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home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Tracking down the history of Booche’s

Tracking down the history of Booche’s

By Kelli Hansen   Posted in Resources and Services Special Collections and Archives
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Earlier this week I put out a call on Tumblr for photos of present-day downtown Columbia and campus that we could match up with materials in our collections. Tumblr user thesetenthings contacted us to ask about the history of Booche’s, the downtown Columbia pool hall that has been open since 1884.  Named for “Booche” Venable, the first owner, Booche’s is a bit of a Columbia legend for its atmosphere, its burgers, and its long history.

Having eaten many a cheeseburger at Booche’s myself, I set about trying to find evidence of the pool hall in our digital collections: the Savitar yearbook, Missouri Alumnus, Showme Magazine, and the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.  And I found quite a bit! In fact, I found so much that I decided to make it a full-fledged post on this blog rather than a quick Tumblr photoset.

Booche’s bounced around several different locations and advertised to students in its first 50 years.  If Booche’s was the only pool hall in town in the 1880s (and I’m guessing it was; Columbia had less than 10,000 people back then), its first location was near Broadway and Seventh. This Sanborn Map shows a billiards business next to the lumberyard owned by W. P. Maupin.

booches-1889

The earliest reference to Booche’s I could find in print in our digital collections was in the 1903 Savitar yearbook (there might be earlier references, but they’re not digitized, and for the sake of time for this post I was sticking to digital resources).  The 1903 Savitar has an ad that shows the interior but doesn’t mention the location. The next year, it simply says “Broadway and Tenth,” but doesn’t mention which corner of Broadway and Tenth.

savitar1904p246Advertisement from the 1904 Savitar, page 246.

Why?  It might have been because Booche’s had three different locations on or near Broadway and Tenth between 1895 and 1911. Here’s the first I was able to find in the Sanborn Maps, which shows a pool and billiards hall near the southwest corner of Broadway and Tenth.

booches-1895

The next map, from 1902, shows a different business in that location and a pool hall on the northeast corner of Broadway and Tenth. This is probably the location shown in the photo ad from the Savitar.

booches-1902

In 1908, Booche’s was back near its 1895 location on the southwest corner of Broadway and Tenth, except this time it had the corner storefront and had expanded into the storefront behind it as well.

booches-1908

Finally, in 1911, Booche’s moved onto Ninth Street.  But it wasn’t in its present-day location yet; it was across the street, on the second floor of the Virginia Building.  The ad below from the 1911 Savitar announces the move and shows what must have been the interior at Broadway and Tenth, since the same photo was used in an ad the previous year.

sav1911p361Advertisement from the 1911 Savitar, page 361.

booches-1914

sav1917p500

I wasn’t able to verify this with maps, but according to this 1976 Missouri Alumnus article, Booche’s moved into its present location in 1930.  Booche’s advertised regularly in the Savitar yearbooks and the Showme magazine through the 1920s.  It changed hands several times, but it remained a popular student hangout.

sav1945p0187“Booche’s hath many charms, too” from the 1945 Savitar, page 187.

Articles in the 1976 Alumnus and the 1983 Savitar discuss more about Booche’s history – such as the fact that it barred women until the 1970s, that it was originally known for its ham sandwich, not its cheeseburger, and that you couldn’t get a beer there until relatively recently.  You can read more from each of those articles in the links above, or browse through the digital collections on your own. They’re freely available to everyone!

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives See Spot Run!

See Spot Run!

By Super Admin   Posted in Resources and Services Special Collections and Archives
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Dick, Jane, Sally and Spot: icons in 20th century American education.

The New We Work and Play  by William S. Gray, A. Sterl Artley, and May Hill Arbuthnot. Published 1951.

The Dick and Jane Reader Series was an extremely popular Reader collection used in American classrooms from the 1930's-1970's. Peaking in popularity in the 1950's, it is estimated that almost 80% of Readers used in 1st grade classrooms were from the Dick and Jane series. These Readers focused on whole language and repetition to teach children how to read. University of Missouri-Columbia professor, Dr. A. Sterl Artley, played an important part in the production and study of these books. Dr. Artley won the Thomas Jefferson Award and was a Reading Hall of Fame winner for his work on the series.

