Category: Actors

In Search of the real Zane Grey

10/22/2014

I was going through some boxes of books and found this book by Zane Grey called Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon. Hoping to learn more about Zane Grey as a person, this book caught my eye because it was fact, not fiction.

The book is dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America and I was also hoping to tie it to President Roosevelt, since he was an ardent supporter of the boy scouts. This is an older book, written in 1922.

In the summer of 1998, I chose to take my physical science course as a summer hiking trip. One of the five canyons I hiked for that course was the Grand Canyon from the North rim to the South rim, nineteen point five (19.5) miles. Since, I have hiked the Grand Canyon, researched the area, and studied about the Anasazi Indians. I thought I knew a lot about the Grand Canyon. I knew about the gray squirrels, but not about it being mountain lion country. Maybe, my professors did not tell me because we were alone quite a bit as we hiked.

It is reported by GrandCanyon411.com there are mountain lions in the Grand Canyon. Mountain lions will generally avoid humans. Most people will never get even a brief glimpse at a mountain lion, and lion attacks on people are extremely rare. The number of mountain lion- human interactions has been increasing in recent years, largely because more people are living and recreating in areas where lions live.

After reading the book, I began to wonder if it had been controversial in its time, especially to the Boy Scouts of America. The following is what I found out:

This is a true account of Zane Grey’s Adventure, at the age of 36 years, traveling in 1908 to Powell's Plateau in the Grand Canyon in order to rope mountain lions, with legendary plainsman Buffalo Jones, James Simpson Emmett (simply "Emett" in the book), Jim Owens, an unnamed Navajo man referred to only as "Navvy", and a pack of very lovable dogs (who are as much real individuals as their masters) set off on this hunting adventure with camera and lasso.

Everyone has heard of roping cattle and wild horses, but roping mountain lions on their home ground is another matter. The book never explains why they are roping mountain lions. (Perhaps, they were trying to translate catch-and-release in a hunting context or maybe they were collecting live specimens, they never make that point clear). Things go badly more often than they go well. Several lions die in unnecessary deaths. The five men survive almost unscathed.

I don’t feel I learned much about Zane Grey, except that he was a hunter and supported the Boy Scouts of America. Later, I read another of his non-fiction books, Betty Zane. Still, I learned more about his grandmother than I did about him...I’m still curious about Zane Grey the author.

I had also read that President Roosevelt was an ardent supporter of the Boy Scouts of America. Boys Scouts of America began in 1910, which was after President Roosevelt was out of the office of President. (Dates in office; Sept. 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909) Mr. Roosevelt was associated with Troop 39 out of Oyster Bay, N. Y. He was honorary Vice President of The Boy Scouts of America and the only man designated as “Chief Scout of America”. Although, both Grey and Roosevelt were alive in the same period of time, there does not seem to be a connection between them, other than the fact that they were both supporters of Boy Scouts of America. The Boy Scout troops in Arizona are recorded to have had the Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon book as part of their reading materials and often visit the Grand Canyon. Mr. Grey was not connected to that troop though.

Troop 39 of Oyster Bay, NY

The following is quote by Zane Grey regarding his feelings on writing this book:

“Every boy has a heritage. It is outdoor America. Our open country, that is to say, our uncultivated lands, forests, preserves, feeding and nesting swamps are threatened by the march of so-called progress and commercialism. What is needed is two million Boy Scouts to save some of our green, fragrant, untrammeled land for the boys to come.”

I enjoy reading older books. I find it interesting how differently we view things now, than we did back then. Obviously, we feel differently about hunting. Contemporary nature-lovers, animal-lovers, or environmentalists will be appalled by elements of this book. (And the representation of Navvy, too, will offend readers, but that's a story for someone else to tell.)

I checked into current care of lions found in the Grand Canyon and the following is a report from Rangers of The Grand Canyon;

“R. V. Ward, Wildlife Program Manager in 2003 has research the lions of the Grand Canyon and if they are captured they are immobilized with a mixture of tranquilizer chemicals, delivered via blow dart. Immobilized lions are fitted with radio collars, weighed, and morphological measurements taken. Blood is collected for genetic analysis. All capture methods and drugs used are approved by National Park Service veterinarians.”

Sounds a lot different than roping mountain lions, huh?

