Mobile Bay Magazine - February 2018

THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE FOR MOBILE AND BALDWIN COUNTIES

February 2018

THE CITY ISSUE

GO BOLD!

WE’VE GOT YOUR MARDI GRAS STYLE

Ann Druhan’s Last Dance Class

MEET THE REGULARS

Tall tales are best served with a cup of coffee

MOBILE’S WATERFRONT THE FACES OF AN INDUSTRY

Mobile’s stunning BAYLEY ALBINGER

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FEATURES FEBRUARY 2018

MAYOR MIKE DOW, A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE LIARS’ CLUB, HAS BEEN MEETING WITH THE REGULAR GROUP FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS. PHOTO BY CHAD RILEY

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VOLUME XXXIV / ISSUE 2

36

Bold Details Hit the Mardi Gras season in style, and let these fashion-forward accents inspire your next party or ball outfit.

47

Meet the Regulars MB eavesdrops on four groups of men who shoot the breeze on a regular basis.

56

Down at the Docks Get an up-close look at workers on Mobile’s waterfront and a few of the industrial jobs that contribute to our economy.

ON OUR COVER

Mobile native and Auburn student Bayley Albinger dons a red oneshoulder dress and black and white striped floral earrings (Debra’s), perfect for a Mardi Gras fête.

PHOTO BY MATTHEW COUGHLIN

 A cup of coffee and a group of friends have the potential to keep hearts joyful and spirits young through the decades.

Meet the men whose regular meetings encourage camaraderie, community and caffeine consumption, page 47.

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DEPARTMENTS FEBRUARY 2018

VOLUME XXXIV / ISSUE 2

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30

LEFT With passion and dedication, Ann Druhan taught four decades of ballroom dance classes for Mobile’s youth. PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU RIGHT The most popular person at the potluck is the one who brought West Indies salad. PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU

9 EDITOR’S NOTE 10 REACTION 12 ODDS & ENDS 14 THE DISH 16 GUMBO Well, What Do You Know?

Test your Mobile knowledge with this quiz of little-known facts.

22 CHANGE OF COURSE In 1916, a new golf course changed the face of Spring Hill.

24 SPOTLIGHT Ann Druhan The lifelong teacher shares memories of waltzing with Mobile’s youth.

28 TASTINGS Serda Brewing The roasting namesake serves up a new brew that’s years in the making.

30 BAY TABLES The Oakleigh Get-together In a historic community, a supper club turns neighbors into friends.

64 FEBRUARY CALENDAR 70 MARDI GRAS PARADE CALENDAR 72 HISTORY The Can’t Get Away Club A group of citizens stared into the face of death for the sake of the greater good.

74 ARCHIVES The Blizzard Carnival Frances Beverly reminisces about the frigid Mardi Gras of 1899 that tested the dedication of revelers.

76 ASK MCGEHEE Do any Mobile buildings have castiron facades?

The New York-inspired construction style is still evident today.

78 IN LIVING COLOR Revel in the Madness, circa 1935 An overzealous Cecil Miller and his smiling balloon fall down on the job amidst the revelry.

 Do you have what it takes to ace the quiz that could stump even the sharpest Mobilian?

We’ve got the most obscure, trivial and little-known facts about the Port City right at your fingertips, page 16.

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Mobile Bay VOLUME XXXIV

No2

FEBRUARY 2018

PUBLISHER T. J. Potts Stephen Potts Judy Culbreth

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Maggie Lacey MANAGING EDITOR/WEB Abby Parrott

SENIOR WRITER Breck Pappas

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Hallie King PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Gin Mathers

ART DIRECTOR Laurie Kilpatrick

ASSISTANT PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT

ADVERTISING

SALES MANAGER

Joseph A. Hyland

Adelaide Smith McAleer

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Anna Pavao

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

ADMINISTRATION CIRCULATION Anita Miller ACCOUNTING Jody Acreman

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Chelsea Adams, Frances Beverly, Mallory Boykin, Jill Clair Gentry, Tom McGehee, Richard Sullivan CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Colleen Comer, Matthew Coughlin, Elizabeth Gelineau, Elise Poché, Chad Riley, Catt Sirten ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL OFFICES

3729 Cottage Hill Road, Suite H Mobile, AL 36609-6500 251-473-6269 Subscription rate is $21.95 per year.

Subscription inquiries and all remittances should be sent to: Mobile Bay P.O. Box 923773 Norcross, GA 30010-3773 1-855-357-3137 MOVING? Please note: U.S. Postal Service will not forward magazines mailed through their bulk mail unit.

Please send old label along with your new address four to six weeks prior to moving.

Mobile Bay is published 12 times per year for the Gulf Coast area. All contents © 2018 by PMT Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of the contents without written permission is prohibited. Comments written in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ownership or the management of Mobile Bay. This magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork. All submissions will be edited for length, clarity and style.

PUBLISHED BY PMT PUBLISHING INC .

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EXTRAS | EDITOR’S NOTE

Best Practices

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU

F

ebruary blew in on a chilly wind this year, and while Valentine’s Day might be the conversation of the month in the rest of the country, around these parts, it’s all Mardi Gras. No matter which side of the barricade you prefer to inhabit, whether as a spectator lunging for doubloons or a masker throwing serpentine with ecstasy, there is something for every taste and pursuit at Mobile’s Mardi Gras. As we dust off a costume de rigueur or slip into something sparkly, every true Mobilian will take up the argument, with gusto, that our fair city is the Mother of Mystics. But let’s pause for a minute to consider the importance of this boisterous celebration of ours, which is so much more than beads and revelry. People have worked thousands of jobs year-round for generations to sustain every facet of this area-wide celebration: papier-mache floats, satin-sequined costumes, throws of every shape and size, not to mention hotels, restaurants, bars and caterers. All of this big fun amounts to a serious economic boom for our communities. A 2004 study by the University of Alabama found that Mardi Gras brought in an estimated $408.6 million, including $49.4 million in tax dollars. That’s an awful lot of doubloons!

Mobile is well-known for its traditions, and the Carnival courts are just one example. In this issue, we also explore the daily ritual of gathering over a cup of coffee in our feature Meet the Regulars (page 47). Also, local historian Tom McGehee introduces us to a 19th-century group of regulars and the life-saving club that grew out of their weekly get-togethers (page 72). And any true Southern tradition just wouldn’t be right without the appropriate manners to go with it. Ann Druhan has been teaching our youth the fine arts of ballroom dancing and etiquette for nearly 40 years (page 24). I myself took her dance lessons in the cafeteria of St. Ignatius School many years ago, followed by ice cream for everyone at the old Colonel Dixie that stood at the corner of Old Shell Road and McGregor Avenue. These days, I hear the kids all head to Old Dutch after ballroom, and it’s nice to know some of the best traditions, in this ever-changing modern world, live on.

MOBILIAN ANN DRUHAN HAS TAUGHT THOUSANDS OF TEENS THE FINE ART OF BALLROOM DANCING, MYSELF INCLUDED! BACK IN THE DAY, THE EVENING ALWAYS ENDED WITH ICE CREAM AT THE COLONEL DIXIE.

[LOVE THIS ISSUE]

DECISIONS, DECISIONS! JUST ORDER THE BEER FLIGHT AT SERDA BREWING, AND YOU CAN TRY ONE OF EACH.

OBSESSED! WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS FEMININE LOOK ON ALLIE. LOVE THE DRESS, LOVE THE HAIR, LOVE EVERYTHING!

Maggie Lacey EXECUTIVE EDITOR

maggie@pmtpublishing.com

 From high fashion to fast-paced industry, craft beer to neighborhood potluck, this issue has something for every reader!

MOBILE’S NEW MARDI GRAS FLAG IS MEANT TO UNITE ALL ORGANIZATIONS UNDER ONE BANNER, CELEBRATING OUR PLACE AS THE MOTHER OF MYSTICS.

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EXTRAS | REACTION

JENN GREENE OF DELTA DOGS / PHOTO BY MATTHEW COUGHLIN

Tell us how you really feel...

My father-in-law was born in this house!

WORTH A FIFTH READ

- Gay Skinner Crane

On our December issue

RAVE REVIEWS On December’s Tastings about recently opened restaurant Southern National Had dinner there last night. Loved it. I’ll be going back.

- Noretta Walls I remember working with Chef Duane 25 or so years ago at the Ritz Palm Beach, and we’ve maintained a friendship for a number of years. I am so proud to see Southern National open!

This man sure knows how to cook up a mean meal!

TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL

DOCTOR DECOY

Some good, good people. So much positivity there to serve as examples to the rest of us.

On December’s “Not Your Usual Duck Hunt”

A much-deserved spotlight on Jenn and Delta Dogs! And [dog] Daisy is looking mighty proud of you, too!

- Jay Diener

FAMILY TIES On December’s Ask McGehee about Mobile’s oldest home Former home of the Walsh family, which included Miss Amelia O’Rourke, who taught piano on a wonderful grand piano that sat by floor-to-ceiling windows in the parlor. I spent many an evening there, sitting in front of the fireplace, listening to my friend take piano lessons.

- Maxine Guerry

- Joy Burge

- Aubrey J. Sharpton III

On December’s “Angels on Earth”

- Mickey Lake

I just finished going through your December issue (for the fourth or fifth time), and I noticed a little something more during each read-through. This issue had it all — food, Christmas decorating, family businesses, retro photos, history and cute kids. Thanks for giving your readers such an entertaining publication.

It takes a special gift to be able to discern the difference between a carving and work of art. Howard [Harper] has a gift for finding the right “look” on a decoy, a talent which few carvers and collectors have. That’s what differentiates an artist from a carver.

- ArtSouth Thank you for sharing this! Dr. Harper was my childhood doctor, and now that my little boy is going to the same doctors group he used to be in, I have often wondered how Dr. Harper is doing!

- Amber Crump He was my boys’ pediatrician, too. Just loved him! Thanks for sharing this!

- Becky Taylor Wallace

GETTING TO KNOW YOU Do you have an idea for a story or want to share your thoughts and reactions to this issue with us?

EMAIL maggie@pmtpublishing.com MAIL P.O. Box 66200, Mobile, AL 36660 WEB mobilebaymag.com

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[MORE ONLINE]

Find additional local stories on Mobilebaymag.com.

Here’s what’s new on the website!

Be our Valentine Read our love letter to the beautiful city we call home. What do you adore most about Mobile? Give us your thoughts on social media, and we’ll include our favorites!

Mardi Gras Flavor

PHOTO BY ELISE POCHÉ

We have brunch recipes, cocktails and all the king cake and MoonPie concoctions you could ever dream of. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Turn up the heat Fireplaces are an automatic focal point both indoors and out. MB has compiled a gallery of stunning hearths from local homes.

Just Say “Yes!” How did he pop the question?

Tell MB all the sweet, funny or creative details of your proposal, and we’ll feature your engagement on our website — for free!

Party Pics Share your event! Just fill out the Party Pics registration form on the MB website and submit your event photos to be featured in a gallery on the Web.

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EXTRAS | ODDS & ENDS

Loving the Little Things text by HALLIE KING

Happy 84th birthday to

HANK AARON

80 different sayings are found on conversation hearts each Valentine’s Day. Thirty to 35 are classics, 10 to 20 are new and the rest are a mix from previous years.

Major League Baseball great Hank Aaron was born in Mobile on Feb. 5, 1934. The stadium built in his name was opened on April 17, 1997.

After 20 years in Aaron’s hometown, the BayBears’ final season in Mobile begins on April 5.

[FEBRUARY 18TH]

NATIONAL

CRAB-STUFFED FLOUNDER DAY Who knew? But this is something Mobilians just might be able to embrace.

Mardi Gras beads have a deeper meaning than you might think!

GREEN FOR FAITH PURPLE FOR JUSTICE GOLD FOR POWER Traditionally, beads were handed out, by color, to individuals who represented each virtue.

These days, just a hearty “throw me something, mister!” will do the trick.

See when and where parades are rolling on MB’s Parade Calendar, page 70.

Did you know that WKRG News 5 has a connection to the very first Super Bowl? Former sports director Jack Drees called the game’s plays for CBS Radio before working at WKRG. Tune in for Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4. Get stumped by even more trivia questions about our fair city on page 16.

“I was taken by the power that savoring a simple cup of coffee can have to connect people and create community.”

– Howard Schultz, former Starbucks CEO. See the bonds that coffee has created for The Regulars, featured on page 47.

