Topic starter
30/09/2009 12:44 pm
Mention of Larry Walker's "Steamboat Acorn Factory" brought to mind the attached photos of those decorative finials adorning the pilothouse of the Str. BELLE OF LOUISVILLE and how they have evolved.
(1) August, 1969 - The last season for the cobblestone wharf - Capt. Harris Underwood is blowing the whistle to "hurry up" the last few passengers! The acorns on the pilothouse were said to have been made by the Boland-Maloney Lumber Company and installed when the BELLE first began operating in 1963. Also visible in the distance are recently razed buildings to make way for the new basketball arena, slated to open in late 2010.
(2) September, 1970 - The acorns deteriorated beyond repair and Capt. Doc Hawley replaced them with legs sawed off an old table! Capt. Harris Underwood and Keith Norrington inside pilothouse.
(3) May, 1971 - Derby Morning - New acorns fresh from the Tell City Chair Company, courtesy of Bert Fenn. I think the acorns have been replaced a time or two in the interim.
Topic starter
30/09/2009 12:50 pm
MORE: The acorn doesn't fall far from the pilothouse...
(1) The aforementioned acorn from the Str. QUEEN CITY, a gift to Capt. Doc Hawley from Capt. Fred Way -- and which has seen service on the DELTA QUEEN, BELLE OF LOUISVILLE and NATCHEZ. BELLE OF LOU. roof bell, June, 1972.
(2) Bert Fenn's gift of new acorns for the pilothouse also included two for the posts which held the plexiglass screen between the calliope whistles and keyboard. May, 1971.
(3) A good view of the pilothouse, freshly painted for the new season. Taken while the boat was still in winter quarters near McAlpine Lock in the 1980's.
Topic starter
30/09/2009 12:58 pm
Long Ago on the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE...
(1) Sarah and Jonathan Tschiggfrie aboard the BELLE - June 9, 1991.
(2) Jonathan peers over the steering gear box to watch his dad taking a photo of the pilothouse front. June 9, 1991. Acorns down for painting.
(3) Capt. Harris Underwood, longtime BELLE pilot and Keith Norrington, calliope perfessor - September, 1971. The new hatband for my cap had not yet arrived from Cincinnati Regalia - hence the "ice cream man" appearance!
01/10/2009 4:49 am
Keith,
Do I spy the base of the Golden Antlers mounted on the Fleur de Lis in the centre of the spreader bar in pic 3 (Derby Day 1971)?
If I am wrong...then what is covering the Fleur?
Travis
Topic starter
01/10/2009 11:04 am
Indeed, those are the antlers! Remember that the DQ could not make it to Louisville in time for the Kentucky Derby week event in 1971, so we ran the course alone (in torrential rain!) and claimed the trophy by default! I think the DQ arrived near midnight. The antlers were temporarily hung on the spreader bar until installed on the mast a few days later.
01/10/2009 2:07 pm
That 1971 Race Trip...
That 1971 Race Trip up the river was when Richard Bedard, one of the four deckhands on my watch, fell off the bow and was killed sometime before 3 AM as the DELTA QUEEN was lumbering against the robust current of the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Reelfoot Lake. When we finally reached Louisville, Captain Wagner had to leave the DELTA QUEEN on a family emergency and he left me in command of the boat (my first time since receiving my Master's license in January), and the fellow who may have been involved in Bedard's demise, whom I had fired earlier for getting drunk after he was promised the boot if he got drunk again, especially in light of what had happened to his watch pardner just a few days before down on the dark river, a John Somebody, slipped back aboard the boat and used his "Rambo-style" pig-sticker to rearrange the features of a Porter he disliked before disappearing into the Derby Week crowd; never seen again. John S. was surviving on these same talents in the jungles of Viet Nam only a month earlier, and he had yet to readjust to civilian life, as was the case with several others in the deck crew that eventful year.
Richard Bedard, or what was left of him, was found a month later in the river east of Blytheville, Arkansas. His death, or rather a reference to it, was to play a pivotal role in future events.
A day later, soon after the grand welcoming celebrations in Cincinnati were over, I was "arrested" and the DELTA QUEEN seized by the US Marshalls for non-payment of expenses for the Super Sewer - a grand scheme and colossal and expensive failure to try to convert the DELTA QUEEN's sewage into drinking water.
... and time went on.
01/10/2009 5:50 pm
Wow, that sounds like a trip you would just as soon forget.
The board or base you spied in that picture of the Belle is in my possession ever since we remounted the antlers when they were on the DQ not too many years later. The new board was not nearly as nice, in my opinion. My job was to gold leaf the antlers, which made them look like something from King Tut's Tomb. But what a job that was!
Topic starter
02/10/2009 12:54 pm
Shipyard, I had forgotten about all those other trials and tribulations that had befallen the DQ on that initial 1971 trip up the Mississippi and Ohio. I do recall that Capt. Fred Way was aboard for that cruise and did a special edition or EXTRA entitled Incredible Journey that was issued with the next S&D REFLECTOR.
