Did you read the above ad that was in the 1972 Searcy High School yearbook?  Well, read it again and see if you can believe that J. C.Penney was saying that each Senior girl would get a free blouse.That was my interpretation.  So I did a little counting.  I looked at the Senior girls and started counting.  I came up with 74 Senior girls and each one of them had on one of the pictured above blouses!  WOW!  That's a lot of free blouses!  Did boys feel left out?  My friends said, "No, Penney's didn't give them all a blouse;  they just let them BORROW one for the picture."  So here we have another puzzle to be solved by the Searcy Sleuths.  Review the 1972 yearbook and tell me the whole story.  I took a random picture of girls and look at their collars!  (How'd that guy get in the picture?... 11/25/2023

  Photographers!  Look at this great historic picture.  It shows probably all of the employees of Wood Freeman Lumber in Searcy AR.  On the trucks it gives the phone number as 446, Searcy and looks as if E. W. 's was 3200 and O. W. 's was 5000.  Last names must be provided by Searcy Sleuths.  See why I love photographers!Artists!  Look at this beautiful Phyllis Alexander print!  A little girl with her loving pet.  "The little dog laughed to see such sport" is written at the bottom.  Phyllis Alexander is one of Searcy's best artists and painted so many portraits of children in Searcy.  This one is reportedly one of her daughters.Collectors!!  Terry Williams, another one of Searcy's best artists, also collects!  He has been collecting for years and years and this weekend folks are invited... 11/17/2023

About 37 years ago.My mother-in-law, Wyndelene Holmes Duncan, got this hand-done birthday card from me.  I had forgotten that I did it but it just popped up a few days ago.  We all called her Winnie but she preferred the real version of her name.  She is also part of Searcy's history.  She grew up on Holmes Road in Searcy and that family is why the name is Holmes Road.  There is still a big old rock house on the side of the hill.  Click https://activerain.com/droplet/4Wqt for the picture of it a long time ago.  Ms. Winnie, as we called her, was a wonderful and caring person.  She married V. W. Duncan, car dealer whose motto was, "What ole PoDunk says it is, it is!!"  He was a super salesman and built a successful car dealership that grew from used cars to new Chryslers, Plymouths and Je... 11/16/2023

Old!  I think so!  Looks old, feels old with such precision in the making.  I found it in a closet in my house!  Look at all the detail and leather.  And look at a name hand-written on it.  Do you know him?  He might have precious memories to share with us.It is a Revelation Western Auto Store ball glove, made in Japan, so says the label.  Wouldn't it be nice to find its former owner!  11/15/2023

Is it still there?This West Point ARK old sawmill post card showed up for sale on ebay and has no date on it.  I wonder how old it was and if the sawmill is still working.  West Point is a neighbor to Searcy AR and was once a thriving lovely place to live.  It is on the Little Red River and steam boats came by often in the past.  I did a blog or two on a  fantastic older mansion-style home that overlooks the river but can't find them right now.  I also did a picture of the 1956 girl's basketball tournament with the girls identified.  Click to go there. https://activerain.com/droplet/5pGy  And go back to 1953 and see another team.https://activerain.com/droplet/5pmVNow we need Searcy Sleuths to tell us about this sawmill and whether it is still alive and thriving in West Point. Help!!  11/11/2023

Old postcard for sale on ebay.Look at this fascinating picture of the old Morning Sun Tourist Cottages in Searcy AR.  Morning Sun corner offered a lot.  I thought it was just a filling station but here is what was offered according to the back of the card.  Restaurant, Gas Service, Bar-B-Q, Sandwiches, Plate Lunches, Short Orders, Soft Drinks, Tobaccos, and Tourist Cottages.  It offered 24 hour services, was located 4 miles south of Searcy and 50 miles north of Little Rock on Hwy 67!  Unfortunately, the date is not readable and the building is now replaced by the brand new filling station shown next.Next is the back of the card.Now you see where I got the information about what was offered and interesting (to me at least) is who ran it.  F. R. Duncan was a relative of my husband, Rodger... 10/30/2023