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FOOD | THE DISH

Bite of the Bay MB’s contributing food fanatics share the local dishes that made them hungry for more this month.

WILLIAM W. OPPENHEIMER, President, Enveloc, Inc.

GROUPER AT ABBA MEDITERRANEAN CAFE “Look no further than Abba for a grouper experience that will thrill you at first sight, fill you with every bite and leave you entirely satisfied. Well-prepared, the Grouper de Brenda is lightly crusted and baked in olive oil. It is served with asparagus, artichoke hearts, zucchini, bell pepper and a fabulous lemon white wine sauce. Abba is quiet, friendly and delicious; you will be glad you tried it.”

ABBA MEDITERRANEAN CAFE • 4861 OLD SHELL RD. • 340-6464 • FACEBOOK.COM/ABBA-MEDITERRANEAN-CAFE-211687022216584

TAYLOR HOUSER, Advancement Director, Bayside Academy

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH GELINEAU

FLOUNDER AT JESSE’S RESTAURANT “We recently were able to get away for dinner at Jesse’s Restaurant in Magnolia Springs. I had the flounder special, and it was to die for.

The dill-crusted fish was so fresh and paired so well with the sides of feta-smashed cauliflower and garlic broccoli. The saffron caper sauce topped it off perfectly. ” JESSE’S RESTAURANT • 14770 OAK ST., MAGNOLIA SPRINGS • 965-3827 JESSESRESTAURANT.COM

SCOTT SPECK, Music Director, Mobile Symphony Orchestra

LETTUCE WRAPS AT VON’S BISTRO “Von’s Bistro is a lunch favorite. I love the lettuce wraps, with chicken, vegetables and peanut sauce, and the banh mi, a Vietnamese fusion take on a sandwich.

But I’ve never had anything there that I didn’t like. I’m a bit of a Vietnamese food nut, and it’s the best bet to get my fix within walking distance of the Mobile Symphony’s office.”

MARY STEWART CRANE, Strategic Market Director, Johnson & Johnson

DUCK CONFIT AT SOUTHERN NATIONAL “I had the pleasure of eating at Southern National for their inaugural Sunday brunch. While hard to choose, I had the duck confit hash (above). It is sweet with a hint of hoisin sauce, both delicate and flavorful. The over-easy egg and sweet potato set the dish. No matter your experience with duck, this dish will not disappoint, and brunch will forever be changed.”

VON’S BISTRO • 69 ST. MICHAEL ST.

SOUTHERN NATIONAL • 360 DAUPHIN ST.

375-1113 • VONSBISTRO.COM

308-2387 • SOUTHERNATIONAL.COM

 What dishes made you drool and left you hungry for more? Share them on our Facebook page!

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GUMBO | EXTRAS

Well, What Do You Know?

Put your knowledge of Mobile to the ultimate test with this quiz of little-known Port City facts. text by BRECK PAPPAS

Questions

1.

What was unusual about the skin of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, co-founder of Mobile?

9. How much older is Mobile than the state of Alabama?

10.

What is Mobile’s oldest living landmark?

2. In Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” what does one character steal from a Causeway filling station?

11. What role did Howard Rayford play in the history of the Bankhead Tunnel?

3. In 1946, what struck the cross on top of the southern tower of the Cathedral Basilica of Immaculate Conception?

12. Name the first dog to ride through the Bankhead Tunnel.

4. When the Cochrane Bridge was opened in 1927 (during Prohibition), how was it christened?

13. Mobilian Lamar Wilson is better known by what nickname?

5. Ninety-three Union soldiers still rest with this ship, sunk off Mobile Point during the Battle of Mobile Bay. Today, it sits upside-down under a layer of mud and about 40 feet of water.

What was the ship’s name?

14. Which television personality has spent the most time on Mobile’s airwaves?

15. When J. Oliver Wintzell opened his restaurant at 605 Dauphin St. in 1938, how many stools were inside?

6. On a map, why is the Church Street Graveyard grid off-kilter with the surrounding blocks?

7. How far was the USS Alabama towed to reach its moorings in Mobile Bay, and in what year did that happen?

CAN YOU NAME THIS BED AND BREAKFAST FROM QUESTION 26?

8. What familial link exists between the CSS Alabama and the USS Alabama?

16. Questlove, drummer for the Roots of “The Tonight Show,” has a unique link to Mobile. What is it?

17. Under what title did the first five mayors of Mobile serve?

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18. Who was George Ketchum, and why was the Bienville Square fountain placed in his name?

19. What are the dimensions of the Saenger Theatre chandelier, and how many crystals does it hold?

23. The beloved Washington Square cast-iron deer was salvaged from where?

24.

What are the only two cities to claim more baseball Hall of Famers than Mobile?

20. What Civil War-era submarine, a prototype for the famous H.L. Hunley, still rests in an unknown location in Mobile Bay?

21. Mobile is known as the City of Six Flags. Can you name all six?

25. The bodies of Joe Cain and his wife were relocated to the Church Street Graveyard in 1966, but where were they originally buried?

22. What eventual U.S. president camped on the grounds of the present-day Battle House Hotel?

26. What well-known midtown bed-and-breakfast inn was built from a kit sold through a mail-order catalog?

27. How did Dauphin Street get its name?

28. Before Church Street Graveyard was officially opened in 1820, where were most city residents buried?

29. What is the only known case of a Mobile slave earning his freedom through the fundraising efforts of city residents?

30. During World War II, what island helped the Navy improve its bombing accuracy?

31. How many metal barricades does it take to successfully manage a Mobile Mardi Gras?

32. Name Mobile’s seven National Register Historic Districts.

33.

Before Cracker Jacks, what was the first Mardi Gras throw to be banned by the city?

34. What future president, in 1877, sipped his first genuine mint julep on Oakleigh’s front gallery?

35. In what movie was there a motorcycle chase scene through Mobile’s Springdale Mall?

36. In 1871, what Mobile Bay disaster killed or seriously injured 70 people?  Turn the page for the answers to some of Mobile’s most obscure questions.

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Answers 1. To help assimilate himself with the Native Americans, Bienville was covered with tattoos from the neck down, courtesy of the Mauvilla tribe. He was particularly fond of snake tattoos, which were said to have wrapped themselves around his body. A French sailor, upon observing the natives and Bienville, wrote: “They have their skins covered with figures of snakes, which they make with the point of a needle. Mr. Bienville, who is the general of the country, has all of his body covered in this way, and when he is obliged to march to war with them, he makes himself nude like them. They like him very much, but they also fear him.”

2. A pack of cigarettes 3. A low-flying Navy training plane clipped the tower. The cross did not fall off its perch, but the pilot was killed upon crashing on South Hamilton Street.

4. Instead of Champagne, a bottle of satsuma juice was used to christen the bridge.

5. The USS Tecumseh 6. When the graveyard was laid out, the surveyor used magnetic north. The surrounding streets had been laid out, however, according to true north.

7. The “Mighty A” was towed a distance of 5,600 miles in 1964, from Seattle to Mobile. In 1986, it was named a National Historic Landmark.

8. Raphael Semmes Jr. served as a lieutenant on the USS Alabama from 1942 to 1943.

His great-grandfather Raphael Semmes commanded the CSS Alabama during the Civil War. 9. 117 years 10. The Duffie Oak on Caroline Avenue, at approximately 300 years old, is considered Mobile’s oldest living landmark. Once named the Seven Sisters Oak (for its seven large limbs), it was later renamed for former Mayor George A. Duffie, who lived nearby. The tree sports a circumference of nearly 31 feet.

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11. Rayford was the first paying customer to travel through the Bankhead Tunnel upon its completion in 1941. Thirty-two years later, when the tunnel went toll-free, Rayford was also the tunnel’s last paying motorist.

12. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Cochran’s Great Dane, Poochy, holds the distinguished title.

13. The Peanut Man. For years, Wilson peddled peanuts to motorists stopped at the traffic light near the cannon at the Loop.

14. Mel Showers has worked as a member of the WKRG-TV news team since 1969.

In 2015, he was inducted into Alabama’s Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

15. Six stools sat at the oyster bar.

16. On the PBS show “Finding Your Roots,” it was discovered that Questlove is descended from passengers of the Clotilde, the last known slave ship to arrive in America. Questlove’s ancestors entered America through Mobile and settled in the area eventually known as Africatown.

17. When Mobile officially joined the U.S. in 1813, it operated under a government system where the chief executive was referred to as “president.”

18. In 1890, the fountain was placed in honor of the physician, civic leader and president of the Bienville Water Works for his efforts to provide the city with pure drinking water.

19. At eight feet high and 10 feet wide, the chandelier is made up of 10,000 crystals.

20. The American Diver, or the Pioneer II, sank off Fort Morgan in 1863. Its five crewmen escaped with their lives, but the submarine remains missing to this day.

21. British, Spanish, French, United States, Confederate and the Republic of Alabama (which existed for less than a month in 1861, immediately after secession from the Union).

22. The hotel was built on the site of a former military headquarters set up by Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812. Jackson had

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Answers (cont.) arrived in Mobile in anticipation of a British invasion, but when it became apparent the British were heading for New Orleans, Jackson marched to meet them.

23. The Mobile River. During the Civil War, Union soldiers stole two cast-iron deer from the lawn of George A. Tuthill in Spring Hill and tossed them into the Mobile River. After the war, Tuthill spent much time and money searching the river and found one. In 2004, it was restored by the Oakleigh Garden Society and the City of Mobile.

24. New York City and Chicago 25. Odd Fellows Cemetery, outside Bayou la Batre 26. The Kate Shepard House on Monterey Place was built in 1897 from a kit sold through a mail-order catalog by Knoxville architect George Franklin Barber.

27. In 1711, when the French moved their settlement south to Mobile’s present location, King Louis XIV (the “Sun King”) sat on the French throne. His eldest son Louis, as heir to the throne, was referred to as “le Dauphin.” It was in honor of this king-to-be that Dauphin Street was named. At age 49, the Dauphin would die of smallpox before assuming the throne, but the street name remained, a hopeful tribute to a royal future that was never to be.

28. Church Street Graveyard replaced an earlier Spanish burial ground known as the Campo Santo, located where the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception stands today. Several graves from Campo Santo were moved to Church Street Graveyard, but in subsequent decades, many others were unintentionally unearthed as the city continued to develop.

29. Pierre Chastang, a Creole slave, stayed in Mobile during the yellow fever epidemic of 1819 — patrolling the streets, ensuring the safety of abandoned shops and homes,

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tending to the sick and burying the dead (in what was soon to become Church Street Graveyard). At the epidemic’s end, residents returned to Mobile and, seeing the noble work Chastang had done, raised funds to buy his freedom.

30. Ono Island is said to have taken the brunt of the Navy’s target practice during its pre-development years.

31. Approximately 11,000 barricades are used by the City of Mobile to line parade routes each year.

32. Church Street East, De Tonti Square, Oakleigh Garden District, Lower Dauphin, Old Dauphin Way, Leinkauf and Ashland Place. (Midtown and Africatown are yet to be officially designated.)

33. In 1869, Mobile Mayor Caleb Price banned the throwing of flour during Mardi Gras parades. Young revelers were fond of tossing flour by the handful at parade-goers, especially the nicely dressed ones.

34. James Garfield, who served as U.S. president from March 4, 1881, until his assassination later that year, enjoyed the Southern cocktail with Oakleigh’s owner Gen. T.K. Irwin.

35. “Raw Justice,” released in 1994.

36. On Aug. 27, 1871, the steamer Ocean Wave left Mobile for an excursion across the Bay with 200 passengers. Near Point Clear, the ship’s boiler exploded and, according to one news report, “fragments of timber of the boat and metal of the boiler were blown in every direction.” Another report describes: “In the city, the news spread rapidly and wildly, and the streets were filled with people making their way to the riverfront and anxiously and tremblingly awaiting the arrival of the steamers with the news and victims of the accident.”  A valuable resource in the making of this quiz was Malcolm Steiner’s “Old Mobile Trivia,” available for purchase at such stores as Ashland Gallery, Bienville Books, Page and Palette and at oldmobilerestaurants.com.

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SPOTLIGHT | PEOPLE

Change of Course In 1916, a new golf course for the Country Club of Mobile changed the face of Spring Hill.

