A Local Jokel

What do you get when Andy Hardy, H-E-B and Piggly Wiggly become one store?

~~~

Andy's Wiggly Butt!!

 1960

 1952

1952 Piggly Wiggly Store No.2 W Elizabeth

Thanks to Bronsbil Estacioner "Mrp Mimms" for telling us the joke!  If you have any ol' local jokes that haven't gone stale send them to us.  We post old stuff all the time!

Hysterical Markers are importantant

Thanks to Leroy Lopez for sending these our way.  

1952 ~ Scandals by the Brownsville Jaycees

In November of 1952 it was anounced in the Herald that the Brownsville Jaycees were selling tickets and rehearsing for a comedy of "Scandals."  The minstrel show involved players wearing "blackface" and before anyone reacts with shock keep in mind that African-American socialites in some instances were performing their own plays in "whiteface"at the time.  The show was to be staged at the high school auditorium with a cast of over one hundred players.  Bronsbil Estacion is grateful to Dale Stevenson for sharing the illustration and photo with us.

The Junior Chamber of Commerce are a civic organization to develop business and community leaders.

From the photo above and this one below it appears the  Jaycees were satirizing the Afro-American zoot suit culture.  

Resaca de la Palma stone marker and cannon on Paredes Rd

My brothers and sister are photoshopped on the marker from a 1966 photo.  See that interpretation panel on the left?  It is completely faded and rendered useless to describe the history of what took place on that spot other than the National Society Daughters of the Revolution based in San Benito wanted to be recognized with a shout-out to Lt. Barlow who died in 1825.  Barlow was an ancestor to the organizing regent of the D.A.R.  Brownsville was founded twenty-five years later so we can assume Barlow had nothing to do with RGV history. 

By the way the marker should read "Chapter," not "Charter" as was inscribed.  They also placed markers at Battlesite of Palo Alto and one on Military Hwy to mark where first the bloodshed between Mexican and American troops was used as excuse to instigate a war with Mexico known as the 'Thornton Skirmish."  You remember -- that old message to Congress in which Polk exclaimed "American blood was shed on American soil and war existed by an act of Mexico" quote we've all heard in Texas history?

Captain Seth B. Thornton Skirmish marker photo by Ken Rudine (2008).  On April 25, 1846 Seth Thornton and his soldiers were killed or captured here.

A good way to recycle this stone might be to send it to a local cemetery marker manufacture to inscribe the real historical significance of this site and get rid of the faded panel but that would be too damn expensive for anyone to want to pay for.

The cannon marker was placed here in the 1930s by members of the N.S.D.A.R. to mark the site where the Battle of Resaca de la Palma took place on May 9, 1846.  It was General James Parker who in 1914 headed the Brownsville Military District who brought four cannons from Fort Sam Houston to place on the three spots associated with D.A.R. and a fourth on the site of the original Ft. Brown which locals refer to as the upright cannon on the golf course driving range.

 A couple of more replica markers north from the authentic one can be easily found near Spanish fort style buildings erected around the turn of this century.  A fractured piece reveals the cannon is made of a Styrofoam material.

 Here's the original family photo from 1966 which includes my Mom's shadow.  

Lucha Libre Culture Fest

Q. Who was known as Mr Brownsville? ~ A. Sam Perl

Excerpted from “Perl’s of Wisdom:” 'Rabbi' Sam Perl, New Models of Acculturation, and the 'In-Between' Jew"

by Allison Elizabeth Schottenstein

1949 October 21 KVAL with Sam Perl (Brownsville Historical Association photo)

Sam Perl’s son Ito Perl recalls how his father extended his colorblind policy to the very few African-American customers he had. Extending this business to this very small demographic was significant because the African-American community had lived in “segregated areas” after the infamous "Brownsville Affair of 1906.”  Those who remained in Brownsville throughout the 1930s and 1940s were consigned to menial positions — longshoremen at the port, Pullman conductors of the railroads, and domestic workers at places like the El Jardin hotel.  Despite its minimal size, the African American community was ostracized by Anglos and Mexicans in Brownsville, largely due to the violent legacy of the raids of the 19th to early 20th century. Brownsville’s Rancho Viejo Floodway Bridge was offensively referred to as “Nigger Bridge” because it was “where General Taylor [had] stationed his negro troops.” Even though small town Jewish businessmen were far more inclined than Anglo-Christian merchants to sell to African-American customers, these business relationships tended to occur in places where African-Americans constituted a significant part of the population.