If you are interested in Boy Scouts of America, the Grand Canyon, mountain lions, old books, or just enjoy Zane Grey books. Here is a controversial read for you.

This book can be found at Grandma’s Attic for $8.00.

Have you read Roping Lions? Tell us what you think!

-The GA Gang

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All About :The Hitchcock Chair

7/16/2014

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When I hear the name Hitchcock I generally think of Alfred Hitchcock, writer and producer of scary movies. So it was easy for me to believe that Alfred Hitchcock could have been the maker of an electric chair, but "Hitchcock chairs" were actually made by Lambert Hitchcock,

not Alfred.

On a side note, did you know Alfred Hitchcock was scared of his own movies?

Alfred

Lambert

Alfred Hitchcock, the author and director, known as the Master of Suspense, arrived on the scene August 13, 1899. As a child, Hitchcock was sent to the local police station with a letter from his father. The desk sergeant read the letter and immediately locked the boy up for ten minutes. After that, the sergeant let young Alfred go, explaining, "This is what happens to people who do bad things." Hitchcock had a morbid fear of police from that day on. He also cited this phobia as the reason he never learned to drive (as a person who doesn't drive can never be pulled over and given a ticket). It was also cited as the reason for the recurring "wrong man" themes in his films. Mr. Alfred Hitchcock left us on April 29, 1980. Do you think Mr. Alfred Hitchcock may have sat in a chair made by Mr. Lambert Hitchcock? I guess we'll never know!

Now, back to the chair! :)

The Hitchcock chair was an early example of mass production. The frames are generally of birch, oak, or maple. The backs have a curved top with a broad gentle curved back-slat, then a broad slat that usually has a design such as; leaves, flowers, baskets of fruit or cornucopias. Below this, is a narrow crosspiece, connected to the sides, that is a continuation of the leg. The front legs and the stretcher between are nicely turned in spools, rings, or vase shapes. The seats are wider at the front and graduate back with straight sides and rolled or rounded edges in front. The front legs of some of the chairs have a ball on the bottom.

There are several types of back slats; “turtle-back,” “cut-out back slat,” - a curved back with spindles, “the pillow back”, eagles, cornucopias, plain, button back, and a crested back. The rarest of the back slats are the eagles, cornucopias, and the scrolls. About 1845, the “vase back” chair or “Urn chair” chair became popular. The wide vertical middle slat was shaped like an urn or vase. It was sometimes called “Fiddleback.” The top slats are called crest rails which are referred to as; “crown top,” “crest top,” or “pillow top.”

In the beginning the chairs resembled rosewood, because the first coat of red paint, applied by children, showed through the black, also used were the colors white and green. Later a lemon-yellow color and brown were used as a background colors. Seats were first made of rush, then cane, and then plank. They were usually painted black, brownish-black or dark green. They have yellow ochre pin striping with gold half-rings on the front legs. The stencils were painted with metallic colors like red, gold, blue and white. The designs can be found on the back and sides of the chairs.

They were marked on the back with stencil “L. Hitchcock, Hitchcocksville, Connecticut, Warranted” all in one line. Hitchcocksville would have been used when the furniture was manufactured in Boston, Massachusetts. Hitchcock chose his woods with care and allowed none to be used with knots or other imperfections. Later marks were “Hitchcock, Alford & Co. Hitchcocks-ville Conn. Warranted,” and “L. Hitchcock, Unionville. Conn. Warranted.”

The height of the Hitchcock chair sales was in the 1920’s and 30’s. The earliest signature is dated from 1820 to 1832. From 1832 to 1843 the signature read “HITCHCOCK, ALFORD& Cl HITCHCOCKSVILLE, CONN WARRANTED” and from 1843 to 1852 the signature read “L.HITCHCOCK.UNIONVILLE,CONN. WARRANTED.” In the second variation of the stencils, many of the chairs have two backwards “N’s” in the word “CONN.” This is thought to have occurred because many of the laborers who worked on the chairs were illiterate. If the “N” is written backwards, your Hitchcock chair is not an original but a replica made after 1946.

These chairs are identified as “New Hampshire Hitchcock,” or “Sheraton Hitchcock” chairs. Hitchcock is best known for their “Boston Rocker.”