Excerpt from MY STORIES: SIXTY YEARS OF GOLF AND THE FIRST NAKED WOMAN I EVER SAW by RICHARD SULLIVAN

T

he Country Club of Mobile was begun in 1898 and a clubhouse and golf course were built on the water adjacent to the Bay Shell Road in the area just north of where the Brookley complex is today. The facility was badly damaged in the hurricane of 1906 and plans were made to relocate the club farther south to a site with more acreage near what was most recently Nan Seas restaurant. However, subsequent issues with the terminus of the city streetcar line changed everything. Soon the current Spring Hill location was chosen, purchased and clubhouse/golf course construction was underway. This was about 1916.

The initial “clubhouse” was a small, temporary multipurpose structure. The golf course layout started by what is now the club’s tennis shop and went north toward the “Pasture” across what is today Wimbledon Drive.

A magnificent three-story clubhouse was complete by 1918 and sometime between 1918 and 1920, Donald Ross “designed” a golf course whose location and routing is the same as today’s course. There is little doubt that Ross designed the course, but there exists little evidence that he ever set foot on the property. Ross designed/routed courses from supplied topographical maps.

Designers such as Jack Nicklaus use the same process today.

Back then there was a firm known as Stiles & Van Kleek, developers of country club communities around Boston and St. Petersburg. This outfit’s business plan was based on “following Donald Ross around” and plotting large residential areas around Ross courses.

Apparently they would come in, partner with a few locals, and buy, design and develop as much raw land as possible. This is exactly what they did in Mobile. One of their local partners was J. Gilbert Burton, the father of

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Bruddy Burton, a great golfer and longtime club member known to many. There is a large schematic of the real estate development hanging on the wall of today’s club. The schematic is interesting to say the least.

Included are lots on Country Club Road, Hillwood and Wimbledon Drive. Turn-In and Turn-Out Lanes and Kingsway are included. Bit & Spur Road is called Union Church Road. Airport Boulevard is referred to as Government Street. No Jordan Lane.

Also no Byrnes Boulevard, Winnie Way or Suzanne Circle.

As a side note, Byrnes Boulevard would come much later – it’s named after Joe Byrnes who owned Big Standard, a used car operation. He was a longtime club member. Winnie Way and Suzanne Circle were developed in the late forties and fifties by Red Wilkerson. Winnie and Suzanne were his daughters.

Tragic Night On a very cold winter night in 1925, the clubhouse caught fire and burned to the ground. The golf pro James Campbell and his wife, as well as the club manager and one other, died in the fire. All had been occupants of the third story living quarters and simply could not escape.

My father, who was a freshman student at Spring Hill College, had attended a dance that night at the club. He always referred to the function as an “API dance” so I assume it was a holiday event with college kids. API, or Alabama Polytechnic Institute, is what Auburn University was called at the time. My father told me that after the party was over, he and his buddies went down to Napoleonville (that’s Crichton today) to get something to eat. As they were returning to Spring Hill, they got as far as the Young’s place on Old

Shell Road when they noticed light in the sky from the fire.

What was left of the clubhouse was razed by mule teams, hauled down the hill and buried without ceremony. In 2000, when the golf course was renovated last, while rebuilding 8 green, burned timbers were discovered under the left hand greenside sand trap. To my knowledge they still remain there.

After the fire a new clubhouse was quickly built – a one story “fireproof ” structure. This clubhouse lasted until 1957 when the entire club was extensively remodeled, the exterior becoming old brick. The driving forces behind this project were J.N. Ogden and Ed Meyercord. The money was raised by the sale of bonds – the same X and Y bonds members have today.

Currently as I write this, the Country Club of Mobile is in the process of a complete redesign of the north nine and the practice area. I have a feeling it will be terrific. We have a good club – good clubhouse, good golf course. I’m glad I’m still here to enjoy them. MB

ABOVE The original schematic for Wimbledon, drafted by developer Stiles and Van Kleek in September 1927. The inscription reads Golf Course and Landscape Architecture, Town Planning. Although the lots remain mostly the same today as drawn here, the roads have changed somewhat. Bit and Spur Road today was known as Spring Hill Union Church Road back then, and Airport Boulevard was known as Government Street Road. Dauphin Street would not be extended this far for another roughly 40 years!

 Anyone who wants a copy of “My Stories: Sixty Years of Golf and the First Naked Woman I Ever Saw”

by Richard Sullivan should email rsullivan@redsquareagency.com for a copy!

Catch a quick Q&A with Sullivan on our website.

february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 23

SPOTLIGHT | PEOPLE

Passing the Torch Ann Druhan shares memories from decades spent teaching Mobile’s children the finer points of life. text by CHELSEA ADAMS • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU

T

radition is the lifeblood of the South: following family footsteps as Mardi Gras royalty, gathering for Sunday night supper, recreating a secret recipe passed down through the decades. For more than 40 years, Ann Druhan has passed on a whole other Mobile tradition to the city’s youth, teaching sixth-graders the art and beauty of ballroom dance, traditional etiquette and social niceties that may otherwise be forgotten in this hustle-and-bustle world.

Druhan speaks lightly and joyfully, her smile never leaving her face. It’s a trait that’s driven much of her career in dance. As a teenager, even with less formal ballet instruction than her peers, she wowed at auditions with her passion for the movement and music.

“When I was 16, I’d only taken ballet for two years, and I was asked to audition for the city ballet. I didn’t think I’d trained long enough, but they put this music on and I just started dancing all over the stage.” After that, Druhan joined the first company as a soloist. “Even now, I can get very emotional about music. If I hear

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something, I get up and dance by myself. It drives my husband crazy!” she says.

Druhan began teaching ballet in 1964, and she also taught for the Mobile Ballet and the after-school program at UMS-Wright.

She later started teaching some overflow ballroom dance classes, then eventually took over the program and added the etiquette portion. The rest is history.

Some things have changed over the years while others have remained largely the same.

Druhan laughs as she recounts, “I started out [playing] 33 1/3 records, then I had 45 records, then 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs and now it’s all on my phone!” That’s truly the biggest difference she sees, marking decades by the medium of music. The children, on the other hand, don’t change all that much.

“They’re still very silly,” she says simply.

“They just are at that age.”

The age of Druhan’s students is no coincidence. Sixth-graders — around 12 or 13 years old — are beginning to enter the social sphere, and, to Druhan, it’s important that they know how to conduct themselves.

She takes her role as teacher seriously but looks for exciting ways to reward her students, too. She gives out a candy bar as a prize at the end of each class. (“They think that candy bar is a million dollars,” she says.) Plus, the end-of-the-year Ruth’s Chris dinner is always an event the students cherish. And, of course, there’s the recital.

After weeks of practice, the students get to strut their stuff for their parents. The recital night begins with the grand march, in which each girl is paired with a young gentleman.

The pairs form a circle around the large room — in this case, the cafeteria at St. Luke’s Episcopal School — where they follow Druhan’s instructions. Box step. Waltz.

ABOVE Ann Druhan keeps a watchful eye on her students as they box step and waltz around the room, lending instruction as needed.

Parents watch on as their children show off what they’ve learned all year. february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 25

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Freestyle. They play a game of Freeze, where Druhan plays the music and abruptly stops it, and everyone on the floor must freeze like a statue. Whichever giggling dancers do not stop in time are out. Even as couples leave the dance floor (“Men, always escort your lady to her seat!” Druhan reminds them), they’re clearly enjoying the night. Druhan’s husband, John, also circles the floor to lend advice to the young men.

The night is special for Druhan, too. She strolls through the couples, correcting their form and giving encouragement to shyer performers. Even though she puts on the front of an all-business teacher, she can’t help but sway and tap her foot to the music. “I once sat for a painting for Eugenia Foster for $5, and it was the hardest $5 of my life — I don’t like to sit still! I’m going all the time,” she explains.

This year’s evening recital holds even more meaning for Druhan, as it’s her final season spearheading the ballroom classes. Her niece, Katy D’Olive, will take over the dancing portion this coming year, though Druhan will still head the etiquette lessons.

“Etiquette is mine,” Druhan says with a smirk and a chuckle. “I don’t want people to read, ‘She’s retiring,’ because I’m not! I probably will never retire.”

It’s the perfect way to pass the torch, bringing her entire career teaching Mobile’s youth full circle.

“Katy was in my very first class when I [taught] on my own. So that is special.”

Much like battered recipe cards or glistening queens’ crowns, Druhan’s classes are treasures shared among generations of families. She’s passed on the city’s social traditions and, in the process, she became a tradition herself.

“It’s been a really wonderful experience.

I love to dance so much, and I hope I gave them an appreciation for dancing. They’ve got to know I love dancing because I danced every second I could with them,” she says.

“And I hope they had fun.” MB RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM Before the night starts, the girls and guys take seats on opposite sides of the room, and the girls giggle together in anticipation. Kicking off the night, students file in for the Grand March. A line of boys and a line of girls pair up to dance.

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FOOD | TASTINGS

Serda Brewing text by MAGGIE LACEY • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU

S

erda has become a well-known and respected name in Mobile, at least among those who love to sit over their java and pass the time. As it turns out, roasting and brewing are not all that different, and you can now relax over a different kind of beverage under the same brand name. Serda Brewing opened its doors in the old Firestone Tires on Government Street this past Thanksgiving after a massively hip renovation and the installation of an awful lot of brewing equipment.

John Serda made home brew in his mother’s kitchen during his high school years until the mess drove her mad and she ran him off.

It turns out Serda had always wanted to brew beer, but found that coffee was, well, legal for him at the time. Decades later, he teamed up with brewmaster Todd Hicks, along with several other partners, and launched Mobile’s only brewery, the first to open its doors in years.

Historically, brewing has always been a big part of the fabric of Mobile. “We were a big brewing city in the 1800s,” says Hicks. “But the time was right now for a microbrewery, and we knew we could get the beer out into the market.” Hicks has opened, worked for

or consulted with no less than a dozen southeastern breweries over the years, including Mobile’s own Port City Brewery, a mainstay of Dauphin Street in the ‘90s. He even brought the “Free the Hops” movement to Mobile, so there is no question that Hicks knows his brew, and the four offerings he has crafted for Serda’s don’t disappoint.

While Germany might have a fine reputation for its beers, Hicks says that these days, most of the country’s beer production is mechanized and, as a result, the beer heritage has suffered. He set a goal of bringing back those German flavors through a decidedly American, hands-on craft beer approach.

Most microbreweries are set up to be ale breweries, a beer which the team describes as fast and forgiving to make. But Serda is taking a different approach. “The pilsner is the standard in lager worldwide, and no one really makes a good one,” says Serda. “You need the right equipment to do it, and you need to take your time. It’s slow, and there’s no room for error.” So far, so good. Grab a bite from one of the constantly changing food trucks parked in the courtyard and enjoy the craft beer renaissance, Mobile-style. MB

 Serda Brewing • 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. M - Th, 4 p.m. – 11 p.m. F, noon – 11 p.m. Sat, noon – 10 p.m. Sun 600 Government St. • 929-9349 • serdabrewing.com 28 mobilebaymag.com | february 2018

FOOD | TASTINGS

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: SERDA’S AMBER, IPA AND PORTER OPTIONS

[ ON THE MENU ]

PILSNER

AMBER

PORTER

IPA

Hook Line & Lager is Serda’s workhorse beer, and they put work into perfecting it for sure.

Light and crisp with plenty of hops for a slightly spicy bite, this delightful beer perfectly washes down the firecracker shrimp tacos from Tin-tin’s Rock and Roll Food Truck.

The Tidewater Vienna is a smooth, malty beer with a complex flavor that even craft beer newbies love. It pairs well with just about anything, but try it with the Chicken and Waffle Sammich from Ben’s Burga Kaboose, which includes bacon, peach jam and syrup.

Serda’s dark beer offering is the unfiltered Clear Prop Porter. It is heavy and malty and lots of fun. You can’t drink too many at 8.5 percent alcohol by volumn, but we certainly enjoy one or two with the Ninja Pork Belly Slider from Good Guys Food Truck.

Serda says the IPA will “drop a hop bomb of unique citrus aromas balanced with the smooth malt base of German barley.” This beer complements The Lucille from Bleus Burger, with its wild shrooms, Swiss cheese, bacon and brioche roll slathered in truffle aioli.

february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 29

FOOD | BAY TABLES

The Oakleigh Get-together In one historic community, a new supper club turns neighbors into good friends. text by JILL CLAIR GENTRY • photos by ELIZABETH GELINEAU

I

n a community like the Oakleigh Garden District, neighbors can’t help but become friends. Waving to one another on walks eventually leads to small talk, and small talk gives way to long conversations on front porches and around dinner tables. The close proximity of the homes and the pride Oakleigh’s residents take in their community naturally result in an easy, organic camaraderie.

