Friday, November 18, 1774. Ellis and his island.

Samuel Ellis, residing at 1 Greenwich Street in Manhattan, bought Oyster Island, where he built a tavern and collected the oysters.

Today, the island is known as Ellis Island.

Last edition:

Thursday, November 17, 1774. First City Troop.

Labels: 1770s, 1774, American Revolution, cavalry, National Guard, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania National Guard, Philadelphia, The wealthy

Observations on Denver

Some years we have Rockies' ticket package. We did last year, but we didn't go to a single game for a variety of reasons.  Work was the big one, but then, about this time just a year ago, I was under the knife for the second time as well.

We went to the Orioles game on September 1.

The choice of the date was not my own, September 1 is the opening day of blue grouse and dove season, but I didn't complain about it.  A young member of the family loves the Orioles and that's why it was chosen.  When you get old, as I am, you yield in favor of younger family members, so I did, without complaining.  You also learn, hopefully, not to complain where in former days you might have.

It was a great game.

I've been to Denver several times since my surgery, but they were all hit and run type of deals for work.  In and out, with no time to spare. This is the first time I've lingered in the Mile High City for awhile, and the first time over a weekend for a long while.  Therefore some observations, I guess.

It was hot.  "Unseasonably hot" is what I'm hearing.  I'm not a fan of hot.  As Wyoming has already been chilly in the morning, and I couldn't find my Rockies jersey, I wore a light flannel shirt.  I don't really feel comfortable in just wearing a t-shit in that setting anymore, so I when I got hot, right away, before the game, I went and bought a jersey.  Now I have two.

I can't wear my old New York Yankees pull on jersey anymore.  I'm too big and its too small.  My Sox jersey is messing a button.

It's really weird to think that at least into the 1940s people dressed pretty formally at baseball games.  Men were in jacket and tie, something you'd never see now.

We were there on Sunday.

Holy Ghost is, in my view, the most beautiful church in the region and the most beautiful one I've ever been in.  We went to Mass early Sunday morning.  It's stunning and it never fails to impress me with its beauty.  

A beautiful church really adds something to worship, and a sense of the Divine.

Not a new impression, but the street people problem is out of control.

I don't know what can be done to help these people.  Some, you can tell, are now so organically messed up that they'll never really recover.  

In various places, when approached for money by somebody on a street, I'll give them some.  But not in Denver.  The people on the streets are so messed up I know where that money is going.  Something needs to be done to help them, but I have no idea what it would be.

The day before I went down I read that the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) had taken over two apartments in Aurora.  Looking it up, it's apparently true, and they're using them for sex trafficking.

The greater Denver area, fwiw, has never been all that nice, in spite of what people might say. I recall going down in the 1980s, when I was an undergrad at UW, and parts of were really rough then.  16th Street was just starting to develop.  The area around LoDo was really really rough.  I can recall walking from an off street towards 16th past a really rough looking bar mid morning when a prostitute came spilling out of it, probably just getting off work.  The Episcopal Cathedral, St. John in the Wilderness, had lots of broken windows, broken by rocks thrown into them from the street.  Colorado Blvd in the region of what is now Martin Luther King Blvd was as complete red light district full of XXX movie theaters.  Lo Do was a no/go zone.

Coors Field really cleaned up a lot of that, and much of downtown Denver has really gentrified.  16th Street, however, is a drug flop house as is much of downtown Denver.  The legalization of marijuana, COVID, and a highly tolerant city council has created an enormous problem.

Anyhow, I don't go into Aurora much, but I don't really recall it being really nice.  I recall my father, who had experience with Denver going back to the 1930s, mentioning it had never been nice.

We had a big breakfast at Sam's No. 3.  It's a great cafe.  A real urban one, which probably makes it surprising that I'll go there, but it is great.

At the game, I had a hot dog.  I usually have "brots", rather than dogs, if I have your classic small sausage on a bun.  I'd forgotten, accordingly, what real dogs taste like.  I like them, but I don't like them as much as brots.

