of town.
ROTARY PARK: Vermilion's Rotary Centennial Park continues to improve by degree(s). This past week the lights for the flags and those along the walkways were installed. In addition to this the plaque denoting the park's benefactors was placed on the stone beneath the flagpoles. It explains itself. Very nice.
And last week I received the corrected Lake Shore Electric marker with the graphic (originally requested). It too, is very nice. And I would have placed it in the park, but I lacked the manpower to accomplish the task. (It requires 4 arms.) Hopefully, I'll get it in place this coming week.
The park is really taking shape. Unfortunately, there isn't too much good weather left for folks to properly take advantage of it.
STEVE MARTIN: I'm looking to do a new bio for the Vermilion Biographies link from "Views" about the late Steve Martin (seen here in this "Sauerkraut Dinner" pic with many well known Vermilionites). However; I can't find background statistics (i.e. U.S. census information on him). I find this to be unusual. I suspect that his given name was neither Steve nor Martin. I assume that he was not born in the U.S. And that's not a biggy. And it's not real unusual for persons who were self-employed during this era to not have registered for Social Security. But there should be some census information that would give country and year of birth statistics available.
He was, indeed, an unusual person. That's exactly why a bio would be important.
VICTORY PARK: While featuring Vermilion parks this Victory Park, historically, really doesn't get much attention. This picture of the park is rare (to me) because it is the first one I've seen which shows the old brick and concrete bandstand that was once located there. I always wondered why no one had taken any pix of it.
When I was very young I used to visit the park to play on the old swings that were stretched between the trees on the south side of place near Ohio Street, and to play for hours on this bandstand. I have no idea as to the reason it was razed. And I don't remember when that happened. It just disappeared. And although I always kept it in my brain-attic beside some musty old memories of the straw mattresses in the abandoned Maudelton Hotel rooms it was the only place it existed until I came across this snap.
I like the new gazebo bandstand that now stands in this park - but the old one in this picture was more than adequate.
Great stuff!
WHAT'S A FOOT: The next meeting of the Vermilion Area Archival Society will be held in the Community Room of Vermilion's Ritter Public Library on October 9th at 7 p.m. Michigan resident, John B. Horton, will be the featured speaker. His parents and grandparent were involved in various aspects of Vermilion's past (i.e. sailing, and construction). Everyone is absolutely welcome to attend this meeting and to join this group.
Lifetime memberships are $100. Yearly memberships are $10 a person; $18.00 a couple; and $5 for a student.Our address is:
Please take the time to visit (or re-visit) the Hope Children's Home site linked below because there are some additions there that you might find interesting. With all the bad things happening on the "dark continent" and elsewhere it's really nice to know that there are some places where the light does shine brightly. Please keep in mind that the needs of Hope Children's Home are on-going. Partially due to the horrors taking place in the Mid-East the continued suffering of the peoples in Africa go virtually unnoticed by both our nation and the United Nations - and that should not be. Contributions to that home may be made to a Vermilion expatriot Larry Hohler in New York.
CLASS REUNION UPDATES: Bob Ferry, is heading up the VHS Class Reunion for 1987...20 years.
I was unaware of it but more than just a few folks do use this site as a link to their respective class sites - so - here's the VHS Class of 1959's site back for your convenience too: Remember that site is located at: Class of '59 and it'll be updated it as Roger (Boughton) receives enough new pictures and information from classmates to make it worth reading. So send him any information that you would like to share with other classmates and he'll put it up for all to see and view.
It is my understanding that some of these links are not working, or not working well. If so it is a technical problem belonging to the respective parties operating those webpages.
The Beat Goes On: The page is generated by the dreaded Macintosh Computer and is written and designed by (me) Rich Tarrant. It will change weekly ~ usually on Saturday. Bookmark the URL (Universal Resource Locater) and come back at your own leisure. Send the page to your friends (and enemies if you wish). If you have something to share with those who visit this page, pass it on. And if you see something that is in need of correction do the same. My sister, Nancy, is a great help in that respect. It only takes me a week to get things right. And follow the bookmarks. You might find something you like. If you experience a problem with them let me know. Also, if you want to see past editions of this eZine check the new archives links below.
Links to other sites on the Web
Vol.4, Issue 29, October 7, 2006
© 2006 Rich Tarrant