The Hitchcock chair was began in 1818 by Mr. Lambert Hitchcock of Barkhamsted, Connecticut. He established a cabinet and chair factory. He began by making parts that could be assembled later for the chair industry of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1825 he began making complete chairs. Mr. Hitchcock was born in Chesshire, Connecticut on June 28, 1795 and was the son of Revolutionary soldier John Lee Hitchcock. He came to rest in 1852.

We received a call one day from a gentleman wanting to sell us a chair. We asked to see the chair before we purchased it, so he brought it to us and while it was in the store a vendor came in and said, “Oh, you have a Hitchcock chair!” After some research and dickering, the chair now resides at Grandma’s Attic. Come and check it out and let us know if you believe it is a real Hitchcock chair.

-The GA Gang

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Dabbs Greer Update

6/18/2014

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We are getting closer to the goal of placing a memorial bench at Dabb's gravesite, but we're not there yet...

BORN: Robert William Greer Known as: Paul Edgecomb, Dabbs, Reverend Alden, Jonas, Billy Bob, and hundreds more names.

Pictures of Dabbs Greer from around the internet

Help us fund the memorial bench in honor of Dabbs Greer. Contact us at [email protected], 417-845-8000, or send us a message on our website or Facebook page, we'd love to hear from you.

We have a bank account set up for direct transfers, contact us for more information.

Thanks for all your help in getting us closer to making this a reality!

-The GA Gang

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"It's Al-man-zo, not Al-mon-zo"

5/21/2014

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Our day in Mansfield, Mo.

Since we found that Dabbs’ date of death was missing from his headstone, we have been on the search for information. A few weeks ago, our search led us to Mansfield, Missouri, Southeast of Springfield, where two of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s homes are located. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the Little House on the Prairie books, which is what the television show “Little House on the Prairie” was based on. We really enjoyed our day at Rocky Ridge Farm.

One of the things I found interesting was that Laura’s husband’s name was pronounced Al-”man”-zo not Al-”mon”-zo. It seems creating a role for television made a change in the way the name is pronounced.

I fell in love with the rock house that Laura and Almanzo’s daughter, Rose, had built for them as a retirement home. The front opening up for air flow and overlooking a beautiful valley, the water cistern, the stone, and even the design by the stone mason when he put the rock together all show that the home was built with love.

The builder put these unique trowel marks on the entire house between the rocks.

While we were in the museum, we found out that we have a few items in Grandma’s Attic that are similar to, or exactly like, some of Laura and Rose’s favorite possessions.

There were pieces of Depression glass throughout the rock house.

All of these pieces of Depression glass are for sale at Grandma's Attic

In the museum, there was a leather postcard.

In the corner of the museum displaying Rose’s possessions, there was a set of Stangl “blueberry” pottery dishes.

There was a lovely lilac bush in the front yard of Laura and Almanzo’s original farm house. This house was a house built with love over time. The kitchen had first been attached to a log cabin then moved across the yard to be the beginning of what grew into a farm house over time, complete with a library and music room.

We ended the day with a visit to Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company’s village which is also located in Mansfield, Missouri. It is a fun village, where you learn the story of how it started with a seed finding trip, and now has hundreds of varieties of natural seeds.

Building at Baker Creek Village

With annual weekend festivals at Baker Creek and the prospect of more exploration of the Rock House....

Mansfield is one up for a second visit from me!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baker-Creek-Heirloom-Seed-Company/155935376162?fref=photo

http://www.rareseeds.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Laura-Ingalls-Wilder-Historic-Home-and-Museum/166413716755023

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We Called Him "Billy Bob" Around Here...

5/14/2014

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You may be wondering, "Who is 'Billy Bob'?"

Well, it is the actor famous for his role as Reverend Alden on “Little House on the Prairie”, Robert William “Dabbs” Greer. He was raised here in Anderson, Missouri and was called, “Billy Bob” by locals.

On April 8, 2014, we published our blog post about this local hero, and our research for that post has set us off on a journey. A few weeks ago we went to Peace Valley Cemetery to take pictures of Robert William Greer’s final resting place. We discovered that his date of death was absent from the headstone. Being curious, I did some calling around, hoping that it was just an oversight. I found that Dabbs’ final resting was completed by power of attorney of a funeral home in California, as he was the only child of Randall and Bernice Greer and there are no close relatives. It seems this responsibility did not include having the date of death placed on the headstone after his passing on April 28, 2007.