Converse Chuck Taylors are comfortable for sitting at a game, but not for hiking around a city.  Like my baseball jerseys, I like Chuck Taylors but given my line of work and my off time avocations, which I unfortunately seem to be able to engage in less and less, I have little call to actually wear them.

Regarding clothing, while I hesitated to post it, a lot of young women in urban settings don't dress decently when dressing casually.  I don't mean "dress up" either. Perhaps because it was hot, a lot of them had on "summer clothes" which showed way more skin, and other things, than is decent, in my view.  For that matter, coming out of a hotel a barista was coming in wearing a t-shirt who had chosen to omit undergarments and was showing, well, through.  I almost turned to my daughter who was with me and thanked her for not dressing like so much of what I was seeing, but I didn't.

On that, some of the younger women were clearly with a parent. Why would you let a child, even if not a child any longer, go out dressed like that?

I'm not really proud of noticing and I didn't glare or stare, but frankly with so much on display its impossible not to notice anything.  I'm old, but not dead, and there's way too much on display, certainly way more than is the case up here in the rude hinterlands.  A Christian should have custody of their eyes but I'd rather other folks make it easy to exercise.

Also on display were vast numbers of tattoos, some artful and some really bad.  Having a bad tattoo has to be a bummer.

I was reminded of how much I don't like country music.  My wife and daughter do, so we listed to one of the XM Radio satellite radio channels on the way down.  I never listen to contemporary country music, although over the years I've gotten to where I like some of the older stuff.

Anyhow, I was surprised by how much country music is just devoted to getting drunk.  It's weird.

A fair amount is devoted to bad decisions, particularly with alcohol and women.  Some has gotten inappropriate towards women in general.  One of the songs on the way down I heard was Country Girl, which involves alcohol, and also the lyrics "shake it for me, girl".  I've been around country people, including country girls, my entire life and I've never seen a country girl shaking whatever for anyone.  Indeed, I've always been impressed by how almost everyone who lives in the sticks knows how to swing dance and tends to wear, usually, a fair amount of clothing, even in the summer.

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 65th Edition. Local news. Not a paragraph oozing dignity and that's a lot of people.

Gentlemen's Clubs.

From the Trib, August 8, 2024:

A year and four months ago, Natrona County commissioners approved the transfer of a full-retail liquor license to Mile High Tight Ends from the now-defunct Racks strip club on Highway 20-26.

You can guess what sort of bar this was. 

"Mile High Tight Ends"?

Camporees

A Seventh Day Adventist International Pathfinder Campfire Camporee will bring 60,000 people to Campbell County.

The Pathfinders are modeled on the Boy Scouts, but with a strong Seventh Day Adventist focus.

Campbell County itself has a population of 50,000.  Bringing in an event with 60,000 seems a bit irresponsible.

Last edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 64th Edition. Things authentic and important.

Labels: Apostolic Christianity, Authenticity, Christianity, Clothing, Conservatism, Eastern Rite Catholic, Ethnicities, Music, Pop Music, Punk Music, religion, Roman Catholic, trends, Women, Zeitgeist

Thursday, April 10, 1924. Best dressed in the world?

 There was of course headline news this day in 1924:

And the change in how Federal oil resources were administered was a huge one.

But it's the clothing ad that drew my attention:

"Best dressed men of all nations"?  

Nobody would claim that now.

The Townsend Hotel, which was dilapidated by the time I was a kid, was opening.  It was no doubt a great hotel at the time.  Its café remained in use until it closed in the 1970s, just after the Petroleum Club moved.  The café remained good until it closed, and was popular with men who worked downtown.

The Stratton's as realtors would carry on to the present day.

The Townsend remained abandoned from the 80s until it was refurbished as the current Natrona County Courthouse.  It's now the Townsend Justice Center.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 9, 1924. Dawes Plan released.