Even with friendships easily built, it is still impossible to know everyone in such a large neighborhood — or so it would seem.

But by using their skills in the kitchen, a group of Oakleigh under-40s is bringing everyone closer together.

“A friend and I started talking about how we wanted to get more younger people involved in the Oakleigh Garden District Society,” says Catherine Mackey, who grew up in the neighborhood. “The under-40 crowd was underrepresented in the existing meetings held by the neighborhood organization. So we decided to start a supper club to bring all the younger folks together.”

Mackey and her friend Lang Hamilton emailed about 75 people they knew in the neighborhood. Interest was strong as the RSVPs rolled in; 55 people responded “yes” for the first event in September 2017. Mackey and Hamilton planned a progressive dinner with three host homes. Each host coordinated the food — eight couples brought appetizers, 12 couples pitched in to cater the entree and six couples handled dessert. Everyone walked from house to house together, and drinks were served from a baby pool filled with ice in the back of a pickup truck. The feel was decidedly casual with plenty of fun touches. That first successful supper club was followed not long after with a second gathering in December. The host served Christmas cocktails, and everyone brought an appetizer. This month, the members will gather for Mardi Gras at a home along the parade route.

“It’s a lot to coordinate, but several of us have event planning backgrounds, so we enjoy it,” Mackey says. “We use tables and

chairs from all around the neighborhood and keep it casual and laid-back.”

With so many different participants all bringing something from their home kitchens, the food is plentiful and diverse, but favorite dishes are slowly emerging with each gathering.

“We all have our specialties. The cranberry brie bread my friend makes sounds basic, but it is a star,” Mackey says. “I always make my Brussels sprouts and butternut squash. The food doesn’t have to be fancy or hard to make. Food is a huge draw, but being together and getting to know each other is what’s most important. Today, somebody just brought a rotisserie chicken!”

Since the supper club began in the fall, under-40 attendance at the Oakleigh Garden District Society meetings has increased.

“The goal of the OGDS is to keep people here in the neighborhood, attract new people and pass the torch to the next generation,” Mackey says. “It’s such a beautiful area, and we want to make sure everyone is pitching in to help keep it clean and fun.”

Even more importantly, the supper club has deepened relationships in the community.

“I’ve gotten much closer to several of my neighbors through the supper club,” Hamilton says. “The dinners encourage us to have more real conversations that we couldn’t really have just walking the dog or saying ‘hi’ while getting out of the car after work.”

For a neighborhood that is already known to have plenty of heart, these young residents are creating deeper bonds than ever. They are also encouraging people to buy their own historic home in the area — who wouldn’t want to join in on this fun? Come hungry and leave with a full stomach, a full heart and a full register of newly-acquainted neighbors.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Catherine Mackey grew up in the Oakleigh neighborhood and is passionate about preserving community spirit. As in long-ago days, the porch is a favorite place to gather and cement friendships. Potluck buffet dishes, such as roasted Brussels sprouts and butternut squash, get requested again and again. A colorful, bubbly punch adds spirit to the occasion.

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FOOD | BAY TABLES

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Lemon Berry Prosecco Sangria SERVES 4 1 lemon, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons sugar 1/4 cup strawberries, de-stemmed and sliced 1 bottle prosecco

1. Place lemon slices in the bottom of a pitcher or punch bowl. Sprinkle sugar on top and muddle.

2. Add sliced strawberries. Muddle the strawberries into the lemons.

3. Add prosecco to the pitcher. Fill with ice and serve.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash SERVES 6 - 8 1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks 1 pound Brussels sprouts, stems trimmed and sliced in half lengthwise 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper, to taste 2/3 cup raw pecans 1/4 cup dried cranberries 5 bacon slices Maple Dijon Vinaigrette (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place butternut squash chunks and Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 20 - 30 minutes, turning twice during cooking to ensure caramelization. Scatter the pecans and dried cranberries onto the baking sheet for the last 5 minutes of roasting time.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon and chop into small pieces. To make the vinaigrette, mix all ingredients together and stir with a fork or whisk until well combined.

3. When vegetables are fork-tender, remove from oven, place in a serving bowl and toss with bacon and Maple Dijon Vinaigrette.

Serve warm.

Maple Dijon Vinaigrette 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar dash of olive oil salt and pepper, to taste

Cranberry Brie Pull-apart Bread MAKES 1 LOAF 1 sourdough bread loaf 4 tablespoons butter, divided 2/3 cup chopped raw pecans 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1 16-ounce wheel of brie, cubed 1 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the top of the bread horizontally and vertically to create 1-inch crosshatches, being careful not to slice all the way through.

2. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons butter, pecans and brown sugar. Use your hands to mix together to create a crumble topping. Set aside.

3. Thinly slice the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and insert into the slices you made in the loaf of bread.

4. Place the loaf on a baking sheet and stuff cubes of brie in-between the crosshatches of the bread, filling in all the spaces. Continue stuffing the bread with the pecan crumble and cranberries.

5. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 20 minutes or until the brie is melted and gooey. Serve immediately.

West Indies Salad SERVES 4

“This recipe is from Bayley’s Seafood Restaurant,” Mackey says. “Follow these instructions to the letter!”

1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 pound fresh lump crabmeat salt and pepper, to taste 4 ounces Wesson Oil 3 ounces cider vinegar 4 ounces ice water (as cold as possible)

1. Spread half of the chopped onion over the bottom of a large serving bowl. Top with picked and separated lumps of crabmeat. Add the remaining onion. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Pour oil, vinegar and ice water over crabmeat mixture.

3. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 - 12 hours. Toss lightly and serve over lettuce or crackers.

OPPOSITE Recipes shared at the Oakleigh supper club don’t have to be fancy, Mackey says. Her favorite contribution is roasted Brussels sprouts and butternut squash with maple Dijon dressing.

ABOVE Cranberry brie pull-apart bread has become a regular menu item at the Oakleigh supper club. West Indies salad is a classic Mobile dish, perfect for supper in a classic Mobile neighborhood.

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BOLD DETAILS Hit the Mardi Gras season in style with fashionforward accents and accessories that turn heads.

styling by MAGGIE LACEY text by HALLIE KING photos by MATTHEW COUGHLIN hair by BRANDY HUTTON, FAIRHOPE SALON AND SPA makeup by OLIVIA FRYFOGLE, EYE AND FACE AESTHETIC CENTER AT PREMIER MEDICAL models BAYLEY ALBINGER, ALLIE LESLIE shot on location at the HOLIDAY INN MOBILE DOWNTOWN/HISTORIC DISTRICT

ON ALLIE, OPPOSITE Vintage-inspired light blue two-piece gown with beaded high neck and waist (Sherri Hill, I Do Bridal and Formal)

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ON ALLIE, THIS PAGE Blue V-neck floral lace mini dress with flowing sleeves (Acler, Debra’s). Canary yellow calla lily earrings (Debra’s).

Floral damask booties (Marc Fisher, DSW). Blue python clutch (Debra’s).

ON BAYLEY, OPPOSITE Pink fascinator with silk flowers, French netting and feathers (Christine A. Moore, CK Collection). Mink fur jacket (Linda Richards, CK Collection).

ON JANIE, LEFT Navy blouse with peacock embroidery (BL-NK, CK Collection). Gray distressed jeans (Sway). Silver metallic mule loafers (Dolce Vita, Debra’s). White and gold tassle earrings (Sway).

ON RACHEL, OPPOSITE Flowy taupe silk dress (PS The Label, Hemline). Cream-colored leather jacket (BB Dakota, Hemline). Gold chain link and tassel earrings (Sway).

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april 2017 | mobilebaymag.com 39

ON BAYLEY, THIS PAGE Purple mikado low V-neck gown (JVN

by Jovani, I Do Bridal and Formal). Chunky burgundy bead necklace (Hemline).

ON ALLIE, OPPOSITE Pink and red cut-out lace dress with three-quarter length sleeves (Shoshanna, Debra’s). Purple and pink silk fascinator (Christine A. Moore, CK Collection).

Gold double hoop earrings (The Garage Studio).

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ON ALLIE Sheer three-quarter length sleeve dress with floral appliques (Justicia Ruano, Debra’s). Yellow fascinator (Christine A. Moore, CK Collection). White floral hoop earrings (Hemline).

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ON ALLISON Vibrant royal blue blouse (Sway). Black denim pants with sharkbite hemline (Sway).

Stacked-heel crocodile loafers with tassels and leather chain detail (FS/ NY, CK Collection). Brown trench (Veronica Beard, Debra’s).

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Ivory square-neck blouse with origami sleeves (Badgley Mischka, Debra’s), Black flowered handbag (Ted Baker, CK Collection). Black and white leather pump (Via Spiga, DSW), Glitter pump with pompom (Mix No. 6, DSW). Red one-shoulder cocktail dress (Halston Heritage, Debra’s), Black and white floral earring (Debra’s). Floral damask booties (Marc Fisher, DSW).

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ON ALLIE, OPPOSITE Pink hat with loops, feathers and silk flowers (Christine A. Moore, CK Collection). Leopard print faux fur coat (Sara Campbell, CK Collection). Pale pink lace evening gown (LM by Mignon, I Do Bridal and Formal).

ON BAYLEY, THIS PAGE White and black lace layered ruffle dress (Acler, Debra’s). Green toned fascinator with feather accent (Christine A. Moore, CK Collection). Black handbag with damask insets (Rebecca Minkoff, CK Collection). Black velvet chunky heeled shoes with strap (Pelle Moda, DSW).

SPECIAL THANKS SHOOT LOCATION HOLIDAY INN DOWNTOWN/ HISTORIC DISTRICT 694-0100 • IHG.COM

RESOURCES CK COLLECTION 320 FAIRHOPE AVE. FAIRHOPE • 990-9001 CKCOLLECTION.COM DEBRA’S 4068 OLD SHELL ROAD 343-7463 FACEBOOK.COM/DEBRAS. BOUTIQUEMOBILE HEMLINE 4356 OLD SHELL ROAD 287-6875 SHOPHEMLINE.COM I DO BRIDAL AND FORMAL 6920 AIRPORT BLVD. SUITE 103 447-2784 IDOBRIDALFORMAL.COM DSW 3930 B AIRPORT BLVD. 460-9129 DSW.COM

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meet

THE REGULARS Four groups of Bay Area men shoot the bull about drag racing, politics and the best way to catch a snapping turtle. text by BRECK PAPPAS • photos by CHAD RILEY

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The Roshell Racers Regulars: Rick Daves, “Tink” Davison and Don Wilson Location: Roshell’s Café and Diner, weekly breakfasts Duration: 30 years

“

I

t ain’t T-shirt weather,” says Rick Daves from his usual seat at Roshell’s. “Hey Marty,” he shouts to the already amused owner behind the lunch counter. “Can’t y’all install some seat warmers in these booths?”

Rick, Don and Tink (a nickname acquired for his knack for tinkering with cars) have been regulars at some place or other for about 30 years now. Roshell’s has been the spot as of late, ever since the third-generation diner started serving breakfast two years ago. The three regulars met during their high school days, dividing Mobile County into half-mile drag racing segments.

“All you needed was half a mile,” Don explains. “A quarter mile to race and a quarter mile to slow down.”

Life’s speedometer has dipped since those days, the competition of racing having been replaced by the yarning of tall tales — unreliable stories of fast cars and pretty women.

“Rick is full of it,” Don warns. “Although some of it’s gotta be true, ‘cause he tells it the exact same way every time.”

Don: My wife asked, “What magazine are you meeting with?” I told her Mobile Bay Magazine, and she said, “You are kidding, aren’t you?” And I had to tell these guys three times before they believed me.

Rick: My wife said, “Y’all are what?” I said, “We’re going to breakfast to meet that guy from the magazine.” She said, “Y’all are crazy. You’re gonna get up in the morning when it’s 17 degrees…”

Tink: It doesn’t make a lick o’ difference what temperature it is.

Don: We’ll go to breakfast, if it’s raining or whatever. Although one of us (pointing at Rick) didn’t show up when it snowed.

Rick: I was working.

Don: (laughs) Working on staying in bed with those grandbabies and not wanting to get out.

Rick: Oh, you mean this last snow? Yeah, I was with all my grandkids!