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Theodore Roosevelt-Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter

Theodore Roosevelt-Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter

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This limited edition was signed by Theodore Roosevelt!

Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter by Theodore Roosevelt

Published 1905, New York

 

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Germania Kalender and the Academic Hall Fire of 1892

Germania Kalender and the Academic Hall Fire of 1892

By Kelli Hansen   Posted in Resources and Services Special Collections and Archives
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Academic Hall burned 122 years ago today, leaving the Columns to become a Mizzou icon.  Before the fire, the building housed classrooms, offices, libraries, and museums – almost the entire university.  Although parts of the Law Library were salvaged, the main library was a total loss.  Almost.

Germania Kalender survived because it was checked out during the fire.  However, it wasn't returned to the University until 1937, forty-five years later.  After it came back, it was placed in the Rare Book Room. It's in rough condition – who knows what it went through over at least 45 years of being checked out? – but it's been here ever since.

Damaged cover

Frontispiece and title page

The book was returned by Henry Gerling of St. Louis.  The date, September 24, 1884, and the library stamp for Missouri State University (which was one of the names used by the University of Missouri at the time) alerted him to the book's history.

Letter returning the book to MU

Pre-fire library stamp

When the book was returned, the story made the news.  These are clippings from the Kansas City Star (left) and the Columbia Missourian (right) from April 14, 1937.

1937 news clippings

Germania Kalender has calendars and an almanac, as you'd expect from the title, but it also contains pictures and readings on various subjects for the entire family.

Illustrations

Presidential ties, from Germania Kalender (Milwaukee, 1885)

It even includes some early comics!

Early comic!

Early comic!

Find it in the MERLIN catalog.

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Economic Frustration – Then and Now

Economic Frustration – Then and Now

By Super Admin   Posted in Resources and Services Special Collections and Archives
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In a tough economy, it's easy to forget that millions of Americans before our time have struggled as well. Cartoonist John T. McCutcheon's comics show that high unemployment and turmoil in the stock market aren't unique to this generation of Americans.

Figure 2
The Unemployed (click to enlarge)

Our McCutcheon comic collection contains original pen-and-ink drawings that date from 1903 to 1944, many of which were published in the Chicago Tribune. While he covered a range of issues of the day, McCutcheon's wit and biting satire shined in his depiction of economic hardships.

Figure 1
1913 Bread Line: He Kept Us out of Work (click to enlarge)

Figure 1 and Figure 2, from 1913 and 1916, both show the depression and struggle of being unemployed. McCutcheon demonstrates his mastery over the medium by using merely a few darker lines to show how isolated and alone his unemployed man is, compared to the happy and joyful families walking down the street.

We've seen a roller coaster ride in the stock market recently, but nothing compares to the Crash of 1929, which led to a decade-long Great Depression. Our last cartoons, Figures 3 and 4, show two instances of men who lost it all on Wall Street, and wonder if they'll ever get it back. Little do they, or McCutcheon know – the worst economic downturn in history is only beginning.

Figure 3
The Bursting of the Stock Bubble (click to enlarge)

John McCutcheon's comics captured the mood of the day, and sometimes it's surprising how much relevance 100-year old sketches can have to our own time. His entire collection of over 300 cartoons and drawings is available to all patrons.

Figure 4
The Sun of Prosperity… (click to enlarge)

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives The Importance of Thomas Bodley 400 Years Later

The Importance of Thomas Bodley 400 Years Later

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Thomas Bodley 1545-1613

Today marks the 400th anniversary of Thomas Bodley’s death.   Although his name is not as well known on this side of the Atlantic, Bodley’s contribution to research and learning has had lasting impacts in the English-speaking world for centuries.