Looking back through old clippings is fun and educational.  This one popped up and I quickly called my old friend and asked what it was like to walk on fire.  He said it didn't hurt.  His feet were dark and dirty looking and he could feel the heat but it was painless.  He still does not know whether it was some magic trick or a scientific thing understood by only a few but he definitely made it through safely.So who is this old 1993 RE/MAX agent?  Rodger Cargile is truly fearless.  He is an elected alderman for the city of Searcy AR, still in the real estate and auction business and is charming enough to sell anything! Would he do it again?  Sure!!!  10/27/2023

1934 Kindergarten ClassLook at this class from 1934 and notice how the kids tried to be alike in hair fashion.  Bangs!  Bangs were definitely in for boys and girls!  But that is not the main reason I am doing this blog.  I have done another blog about the girl on the back row on the right, Mary Vesta Ford, who received an interesting rejection letter from Disney when she asked for a job. IShe lived in Searcy in a yard on Center Street that held a gorilla!  The original blog can be reached by clicking the link below.  Most important thing at that blog will be the comments from people who remembered her, the house, the gorilla, her family, and her relatives!  Be sure to keep scrolling down at that original blog.  A picture of the gorilla is there and there is another place to click to see... 10/23/2023

Dancing.....better than scaring!!But plenty of scary stuff in this yard also.  Look at the size of the skeleton in the rear!  If there was a contest he's be the winner.  The house gets full attention from the owners each Halloween with every scary thing that you can imagine plus some fun!  Skeletons are doing things like dancing (my favorite), walking the dog, roasting marshmallows, taking a selfie, and one that is "just thinking" in front of a pile of jack-o-lanterns,  and there is even a witch who made a mistake and ran into a tree!Giant skeletons. The one on the left seems to be taking a selfie.Walking the dog!  Both are skeletons!!  Take the kids!  Drive by this house at 110 Virginia Way in Searcy AR and be delighted!  10/18/2023

 The way it used to be!This might be better than today's travels.  Almost 20 years ago this picture was in the Searcy Daily Citizen, turned in by us and welcomed and encouraged by the newspaper.  We all loved having our picture in the paper, clipping it, and saving it for eternity.  NOW, folks put on facebook that they are NOW vacationing in some far-off location.  Sounds as if they are spreading the word that their home may be empty.  Welcome to thieves??  Seems to me like we did better 20 years ago!I just wrote a blog about newspapers and how much we loved them.  https://activerain.com/droplet/HGrs and this is a good example of our seeing lots of interesting pictures of friends (or enemies) in the paper.I had to google to find PTL Center.  It turned out to be part of the Jim and Tammy... 10/11/2023

Searcy Daily Citizen 1929Newspapers seem to be passing away.  We can now go to the computer in order to read the newspaper.  Many people don't have computer knowledge or own a computer.  Prices for the newspaper has gone higher so lots of people have dropped their subscription.  I plan to continue reading a newspaper each day if I can afford to do so.  I love and respect newspapers and the folks who make it happen.  I treasure the clipped photos of family members that I saved through the years. Above is a 1929 photograph of a newspaper newsroom.  Looks kinda messy, doesn't it.  I am attaching a photo of the names of folks pictured.  It was attached to the picture.   10/02/2023

Built in 1953, Harding College Building, Searcy ARLovely, isn't it?  I bought this card from ebay for 50 cents.  The back says, "A modern, air-conditioned classroom building, completed in 1953.  It contains business laboratories, lecture rooms, seminar rooms, small auditorium, and staff offices." A 1960 Harding Petit Jean has a picture of it and calls it the American Studies Building.My question is "Is it still there on campus?"  I am a Harding College graduate and the campus has grown so large that I have not been on it in quite a while. This was a beautiful building then and I hope it still is!   10/01/2023

 211 W. Woodruff, Searcy ARIt once was a light color and easier to picture and admire.  It is now this dark color and harder to get a good view and picture. The court house says it was built in 1885 and Auction.com says that is scheduled for foreclosure on October 19, 2023. And I say, "Please, recognize it as a very historic house and deserves to be respected and kept."Too many historic homes have been eliminated in Searcy AR and I hope this one will be bought and loved.  It was a foreclosure before in 2013.  I wrote a blog about it then.  Click https://activerain.com/droplet/ljNb to see it in light colors and read about its structure and a bit of history.   09/26/2023