Don: That’s his patent excuse. The grandkids made me do it. I had all three of my grandkids, and I still got up and went to breakfast.

Rick: Well, my grandkids love me and don’t want me to leave ‘em.

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Don: I married up ‘cause I had a new car. I never would have gotten such a good lookin’ wife with an old car.

Rick: I got one cause I was good lookin’.

Tink: Now that’s sure enough a lie.

Don: That’s cause you pay them to like you. Or you got bacon in your damn pocket.

Tink: Your grandkids ain’t nothing but an excuse.

Don: He’s like Jack Nicholson, he puts bacon in his pocket and everyone thinks the dog likes him.

Rick: The 2-year-old and the 6-year-old, they get into bed with me and they stay up til 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning watching shows, and I’m up with them. So I’m not gonna jump up at five and come to breakfast.

Don: Oh, I understand totally. I’ve seen “Lion King” 100 times.

Rick: You ever watch “Scooby Doo”? I can tell you about every “Scooby Doo” movie ever made.

Don: I like in “Lion King” when there’s the big showdown with the brother-in-law lion, and those animals are talking after the confrontation. And one of the parrots says, “Well, every family’s got one.” And another parrot says, “My family’s got two of them.”

Rick: I watched “Frozen” and “The Polar Express” four times this Christmas.

Don: My grandchildren always want to hear a story every night. Their famous words are, “I want to hear a new one and a funny one.” I’ve done run out of stories. I’ve told every movie I’ve ever seen, I’ve told everything that ever happened to me, and I’ve told everything these two ever told me.

Don: We used to drag race Cottage Hill Road. I mean we’d race 50 times a night. 50 times a night! On Snow Road, Celeste Road, Kali Oka Road …

Tink: Interstate 65, before they opened it.

Don: Riviere Du Chien Road. We’d go out there with what’s-his-name whose daddy had the hardware store. He’d bring a quart of paint and he’d pour it across the road to make a starting line. It was a hot Saturday night and it about dried up before we took off. This was all during the ‘60s.

Rick: The mid-‘60s.

Don: We used to play a game where you’d give me a $20 bill and sit in the back seat of my car. I’d take your 20 and add my own 20 and tape them both to the dash. If you could get

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT Don Wilson, Tink Davison, Rick Daves

those 20s off the dash from the back seat before I hit fourth gear, that’s your 40 dollars.

And I never lost. Watch “American Graffiti,” and that was our lives.

Rick: That’s what it was.

Don: Every night of the week. Guys looking for girls, girls looking for guys. You’re driving around in the best thing you got.

Rick: We’d all go to Shoney’s and to Ozzie’s out there. Then the Krystal’s at Ann and Government Street. If you say that to someone now, they go, “The what?”

Don: And Dick Russell’s was down at the Loop.

Tink: We’d go into Krystal’s, order 40 burgers and they would not make ‘em. They’d come out there and want us to pay for ‘em first. Evidently they had a bunch who would drive up then run off or whatever. They were 10 cents a piece. We’d sit there and wait for our Krystals.

Rick: I’d get 50 Krystals for five dollars.

Don: A Kystal burger was a dime, McDonald’s was 15 cents. And when the Whopper came out it was like 29 cents, and everybody was like, “You’ll never sell one of them!”

Rick: We’d go way down Cottage Hill Road. There weren’t many houses around back then. We’d mark the distance off, and we’d race there at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning.

And there’d be 25, 30, 40 cars out there.

Don: And if you weren’t racing, you’d dive in a car when the cops showed up. You’d just dive into anything to get away. What you had to do was go down to the end of the road and race back. That way, you always had an exit route, because here come the cops.

Rick: They might catch a few of us, but they couldn’t catch us all.

Don: One time I was out on Kali Oka Road and everybody scattered, and I dove into a yellow GTO. I’m in the back pulling on this guy’s neck telling him, “Slow down!” And he says, “I used to drive an ambulance.” (laughs) We’re flying down Kali Oka Road. I told him to stop and let me out. I said, “I can walk home from here, and I’ll be alive!” february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 49

The Waffle House Ministers Regulars: Pastors Robert Emanuel, Charlie Jones, W.E. Jones and Dr. Keith Moore Location: Spring Hill Waffle House, 4 nights a week Duration: Approximately 30 years

W

hat do ministers talk about when the church pews are emptied and the prayer books tucked away? Believe it or not, the answer to this question can be found in a Mobile Waffle House, in the first booth on the right.

And on a cold Thursday night, MB is out to settle this matter, once and for all.

Pastor Keith Moore eyes the tape recorder placed at the end of the table, and turns to his friend Pastor Charlie Jones. “Now, you’ve got to be on your best behavior,” he jokes. Pastor Jones gives his booth-mate a look, as if to say, “Look who’s talking.” Pastor W.E. Jones and Pastor Robert Emanuel sit across the table, no less amused by the situation than the other two. The grill is fired up, the coffee is poured and the Waffle House ministers are ready to preach.

For the last 30 years or so, a variation of this group has met regularly for late-night coffee, greasy food or advice for an upcoming sermon, and, as far as I can tell, the result is always entertaining. If it’s a joke you’re looking for, how about this one: Four ministers walk into a Waffle House…

MB: Do y’all ever argue?

Robert: Yeah!

Keith: Yessir!

Robert: What friends don’t argue?!

MB: What’s the biggest thing y’all argue about?

Robert: (points at W.E.) Whether he caught a bigger fish than me. Sometimes politics, sometimes just life. How we handle certain problems.

Charlie: When we get stuck, we ask W.E. to clear it up for us.

Keith: He’s our elder statesman. He’s been pastoring his church for what, 50 years or more?

Robert: We don’t want to lose that wisdom.

That’s wisdom. But now, when it comes to teasing and arguing, he doesn’t get by with that. Nobody’s immune!

Keith: But as far as I know, no one in this group has ever left outta here mad at another.

MB: Who gets teased the most at this table?

Who’s the biggest target?

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Charlie: I guess I am.

MB: What do y’all tease him about?

W.E.: Anything.

Robert: And if he doesn’t give us anything to tease him about, we’ll create something! (laughs) No matter how innocent you may be, you’re still guilty in our sight.

W.E.: That’s right, we don’t care whether it’s true or not! Being true has nothing to do with the teasing.

Keith: (points at Robert) And he’s our jokester. He tells all the jokes.

MB: What’s your favorite joke?

Robert: Oh, you don’t want to know. (big group laughter) Ok, I can tell a clean one.

Three men died and went to heaven, ok? And when they got to heaven, St. Peter said, “Look, I don’t care what you do while you’re here, but don’t step on a duck.” They said, “Ok, St. Peter.”

One guy went about a month, messed around and stepped back — QUACK. He stepped on a duck. Here comes St. Peter coming out this corner with the ugliest woman the man had ever seen in his life. St. Peter clamped her onto the man’s arm and said, “This

A guy one time said, “Every time my wife gets mad, she gets historical.” I said, “You mean hysterical?” He said, “No, historical. She’ll bring up everything I’ve ever done!”

- Pastor Robert Emanuel

CLOCKWISE FROM FRONT LEFT Robert Emanuel, W.E. Jones, Charlie Jones, Dr. Keith Moore

is your mate throughout eternity.”

So the second guy said, “Man, I ain’t stepping on no duck, did you see how ugly that woman is? Got to have her for the rest of his life.” He went about six months before — QUACK. Here’s St. Peter now coming out of this corner with the ugliest woman.

Uglier than the other woman! Put her on this fella’s arm and told him, “This is your mate throughout eternity.”

The last guy says, “Man, I ain’t stepping on no duck.” He did alright for about a year and a half, stepped back — QUACK. Stepped on a duck. Here comes St. Peter coming out the other corner with a woman prettier than the man had ever seen in his life. Beautiful woman! I mean fantastic. Everything in the right place. And St. Peter clamped her onto his arm. And he looked at that beautiful woman and looked at St. Peter and said, “My God, what in the world did I do to get a beautiful woman like this?”

That woman said, “I don’t know what you did, but I stepped on a duck.” (group laughter) MB: Had y’all heard that one before?

Keith: Oh yeah!

Charlie: But most of the time, the way he tells it, we always laugh.

MB: What’s the biggest group you’ll have here?

W.E: About six. Or maybe seven, when Carter comes by.

Robert: And seven is the perfect number in the Bible, you know.

Keith: Now Carter is another one they joke on, other than Charlie.

MB: Why do you joke with Carter?

Robert: (laughs) I can tell you why we mess with Carter. I did a revival for a friend of mine, Reverend Rainey, and he came in here after the revival to eat. And Reverend Rainey said, “Man, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” So they said, “What?” He said, ‘Robert is over there doing a revival at my church, and I feel ashamed to have to get up there and preach behind him this Sunday.” So somebody suggested, “What you do is get somebody who can’t preach so well to come and preach for you on Sunday. And when you come the following Sunday, they’ll be glad to hear you.” So then the question became, well, who’s that gonna be? Who are we gonna find that can’t preach? Reverend Summers was sitting right here, and Carter was right there. And Reverend Summers looked at Carter and said, “Carter, what you doing on Sunday?” (group laughter) And he’s been the target every since!

W.E.: And he can’t live it down.

Charlie: Every time I see him — every time I look at him, that’s all I can think about.

MB: So what is it y’all enjoy about getting together like this?

Robert: Well, the camaraderie, the friendship.

We’ve got something in common. All in the same boat. So we float together, or drown.

Charlie: And we share ideas with each other, since we’re working in the same field of pastoring.

W.E.: And we care about each other. We’re friends. We’re really, really friends. february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 51

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT Mike Dow, Tom Claxton, John Lockett, Johnny Hatcher, Derrick Williams, Butch Slack

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The Liars” Club Regulars: Tom Claxton, Mike Dow, Johnny Hatcher, John Lockett, Butch Slack, Derrick Williams Location: Dick Russell’s BBQ, weekly breakfasts Duration: Approximately 30 years

“

T

he Tiny Diny was the original meeting place,” says Johnny Hatcher, over a table of steaming coffee mugs and empty creamer containers. “Then it went to the Bama Southern Belle, and then it migrated here to Dick Russell’s — and it’ll probably never leave.”

“Every time Johnny gets mad, we’ve got to find a new restaurant,” Butch Slack jokes.

“And he finds us anyhow!” says Judge John Lockett, to the delight of the men gathered around the heavy round table. And just like that, the Liars’ Club picks up from where it left off the week before.

Not many regular breakfast groups can claim as diverse a collection of careers as this crowd, which even includes a former mayor of Mobile.

Mike Dow was a regular member of the club during his time as mayor, something Judge Lockett describes as a “humbling” experience for the mayor. (“During the week at City Hall, people would come in to tell him what a great job he was doing. Then he’d come here on Saturday morning, and everybody would tell him how he’s screwing up.”)

Depending on the week, as many as 12 liars might materialize, but today’s group of six proves, for our purposes, to be more than enough.

Johnny: This group was founded by Butch’s father, Art Slack. That was how many years ago, Mike? Twenty-five, maybe 30? He formed this group, and Mike was a charter member. Art was a very well-known person in Mobile County. Very political and very active in the community.

Mike: He just cared a lot.

John: Art sold heavy equipment — cranes and stuff like that. And in a very quiet, subtle, effective way, he got these contracts and relationships established. He was good at getting under your skin a little bit. He cared about people. He was just a good guy.

Mike: When I was mayor, he was the one person who would just come walking right into my office — wouldn’t even make an appointment.

He’d just say, “Hey, Mayor, how’s it going?” Not many people did that.

Johnny: I’ll tell you this — I can’t help but tell this story. Art was 86, I think he was, and he was in a casual setting, and there was a gentleman there with a very vulgar mouth in front of Art’s wife. Art kindly asked him two times to please watch his language in front of his wife. At 86

John: To me, this is what political discourse in the United States should be. We don’t agree on much of anything. But we’re not afraid to express a disagreement and walk away still respecting the other person, even though they hold the wrong opinion.

Mike: I like how he didn’t say the “other” opinion.

He said the “wrong” opinion.

years old, he did not ask a third time. He took the guy off the stool and let him have it. And that’s a fact. He had no fear.

Tom: He was just a Southern gentleman.

Johnny: He really was. And he wasn’t going to tolerate that. (silence) John: And Johnny wasn’t in the hospital but for what, two days after that, right? (group laughter) Tom: Next time, keep your mouth shut, Johnny.