On May 5, 2007 the town of Anderson, Mo. had a wonderful memorial and placement of his ashes. They placed a memorial stone in the area park and named a natural pool after him. Ozark Funeral Home, Premier Memorial of Anderson, and many locals did a wonderful job of laying him to rest. Talking to these same people have been very helpful in my search for information. It was while reading over materials provided to me by a local business that I came to find out that he was called “Billy Bob” by the people from this area when he lived here.

We've been doing a lot of note-taking while gathering info from local people.

Now that you're caught up on our journey so far, here's where we're at.

Grandma’s Attic would like to have Mr. Greer’s date of death put on his headstone as well as having a commemorative bench placed close by his grave site as a memorial to: William Robert “Billy Bob”-“Dabbs” Greer, with one of his quotes inscribed on the top, back:
"Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead."
as well as having this picture of him etched on the bench.

Photo graciously lent to us by http://jimnolt.com/

Here's where you come in!

WE NEED YOUR HELP
and believed you would like to be a part of this project.

The cost of this project will be $3,071.55, which includes;
the inscription of the date of death on the headstone,
the cost of the bench with inscribed words,
and the placement of the bench.

These services will be completed by Premier Memorial, of Anderson, Missouri.
Thank you, Premier Memorial for donating the slab on which the bench will be placed.

Digital Mock-up of the bench to be purchased

If you are interested in helping place the bench and get the date of death put on Robert William Greer’s headstone, here’s how you can help:

-Donations can be made at Grandma’s Attic, in Anderson, Mo.
There will be a jar available for cash donations.

-We are also able to take credit card donations
in store or over the phone.

-If you would like to send donations via mail, please send them to:

Grandma’s Attic,
Attn: Billy Bob,
4712 Goldfinch Road
Joplin, Mo. 64804

For more information about this project,
please email [email protected]
or call Grandma’s Attic at 417-845-8000.

We hope you’ll join us on this journey of discovering more regarding the life of Mr. Greer and paying our respects to him. If you’d like to read what we have posted about Dabbs’ life previously, please click on the links at the bottom of this article to read our recent posts regarding his life.

Please feel free to leave a comment below, as we’d love to hear any stories/information that you might have to share about Robert William Greer, as well as childhood memories of watching his many movies and TV shows.

After all, we’ve surely all seen this face on our TV screen at some time or other… :)

For more on Dabbs' life, visit the links below:

http://www.grandmasattic-antiques.com/1/post/2014/04/dabbs-greer-anderson-mo.html

http://www.grandmasattic-antiques.com/1/post/2014/04/camp-crowder-creators.html

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Camp Crowder Creators

4/15/2014

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About 6 months ago, we came across a picture of a carpenter crew from Camp Crowder, in Neosho, Mo. Dated 3/27/1942. (V. R. Moore, Senior Foreman and Henry V. Rogues, Foreman.)

This picture is currently for sale at Grandma's Attic. $10.00

We started talking about Camp Crowder with Earnie and Loretta of “Finders Keepers”, (Some vendors at Grandma’s Attic). They were kind enough to lend us a book they have on Camp Crowder. The book was published by Newton Country Historical Society in 2006, and is titled “From Camp Crowder to Crowder College.” It was compiled by Larry A. James.

While researching Camp Crowder, we came across some interesting information.

One fact that stood out to us was that the creator of Beetle Bailey and the creator of the Dick Van Dyke Show have a common thread with a local institution here close by Anderson, Missouri, where Grandma’s Attic is located.

The cartoonist Mort Walker, of Beetle Bailey, and writer Carl Reiner, of the Dick Van Dyke Show both drew inspiration for their creative interests from their time at Camp Crowder. Most of the humor in Beetle Bailey revolves around the inept characters stationed at “Camp Swampy” (inspired by Camp Crowder). The Dick Van Dyke show was based on Carl Reiner’s professional and personal life. Both Reiner and Walker were stationed at Camp Crowder in Neosho, Missouri while it was being used as a military training facility.

