This post card shows the Kingsport Country Club and Golf Links clubhouse, located near what is now the intersection of Lamont Street and Pineola Avenue. The golf course, designed by the famed Albert Warren Tillinghast (1874 – 1942), opened in 1919 and closed in 1953. Tillinghast, acquired the epithet “Tilly the Terror” for his challenging and frustrating courses. The American Legion apparently used the clubhouse for a period after 1953, but it was eventually torn down when the Greenacres neighborhood was developed. This a one of a series of early Kingsport post cards commissioned by T. J. Stephenson and printed by Tichenor Brothers in Boston. I don’t have an exact date for this card, but the Stephenson cards were generally published in the 1920s.
Author Archives: Bob Lawrence
Puppy Tags
In the early 1950s, cities around the country provided two metal identification tags to all school children. Authorities had considered tattooing, but the threat of severe burns cancelled that. Fingerprinting was out, too, as an invasion of personal privacy. So, it was metal tags, which the kids were supposed to wear around their necks on a metal bead chain. These are two that were issued to children in Jackson School. I’ve covered the information because the people are still alive.
And, while researching these tags, I found out that the “tooth notch” found on authentic military dog tags of the time (and later: when I got my dog tags in 1963, the notch was there…I have no idea of where those tags are now) was actually there to properly orient the metal tag in the Model 70 Addressograph Hand Identification Machine.
I never got tags when I was in school, but, then, we moved around a lot.
Launch of a Vessel at Belfast
Interesting postcard. Printed in Germany, published in London. It’s pre-WWI. Addressed to a party in Gate City from “Guess Who” in Kingsport, but never mailed.
The “London E.C.” stands for London’s East Central Postal District.
B & D, Pictorial Post Card Pioneers, (Blum & Degan) operated in London from 1885 to 1908, when they went bankrupt.
Moose Lodge #972
At this time, the Kingsport Moose Lodge was located on Reservoir Road, in a location now crossed by I-26. It’s food and natatorium were much admired. In 1985, law officers raided the place and confiscated several slot machines.
On the back of this money clip, the logo “HIT”-USA is debossed. That company, as far as I can tell, is still doing business on line as Hit Promotional Products.
Here’s to the Doctor
You wonder what this was all about…
(I haven’t been able to find out anything at all about R. L. Wells, except that most of his cards – and there are plenty of them – are just like this one…rather sloppily done with letterpress on a soft paper (the inks bleed)
Rice-O’Neill Shoes
Shoes were rationed during WWII between 1943 and 1945. But J. Fred’s had Rice-O’Neill clogs in stock! The original is 3.5″ x 6″.
The People’s Store
This is a very old sign. The building on which it was painted, at 313 East Sullivan Street, was built in 1920. When I was a kid, it was Brown’s Custom Shop.
THE PEOPLE’S STORE
GROCERIES & MEATS
I’m not sure about that ampersand.
Southeast Airlines
Southeast Airlines, an E. Ward King enterprise, was a short-lived commuter line that flew out of Tri-Cities in the late 1950s
For a brief wrap up of the King legacy, check this site
Here’s link to story of the horrific crash on Holston Mountain
This is a soda/beer bottle recapper with the handy-dandy bottle neck loop so the cap won’t get lost. It was made by Replicap Products, Inc. of Greenville OH. As far as I can tell, they were quite active up until the mid-80s or so. I don’t find any current listing for them.
A Couple of Items
A couple of items bobbed up at an area flea market mall.
About 5.5″ long. Blank on the other side. Sturdy, by golly.
This store was located in a row of shops that has long been demolished. It was on the land now occupied by a car washing operation. Kent Potts owned the store. The Jarman shoe brand is still being made, but the company in Nashville is now known as Genesco.
Gone Mill
There has been discussion about whether this was Rice or Hord Mill, but, make no mistake, it’s Gone Mill now. My buddy and I carefully walked around this mill in 2014 and were surprised at how well it had survived.
No more. I’ve heard what happened to it, but I can’t verify the story.
Cherokee Post Card Company in Jefferson City appears to have been doing chromes of East Tennessee sometime in the 1960s.
Volunteer State Printing Company, assumed from the monogram, yields no citations.