[Editor's note:  If you're wondering if Taylor was ever in the vicinity of the Rancho Viejo area with colored-troops at the onset of the invasion of Mexico in 1846 the answer is "No."  Clink on this link to know truth about  "Legends and Myths ... from Puente de los Negroes" published on this blog Bronsbil Estacion. ]

This was certainly not the case in Brownsville, where African-Americans were marginalized and tended to be feared. Despite this racist reality, Perl regularly sold Stetson hats to African-American Pullman porters.  The general mistrust of African Americans did not extend to Perl, who had “good relations” with his African-American customers, according to Ito.  Because African-Americans were forced to live on the margins of Brownsville society, commercial exchanges may have been the only way he was able to build relations with them. Unlike the equally small Jewish population, African-Americans were never fully accepted by Brownsville because of perceptions of their historical legacy. The fact that no mention of them is made in relation to Charro Days makes one wonder why Perl did not fight to include them in his community building efforts. But African-Americans may have been reluctant to participate because of the manner in which they were alienated by the community. As Nousel points out, African-Americans in the Brownsville region had their own church, school, and socialization areas like the Union Café.  Perl reached out to them as best he could as a “loving” merchant unafraid to do business with them. This behavior demonstrates how Perl distinguished himself from his brother Leon in terms of risk-taking and community involvement.

In Brownsville, Perl distinguished himself from his brother Leon in the manner in which he seemed to prioritize relationship building in the community. According to Weiner, when Perl was asked at one point in his life if he would ever consider running for office, he declined because instead of political influence he preferred to have “friends, friends, friends” and as we have seen, Perl befriended people regardless of their cultural background. In contrast, Leon was a wallflower who did not invest himself as much with other people in the community. Weiner describes Leon as

reserved, quiet, formal, and immaculate . . . When customers entered, Leon talked quality, price, fabric, and design. When customers departed, he returned to his wife’s side, leaning against a counter, looking over her shoulders, chatting softly, closing his eyes, and catching a cat nap. Leon assumed that stance so often that the weight of his body wore a circular depression in the red-and-white checkered linoleum floor.

Clearly, Leon was more of a behind-the-scenes type as a clothing merchant and did not share his brother’s sociability. As Ben Edelstein claimed in his self-published memoir of his father’s life, “Sam Perl was . . . a colorful individual. He was [someone] . . . we addressed as Uncle Sam. Sam was one of the most active people in Brownsville, and a very dear friend of the Edelstein clan. There was nothing that happened in town without his knowledge . . . [He was] always doing something for his city.”  To Edelstein, Sam represented “Uncle Sam”; Leon was simply “Leon” or “Uncle Sam’s brother.” Metaphorically, Sam was also an “Uncle Sam” figure in that he was becoming the personification of small town America. In Brownsville, he was someone people considered close enough to be family. According to Weiner, Perl “was a scotch-on-the rocks man, an incurable storyteller.” Indeed, Perl epitomized the small town Jew who strives to be active and visible in the community in order to be seen as a positive “representative” of Jews, instead of as a marginalized outsider.  He joined groups like the Kiwanis Club of Brownsville, The Brownsville Chamber of Commerce, The Masons, the Shriners, and the Elks.  Perl’s dynamic personality inevitably enabled him to distinguish himself from Leon and began to take more of a central role in the Brownsville community. As local architect engineer Jim Hiester would later say, “I know of no one who has contributed more to Brownsville than Sam Perl.” The Fashion Perl Bros. may have been co-owned, but in time Perl owned more than the business — he owned a  glowing reputation. This was especially evident when Perl became the standard-bearer for the Jewish people of Brownsville.

CLICK THIS to read entire article. It will open in a new window

Google image of Sam Perl Blvd which stretches from downtown St Charles and 12th St paralleling  the Rio Grande until it reaches the Old Bridge to Mexico on Mexico Blvd.  It symbolically joins America with Mexico characteristic to Sam Perl's place in the border community.