MB: How would y’all describe the people that make up the Liars’ Club?

Johnny: All liars. (group laughter) That’s the first qualifier.

Mike: There’s a thread that goes back to local politics.

Tom: We’re all politically involved.

Mike: Involved and aware … or try to be. Having gone through the election process myself, I found that you can go out and spend time with certain groups and say to yourself, “Wow, I ought to pay attention here.” You can hear things and better feel the concerns that people have.

Barbers are a good group for that — they hear people all day. And if you’re in touch with that sort of stuff, you get a good feel. That’s what Art was good at. Art was out there around a lot of people, and he would tell me, “Mayor, I need to come down and talk with you and tell you what’s going on out here.”

MB: What topics are usually discussed here?

Johnny: When Mike was mayor — number one.

Tom: When Mike was mayor — number two. (group laughter) Mike: When an election cycle comes around, every one of us has got our feelings about different people, and we discuss all that. From my perspective, if you’ve got this table on your side, you’re gonna win.

You’ve got them all.

Johnny: The biscuits here became chargeable at one time.

Mike: They have great biscuits here.

Johnny: But Art had a word with them, and now we get free biscuits.

John: Of course, it’s $25 an egg now. (group laughter) Johnny: Only for this table!

Mike: I’ve got those nine rental houses, so of course I had to go cut the water on during the winter storm. I’ve probably got an $8,000 water bill.

Johnny: I’m telling you, the best way to do that is get them little deals that go on the faucets. You twist these things on there, turn the faucet on, and it only lets so much come out.

Mike: I’ve never heard of that.

Tom: I haven’t either.

Johnny: You can get them at that hardware store downtown — Blankenships’.

John: They’ve got everything. I love that place.

Mike: Which place?

Johnny: Blankenships’. It’s like a pressure relief deal. And it only lets so much water come out.

Mike: Is this like a snipe hunt? Is this b.s.? And you’re trying to get me running around looking for these things, or what?

Johnny: Maybe it wasn’t Blankenships’, Mike (laughs). Come to think of it, I think the store was in Lucedale, Mississippi!

february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 53

The Dangerous Bunch Regulars: Robbie Bacon, Terry Barksdale, Van Finger, Doug Harrell, Al Johnson, Eddie Rogers, John Sherrell Location: Battles Wharf Market, daily coffee Duration: 22 years

A

t an hour too early, on a morning far too cold, Van Finger is exasperated with his dog — and his friends couldn’t be happier about it. “My wife has taken to calling him 1G,” Finger explains. “She reckons that’s about the cost of all the things he’s chewed up so far.”

The punch line lands, his buddies chuckle, and slowly, the morning doesn’t feel so cold any more.

Within spitting distance of the Grand Hotel, seven men crowd a single table inside the Battles Wharf Market on Scenic Highway 98: a former dentist, an entrepreneur, a once-upon-a-time football coach, among others. The gang seems friendly enough, but I remember the imposing words Finger wrote before our rendezvous.

“I will take no responsibility for what will be said, or implied, or for the language heard,” Finger declared. “Limited parking, so don’t park in our own regular parking places. That, you will hear about. Dangerous bunch.”

But as the day awakens and morning light pours through the market window, I discover a group of guys about as dangerous as a cap gun — sure, they make a lot of noise, but they can be a hell of a lot of fun.

Van: (points across the table to Doug, the oldest of the group) This guy’s gonna visit Mobile. We don’t know when, but we’ve got bets on it. When he passes on, we’re gonna blast him on over to Mobile out of the cannon [at the Grand Hotel].

Doug: Y’all are not gonna …

Van: We’re gonna pack his powder into that cannon and blast him out over the Bay. Doug: Look, I’m not gonna stand for that! You won’t shoot me out of no damn cannon, I’ll tell you that.

MB: How many members of this group have died over the years?

Eddie: Six. Van: Yep, we’ve had six pass on. See the picture on the wall? That was before the place burned down the road.

Al: We’ve lost about four or five of them there in that picture.

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My wife Mary says that our coffee shop is like a female beauty shop but that most of us can’t hear, misunderstand what is said and then repeat an inaccurate story once we get home. We refute that.

- Van Finger

Van: That was taken at a store down the road where we used to meet that burned — a Shell station called the Easy Pic. John: When I first drove by this place about seven years ago, I saw all these cars out front and thought, “Man, they must have some good breakfasts in there.” And I came in and found these guys, talking and drinking coffee, and they just welcomed me in. Now, there was an initiation fee that Dr. Harrell talked about — don’t know if I’ve ever paid it. No one really stepped up as accountant. (laughs) MB: So what do y’all like about meeting like this every morning?

Eddie: Bitchin’ and moanin’. (group laughter) Van: Mixed with some shenanigans.

Robbie: Solving the world’s problems.

MB: Speaking of problems, I heard someone talking about trying to get moles out of their yard. Did you solve that problem?

Eddie: (groans) Juicy Fruit…

MB: Juicy Fruit? Can you actually use that to get rid of moles?

Eddie: Shit, no. I bought all the Juicy Fruit in the store!

John: You’d drive by his house and see all these mole holes with Juicy Fruit sticking out of them. (group laughter) Robbie: Y’all did bad now, cause you’ve already told on me about my turtle pursuit.

Eddie: Yeah, Robbie had a turtle pursuit. He spent probably $600 trying to get a snapping turtle out of his lake. He kept saying, “That damn turtle…”

Terry: That turtle was eating up his plants he kept putting in. Lilies, wasn’t it?

Robbie: I constructed a lake last year, and I was putting in a lot of exotic water lilies, and this damn turtle kept eating them as fast as I was putting them in. So I had to declare war.

Terry: You oughta seen the contraptions he built.

Eddie: How many traps did you buy?

Robbie: Only three.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT Al Johnson, John Sherrell (hidden), Terry Barksdale, Van Finger, Doug Harrell, Robbie Bacon, Eddie Rogers

Eddie: That’s about $700 in traps! (laughs) Terry: He built one trap himself. He had all kinds of traps trying to catch that turtle.

Robbie: Well, you know, I wanted to give him a chance to live somewhere else.

Terry: Robbie’s a world-traveling hunter. He goes into Louisiana, Arkansas…

Van: Yeah, a world traveler … sometimes he goes down to Venice — as far as Venice, Louisiana. (group laughter) (Doug gets up to leave) Van: See this guy leaving right now? He leaves every morning at 6:30. He will not tell anybody what he does at 6:30. But something happens at 6:30 in the morning, ‘cause he leaves every morning at the same time.

MB: So y’all are here just about every day of the week?

John: Except for Sundays.

Terry: They’re not open on Sundays during the winter. In the

summertime it’s open every day, ‘cause all those people from Mobile move over here.

Al: It really makes me mad when they’re not open [on time], cause I normally get here first.

John: As you get a little closer to 7 o’clock, 7:15, around then, the housewives taking the kids to school will pull in here, unload.

Terry: Buy breakfast for the kids.

John: Get breakfast and feed these kids Red Bulls, ice cream sandwiches and all that stuff.

Al: We’ve got people that come here from the [Grand] Hotel who found out about this place. They’ll come here rather than go to the hotel to eat breakfast.

Van: We’ve met some pretty interesting people coming here.

Robbie: We get all the latest news, before it breaks the press.

John: And then there’s people who don’t live here but come down maybe once a year for Christmas or holidays. They’ll walk in the door, and they’ll say, “Are you guys still here?” MB february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 55

ON THIS PAGE Three crane operators from Austal USA take a break from another day of shipbuilding in the Port of Mobile. From left to right: Tevin Sparks, Dale McKinley and Orlando Brown. “I like teaching these younger guys about the job,” says McKinley. “I’ve been on this river since 1996 and worked on just about every shipyard up and down the river.

Passing my knowledge on to the younger guys — that’s the only way they’re going to learn.”

OPPOSITE As the manager of Austal’s crane and rigging department, Michael Sayner says he’s “involved in almost everything we do around here.” Lacking a dry dock at Austal, Sayner’s department plays an instrumental role in the launching of newly constructed vessels, a process that involves loading a ship onto a barge to be transported downriver to the dry dock at BAE Systems to be lowered into the water.

56 mobilebaymag.com | february 2018

DOWN DOCKS AT THE

Work a shift at Mobile’s waterfront, a major economic driver for the State of Alabama. text by BRECK PAPPAS • photos by MATTHEW COUGHLIN

february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 57

ABOVE Emanuel Lowe, a line handler for Prestige Maritime Inc, spends his days tying up or cutting loose ships throughout the Port of Mobile.

OPPOSITE Lowe secures one of the 12 lines used to hold the container ship Maersk Virginia in place at APM Terminals. Secure in her moorings, the Virginia, having just arrived from northern Europe, is ready to have her containers unloaded by crane.

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february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 59

60 mobilebaymag.com | february 2018

OPPOSITE Aboard the USS Manchester (LCS-14) at Austal USA, A-class pipe welder Ben Sarantos seals a copper nickel pipe, which will be used to transport seawater in order to perform functions such as cooling down the ship’s engines. Copper nickel piping is a popular choice for seawater transport, as it resists seawater corrosion and the growth of marine organisms, such as barnacles.

ABOVE Sarantos, a native of Ohio, describes his decision to join the Austal team as “one of the best career choices” he’s ever made. “Welding has been an obsession of mine since I was 17 years old,” he says. “It was something that just came naturally to me.” The USS Manchester is Austal’s next ship to be delivered to the U.S. Navy, and the ship is expected to sail in May.

february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 61

ABOVE One hundred and ninety feet above the ground, APM Terminals’ crane operator Jason Reed gets to work unloading the container ship Maersk Virginia. Reed shares the task with seven other crane operators, who tackle the job of unloading the 958-foot-long Virginia in four-hour shifts.

OPPOSITE With a total height of roughly 300 feet, this crane, and its identical counterpart, has lights on its apex to alert low-flying airplanes. The two cranes will have the Maersk Virginia, capable of carrying more than 61,000 tons, unloaded and reloaded for departure within about 12 hours.

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february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 63

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2018 ON STAGE & EXHIBITS PG. 66 • MARCH HIGHLIGHTS PG. 68

26TH ANNUAL ORANGE BEACH SEAFOOD FESTIVAL & CAR SHOW

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

[ FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS]

through february 13

through february 28

through april 21

Mardi Gras

Winter Camellia and Cold Hardy Displays

Savage Ancient Seas

The spirit of Carnival takes over. See our full parade calendar on page 70.

10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. On Wednesdays, experts at Bellingrath Gardens and Home present special programs to help you brush up on horticultural tips during the winter months. Admission: $13 for adults, $7.50 for children 5 - 12; free to members and to ages 4 and younger.

A variety of winter blooms and beauty thrive in the coastal climate at Bellingrath Gardens and Home. See the Port City’s famed camellias on display and an interesting winter garden filled with the blooms of ornamental kale, cabbages and mustard, pansies and violas, primroses, cyclamens, tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. Dates may vary depending on the severity of the winter.

Admission: $13 for adults, $7.50 for ages 5 - 12; free to members and to ages 4 and younger.

Travel back in time, examining the exotic creatures that roamed the swamps and seas during the age of the dinosaurs.

Visitors will explore an underwater environment with more than 50 prehistoric marine fossils. The artifacts, both cast and real specimens, are mounted in extraordinary 3-D displays.

Other features of the exhibit are dramatically suspended from the ceiling above, surrounding visitors inside an ancient, aquatic setting. Creatures in this exhibit all inhabited the earth during the Cretaceous Period.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME 973-2217 • BELLINGRATH.ORG

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME 973-2217 • BELLINGRATH.ORG

GULFQUEST NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM OF THE GULF OF MEXICO • GULFQUEST.ORG

DOWNTOWN MOBILE • MOBILE.ORG

through february 21 Winter Wednesdays

 To have your event included in the online or print edition of Mobile Bay Magazine, email calendar@pmtpublishing.com.

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JOE CAIN ON FAT TUESDAY

february 13 Fat Tuesday This is the last opportunity to stock up on MoonPies, beads and other throws!

WINTER GALA CONCERT, MOBILE OPERA

DOWNTOWN MOBILE MOBILECARNIVALMUSEUM.COM

february 17 Winter Gala Concert 8 p.m. The Mobile Opera presents their annual winter production. Tickets: $10 - $45.