Another local personality became attached to Camp Crowder through one of these creators, Carl Reiner. Actor Robert William “Dabbs” Greer, who was raised here in town and laid to rest in a local cemetery, was the minister on the Dick Van Dyke Show who married the characters of Rob Petrie and Laura Meehan. (He was also the minister who married the characters Mike Brady and Carol Ann Taylor Martin on The Brady Bunch.) :)

{See our recent blog post on "Dabbs Greer & Anderson, MO" for more info.}

In the Dick Van Dyke Show, Dabbs played the Army chaplain of Camp Crowder, where he married Rob and Laura.

From May 15, 1941 to July 1, 1962, 10,240 acres south of Neosho in Newton County were known as "Camp Crowder" and used by the United States Military as a training compound. From April 2, 1963 to Present it has been known as "Crowder College." Many of the same buildings were used by both the military compound and the college.

Image Credit: http://shepquest.files.wordpress.com/

Crowder College is only approximately fifteen minutes’ drive Northeast of Grandma’s Attic, in Neosho, Missouri. Next time you stop in to visit us, you might want to leave some extra time to check out the local history surrounding Crowder....

The college and the camp.

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Dabbs Greer & Anderson, MO

4/8/2014

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Robert William “Dabbs” Greer
(April 2, 1917 – April 28, 2007)

Image from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This very familiar face has been seen in films and especially on TV for fifty years. This American actor was a sort of "everyman" in his roles and played merchants, preachers, businessmen, and other "pillars of the community" types as well as assorted villains. With his plain looking face and wavy hair he was a solid supporting actor. His distinctive, mellow, southern-accented voice fit well in shows featuring rustic characters, such as westerns. He also was portrayed on other shows as a minister, and is probably best remembered as the Reverend Robert Alden in NBC's Little House on the Prairie.

Greer in 1954//From Wikipedia

Dabbs was born in Fairview, Missouri (which is about 200 miles north and East of Anderson, Mo.), but he was reared in Anderson, Missouri. He was the only child of a pharmacist father, Randall Alexander Greer, and a speech therapist mother,
Bernice Irene. It is said that he got his stage name, "Dabbs", from his grandmother, who's maiden name was Dabbs.

http://www.riflemanconnors.com/dabbs_greer.htm

His first acting experience was on stage in a children's theatre production when he was eight years old. He made his film debut as an extra in the 1938 film Jesse James, which was filmed mainly in Pineville, Missouri. "They were paying $5 a day – a day! – to local people for being extras. That was really good money in those days, more money than we had seen in a long time," Dabbs told the Neosho Daily News in 2002.

He attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, where he earned a BA. He was a member of Theta Kappa Nu, and headed the drama department and Little Theatre in Mountain Grove, Missouri, from 1940-43. He then moved on to the famed Pasadena Playhouse in California as actor, instructor and administrator from 1943-50. He made his film debut in Reign of Terror (1949) (aka "The Black Book") in an uncredited bit part and went on to appear in many parts during the next 50 years. Greer's last feature film was a prominent role as the 108-year-old version of the character played by Tom Hanks in 1999's The Green Mile – 61 years after Greer was an extra in the 1938 film Jesse James. Greer's last television performance was in a 2003 episode of Lizzie McGuire.

http://www.riflemanconnors.com/dabbs_greer.htm

Dabbs played in many supporting roles, but was not a lead actor.
One quote attributed to him is

"Every character actor,
in their own little sphere,
is the lead."

And although Mr. Greer may not have played in big roles,
it's fair to say that he was pretty important.
After all, who else could have married

Rob & Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
And
Mr. & Mrs. Brady on "The Brady Bunch". :)

As a side note, in the pictures below, on the left, he is playing the role of the Army chaplain at Camp Crowder, in Neosho, Missouri, which is only approx. 15 minutes North of Anderson.

In 2007, at the age of 90, he died at Huntington Hospital after a losing battle with liver and heart disease. Greer never married and had no survivors. His resting place is Peace Valley Cemetery in Anderson, MO. Grandma’s Attic is located in Anderson, and we are proud to say that Dabbs Greer was raised here and is buried in a local cemetery.

Dabbs Greer, in the 1999 movie, The Green Mile//From Wikipedia

The cemetery is approx. 2 miles from Grandma's Attic, if you happen to be in the area and would like to visit his resting place, we'd be more than happy to give you directions! You might also enjoy a visit to "Dabbs Greer Town Hole Park" just off Main Street in Anderson.

We have enjoyed researching the life of Mr. Greer, and we hope you enjoy reading about it as well!