Quitman

Quitman, Texas, 100 miles E of Dallas, 10 miles N of Mineola, is the Wood County Seat. It was formed in 1850 and named after John A. Quitman, a governor of Mississippi. Quitman is the hometown of actress Sissy Spacek.

Wood County Courthouse, c. 1925 (Classical Revival Style)

R.I.P. Calvert DeForest

"Letterman regular 'Bud' Melman dies"

"Spring Is Here"

"Spring Is Here" was written for a 1942 MGM musical called I Married An Angel, which was based on the 1938 Broadway production by Rodgers and Hart.

This talented pianist demonstrates the melody:


"Spring Is Here"
lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers

Spring is here!
Why doesn’t my heart go dancing ?
Spring is here!
Why isn’t the waltz entrancing?
No desire, no ambition leads me,
Maybe it’s because nobody needs me.

Spring is here!
Why doesn’t the breeze delight me?
Stars appear,
Why doesn’t the night invite me?
Maybe it’s because nobody loves me.
Spring is here I hear

Sinatra recorded his version for the 1958 album Frank Sinatra Sings For Only the Lonely.

Guitar rock is back!

Do you remember those annoying TimeLife music compilation commercials that used to be played incessantly? This is one from 1992 for a collection titled "Sounds of the 70's," and this particular ad was for the one called Guitar Power. You don't see these much anymore. Before there were things like iTunes, people would buy an entire album because they liked one or two of the songs. Or, you would have to buy things like TimeLife collections, and forever be on their mailing list (like the Columbia House Record Club), to own a copy of a favorite song. So, thank God for iTunes and the like!



Can any of the people in the commercial actually play their instrument? I would guess they were hired because they had hair like the guys in Poison, Skid Row, etc., etc. We know the drummer can't, because he is sitting there with just a cymbal and a snare drum, yet he appears to be really rocking out.

At least they gave the guy a pair of sticks.

Apparently someone bought the entire "Sounds of the 70s," because now they're selling the whole set at eBay (it sold for $66).

Greenville

Yes, that banner reads: "The blackest land, the whitest people."
Greenville, Texas, was named for Thomas J. Green, a general in the Texas Army in the war for independence from Mexico. He later became a member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas. Greenville, the county seat of Hunt County, is a commercial and manufacturing center sixty miles northeast of Dallas on Interstate Highway 30. The community was established in 1846. With the arrival of the railroad, Greenville's cotton industry flourished, and it became known as the "cotton capital of the world."

After driving for three hours through thick fog, I arrived in Greenville and parked on Lee Street, across from the Town House. Due to the early hour, I made a mental note: "Parked near green building in Greenville..." Hoped I wouldn't forget where I parked my car and get lost (it's happened).

The first of three beautiful Coca-Cola ghost signs.
This shows the fog receding from the rising sun. Signs of the construction occurring along Lee Street are evident (the traffic cones). Also, the Union Security Life Insurance ghost is interesting. Can you believe they ever had assets of $13 million? It is possible. And that must have looked like a lot of zeros back when that business was still going.

The former Picken's Motor Co.



The 1929 Hunt County Courthouse, Classical Revival to Art Deco transitional architecture. I've also seen it described as being an example of "Moderne" architectural style. Dedicated April 11, 1929 on 83rd anniversary of county creation.
Cadillac Hotel (the former Washington Hotel)


Lake Printing
White Star Laundry & Cleaners neon sign
Remnants of a Bull Durham ad
Neon sign on the Masonic Lodge/Temple building
Masonic Temple with the 1925 Stringer Mortuary Building on the left
Gargoyles on the 1925 Stringer Mortuary Building

"Rural Power" ghost sign on Masonic Temple


"LONE STAR Bail Bonds"


1901 Ende Building
Fog clearing on Lee Street
New and old neon on Lee Street

This building may have been either a hotel, a department store (because Fred Ende was involved in both) and might currently be home to some sort of lodge or fraternal order. Perhaps an old fire station?


Seaman-East Grocer Co.
I love this sign on the side of the Seaman-East Grocer Co. - "Watches, guns and guitars" - sounds like a great rock album title. The other panel appears to be selling plastic siding(?). Whatever it was, it: "Won't rot, peal or break. Stop painting forever! Lifetime guarantee."

Neon sign on the I.O.O.F. building
Looking down Johnson Street, I.O.O.F. on left, courthouse to the right
The next few are of J.P. "Punk" McNatt Motor Co. building. Unfortunately, the Internet has no record of J.P. "Punk" McNatt or his car dealership, nor does it offer any revelations about the origin of "Punk." Should one have purchased an automobile from a man who somehow earned that nickname?




Coca-Cola owned Greenville
Looking down Lee Street (heading back to my car at this point - green buidling in Greenville...). The Texan Theater in the distance.

Evidence of Greenville's former wealth - a S. H. Kress & Co. building





Odeneal Jewelry
The Texan Theater

Audrey Jean's neon sign
3rd Coca-Cola ghost

Green building in Greenville
¡Adios, Greenville!