Also Sam Perl info from --->  Texas State Historical Association - Handbook of Texas

Sample ads from Brownsville Herald.

 Bill King wrote this for his friend Sam.  Bill King also wrote "Rattling Yours..." about his father "Snake" King

This is good information to have next time you're asked who Sam Perl was and why a boulevard was named after him.

Majestic Theater lobby 1949  (BHA archives)

Here's where we delve into the unsure.  This photo was taken at the Majestic Theater lobby on December 11, 1949 is cropped to magnify details of prizes and signs alluding to contest and $3000 in prizes.  One internet source states Mr. Sam Perl was honored in the 1970s as "Mr. Brownsville" but that might have been in slight error.  It is possible that 1949 was the year and while being honored in the 1970s the public was reminded of Perl's long continuous service to his community and forgot to mention 1949 as year he was named Mr Brownsville?  Perl's name was always in the paper for many reasons such as those already described in the Schottenstein document.

1952 Perl Bros Botany Daroff window display contest photos for Men's Magazine (image courtesy of Nora Vasquez at Junk N Treasure)

1952 Brownsville baseball - Lions Little League

1952 star shortstop Ernest Weatherford / Brownsville Lions little league. Photo shared by his half-brother Jerry Wall. 

1965 West Brownsville Little League "J & O" team

Water, Water Everywhere & Fun in the Sun

 1959 Villarreal family skiing on the horseshoe lake resaca behind Ft Brown.  Someone holler at me if I'm wrong but that is Dr Juliet Garcia on the left.

 1930s Francis Wagner's (in "blue") outing with friends from St Mary at Boca Chica beach

Grandma Frances & Dick with her 1954 Chevrolet Belair at Boca Chica Beach

N Bridge reference in Brownsville, Texas (unfinished post)

DOWNTOWN 78520 and SouthXSouthmost info here

 Brownsville Artists and Musicians (BAM)'s opening of DOWNTOWN 78520

I spoke a little bit with the photographers about their art but rather let their photos speak for themselves.  Look them up on Facebook and follow some more of their work and look up the Brownsville Artists and Musicians Facebook also.

 Veronica Gaona

 Josie Del Castillo

 There was a good early crowd taking in the show and interacting with artists.

 Conrado Gonzalez

 Eduardo Martinez-Blanchard

This might be the perfect opportunity to take notice of this new venue and give it a try as something  new and different coming from a group of young, energetic and enthusiastic collaborators (too numerous to mention) many of which are under the direction of "MoshiMoshi" Serrano.  

!!!!THIS WEEKEND!!!!

Stop by for a happening of historic proportions and a new vibrant beat from the heart of the city.

Have plenty of fun - stay out of the sun - and have a great time all the day long in downtown Brownsville.  Yes I know it sounds like a cheap commercial but it's truly amazing to see this many line-ups in as many venues in our downtown.  

Advertising is too expensive.  Please show your support for the arts downtown by sharing this post.  Thank you.

Two Bridges and a Train Wreck

--  Click on Labels: "postcards" tag to see other postcards of Brownsville, Texas posted on this blog

1927 Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot (MoPac) Lines in Brownsville, Texas architectural renderings by David Curry

David Currey of Houston, Texas has been designing a model of the 1927 Missouri Pacific Railroad depot that once stood on 12th and E Levee St next to El Jardin Hotel.  He is collaborating with William Basden who is building a model.  Let's hope they complete their work in time for the Missouri Pacific Historical Society's conference in 2016.

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4  Front Elevation Revision C 06-17-15 Picture Version Scenery Palms 3B  Production Blur

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4  Front Elevation Revision C 06-17-15 Picture Version Blur

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4  Right Side Elevation Revision B 07-16-15 Picture Version Blurred

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4 Left  Side Elevation Revision C 07-19-15 Picture Version Blurred

Brownsville MP Depot Series 4 Rear  Elevation Revision B 06-16-15 Picture Version Blurred

MoPac Brownsville 1927 ~ Photo shared by Jose Cazares.  Colorized by Bronsbil Estacion.

National Geographic image

If you have any research that isn't already posted on the internet and would like to help, Mr. Curry can be emailed at:  texasandlouisiana@msn.com