Though English, Bodley spent his childhood and adolescence abroad in Europe.  He had the misfortune to be born into a Protestant family in the last year of the reign of Henry VIII in 1545.  After the short reign of Henry’s son, Edward, Mary took the throne and spent the entire five years of her reign persecuting Protestants.  His family escaped to mainland Europe, and there, Bodley studied under the tutelage of John Calvin in Switzerland and attended services by John Knox.  When Mary died and was succeeded by Queen Elizabeth, the family returned and Bodley enrolled in Magdalen College at Oxford University.

 

A Catalogue of the Several Pictures, Statues, and Busts, in the Picture Gallery, Bodleian Library, and Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford.

After finishing college, his career took him to Parliament and eventually he served as a diplomat and sent on secret missions to the Netherlands, France, and Denmark.  In 1596, he returned home and settled back in Oxford.  Two years later, Bodley was given a large dinner in his honor.  It is speculated that it was that fateful evening in 1598 when 53 year-old Thomas Bodley, while speaking to old friends and colleagues, came up with the inspiration to do one last project that would make his name live on 400 years later.

Over 120 years earlier, the main library at Oxford University had been presented as a gift from Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.  However, after Queen Elizabeth had ascended to the throne, the library had been stripped and abandoned.  In 1598, after the dinner in his honor, Bodley determined to restore the library and spend the rest of his life working in it.  Oxford immediately and graciously accepted his offer.  In 1600, Bodley began collecting books to donate to the library that would use his name.

The Book of HoursTo motivate others to donate money and books, he created a large book bound in vellum, a “Benefactor’s Book”, which would remain on display in the center of the library.  The book would contain the names of all those who had contributed to the library.  This novel idea is used to this day in libraries around the world.

The Bodleian Library is one of six legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom and Ireland.  A copy of every book, CD-Rom, website, and other public materials published in the UK and Ireland is deposited at the Bodleian.  As such, space is limited and larger facilities are used as depositories to hold all of the materials the Bodleian possesses.  Some of the treasures of the Bodleian include a copy of the Magna Carta, one of 42 complete 1455 Gutenberg Bibles still in existence, the Ashmole manuscripts, the Song of Roland, the Book of Hours (shown here) and the Codex Bodley.

Special Collections has various items relating to the Bodleian Library and its long history.  The items depicted in this blog post are all materials you can find by visiting us up on the 4th Floor West in Ellis Library.  We would be happy to help you and answer any questions you might have.

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Salamanca, Wellington’s Masterpiece

Salamanca, Wellington’s Masterpiece

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Portrait of Wellington from Baines' History of the Wars of the French Revolution (London, 1817). The word Wellington is a facsimile of the General's signature.July 22, 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Salamanca. While Napoleon was in the midst of his Russian campaign, other generals were busy consolidating France's position in Spain against a combined force of English, Portuguese, and Spanish rebels.

Though Wellington is probably best remembered for the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the battle at Salamanca is often called his masterpiece. On the afternoon of July 22nd, after a full day of fighting, Wellington recognized a weakness in the French army lines. His decisive orders for attack led to a rapid victory for the British forces.

Page from Southey's "Life of Wellington" (Dublin, 1816) describing the moment when Wellington gives the orders that will lead to victory atThe relative quickness of the British success following this action inspired friends and enemies. The French general Maximilien Foy famously declared "Wellington defeated an army of 40,000 in 40 minutes" when he wrote about his experience at Salamanca in his journal. Robert Southey’s account of the battle from his book Life of Wellington emphasized the dramatic moment Wellington gave his orders.

"Lord Wellington was at dinner when he was informed of this movement [of French troops]: he saw at once the advantage which had been given; he rose in such haste as to overturn the table, …and in an instant was on horseback, issuing those orders which won the battle of Salamanca."

While these accounts might not be strictly true, they do reflect the quickness of this stage of the battle and the strategic skill shown by Wellington.

Up to this point, Wellington had generally been regarded as a defensive general. Salamanca established his ability as a skillful soldier and tactician. This statement from Baines’ History of the Wars of the French Revolution is characteristic of many of the tributes to the battle and to Wellington:

Page from Baine's History of the Wars of the French Revolution (London, 1817) describing the battle of Salamanca.

