‘Forgotten airport’ found in Kansas City Area

October 2024

​Vintage Discoveries

‘Forgotten airport’ found in Kansas City Area

by Ken Weyand

When I was putting together the 1970 book, “Aviation History in Greater Kansas City,” a few of the old-time pilots I interviewed mentioned the old “Police Airport” in North Kansas City. Located just west of Burlington Avenue, the airport was little more than a grass strip, and didn’t “make the cut” to be included in my compilation, which included Kellerstrass Field at 87th & Holmes Road.; Old Richards Field, south of Highway 50; and New Richards Field, later to become Kansas City Municipal (eventually Kansas City Wheeler Airport).

In the book “Bridge to the Past, A Personal History of North Kansas City,” published in 1983 under the auspices of the City Council and edited by Mildred Fulton, an “early-day barnstormer,” A. E. (Ace) Reynolds was credited as coming to North Kansas City and renting a room on Erie Street “because he needed to be close to an airport!” It was 1923 and Reynolds was learning to fly.

The article stated that Reynolds was not only close to the old Municipal Airport but to “Police Airport” as well. The Police Airport was essentially a hayfield just east of Burlington Avenue where the retail complex that once housed the old Dolgin’s store would be built. At the edge of the hayfield was a “hay barn and an old metal shed which was used as a hangar,” according to Reynolds.

Reynolds recalled that in 1923 the pilots refueled their airplanes from a “large square portable tank with its dispersing pump and drums with oil.” He mentioned that the “airport” had a second landing strip with a hay barn for a hangar near where Cook’s Paint is now.”

Ace Reynolds was a barnstormer, a test pilot, and an instructor at the Art Goebel School of Flying at the Municipal Airport. “I can remember taking off at Municipal Airport and landing at Rugel’s (a big drive-in restaurant) on Burlington one noon,” he said. “They ran an ad in a newspaper after that, reading ‘Drive-In, Fly-In Service.’ The CAA made short work of that, though.”

When I was doing research for my book, I interviewed many old-time local pilots, including Ben Gregory, a veteran barnstormer and North Kansas City resident then in his 80s. Gregory recalled a short grass strip running basically east-west alongside the levee near present-day Macken Park. But in those days, Gregory said, there were fewer houses or other obstructions, and a lot of small fields served as airstrips.

(Visit www.claycountyhstoricalsocietymuseum.org to learn more about Clay County, Missouri history.)

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Art Goebel, noted Kansas City area pilot in the 1920s, established a school for pilots at the old Kansas City Airport. Ace Reynolds was one of his instructors. Goebel later worked as a stunt pilot in Hollywood, and in 1927 piloted the winning aircraft in the Dole Air Race from Oakland, CA, to Hawaii.

Ken Weyand is the original owner/publisher of Discover Vintage America,  founded in July 1973 under the name of Discover North.

Ken Weyand can be contacted at kweyand1@kc.rr.com Ken is self-publishing a series of non-fiction E-books. Go to www.smashwords.com and enter Ken Weyand in the search box.

World’s Fair souvenir book reveals styles of the ‘thirties

September 2024

​Vintage Discoveries

World’s Fair souvenir book reveals styles of the ‘thirties

by Ken Weyand

Six years ago in my column, I recalled a trip my mother and her parents made in 1934 to the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Recently, I discovered a book of photos my Mother had bought at the Expo. Always a “pack-rat,” she saved the book, and it somehow got overlooked in the bottom of a cedar chest. (More about it later.)

My parents and my mother’s parents had made the trip when the Expo opened in 1933, taking advantage of the Santa Fe Railroad’s extra-low fare of $5.45 for a round-trip ticket from Medill, MO, to Chicago. It was too good an offer to pass up, even in the Depression years. By the end of 1933, Expo officials decided to extend it for another year, and the railroad extended its offer.

My dad’s farm work kept him at home in 1934, so my mother made the trip again with her parents, leaving the Medill, MO, station on Sept. 10. Overnight expenses in Chicago weren’t a problem, either. My mother took advantage of a college friend’s offer to put them up in her home, not far from the show grounds.

My mother reported in her daily journal that the group enjoyed the Sky Ride, a bridge that enabled visitors to travel from one side of the Expo to the other. She mentioned several of the Expo’s highlights, including “seeing President (Theodore) Roosevelt and Marconi, the inventor of the telegraph.” She also noted that they “saw Chevrolet cars being assembled at the General Motors exhibit.”

In addition to seeing the Expo, the trio took time for sightseeing, taking in the Field Museum and other Chicago attractions. They spent one day shopping in the “Loop.” Mother’s diary entry reported visits to Marshall Field’s, Carson-Pirie’s, and the Davis store.

On Sept. 16, Mother and her folks returned to Medill on the train, after 10 days in the “Windy City.” My dad was there to bring Mother home to their farm near Granger, MO, by car, while her folks took the Keokuk and Western Railroad to Kahoka, MO, where they lived. It was an era when trains still dominated travel; my grandfather never owned a car, but enjoyed traveling by train.