1900s, 1909, 1920s, 1924, 1940s, 1944, Dawes Plan, Immigration, Pope Pius XI, Rome, Vatican City

Painted Bricks: Don Juan's Mexican Restaurant, Casper Wyoming

Painted Bricks: Don Juan's Mexican Restaurant, Casper Wyoming:

Don Juan's Mexican Restaurant, Casper Wyoming

Casper has seen some murals enter its downtown space recently and this is a nice example.  Don Juan's Mexican Restaurant, which has been in this location now long enough to be regarded as a Casper staple, had this very nice mural depicting scenes of Mexican rural life painted.

This mural is just across the street from the Women of Wyoming mural added last yeaer, which depicts a contemporary Native American woman, and just down the block from Jacob Reeb mural, so some of the diversity of Wyoming is being added through these depictions.

Painted Bricks: Painted Bricks: Tumble Inn, Powder River, Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Painted Bricks: Tumble Inn, Powder River, Wyoming.: 

Painted Bricks: Tumble Inn, Powder River, Wyoming.

We recently ran this story. 

Painted Bricks: Tumble Inn, Powder River, Wyoming.:   As this institution is in the news, and as I knew I'd taken these photographs, I looked to see if I had posted them. Of course, I had ...

News now comes that the new owner will have the sign restored, but will not place it back up in Powder River, the reason being that in the process he discovered many broken bottles near the sign.

Well, that's no surprise.

Here's the thing, however. Out of context, it's just a big weird old sign.   

Painted Bricks: Tumble Inn, Powder River, Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Tumble Inn, Powder River, Wyoming.:   

Tumble Inn, Powder River, Wyoming.

 

As this institution is in the news, and as I knew I'd taken these photographs, I looked to see if I had posted them.

Of course, I had not.

The Tumble Inn was a famous eatery and watering hole in the small town of Powder River for decades.  As odd as it seems now, particularly as it would have been practically impossible to leave the establishment without having had at least a couple of beers, it was very popular for travelers and people in Casper, who'd drive the nearly 30 miles for dinner and then drive back.

Open well into the unincorporated town's decline, in its final years the restaurant, which had rattlesnake and Rocky Mountain Oysters on the menu, closed under new ownership and in its final stage was an alcohol-free strip club.   Apparently it recent sold and the new owner has taken down its famous sign in an effort to preserve it.

On that sign, I don't know how old it is, but from the appearances, it dates from the 40s or 50s.

Related threads:

Today In Wyoming's History: Tumble Inn Powder River, Wyoming

Monday, May 21, 1923. Delmonico's closed.

The original family owned Delmonico's restaurant closed.  The restaurant had been in business, in more than one location, since 1827 and had become one of the most famous restaurants in New York.  It was a favorite of Theodore Roosevelt.

It was not able to survive Prohibition.

Not surprisingly, the famous name had cache and there were subsequent operations that used it, having some connection with the original, but not owned by the original family.  There are plans to reopen a restaurant in the location late this year.

The restaurant is the claimed originator of a variety of famous dishes, the best known being the Delmonico's Steak.  Roosevelt favored the double lamb chops.

The  Labour and Socialist International, an organization of socialist and labor parties, was formed and became the largest organizational union of those entities.  It ceased to exist in April, 1940.

Today In Wyoming's History: Tumble Inn Powder River, Wyoming

Today In Wyoming's History: Tumble Inn Powder River, Wyoming: 

Tumble Inn Powder River, Wyoming

\

A familiar Natrona County landmark's history.

As noted on this entry, this is a familiar Natrona County landmark.

As also noted in the comments to this video, it may contain some errors.  One definite error is the attribution of its decline to the Interstate Highway.  That's not the case.  In Wyoming, I80 goes on the path of the old Lincoln Highway which, while it does bypass some towns the Lincoln Highway went through, doesn't run anywhere near Power River.  Nor does I25 or I90.  So whatever the source of the demise may be, that isn't it.

One of the commentors on the video is, moreover, well situated to know the history of the Tumble Inn and if that person feels there are errors, there most probably are.