THE TEMPLE DOWNTOWN • MOBILEOPERA.ORG

february 24 26th Annual Orange Beach Seafood Festival & Car Show 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Enjoy delicious food, arts and crafts, music and more fun during this popular annual event. The Orange Beach Sports Association’s major fundraiser is family-friendly and supports sports-related activities in the coastal area. Admission is free for everyone.

THE WHARF • OBPARKSANDREC.COM

february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 65

TITANIC: HONOUR & GLORY

[ON STAGE & EXHIBITS]

opening in february Permian Monsters: Life Before the Dinosaurs In an exhibit opening this month, travel back in time (290 million years to be exact) to when odd-looking animals dominated the planet.

GULF COAST EXPLOREUM SCIENCE CENTER EXPLOREUM.COM

through april 15 Titanic: Honour & Glory 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. M - Sa, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Su. Witness the glory of Titanic, her sister ships Olympic and Britannic, and White Star Line at this exhibition. Artifacts from the ships as well as movie props from the 1997 film will be on display.

HISTORY MUSUEM OF MOBILE MUSEUMOFMOBILE.COM

through june 1 Back to Havana Explore the relationship between Mobile and its sister city Havana, Cuba, in this exhibit featuring multimedia projects from 15 of Cuba’s contemporary artists.

ALABAMA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER ALABAMACONTEMPORARY.ORG

through july 1 do it The Mobile Museum of Art is giving local artists, individuals and community groups the opportunity to participate in the “do it” competition that originated in Paris in 1993. As a part of the competition, participants interpret and complete selected works out of 250+ possible instructions.

MOBILE MUSEUM OF ART MOBILEMUSEUMOFART.COM

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BACK TO HAVANA

through july 8 Alabama/Texas Art Exchange The Mobile Museum of Art features the work of artists from their respective states, presented concurrently at each venue. The event was originally scheduled for October 2017 but was postponed due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey in Houston.

MOBILE MUSEUM OF ART MOBILEMUSEUMOFART.COM

february 16 MJ Live 7 p.m. Doors open. 8 p.m. Show starts.

The No. 1 Michael Jackson tribute band brings hits like “Thriller,” “Billie Jean” and “I Want You Back” to the stage. Tickets: $30, $45, $55 or $75.

THE MOBILE SAENGER MOBILESAENGER.COM

february 16 - 18, 23 - 25, march 2 - 4 “The Mousetrap” 8 p.m. F / Sa. 2:30 p.m. Su. In this Agatha Christie classic, a snowstorm traps a group of strangers in a boarding house with an unknown killer. Tickets: $12 - $20.

THEATRE 98, FAIRHOPE • THEATRE98.ORG

february 2018 | mobilebaymag.com 67

[MARCH HIGHLIGHTS]

through april 30 Spring Bird Migration Watch hundreds of species of birds travel back to the United States after heading south for the winter.

DAUPHIN ISLAND • DAUPHINISLAND.ORG

march 3 Mobile Chocolate Festival 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Chocolate lovers rejoice! Sample various confections and chocolate products. Admission: $5, day of event; free, children 13 and under.

THE GROUNDS • 342-2809 MOBILECHOCOLATEFESTIVAL.COM

march 3 - 4 “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 7:30 p.m. Sa. 2:30 p.m. Su. Shakespeare’s beloved classic takes the stage.

MOBILE CIVIC CENTER THEATER 342-2241 • MOBILEBALLET.ORG

march 3 - 31 Azalea Bloom Out More than 250,000 vibrant azaleas will be on display throughout the 65 acres of Bellingrath Gardens and Home.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME 973-2217 • BELLINGRATH.ORG

march 9 - 10 Mobile Historic Homes Tour Explore various homes and buildings in Mobile’s historic districts, and attend other history-centric events as well.

HISTORIC MOBILE PRESERVATION SOCIETY 432-6161 • HISTORICMOBILE.COM

march 10 - 11 Orange Beach Festival of Art 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Enjoy two days of fine arts, including visual, musical, performance and culinary. Admission is free.

COASTAL ARTS CENTER OF ORANGE BEACH ORANGEBEACHAL.GOV/FACILITIES/FESTIVALARTS/ABOUT

march 10 - 11 Model Train Show 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sa. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Su. Examine train sets and attend how-to clinics at this unique event. Admission: $5 individually; $10 for family; free for children under age 10.

VIA HEALTH, FITNESS AND ENRICHMENT CENTER 1717 DAUPHIN ST. • 990-9144

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march 16 - 18 Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Listen to live entertainment and sample unique cuisine while taking in the art of more than 230 exhibitors from throughout the nation.

DOWNTOWN FAIRHOPE • THEFAIRHOPEARTSANDCRAFTSFESTIVAL.COM

march 16 & 18 “La Boheme” 8 p.m. F. 2:30 p.m. Su. The Mobile Opera performs the Puccini classic.

THE TEMPLE DOWNTOWN • 432-6772 MOBILEOPERA.ORG

march 17 St. Patrick’s Day Block Party Get your yearly pint of green beer at Mobile’s favorite block party.

CALLAGHAN’S IRISH SOCIAL CLUB CALLAGHANSIRISHSOCIALCLUB.COM

march 22 - 25 Festival of Flowers 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Th - Sa. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Su. Life-size garden vignettes, floral and gardening seminars, beautiful displays and more will be showcased during the Festival of Flowers. This year’s theme is “A Walk in the Park.” It is also the festival’s silver anniversary.

PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL • 266-2050 FESTIVALOFFLOWERS.COM

march 24 Bellingrath Easter Egg Hunt 9 a.m. - noon. Thousands of eggs will be scattered all over the Great Lawn.

There will be plenty of candy for kids of all ages and a chance to take pictures with the Easter Bunny. Children may participate in one of three hunts, depending on their age. Admission: $13 for adults, $7.50 for children 5 - 12; free to members and to ages 4 and younger.

BELLINGRATH GARDENS AND HOME 973-2217 • BELLINGRATH.ORG

march 31 Elberta German Sausage Festival Nosh on German sausage, sauerkraut, German-style filled cabbage, potato salad, goulash and much more. Be sure not to miss the carnival rides, polka and German music.

ELBERTA TOWN PARK • 986-5805 ELBERTAFIRE.COM/SAUSAGE-FESTIVAL

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MARDI GRAS 2018 PARADE SCHEDULE february 1

february 4

Order of Polka Dots 6:30 p.m. Route A

OOI

february 2

7 p.m. Route A

Floral Parade

Joe Cain Parade

Neptune’s Daughters

12 p.m. Route A

2:30 p.m. Route A

6:30 p.m. Route A

Knights of Mobile

Le Krewe de Bienville

12:30 p.m. Route A

5 p.m. Route A

Infant Mystics

Coronation of MAMGA Queen and King Elexis

7 p.m. Route F

february 5

Mobile Mystical Ladies

6:30 p.m. Route A

Order of Venus

1 p.m. Route A

Apollo’s Mystic Ladies

6:30 p.m. Route A

6:45 p.m. Daphne

7 p.m. Route A

Order of Inca

february 3 Mobile Mystics

Joy of Life Order of Many Faces 7:30 p.m. Route A

2 p.m. Route A

february 6

Mobile Mystical Revelers

Order of LaShe’s

2:30 p.m. Route A

february 8

Mobile Mystical Friends

Mystic Stripers Society

3 p.m. Route A

6:30 p.m. Route A

Maids of Mirth

february 9

6:30 p.m. Route A

Crewe of Columbus

Knights of Ecor Rouge

6:30 p.m. Route A

6:30 p.m. Route A

Arrival of King Felix III

2 p.m. Mullet Point

11 a.m. Government Street

Mystics of Pleasure

Floral Parade

6 p.m. Orange Beach

12 p.m. Route A

Mystics of Time

King Felix III Parade

6 p.m. Route A

Coronation of Queen Lucy Elizabeth Mostellar and King Felix III

12 p.m. Route A

Prichard Mardi Gras Association Parade

7:30 p.m. Route F

february 13 (Fat Tuesday) Gulf Shores Mardi Gras Association 10 a.m. Gulf Shores

Order of Athena 10:30 a.m. Route A

Knights of Revelry 12:30 p.m. Route A

King Felix III Parade 1 p.m. Route A 1:30 p.m. Route A

Shadow Barons

MLK Business and Civic Organization Parade

6:45 p.m. Daphne

3 p.m. Route D

february 11 Arrival of King Elexis I

MLK Monday Mystics

2 p.m. Route E

3:30 p.m. Route D

Northside Merchants

2 p.m. Orange Beach

Foley Parade

Loyal Order of the Firetruck

11 a.m. Foley

2:29 p.m. Daphne

4 p.m. Route D

6 p.m. Route C

Order of Butterfly Maidens

Maids of Jubilee

7:30 p.m. Route A

Krewe of Mullet Mates

february 12

Order of Doves

Comic Cowboys

Mystical Order of Mirams

Krewe of Marry Mates

1:30 p.m. Route A

6:45 p.m. Fairhope

1 p.m. Prichard

6:45 p.m. Fairhope

7 p.m. Route A

Order of Angels

7 p.m. Mobile Convention Center

Order of Mystic Magnolias

6:30 p.m. Orange Beach

6:45 p.m. Fairhope

february 10

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6:30 p.m. Mobile Convention Center

Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association Mammoth Parade 2 p.m. Route B

Orange Beach Parade Order of Myths

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HISTORY | ARCHIVES

The Can’t Get Away Club During some of Mobile’s darkest days, a special group of citizens stared into the face of death for the sake of the greater good. text by TOM MCGEHEE

F

or nearly 200 years, Mobilians approached the summer months with fears of an outbreak of yellow fever or, as it was commonly called, yellow jack. The first epidemic struck as early as 1704, and the city lost a third of its population to the disease in 1819, leading to the creation of the Church Street Graveyard. Victims were being buried there before the sale of the property had been completed.

Twenty years later, in 1839, that cemetery reached capacity as 450 citizens fell victim to the fever. The city hurriedly obtained additional acreage to create a new cemetery: Magnolia. Yellow fever showed no favoritism, and among the dead that year was Henry Hitchcock, one of the wealthiest and most generous citizens of Mobile. It was Hitchcock who funded the construction of Government Street Presbyterian Church, Barton Academy and a home for destitute widows.

PHOTO BY PAT DAVID

A Club is Formed

ABOVE The Church Street Graveyard in downtown Mobile is the permanent home of nearly

500 yellow fever victims from all walks of life who were stricken with the illness between 1819 and 1839. Many notable Mobilians are also buried there including Don Miguel Eslava, Dominique Louis D’Olive, James Roper, Julian Lee Rayford and Joe Cain. The cemetery is now closed to burial but is still a historic landmark for the city.

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After the plague subsided, a group of Hitchcock’s friends began meeting regularly for lunch. In discussing the tragic circumstances of 1839, the friends established the “Can’t Get Away Club” — a group of men who could not and would not flee during the next outbreak. Even the hint of a single case of the disease caused a mass stampede to trains and ships out of the city before a quarantine could be put into place. These men pledged to stay behind and help the stricken.

The members privately raised funds to pay for nurses and doctors for the sick and to provide food for their families. Each ward or district had a board set up to begin work as soon as a quarantine was declared. Donations came from Mobilians from all walks of life, as well as from generous people around the country.

An advertisement during the devastating 1853 plague stated: “Grocers and others are authorized to furnish provisions and anything necessary for the comfort of the sick and destitute upon the order of any physician, minister or member of the club.”

And in another column entitled “To the sick”: “Ice can be obtained at all hours of the day or night at the Infirmary of the Can’t Get Away Club opposite the public square on Conception Street.”

It was not until the devastating outbreak of 1853 that the “Can’t

Get Away Club” formally incorporated.

Their charter specified that it was a “charitable and benevolent organization to relieve the destitute sick of epidemic fevers,” while specifying that “no member shall receive any pay for his services.”

The group even obtained a burial lot within Magnolia Cemetery in which to bury unfortunate victims who had nowhere else to go. As most of the burials took place during Mobile’s rainy summers, the gravediggers often placed the coffin in the water-filled grave and then used poles to hold it down until it was covered with earth.

A Mysterious Plague No one was sure where the disease came from or how to stop it. Symptoms of chills and headaches were followed by nausea and jaundice, thus the name yellow fever. Entire families were stricken. One of Mobile’s most prominent physicians looked on in helpless horror as he watched four of his children aged from just 3 to 19 succumb to the fever and die in September of 1853. They were just four of more than 1,300 victims in a city with a population of 25,000.