By the time the Century of Progress Exposition finally closed in November, the total attendance was reported to be more than 48 million. A true “World’s Fair,” it was the first of its kind to pay for itself.

In my previous column, I shared postcards my Mother brought back, and the Santa Fe brochure, showing the train schedule and the railroad’s special round-trip fare, that undoubtedly had much to do with the Expo’s attendance.

I recently discovered a “picture book” of the fair that I had overlooked. I’m not sure what Mother paid for it, but given her attention to pinching pennies, I’m sure it was a bargain. The 48-page book measures 10 x 13 ½ inches and is printed on quality magazine stock, with 129 black & white photos and a two-color cover. The Expo celebrated the best of the world’s cultural and scientific achievements, making the book an interesting window into the 1930s.
Although my mother had repaired the spine of the book with tape, the rest of the book is unmarked and intact. The photos are clear, with no obvious fading. I’ve seen a few examples of this book online, with prices ranging from $13 to $42.

POSTSCRIPT:
I had a chance to examine the “souvenir playing cards” from the Expo, and made an interesting discovery. Although the cards have gilt edges as advertised, my package contained only 42 cards out of a normal 52-card deck. There was one joker (most decks have two), and I counted at least a dozen examples of the four of spades – meaning the deck was far from complete. It’s possible that some of the cards were taken out and lost, but the extra cards of one suit makes the deck unplayable.

My grandfather enjoyed playing cards – he introduced the game of “Casino” to my dad before I was born, and I would later learn my numbers playing the game as a child. I’m sure he would have been disappointed to learn he had been swindled at the Worlds Fair!

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Souvenir playing cards

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Cover of 1933 souvenir book (Ken Weyand photos)

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Ready for attempted flight to stratosphere

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Crowd at Midway

Ken Weyand is the original owner/publisher of Discover Vintage America,  founded in July 1973 under the name of Discover North.

Ken Weyand can be contacted at kweyand1@kc.rr.com Ken is self-publishing a series of non-fiction E-books. Go to www.smashwords.com and enter Ken Weyand in the search box.

Old ‘Wonder Tower’ in Colorado offered views of 6 states

August 2024

​Vintage Discoveries

Old ‘Wonder Tower’ in Colorado offered views of 6 states

by Ken Weyand

Back in the mid-1920s, a favorite ‘”tourist attraction” in eastern Colorado was a crude 65-foot tower built on what was reported to be the highest point between New York and Denver.

During the summer months, the tower’s builder and owner, Charles W. Gregory, a retired railroad engineer, is said to have stood at the tower with a bullhorn. As a car approached with its windows rolled down (it was before car air-conditioning) Gregory would invite the motorist and his family to stop, have a “cold pop” and see six states from the top of the tower.

After the visitors refreshed themselves, they could pay a dollar to climb a set of crude steps and take a look. Gregory’s property also included a gas station, restaurant and motel, offering the passing tourist many ways to spend his money.

In the 1960s, Jerry Chubbuck, a man who found many significant fossils in the area, bought the property. He also became successful with “outhouse archeology,” and his searches provided a supply of old bottles, guns, Indian items and other Western artifacts. Chubbuck added a “museum of oddities” that included a two-headed calf, a woolly mammoth skeleton, a large collection of arrowheads, and other curiosities. Even after Interstate 70 replaced old Hwy. 24, the “Wonder Tower” continued to draw a small but steady stream of visitors.

Jerry also had an extensive collection of old bottles, and stored many in abandoned cars on the property, which from a distance made the place look like it had attracted many visitors. The bottles contained iron in the glassmaking process, that turned the bottles various shades of pink when exposed to sunlight over long periods. On our trips to Denver and other Western states in the 90s, my wife and I often stopped to see the “Wonder Tower” and enjoy a visit with Jerry. On each visit, my wife delighted in finding a bottle or two to add to her collection. I even climbed the tower and took a look at the impressive view. On one of our visits we even ran into people we knew from the Kansas City area.

Jerry died in 2013, and his family auctioned most of the museum’s contents. Three years later, a group of Coloradans bought the tower, hoping to preserve the iconic attraction that first impressed visitors nearly a century ago.

Today the abandoned property stands behind barbed wire and “keep out” signs. Like the old attraction, Genoa’s few business buildings are also abandoned and empty, except for a post office and grain elevator.

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Old museum is empty, but signs remain.

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“Wonder Tower,” built in 1926, attracted a steady stream of visitors. (Ken Weyand photos)

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Gate now bars entry to once-popular attraction.

Ken Weyand is the original owner/publisher of Discover Vintage America,  founded in July 1973 under the name of Discover North.

Ken Weyand can be contacted at kweyand1@kc.rr.com Ken is self-publishing a series of non-fiction E-books. Go to www.smashwords.com and enter Ken Weyand in the search box.

