This letter was pointed out to me by a reader. Go to this link and check it out. It is a great letter sent to a Mary V Ford in Searcy Arkansas.
The reader wanted to know if we here in Searcy know who she was or which house she lived in. I visited with one Searcy veteran and she said there was a physician Ford. She said he lived on Center Street.
So Searcy Sleuths.....this may be a hard one. But the letter is priceless, isn't it?
Kevin, my nephew, sent all of this to me. I am Mary Ford's daughter. It has been so much fun seeing all the interest in the letter and now about Searcy. We would come every summer to visit and I also remember the gorilla as well as a small chair he made. I am not sure if the chair is still there. We all loved Searcy and have so many fond memories when we came. Thank you so much for sharing this and for the response. My Grandfather was also my dentist and his office was in a house right next door to his home for awhile then later Glen Jones and his family moved in there. My brother would probably remember the gorilla even more than I do. I think it probably did start to fall apart. He was a fun and wonderful man my Grandfather. Probably one of the kindest people I have ever known. Thank you again.
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
I was able to contact Kevin, Mary's grandson, and I'm running a story on my findings in this Saturday's paper. I'm also trying to find a photo of Mrs. Ford to use with the article, so if anyone can help me with that it would be grand.
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
How interesting! I didn't know the dentist Ford since Dr. Patterson was my dentist. That certainly produced some great comments.
It's amazing that at that time, 1938, my ex, Martha, lived a short distance from the Disney estate and at age 6, she rode the little train Disney had built in his back yard.
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Jane Burg Coffyn, how rewarding to know that you've found this blog and enjoyed it! We have GOT to find a picture of the gorilla that amused so many Searcy kids. Get the whole family to dig into the old pictures and share some of them with us. Thanks for commenting!
Luke, I look forward to your article. Perhaps the Citizen will publish a picture of the whole letter. I was afraid to thinking I might get sued.
Don, I'm assuming this must have been the time prior to Disneyland. But she knew the great Disney and rode his train!! Can you get her to comment?
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
I checked on the old office spot that Anita found in the phone book. 100 N Fir. I think it is now a vacant lot and owned by the adjoining home owner. It would have been very close to the dentist's residence, however.
Stand-in Godmother,
With my connections I can get her a gig if she is still a looker.
Wheat
Wheat, I figure you may be the culprit who sent her this discouraging letter. Nutsy would never be that cruel.
Godmoma to Nutsy, and not a friend of Wheat,
Ms. Barbara
I might as well add my two cents to the discussion of the Disney rejection letter. Mary Burg was my mother. T.J. and Allie Ford were my grandparents. My memories of the gorilla are similar to Billy Fuller's. By the time I was around the gorilla had deteriorated quite a bit. I believe my grandfather constructed him by applying a cement product over a framework of wood covered by a metal mesh. My sister mentioned the concrete chair. It leaned against a pecan tree on the west side of the house. The house just to the west of 600 W. Center was the residence of C.E. Yingling and his wife. They were the grandparents of my friends Joe and Jackie Yingling. The white house at 100 N. Fir was originally on the 600 W. Center site. My grandparents had it moved so they could build the house pictured on your blog. I spent many wonderful summers in that house while visiting Searcy. My sister and I never saw the Disney letter until after mom died. Mother had showed it to my wife Barbara and she located it when she and my sister were cleaning out mom's house. Credit goes to our web designer son Kevin for posting it on the internet It is also the first entry in a recently published book called "Other People's Rejection Letters" by Bill Shapiro. I am going to search family photos and see if I can locate any images of the dear departed primate. If I find anything relevant I'll scan it and email it to you. We still get to Searcy. Lee Biggs takes us over to the Georgetown One Stop for great catfish. They can't seem to figure out how to prepare it up here.
George Burg
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Barbara,
Any corporation sending a letter like that today would end up getting sued.
George, thanks for joining us with your comments. The internet is wonderful for connecting people. I personally have never been to the cat fish place at Georgetown. I must be the only one in the area who hasn't. One of these days I must go and see if it deserves blog attention. We have to see the gorilla! He's hiding in someone's house!
Steven, you are right. Women have come a long way. In 1938 they probably would have said women can't do blogging.....
Martha told me the story of how she got to ride Walt Disney's train. Here it is in her own words.
I was 10 years old in 1942 and the father of one of my grammar school classmates, Patricia, was taking her to ride Disney's miniature train. He asked me if I wanted to go and I thought it would be fun. The father was a good friend of Disney because of his interest in trains. He had an elaborate train set up in a building in his back yard. Patricia and I rode the train most of the afternoon. One of Disney's daughters, Diane, was there and we all had a good time. Diane was a friend of my good friend, Margaret, and they both went to a private school, Marlboro, near where I lived.
The train tracks were spread all over the rather large back yard. There was a trestle and a tunnel. At that time, Disney was just another man who had a fun back yard. He had done some cartoons but no Disneyland yet.
There you have it. There is a good Youtube video showing the train set up here.
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Don, what a good story about Walt Disney's train. I think this is one of our blogs that has just come up with unexpected and great responses. I guess you Searcy Sleuths have done A+ work again on solving this mystery. I watched the video and found it fascinating.
Barbara - The letter is priceless. There's no question about that! It is always wonderful when communities have special creative people that add color to the memories! I'm always fascinated by the local history you post about your area.
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Myrl, thanks. Stay tuned for the gorilla now!! We found the long lost gorilla picture that goes with this blog.
The gorilla has arrived! Here he is.
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Here is email from George Burg, who sent us the pictures of the gorilla, and he also sent the pictures below. Thanks, George!
That's my mother Mary Vesta Ford Burg doing the glamour girl pose. She is the one who received the rejection letter. The people in the "boat" from left to right are:Billy Bond(my mother's first cousin, Jane Ford(my aunt and my mother's younger sister, my mother Mary Ford, and Katie Bond(Billy's mother,my mother's aunt and my grandmother's younger sister). The Bonds lived in Dallas. They were well-to-do(oil) and had taken mother and Aunt Jane on a trip out west. I am uncertain where that picture was taken. The trip was sometime in the late 1930's.
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
I just came across "the letter," and found this site when I tried to find out what became of Mary Ford. After reading these wonderful responses, I still wonder what effect that letter had on her. Did she persevere and become an illustrator anway? Or did she express her artistic talent in other ways? I'm just very curious about whether this letter had any effect on Mary Ford's path in life.
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Judy, your comment made me go back to this blog and hear all the wonderful comments. You have access to the children and her friends. Perhaps someone will answer your comment on the blog.
Hi,
I am just a random person that seems to have found your blog while googling Mary Ford. After reading the article about the Disney letter on the Huffington Post, I too am curious to know if she was able to find a creative outlet for her desire to be a cartoonist in one way or another!
I work with older people as an occupational therapist, so it is also interesting to me to see how people persevere through life's challenges! And if I'd been around at that time, I would have boycotted Disney! Best wishes, Nita
Nita, her son answered the blog with comments so perhaps you can find out from him how it all worked out. This was a most interesting blog!
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