"The battle of Salamanca was distinguished from all other battles hitherto fought in the peninsula, by several important circumstances: it was more masterly in the design, more gallant in the execution, and followed by consequences of far greater importance."

In retrospect, observers recognized July 22, 1812 as a turning point in the Peninsular War, not only for Wellington's reputation but for the morale of French army on the peninsula. British forces eventually drove the French armies from Spain and invaded Southern France in 1814. If British officer William Napier is to be believed, Wellington was aware of the shift on the afternoon of the battle. Napier recalls seeing Wellington late in the day at Salamanca "…alone, the flush of victory was on his brow… With a prescient pride he seemed only accept his glory as an earnest of greater things." Those greater things would culminate in the Battle of Waterloo, and the final defeat of Napoleon.

Map of the Battle of Waterloo from Southey's Life of Wellington (Dublin, 1816).
Robert Muir's Book Salamanca, 1812 (Yale University Press, 2001) is a source for more information about the battle and its' importance.

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives “Simple in vocabulary while majestic in effect”: 400th anniversary of the King James Translation of the Bible

“Simple in vocabulary while majestic in effect”: 400th anniversary of the King James Translation of the Bible

By Alla Barabtarlo   Posted in Resources and Services Special Collections and Archives
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The most published book in the world celebrates its 400th anniversary.

King James Bible 1611. Title page

Soon after March 24th 1603, when James VI, King of Scots, inherited the English crown, a crowd of Puritans approached him with their petition. They requested that all traces of Catholicism were removed from the Church of England service. Upon thorough consideration of their request the King rejected the whole document and even threatened to “harry the Puritans out of the land, or else do worse”.

But he surprisingly agreed to commission a new translation of the English Bible — a last-minute added wish by one of the Puritans, known as Dr. John Rainolds, President of Corpus Christi College in Oxford. The 47 translators were selected based exclusively on their scholarly reputation without regard of religious convictions, thus about a quarter of them were Puritans.

Though it is officially called the Authorized Version, King James never technically authorized this new translation of the Bible into English. It is possible to assume that this version which is now firmly connected with the King’s name was called “authorized” in opposition to the two preceding attempts made by the early dissidents – Wycliffe and ill-fated Tyndale. This translation meant to play an important role in uniting all Protestant Englishmen despite their religious differences, the endeavor started by Elizabeth I with The Act of Uniformity in 1559.

Dedication to the King
Dedication to the King

 

As Leland Ryken puts it: “The King James style is a paradox: it is usually simple in vocabulary while majestic and elevating in effect. However imitated or parodied, the language is dignified, beautiful, sonorous and elegant.” *

These words capture well the impression King James Bible makes on all who love the English language.

Perhaps nothing influenced the English and eventually American literature and literary language more than KJB. Edmund Wilson thought that “other cultures have felt its impact, and none — in the West, at least – seems quite to accommodate to it. Yet we find we have been living with it all our lives”**

Small wonder: first [pilgrim] settlers in America were people of the Bible, and many early American towns carry Biblical names, such as Salem, Mass, 1626; Bethel, Conn, 1700; Shiloh, NJ, 1705; Ephrata, Penn, 1732; Nazareth, Penn., 1740;  Emmaus, Penn.,1740; Bethlehem, NH, 1774, etc. Seven towns named Galilee, fifteen named Trinity, fourteen – St. Joseph, including one in Missouri; as well as St. Mary, MO — one of the nineteen American towns with this name.