Lex, those antlers are now retired (they were getting dilapidated) and hang high on a bulkhead up forward in the "Main Deck Museum" aboard the BELLE, along with the large metal "A", made by Capt. Doc Hawley, that was between the stacks when the boat was the AVALON -- and various other artifacts and photo enlargements. A "new" set of antlers is now in use.
02/10/2009 5:40 pm
Where is the new set of anters? One has to wonder if they will ever again be used as a prize...
02/10/2009 8:36 pm
If I am not mistaken, the antlers were loaned to the Belle of Louisville for safekeeping a year ago this month. The Delta Queen will reclaim them when the gods smile upon her and allow her to once again grace the rivers of this great country.
02/10/2009 8:51 pm
Keep believin' Roger!!! ;-)))
02/10/2009 8:52 pm
That's correct. The current "Racers" use a different set of antlers, 'specially since the racers ain't all steamboats!! 🙂
(Now y'all don't go to throwin' a ball'o pitch inta th' fire over that comment!) 😉
S'
David D.
04/10/2009 4:55 pm
The "Race" to which I refer regarding the aforementioned antlers involves only steamboats. Good to know they are in safe keeping until such time as the the world rights itself.
Topic starter
05/10/2009 12:19 pm
Here are photos of several exhibits in the "Main Deck Museum" aboard the BELLE, taken in July, 2008.
(1) Antlers used in the Steamboat Races from 1963 to 199? Over on the port side, beyond the old ticket booth, is a large wooden map illustrating all the rivers and towns visited by the IDLEWILD/AVALON.
(2) Photo enlargements of IDLEWILD and AVALON over front door.
(3) "A" from spreader bar - made by Capt. Doc Hawley for Str. AVALON - later in collection of Miss Ruth Ferris, who returned it to the BELLE for display in 1988. The display was created by Capt. Mark Doty.
05/10/2009 3:54 pm
And the exhibit is in an exhibit. Thanks for the photos. Are the current race antlers located in the usual location on the outside of the exhibit?
06/10/2009 12:12 am
Heck NO!! She didn't win 'em--she's just keepin' 'em safe until Next Time!
S'
David D.
07/10/2009 3:10 pm
*RE: 'Finials/Acorns/Antlers.*
Steamboating colleagues:
Thanks to Keith, and others, for great thread on 'Finials/Acorns/Antlers' with photos and comments. Busy here and just now clicking through postings to catch up somewhat.
The acorn or oak nut [Genera Quercus, Lithocarpus, Cyclobalanopsis] has long history dating to ancient times as a tailsman, source of food, symbolic meaning as fertility symbol representing female and male. As an art motif, shown in the photos, they are most attractive. Other boats/ships also included carvings of acorns/leaves for interior decorations in carved wood, murals, paintings etc. Larry Walker was a master with his creations and, I guess, in some ways 'revived' the custom. Internet sites with ads for ordering new acorns from various craftspersons abound now.
Many mariners on different waters regarded the acorn, or 'akran,' as a good luck symbol to ward off lightening strikes during storms or 'St. Elmo's Fire' on ship masts/rigging. They kept the vane or mast-head safe. Capt. Fred Way recalled in his very early days on the river seeing old timers still carrying an acorn or two in their pockets for good luck. Great thread and thanks for the memories.
Well, what do I know?
R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River
08/10/2009 4:06 pm
Yes, well, but how do you SAY it? Egg-corn or a-kern? Depends on whether you or north or south of the Mason-Dixon Line, I do believe. I never heard that egg pronunciation until I was grown. Same goes for pecan.
Topic starter
08/10/2009 4:44 pm
Hey Lex! Just had a call from good ol' Mary Bill "let it goooooooooooo" Bauer. She didn't know of your recent move to Leadville and wanted your address and phone number, as she found the grave of a Palmore in a cemetery that she wants to chat with you about.
Have you worn your flip-flops in the snow yet? And how's your steamboat room coming along?
08/10/2009 5:01 pm
*RE: How do you say it?*
Hi, Lexie:
As you surmise the pronunciation varies regionally--east, west, north south with popular etymology. I've heard it 'A-corn,' 'E-kern,' 'achorne,' 'egg-horn.' It was compared in fertility rites as an 'egg' but had also strong masculine focus. Also old, old timers used term 'oak-horn' and 'Hallo-ee' for 'Halloween.' Gothic pronunciation was 'akran.'
Well, what do I know?
R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River.
09/10/2009 7:37 pm
I will never be Leadvillian enough to wear flip-flops in snow. You have to be in denial to do that. The steamboat room is waiting for stuff to be moved out of it. We are getting 4 little garages so that can happen. The garages are supposed to be for vehicles, but you know how that goes.