Found at an estate sale. We have been having a little discussion about how we all try to dress alike, which dictates style, I guess. So at a recent estate sale I bought a box full of old photos that some family had left behind.  I still can't understand how families don't treasure these old gems but it is definitely a changing world.  What oldies treasured....the young people throw away.Anyway, I wonder how they got those hairstyles to work and stay up like we see here.  Remember when teased hair came around and the hairstyles were so cherished when hair was piled a mile high and flipped on the bottoms?  So how did these ladies get this hair to stay up.  Also notice that the dresses are SO similar! On the back of this post card it says Grannie Reeves (last one on right).  Grannie, you a... 08/14/2017

**************************************************************************************************Looking through old yearbooks is so much fun!  You see folks that you know now when they were very young.  You see fashions at that time.  And here's another fun picture!  The Melody Maids make me think of sewing!  All the dresses are the same and some seamstress had to do them (in my thinking) and lots of moms then were also good at sewing!  Wonder what happened to all those old sewing machines?You also notice the dresses all being the same length.  The shoes are also matched and the hairstyles are similar.  Now I wonder if Searcy High School still has a group of Melody Maids!   08/09/2017

  Junior Auxiliary has been a successful group of ladies who perform charitable activities in Searcy AR and  is an extension of a larger group that serves in many cities in the South.  I was a member.  You have to serve for 5 years and then you can become inactive and after a few more years you can become a life member.  I am a life member.  I was glancing through a newspaper from 1975 and found these pictures of the members doing their loyal chores.  JA has a charity ball each year and someone has to be in charge of it.  So a good trivia question would be, "Who was in charge of the Charity Ball in 1975 in Searcy AR?"  The following picture answers that question.  This picture was found in a 1975 Searcy Daily Citizen newspaper and it is a great picture of two lovely ladies who worked ha... 07/28/2017

The Pit Drive In, Searcy AR, 1961.  How Searcy did love The Pit.  Several blogs have been written about it and here's another picture from a 1961 yearbook showing the girls (remember they couldn't wear pants to school) who probably went out to get their advertisement for the The Lion yearbook and got treats at the same time.Evidently, plaids were in!  Short hair, below the knee skirts, flats for school and sweaters.  One girl has on socks!  Perhaps she was a fashion leader!The Pit blog 1967. 07/26/2017

This picture is from the 1961 Searcy AR yearbook.  The girls had been posed in front of the Statue of Liberty all dressed up in their nice clothes.  So many things are noticeable as always in groups of people.  Note the dresses were all the same length, basically the same style (two girls appear to have on the same suit but perhaps different colors.)   Not a pair of pants is seen but this was back when girls were not allowed to wear pants to school or to church.  Hair styles are mostly short and curls are favored.  Shoes are all the same style also except I see a girl on the second row wearing flats!  Smart girl!And the teacher, Mrs. Cecil Morgan, almost seems to be rolling her eyes in a bit of misery from tending to so many girls on a field trip. 07/24/2017

In my last blog I mentioned that a relative had passed and lots and lots of old pictures dating back into the 1800's were left behind.  Jack Flournoy Henry V had never married and had no children so it could be the end of the line for the Jack Flournoy Henrys.Among the photographs were these two which grabbed my attention because they were not posed to show their faces as most professionally done photos are.  The first one has a name on it, Dorthy Carson, and the photograph has Reynolds, Burlington Iowa on the front.  The second one is even more interesting because it looks as if two little girls are posed perhaps reading a book.  Hill & Everett from Burlington were the photographers on this one.  And on the back are names, Louise Henry and Jack Henry 4.  So this must be brother and sis... 07/23/2017

 Remember going to the shoe store years ago?The management was happy to see you enter.  You looked around the store and found something that looked interesting and told the clerk that you'd like to see the shoe in the size that you wore.  The clerk hurried to the back of the store and brought back at least one box, perhaps two to make sure you got the size that felt good.  You sat down, he/she sat down on a stool in front of you and if the shoe fit, you might buy it!  And if you didn't know your size or your kid had grown so rapidly that the size had to be determined, the clerk could measure the foot!  I hate to admit it but I remember when they had those x-ray things that you put your foot into to see something. They were fun!  (They decided that they might cause cancer so away they we... 07/10/2017