Everyday idiomatic usage is replete with hidden or obvious direct quotations from the KJB. Here are a few common examples:

At his wit’s end – Psalms, 107:27

God save the king – The First Book of Samuel, 10:24

My brother’s keeper – Genesis, 4:9

The land of the living – Job, 28:13

The root of the matter– Job 19:28

Fell flat on his face — Numbers 22:31

The salt of the earth– Matthew 5:13

Labor of love — Thessalonians 1:2, 1:3:

A two-edged sword—Proverbs 5:4

White as snow — Daniel 7:9:

A drop in the bucket — Isaiah 40:15

A wolf in sheep’s clothing — Matthew 7:15

Woe is me – Job 10:15

Beat swords into ploughshares — Isaiah II

In the twinkling of an eye—1 Corinthians 15:52

Sign of the times — Matthew 16:3

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak— Matthew 26:41

You reap what you sow — Galatians VI

Physician heal thyself — Luke 4:23

Man does not live by bread alone — Deuteronomy 8:3

A broken heart — Psalms 34:18

It’s better to give than to receive — Acts 20:35

Good Samaritan — Luke 10:30/33

Feet of clay — Daniel 2: 31-33

Don’t cast your pearls before swine — Matthew 7:6,

A voice crying in the wilderness– John 1:23

Awake and sing– – Isaiah 16:19

We also encounter these quotations in our everyday lives, as I did while at the ALA conference in Philadelphia last year where I took this picture.

Philadelphia Liberty Bell

“Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10) – The Liberty Bell in the Liberty Bell Center, Philadelphia.

Sources:

*Leland Ryken. How We Got the Best-Selling Book of All Time. WSJ, August 27, 2011

**Robert Alter. Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible. Princeton U Press, 2010.

John Bartlett. Familiar Quotations: A Collection of passages, Phrases and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature. Boston, 1855.

Highway 70 from Columbia, MO to St. Louis.

 

home Resources and Services, Special Collections and Archives Welcome Back, Students!

Welcome Back, Students!

By Kelli Hansen   Posted in Resources and Services Special Collections and Archives
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Fall is in the air, and students are everywhere!  As we welcome members of this record-breaking freshman class, it may be interesting to see how their predecessors dealt with the first weeks of classes at MU twenty-five, fifty, and even 100 years ago.

100 Years AgoSavitar, 1911

The Savitar yearbook published a fictitious freshman's diary in 1911, which describes in humorous and exaggerated terms the experiences of a bumbling new student from rural Hemlock, Missouri.  He describes his first sight of the Quad, and the now-defunct tradition of freshman beanies:

The schoolhouses are all set around just like the town square at Hemlock except that there are six pillars covered with vines in the middle.  As soon as I came up on the walk on the square, some fellows grabbed me and made me shine shoes.  There are big signs pasted all over telling the freshmen to buy caps.  They tell me that I'll have to wear a red one but I won't do it because my hair is red. [see source online]

The university bulletin for 1911 records a total enrollment of 2,956 students in the Columbia campus.  One hundred years later, enrollment at MU is more than ten times that number.

50 Years Ago

Construction Nears End on Arts & Science BuildingThe current student newspaper, the Maneater, was in publication by 1955.  In the first week of classes in 1961, it reported that the new Arts and Science Building was nearing completion and would be in use later that semester. The new building would feature a language laboratory, increased classroom space, a public address and intercom system, and a special classroom equipped with closed-circuit television. And – perhaps most importantly – air conditioning.

The Arts and Science Building was home to the departments of English, History, German and Russian, and Romance Languages when it opened in 1961.  Classrooms and office space for these departments had previously been in Jesse Hall.

25 Years Agomaneater1986_lg

During the first week of classes in 1986, the Maneater documented registration delays.  Long lines of students snaked through the stairwells and corridors of Brady Commons, and the newspaper commented:

Director of Admissions Gary L. Smith said when the first online computers were used for registering students in April of 1985, approximately 40 to 50 students could be registered in five minutes.  But things were going a lot slower this week at Brady.

Student registrations were taxing the processing power of MU's relatively new computer network, causing the slowdown.  Over the past 25 years, various computerized registration systems have made waiting in line at Brady Commons obsolete – and Brady itself has become part of the new Student Center.

Want to Know More?

Records of of past student life, including documents, publications, photos, and memorabilia, are at the University Archives.  Special Collections also holds the student publications mentioned above, and over 100 years of the Savitar (1891-2000) are available in the University of Missouri Digital Library.