I was given this card with three different views of First National Bank in Searcy AR.  The 1904 view is SO different.  Correct me if I am wrong but I have been told that it was located at the corner of Arch and Spruce at that time and it burned.  In this picture it looks as if it was very fancy and perhaps had the entrance on the corner.  I'd like to see a very clear picture of it at that time.In 1954, it seems much simpler and was in a different location. I believe it was then at the corner of Spruce and Race.  Then it shows the 1994 view.  The name has changed several times.  We no longer have a First National Bank in Searcy and the 1994 view is nearest to today's view!  09/21/2023

This tiny picture is only 3" x 3" and scanning enlarged it.I glance at it and say, "They look so much like my mom and dad!"Enlarging shows it is not them so I analyze and decide it is the fashion that makes me think it looks like them.  Take the lady....dresses only for women way back in the 30's. (This looks like 30's or 40's to me.) My mother would only wear pants to go pick cotton or work in the fields. Dresses were usually hand made with the style you see here.  Then look at the man.  Overalls with lots of pockets and definitely old and worn. (Just as the kids like today in their jeans with a worn-out look.)  Cocked hat and an arm around his lady friend.  The house is worn in appearance but livable with a probable out door toilet and water from a dug well.  Electricity?  I'd bet the... 09/12/2023

  Celebrate!   White County Fair week! Go to this address and read a good article about the fair.   https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2015/sep/10/white-county-fair-celebrate-80-year-anniversary/  It gives a good history of the fair.For a few years they gave away cars!! Rodger Duncan, standing beside the car that Duncan's car lot was giving away way back in 1964, has a Sept 12 birthday! The fair parade this year was Sept 9 down the main streets of Searcy Arkansas to begin the White County Fair.  Bands, floats, horses, queens, politicians, and a-lot-more strutted along the streets as cheering throngs waved to them from the sidelines.  Lots of candy was thrown!!  A friend once brought the above picture to my husband saying he'd found it in an old fair tabloid from 1964!!  Look at what th... 09/11/2023

A mystery for Searcy Sleuths!Ok, Sleuths.  Go no further.  Where was this building in Searcy AR.  This postcard was on ebay and I bought it for a member of the (as you can read on the truck and the sign) Quattlebaum family.  Searcy had a lot of Quattlebaums and this one was Connie Quattlebaum's building OK?  Ready to see the way it looks now?  Next picture, please.  It is still there and is a Beauty College.  Then the picture that follows shows the back of the card and the name of the business.  Car experts can probably tell the age by the vehicles in front of the building when the postcard picture was taken.Nice historic building, isn't it! 09/08/2023

 A Great Husband!An even greater golfer!!One year ago, Rodger W. Duncan, my husband, passed away.  He is still missed by not just me, but all his golfing buddies.  Find in the picture above a lot of his golfing friends, some still playing and a lot of them who are probably playing golf with him in another dimension!Missing you, Dude!!  09/01/2023

Searcy Arkansas was fortunate to welcome a new family named DeVore to Searcy in 1974.  Van DeVore came to work with SW Bell, his wife was Letain and their children were Janet and Roger.  Letain had been selling Avon.Did you know?  Women real estate agents were almost non-existent back then.  Letain, who has an excellent memory, remembers the 5 at the time.  She named them.  Dell Coyle, Helen Newman, Lorene Smith, Mervyl McInturff, and Thelma Mason.  Today, women agents probably outnumber the men.Helen Newman sold the DeVores their home!Helen, a super agent, started working on Letain to join the few women and become an agent because if Letain could sell Avon lipstick she could sell houses!!  Letain tried it, became addicted, became very successful, and over the last 49 years she has sold... 08/17/2023

This is a picture of an interesting change happening outside my kitchen window.  Look how the leaf is forming!  It appears as a coiled spiral looking thing.  And then!  Second picture shows it after opening all the way.  What a huge leaf on this fantastic plant that was a gift to me after my husband's death.  It is almost an example of birth to adult-hood. 08/16/2023