Time does fly when you are having fun! I found this old 1993 mailout that I did when I became an "Above the Crowd!" RE/MAX agent.  I think it showed a lot of history.  Note how it was when I began in 1979.  Curlies and double knits were in and interest rates shot up to 17% and above.  In 1993 the interest rates were as low as 6.95%!What about now?  Who would have thought interest rates would be between 3% and 4%?  Who would have thought that most of the shopping for houses would be on the internet?    Who would have thought we'd all carry cell phones that are small and can pull up our email, be our map, and take our pictures and do more things than I even know about!   I can put this blog on the internet instead of taking it to the post office.  And I no longer need a pager because our ... 07/02/2017

Be sure to read my other blog about Heard's Sausage.  My kids and I thought the pigs were a sight to see and visited them when we visited Searcy AR to visit the kid's grandparents.  Click here to read it.  I did not realize at that time that I'd become a permanent resident of Searcy AR.So when I looked through the 1969 Searcy High Yearbook I found this full-page ad for Heard's Sausage. I know that pretty girl standing beside the truck (remember I am now about a 50 year resident of Searcy and have met lots of people)  and she was the daughter of the owners of Heard's Sausage.  Hello, Martha!  She was probably the one responsible for this large ad done by proud parents!She was also the height of fashion at the time.  Note the short skirt and huge hair! But I still wish we could find a pic... 06/28/2017

     It was another driving-by experience.  Look!!  The historic home at 600 W. Race that is known as the Shoffner House and is very old had something going on.  Trees had been trimmed, a fence taken down and the character of the old home came flying through.  There was even a man on the roof!  Looks as if is being restored!  Here's a blog about the house that I did a few months ago as an auction was being performed there.  Click here to read it and see pictures.  The property looks so historic and so alive right now that I and all of Searcy hope that it is being restored to its former beauty!  Notice the real estate sign says "SOLD"! 06/23/2017

The dress color.The faded wedding picture.The bachelor party before the weddingThere was an old saying back then that when you went to get your wedding license at the Las Vegas court house there were two lines, one for getting divorces and one for getting married.  We were in the marriage line, 50 years ago today, June 17, 1967.  It seems that time has passed quickly and the current saying that is, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" still applies.  The Las Vegas wedding has had "stay power."    The actual wedding picture has become so faded that I put a little snapshot on to show the true color of a bright pink wedding dress.  Girls still wore gloves!The third picture shows a group of handsome guys doing the then traditional pre-wedding party.  The groom looks worried because there ... 06/17/2017

Had they just finished the old house on Holmes Road that we have written several blogs about?   The house is in the background and they look very happy and pleased as they have this picture snapped.The old rock house still stands and we have done several blogs about it.  Click here to go to the last one and that one will have a click to continue going back.  The present owners invited the remaining family members to come and visit the beloved old family home and a few days ago several folks got to review the house.  Thanks again to present owners! 06/12/2017

This picture may not be the very best but it was taken a long time ago at the still existing house that was built by Ballard Holmes about 100 years ago.  Present owners invited the Holmes family to visit the old house this week and it was a lovely visit.  The house  is still delightful to see.  This shows the house with three of the children sitting on the stone wall.  Click here to revisit the kids. Here is the way the side of the house looks now.It looks the same with the addition of central heat and air and energy efficient windows and doors.  You can see where the kids were posing on that concrete porch. Now prepare for a real treat!  Here is Mr. Ballard Holmes standing in front of the wall, probably feeling very proud of the house that he had built.  You can look behind him and see... 06/08/2017

