Searcy, AR

A friend of mine, eons ago, was preparing to move and had a lot of things to throw away. Being a scavenger, I claimed some of it. One thing she had was several pictures and floorplans of houses in Searcy that had been designed and built by her husband. I guess they were built probably in the 40's and 50's. The houses were not fancy. I kept the pictures in my car for a long time and tried to find which ones they were because they were not addressed.

Here's one of the old pictures.

And here's the way it looks today. Anyone remember it? Interesting to compare, isn't it?

Driving through old Searcy Arkansas, which is being restored and revived, I notice the tall old buildings with the little chimneys on the side. Nearly always the building is taller in the front and slants down toward the back and these little chimneys are at intervals.

This old building has been restored with an architectural firm and a law firm having done the makeover. The brick squares above the store fronts look almost like they could have been ventilation. Then we have the two rounded filled-in brick spots on the side. Explain away if you can.

The one on the right has been restored nicely and it also has the slanted roof and chimneys. The building that says auction has also, I think, now got a new front which I need to photograph.

Here's a closeup of the brick architecture on the front of the two buldings. Nice, isn't it?

Advertising was big when this thing was published just as it is today. We might even pass these things out as ad gifts if times hadn't changed.

Hotels were featured here. In Little Rock, Arkansas check out the Grady Manning, The Marion, The Albert Pike and The Lafayette.

You youngsters give up? I found this in a stack of old stuff and it brought back memories. On the back of this advertisement, which is slick and attractive on the front, there is a very porous paper which was used to blot ink!!

I hate to admit that I can remember when ball point pens were "discovered." Before that you either used a pencil or an ink pen. The ink pen could be the kind you dipped in an ink bottle or it could be a fountain pen. Either way it had to be blotted. These little conveniences were found everywhere. Not too many are found today so perhaps this is a collectible!

Pioneer Village, a part of the White County Historical Society, held an open house today. I attended. It was delightful and brought back so many memories. Here's the main house that is NOT for sale.

And here are few shots of the rooms inside it.

An amazing thing about this house was how many bed spaces it found. There must have been enough bedspaces (can't call them rooms) for 5 or more kids to have a sleeping spot. Here's a picture of one of the least favorable things from yesteryear....the out-house. But who ever heard of a log out-house?

Pioneer Village is located on Higginson Street in Searcy Arkansas. It contains a post office, general store, school house, blacksmith shop, a depot, smokehouse, barn and an old jailhouse in addition to this period house that is called the Gordon House. It is an on-going project with members of the Master Gardeners taking care of the grounds.

Today costumed members were greeting visitors and demonstrating crafts, arts, and everyday life from the past. One lady had a fire going with a pot of stew cooking. Walking through it, entering the buildings and visiting with the hosts made for a very enjoyable afternoon outing.

Sobering old photos! These pictures are sorta continuing the story we started a few days ago regarding the house on Arch Street in Searcy Arkansas that has been changed so much.

These are what we need when we are feeling as if times are awfully tough. Blogging buddy Anita supplied these photos of possibly some of her relatives, definitely at her home on Arch Street in Searcy.

The question is whether this man is absolutely worn out from working, whether the car hit the tree, or whether he is just doing what he usually does everyday. If he'd had air-conditioning and TVs as we have today, he'd not be doing the nap at this place!

Another question here. Is she exasperated because of the man's behavior under the tree? Is she just showing off her legs?

I can remember hanging clothes on a clothes line. If you had children and diapers it took a lot of hanging. Once we got a clothes dryer and my husband made the observation that he sure missed the smell of sheets hung outside to dry and perhaps it would be nice to use a clothes line again I didn't speak to him for days! And I said dirty words under my breath.