Old brochure touts Ford’s automotive progress – in 1935

July 2024

​Vintage Discoveries

Old brochure touts Ford’s automotive progress – in 1935

by Ken Weyand

A few years ago, I chronicled the story of a long “road trip” my parents and grandparents took to California in 1935, a couple of years before I was born. My parents and my mother’s folks shared at least one thing in common: a love for travel, and once the crops on the family farm in northeast Missouri were cultivated (or “laid by,” as they called it) my Dad would look for ways to get the family “on the open road.”

In 1935, still in the depths of the Great Depression, money was tight, and any travel had to be done “on the cheap.” Staying with relatives often saved overnight expenses, which in those days meant paying $2 to $3 for a “tourist cabin,” and maybe furnishing your own bed linens. Food was bought at grocery stores along the way, with few stops at restaurants. Gas cost as little as 17 cents a gallon, and their nearly-new 1935 Chevy had fresh tires that gave them no trouble.

Using a trip-planner furnished by Conoco, my mother recorded every cent the foursome spent, even including haircuts for the men. The total cost of their 6,603-mile, 24-day trip came to only $164.

One of the highlights of their trip was the California Pacific International Exposition at Balboa Park in San Diego.  They were among the more than 7 million visitors to visit the expo. Admission for the four of them cost $2.

Along with the Expo’s many (free) attractions was the Ford Motor Co.’s exhibit, highlighting its latest automobiles, and the various steps in their manufacture. The exhibit included twenty working models showing the Rouge plant in Dearborn. Obviously impressed with the Ford exhibit, my folks saved the brochure among other keepsakes from their trip. To me, it remains a “time capsule” of the state of automotive progress nearly 90 years ago.

Besides describing in detail the advantages of the latest models, the Ford brochure touted Henry Ford and his status as a leader of the industry. His thoughts are quoted on every page, and the cover features a photo of Henry with his first automobile. In one of his quotes, he writes, “Industry is Mind using Nature to make human life more free.”

By 1935, Ford was facing intense competition from Chevrolet and others, and the brochure shows the effort the company was making to remain an industry leader. Ten years later, Henry Ford II would succeed his father as company president.

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Center spread shows features of 1935 cars, and all the models available.

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Cover of 1935 Ford brochure

Cover of Ford brochure, showing Henry Ford’s first automobile, newest model.  (Image courtesy of the author)

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Ford coupe

Ford coupe owned by my parents featured a “rumble seat.”  (Image courtesy of the author)

Ken Weyand is the original owner/publisher of Discover Vintage America,  founded in July 1973 under the name of Discover North.

Ken Weyand can be contacted at kweyand1@kc.rr.com Ken is self-publishing a series of non-fiction E-books. Go to www.smashwords.com and enter Ken Weyand in the search box.

Old ‘slate-board’ from the 1800s made learning a bit easier

May 2024

​Vintage Discoveries

Old ‘slate-board’ from the 1800s made learning a bit easier

by Ken Weyand

While today’s parents and teachers fret about how youngsters are too dependent on smart phones, I was tickled to find an “education tool” from another age in the back of a closet. My mother’s name, written in a child-like scrawl, appears on one edge. it’s a good bet my slate-board set got some hard use back in its day.

My mother was born June 5, 1894, in Palmyra, IL, and lived for a time in Lincoln, MO, before the family moved to Kahoka, where her dad became an RFD Mail Carrier. By 1900, she was a student in a Kahoka elementary school, where she undoubtedly used the slate board. (Fortunately she also studied music, something she would utilize most of her life). An article in the Clark County Courier noted that she had performed a violin solo at a meeting of the local teachers’ association.)

The slate-board I found is actually two 6 x 9-inch boards, both with inch-wide wooden frames. The frames are wrapped in a thin layer of protective cotton, held in place by a thin cords. The corners of the frames are rounded, and both boards are hinged with narrow fabric straps.

Besides my mother’s name: “Mabel June Forrester,” the frame also includes a faintly stamped logo: “THE UNEXCELLED.” My online research revealed that the fabric edges on the frame “softened the noise” of the slate clattering against the edges of desk, and these slates were called “soft slates.”

 

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Mabel Forrester (mother of the author) with her parents, Charley and Carrie, in a 1902 photo. (Image courtesy of the author)

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A Soft Slate

Two slate panels were attached with narrow cloth hinges. The cloth around edge quieted the slate when it brushed against a desk, giving it the name: “soft slate.” (Image courtesy of the author)

 

Used to promote penmanship, a sought-after goal, the writing slate became commonly used in primary schools in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Its popularity was enhanced by the high cost of paper. Use of the slate-boards declined in the early 1900s as paper became less expensive.

My researched showed several companies producing writing slates, but no reference to “THE UNEXCELLED” could be found. Examples of the slates are offered at various internet sites, with prices ranging from $50 to $150, depending on condition.

 

Ken Weyand is the original owner/publisher of Discover Vintage America,  founded in July 1973 under the name of Discover North.

Ken Weyand can be contacted at kweyand1@kc.rr.com Ken is self-publishing a series of non-fiction E-books. Go to www.smashwords.com and enter Ken Weyand in the search box.