Look at these cute kids but also look at the old house in the background.  This picture was made when the Ballard Holmes family lived there.  They built it and everyone loved it.  It is, in fact, still loved now by the present owners who invited the now slightly older family members to come and visit.The family jumped at the opportunity and the visit was delightful.  I was able to take a picture of four of the above kids standing on the front porch of the old house.  For fun, see if you can match them with the pictures above.  One of the ones above was not present.   I may also do a few more of the house in another blog but just in case you fall in love with the kids go see them again at this blog. 06/07/2017

OK!  Quickly!  What are these students doing?  The first thing I thought of was cell phones!  They appear to be checking their messages, checking email, paying no attention to their friends except with their phones!  Sure looks that way.....even though it was 1969 and they were posing for the Searcy Lion yearbook, it made me think of today! Actually, I assume they got free treats of ice cream or milk.  Styles were different and things never stay the same.  Some clever photoshop expert could just change cups to phones and put leggings on the girls and we'd be current!  Perhaps Super Sleuth Don Thompson will try that!!  05/22/2017

*************************************************************************************************Here's another Searcy mystery location that you might solve.  It seems that in the old year books the advertisers felt they needed no addresses.  Folks would know where they were located forever.  Not so. In the 1953 Petit Jean, Harding College's yearbook, this ad popped up.  But it does not say anything about location, phone numbers, or number of cottages.  They appear to have little carports for the vehicles.   So, Sleuths, let us know where these little Van's Cottages were and what happened to them. 05/21/2017

 Just a few days ago I ran a blog about the Wheat Motel in Searcy AR.  Its picture was on an old postcard that I bought on ebay.  There was a lot of discussion about it and the final decision regarding where it had been located was made by a comment from the former owner's son, Bill Mondigo.  (Thank you again, Bill.)  Go back to this blog and read the comments and see the picture.Now look what I have found!  Folks kept mentioning The Book Nook and here is a picture of the motel as changed and with a section rented to The Book Nook.  Quite a change, wasn't it?  This was an ad from Powell Realty.  It was for sale by this agent and apparently it sold then or later because The Book Nook is now gone.  Isn't Searcy history fun? 05/14/2017

  I love looking at the ads in the old yearbooks.  I came across this one and don't remember seeing any others like this one.  It says,"Congratulations, to the Graduating Class of 1969 from the Graduating Class of 1976."  Wallace Spencer's 5th grade class at McRae Elementary School in Searcy AR sponsored the ad.  My understanding is that the ads are paid for by businesses or individuals who insert them so I can't help wondering whether the teacher paid for it or whether the kids went out and raised money for it. It is an interesting look at history.  The girls all have on dresses.  I remember when girls in Searcy schools could wear pants ONLY when the temperature reached a required freezing degree.  Then when it warmed up the girls had to go back to dresses.  I also remember when that d... 05/07/2017

It is so old The Aroma might smell!I have had this old yearbook for several years.  It has the name Miss Ruth Garlington, Searcy Arkansas, 1922 - 1923 Sophomore, inside the front cover.  It is a Searcy High School Annual and explains the name this way.   "The name has been changed from 'The Reveille' to 'The Aroma' for two reasons.  One is to advertise the famous White County Aroma strawberry.  Another is because it is hoped that in the future, as these pages are perused, the readers will have wafted from them the fragrant 'Aroma' of delicious High School days."  Now the question would be when did it change to "The Searcy Lion?"Looking inside is fun.  Here is one page that probably shows how the guys wore their hair in those days.  Handsome, weren't they?  If you have history of Ruth Ga... 05/01/2017

This old postcard shows the Wheat Motel in Searcy AR.  I do not remember this motel at all so some of you Sleuths will have to tell me where it was.  The address was Hwy 64-67 Bypass in Searcy AR but where was that many years ago?  It looks as if it had carports?The back of the card brags that it had air-conditioning and panel ray heat, free T.V., room phones, free coffee, tile showers.  "Just plain old-fashioned comfort."   Pat & Mary Wheat, Owners & Operators.  Call CH 5-4661.It was never mailed.  Who can tell us about it?  And about the owners? 04/25/2017