It's still pretty good, however.

One thing I would note is that the story isn't completed.  Rather, the story runs through one of the last owners.  After they left it, it did continue on, but it went rapidly downhill.  The facility converted into a strip bar, an odd choice for an establishment in a small, unincorporated town some 40 miles away from Casper.  As heavy drinking is a factor in any such establishment, the trouble having a distant "boobie bar", as my wife calls them, in the county is obvious.  Particularly when the nearest competitor at the time was ten miles out of town and on a divided highway.  It doesn't seem like a sound economic choice.

Then the Inn lost its liquor license.  The allure of youthful partially clad dancers aside (the one time they were the subject of a news story a dancer looked suspiciously underage), such establishments are apparently too tied to alcohol to do without it, and it closed for good.

I was in the Tumble Inn twice, both well before the strip club era, and most likely during the era that the video closes out with.  We stopped in for dinner with in laws.  I recall rattlesnake was on the menu, as were Rocky Mountain Oysters, but they were out.

The second time was after that, when my father-in-law and I stopped to buy beer there for some function, although I don't recall what it was.  I do recall it was in the winter, as it was good and cold. The bar was crowded, full of locals, and a couple of guys somewhere between 40 and 70 who looked like they lived at the bar.

And that gets to another aspect of its decline and fall.  Having a small rural restaurant and bar is hard enough in the Wyoming of our current era.  But once you lose the locals, you're done for.

The establishment apparently dates back to the 1920s, although I couldn't find any references to it from that time period.  It turns out the name "Tumble Inn" was popular at the time, and there was another bar in the Salt Creek oilfield in the 1920s called that.  In addition, somebody's house in Casper was referred to that way, being the property of an oilman who had a lot of social events there.  The video says the restaurant/bar in Powder River dates back to the 1920s, and it might, but as noted, the only references from the 20s I could find were to the two other Tumble Inns.

At any rate, in the 1920s Powder River's 40 miles from Casper was a longer distance, in real terms, than it is now.  And Power River went through some oil booms, including one about that time, and again in the 1940s.  Indeed, at one time the town was on both sides of the highway and was actually an incorporated town, which it isn't now.

For that matter, Natrona County had several locations that were much more viable towns than the are now.  Arminto Wyoming, which is off the main highway but not far from Powder River, was a thriving sheep shipping point and railroad town.  It had a legendary bar in a hotel located there, and the bar still existed into my adult years, before a fire took the building down.  Locals attempted to drag the bar out of the burning building, but failed.

Waltman and Hiland were two other such tiny, but real towns.  They're still there, but they're shadows of their former selves.  Waltman is really a small oilfield camp south of the highway and south of the old townsite now.  Again, into my adult years, its gas station, which is now a residence, was in business, and it had a small café in it.  Hiland's gas station still operates as does its store, café, hotel and bar, its business probably saved by the fact that it's on the highway, but so distant from anything, there's nothing else nearby.

The Salt Creek Tumble Inn was in a town called Snyder, I've never even heard of.  At some point, Salt Creek itself was a small town, and no longer is.  Both would have been in the eastern part of the county.

North of Casper, there's Midwest and Edgerton, which are still there. They were much more substantial towns in their day, and in the 1920s Midwest, a Standard Oil town, very much was.  Both towns are still oilfield towns today, but they've likewise declined as oil facilities near them shut down or automated, and the U.S. Navy moved out of the former strategic reserve near there.

Of course, as automobiles and highways improved, the communities around Casper boomed and grew, and today that's where the county's population is.

Still, even as late as the 1950s, it seems that Wyomingites were willing to drive huge distances for a dinner.  Driving to Power River from Casper was no big deal to eat, it seems. And I recall people talking about going to the Little Bear Inn near Cheyenne on dinner dates, which means that the drove something like 140 miles to do that.  Likewise, people used to drive to El Torro and Svilars in Hudson, in Fremont County, to do the same, which is about the same distance.  

Nobody does that now.