When a fever outbreak was discovered in a home, a yellow flag was affixed to the door.

In some cases, victims were stacked outside the house, awaiting removal by undertakers wearing masks and gloves. The bodies were described as being dark and mottled, their faces having a “sad and sullen” look. Veins bulged “as if about to burst.”

Survivors recalled the eerie sound of funeral bells tolling from a dozen churches at a time and the sight of the mortuary carts slowly passing by. Gravediggers had to work by lantern light to keep up with the burials.

All of this took place in the stifling humid heat of late August and September.

Newspapers had strong ties to commercial interests and did their best to keep publicity about an outbreak to a minimum. Plagues were bad for business, after all. The arrival of yellow jack killed trade, progress, personal liberties and interstate commerce.

Panic and Quarantine Even rumors of an outbreak could lead to panic as citizens attempted to board trains or

steamers out of town. Railroads forbid passengers from carrying anything more than a handbag, and the station was often crowded with stacks of trunks left behind in haste.

When the fever outbreak was official, a quarantine was put into effect. Mobilians attempting to flee northward were put into a quarantine station at Mount Vernon where they were kept for observation for up to 10 days. If a passenger fell ill on the train, they were ordered off. In one instance, when a New Orleans man died, his body was unceremoniously thrown from the moving train.

Mobilians would stand beside the tracks hoping to be able to board, but the trains would speed by, ignoring former stops. Some citizens opted for camping out in the woods beyond city limits until the plague ended.

Eastern Shore residents could come to Mobile for business as long as they departed by nightfall when the fever was assumed to be contagious. A Mobilian could not even place his foot aboard a gangplank.

The city resembled a ghost town. Even the horse-drawn streetcars stopped running.

Theories Abound As early as 1848, local physician Josiah Nott theorized that insects were the culprits, but few believed it. “Experts” convincingly announced that the plagues were caused by fogs rising from the earth after nightfall. In 1858, a New York doctor declared that coal brought in from Liverpool “emits a gas which favors the spread of the infection of yellow fever.”

Mobile was not the only city in America to be affected. Northern cities had been stricken in the late 17th century, but during the 19th century, it was the South, stretching from Texas to Virginia, that suffered the most.

Louisiana was hit particularly hard and was the first state in the nation to establish a state board of health as a result.

Victims were to be avoided at all costs.

It was widely believed that touching their clothing, books or even a newspaper would cause instant contamination.

The Rev. Gardiner C. Tucker, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, was a longtime member of the club. When friends and parishioners rushed to evacuate the city at news of an epidemic, he stayed put, announcing

that he would not go. He handled countless funerals, but officials required him to stand at least 10 feet away from the graves.

Many years later, he would reminisce that during these times “all evil-minded persons fled and none from outside could get in. I do not recall one instance of robbery until after the quarantine was lifted.”

Apparently, the reverend’s memory got rosier with time. During the 1853 epidemic, the Register reported the loss by fire of the residence of Mr. G.M. Parker on St. Louis Street. Mr. Parker and his family had evacuated, and the home they lost was valued at $4,500.

The Register followed the story with: “We would warn our citizens against leaving their houses uninhabited, there being a set of scoundrels about who choose this time of sickness for their depredations.”

Cures Abound Not all victims of the disease died, and an incredible list of “cures” was credited. They ranged from sucking lemons to swallowing bitter doses of quinine throughout the day.

Coffee mixed with whiskey was thought to be excellent. Many believed that heavy alcohol consumption was beneficial in keeping the disease at bay.

No one dared venture out after dark. Windows were kept tightly shut against the mysterious night air as the occupants sweltered within. Ironically, this method may have helped. The real culprit, the mosquito, was locked out.

The End of the Club The last epidemic to strike Mobile was in 1897. In December of that year, Peter Burke wrote a fellow member of the club, “It is my most fervent hope that we shall never meet again under such trying circumstances.

Wishing you a bright and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to blot out the memories of the recent past.”

Soon after, yellow fever was eradicated with the discovery of its link to the pesky mosquito. The club then disbanded after 58 years of service to Mobilians. Reverend Tucker was the last member upon his death in 1941. He was 91 years old. MB

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HISTORY | ARCHIVES

The Blizzard Carnival The Mardi Gras of 1899 put the resolve of Mobile revelers to the ultimate test. text by FR ANCES V. BEVERLY illustration by COLLEEN COMER Frances Beverly Papers, The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of South Alabama

Born in 1865, Frances V. Beverly toiled away at her home on Government Street throughout the 1930s and ‘40s, writing what she hoped would become the almanac of Mobile. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Beverly died in Mobile in 1954, leaving behind piles of manuscripts hidden from the very audience whose lore and customs she so tirelessly documented for posterity — that is, until now. In this series, MB presents the Frances Beverly Papers.

O

n February 11, 1899, Mobile had the greatest surprise of her 188 years. Mardi Gras during all of those years had seldom had anything but good weather. Even if there is a forecast for rain, something happens and there is not enough to spoil the fun, but that February broke all records and will never be forgotten by Mobilians.

It was called the “Blizzard Carnival.” The weather began to stage a series of unheard-of meteorological stunts, as a kind of preliminary to what it intended to do. About midnight on February 11, the wind decided to blow and, not being exactly what the weatherman had ordered, it stopped shortly and tried raining steadily for a few hours. Nobody paid any particular attention to that because it was not the first time that a hard rain had ushered in the Carnival season. It began to get a little chilly, and everyone drew up an extra blanket, snuggled up close to his bedfellow and went off to sleep, perfectly satisfied that morning would bring the usual fine Mardi Gras day.

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At daylight, sleet began to fall, and by Sunday morning at church time, the streets were covered with a glittering coat of ice, an innovation for Mobile, and people began to grumble. Then the weather seemed to become embarrassed, and as long as it had started something, it acted like it could not stop, and it did not. It kept steadily on, alternating rain, wind, sleet and then began to snow as if it meant business. That Sunday night was the coldest night ever experienced in Mobile. Fires were absolutely of no use; they were red, and that was all that could be said of them. Blankets felt like tissue paper, and clothing was not there, as far as feeling was concerned.

Everything froze, from the bottles of ink to the roast beef. The butchers invited their customers in and presented them with an ax, and they were told to cut off what they could, and they made no charge. Beautiful iced cakes, made especially for the Carnival guests, were like monuments of granite.

Monday was a horrible nightmare. Nothing did its duty — even hot water bags were no comfort. Everybody was out of humor; visitors forgot their company manners and were cross and resentful because they were

uncomfortable. It was clear, and the sun shone with insolence on Monday, but it was so cold that breathing was difficult. The parade was called off, and the snow was piled up everywhere, and the streets were so slippery that it was difficult to navigate.

Monday was a failure, as far as festivities went, but on Tuesday, in spite of the fact that it was cold and the snow still piled up in shady places, they had the parades. The maskers on the floats were stiff with the added accumulation of heavy underwear and so full of whiskey that they could hardly stand, but they managed to get it over with only one or two falling from their stations.

Heaven was besieged with prayer that night that an epidemic of pneumonia might not follow, and that is the one time on record that prayers and whiskey worked together in perfect harmony, and as far as could be ascertained, not a man suffered any ill effects.

Only the mothers and wives suffered, as they stood on the cold streets watching their sons and husbands riding by in the cold north wind, with silken breeches and surtouts. Of all of the many Carnivals, this year is one that will never be forgotten — the Blizzard Carnival of 1899. MB

HISTORY | ASK MCGEHEE

Do any Mobile buildings have cast-iron facades?

text by TOM MCGEHEE

In 1860, a four-story building, situated at 51 Dauphin St., was constructed on the southwest corner of Dauphin and South Water streets for the firm of Daniels and Elgin. It featured a cast-iron facade with arched windows and columns, a novelty for its time.

George Daniels and Armistead Elgin had operated on this corner since 1852, and their firm was listed as a business of “Importers, Jobbers and Retailers of Dry Goods.”

The building was at a choice location. To the east was the busy warehouse district, and to the west stretched the city’s prime retail district. The building’s distinctive Italianate style was obviously selected to draw attention and customers.

The Popularity of Cast Iron Cast-iron facades made their first appearance in Manhattan in the late 1840s, on buildings ranging from warehouses to drugstores. Daniels’ and Elgin’s new structure, like many New York examples, was inspired

by Venetian palazzos, a style that first became popular in London. Architect James H. Giles designed the Mobile example and had it cast by Daniel D. Badger’s Architectural Iron Works of New York.

By the 1850s, cast-iron facades were spreading along lower Broadway where they fronted the growing number of retail shops catering to female shoppers in a district dubbed “Ladies’ Mile.” It is highly likely that Mr. Daniels and Mr. Elgin observed those new structures while in town and wanted the latest style for their emporium in Mobile.

The arrival of the Civil War put an end to Mobile’s prosperity, and I could find no other mention of a cast-iron facade in the city. However, the popularity of the style continued in Manhattan well into the next decade, and in 1870 the firm of Lord and Taylor called upon the creators of Mobile’s example to build their grand department store at 901 Broadway.

New Tenants, New Uses In 1865, the firm of Daniels and Elgin disbanded, and their building was sold for the substantial sum of $50,000 to wholesale grocers Isaac Goldsmith and William Frohlichstein. The business partners were married to sisters, and their matching homes on Church Street survive today as the Malaga Inn.

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In 1871, the building began a long run as Brisk & Jacobson, offering “Clothing and Gent’s Furnishings.” As the years progressed, retailers moved further west on Dauphin Street, and in 1913, the firm relocated to a storefront opposite Bienville Square.

Number 51 Dauphin St. had a widely divergent set of tenants over the next few decades. Edward M. George was offering “Harnesses, Saddlery, Buggies and Wagons” in 1913 and survived briefly into the next decade selling automobile tires.

The address was listed as being vacant from 1924 until 1929 when Mobile Paint Manufacturing Company was listed at the address. In the mid-‘30s, it was home to A.H. McLeod Marine Supplies, where Mobilians

ABOVE The exterior of the old Daniels-Elgin building has remained much the same since its construction in 1860. Its cast-iron facade, a novelty for its time, was likely inspired by the architectural trends of New York City. Today, that facade faces Alabama’s tallest building, the RSA Tower. PHOTO BY CATT SIRTEN

could purchase everything they needed for their boats — from a custom-made sail to a Johnson outboard motor.

In the years following World War II, Samuel Ripps opened a wholesale jewelry business within the building. By the late 1960s, Mobile’s downtown merchants were abandoning the city center for the malls, and by the following decade, Mr. Ripp’s Gulf Coast Jewelers was operating out on Airport Boulevard.

A Changing Neighborhood As the structure passed its 100th birthday, the neighborhood was going through a severe change. Urban renewal brought federal tax dollars to town to buy up and demolish the blocks of warehouses east of Water Street. Number 51 Dauphin St. miraculously survived, possibly due to the durability of its cast-iron facade. In 1979, it was restored, and the following year, it began a new life as a first-class office space.

A recent renovation ensures that Mobile’s only building with a cast-iron facade will be appreciated for many years to come.

Retailing can be fickle, and just like in Mobile, the most popular retail shops in New York moved around, too. Lord and Taylor built their current location on Fifth Avenue in 1914. Ladies’ Mile became a forlorn and forgotten stretch of real estate, housing various manufacturing operations for much of the century. Lord and Taylor’s former palazzo was partially demolished and its distinctive ground floor altered.

As recently as 1995, a New York Times reporter termed what remained “a towering gloomy hulk.”

With the revitalization of the area for pricey boutiques and even pricier residences, the former Lord & Taylor emporium has been restored for retail use once again. Like Mobile’s earlier example, the future of this beautiful evidence of 19th century ingenuity looks secure. MB

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END PIECE | IN LIVING COLOR

Revel in the Madness, circa 1935 S. Blake McNeely Collection, The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of South Alabama • Colorization by Dynamichrome Limited

This iconic (and likely staged) photograph of an over-served Mardi Gras reveler doesn’t seem quite as dated as its ca. 1935 time stamp indicates.

The masker, identified as Cecil Miller, poses for Stanley Blake McNeely, a freelance photographer based in Mobile whose work appeared in magazines such as Life, Vogue, Fortune and Time. Do you know any of the details surrounding this photo, or are you a descendant of Mr. Miller? If so, email bpappas@pmtpublishing.com.

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