Meandering Marine Musical Memories...

I miss Hokey.

Thanks for that posting Judy. Those late afternoon sing-a-longs were a lot of fun. Sometimes I miss Hokey.

I loved this! I hope you will share more from your tapes!!!

Those were fun times Judy....I can recall many times similiar during my youth while on the DQ...those were the "glory days" for us anyways, before all this P/C stuff started in the 1990's...

Really nice, enjoyable posting. Thanks, Judy.

What a coincidence-while visiting my mother, I ran across a tape my dad made during my first DQ trip in 1974! I have not yet found a machine with which to play it, but can't wait. I remember standing next to him on deck as he recorded the whistle and calliope, but he loved the Dixieland music as well. OK, everyone--who was likely to be aboard in June of 1974, Cincinnati to Pittsburgh?

If you mean officers, Capt. Wagner as Master and Gabe as Mate and Calliopist. He wouldn't miss a chance to play his hometown. Dave Tschiggfrie would also have been on as watchman/calliopist. Both Dave and Gabe play the Doc school of calliope music. Dan didn't start on the DQ until July, so another calliope possibility would be Pete Eveland. I believe '74 was the year the Tookers were off the boat in a snit over something or another. Cappy Louden would have been one of the pilots I imagine, and possibly Rip Ware for the other. Sharon Wright was in charge of the Gift Shop, and Henry Mitchell and Rueben were waiters. That's all off the top of my head. My first trip was a 3 dayer, Aug.20-23, 1973 and my second trip was my first full UMR cruise in July or August of 1974, whenever her first trip of the year up here was. I didn't do Pittsburgh until 1977. In 1977 I had my car paid off, so I had some extra money, so I booked 28 straight days, took off 6 (my parents rode then), and rode 9 more. Those 28 days included a 7 day round trip Cincy/Pittsburgh( a good idea ), a 7 day round trip Cincy/Kentucky Lake, a 3 day round trip Cincy/Oxbow Bends, and an 11 day Cincy/St. Paul trip. The 9 days were a 6 day St.Paul/St. Louis and a 3 day Hannibal weekend I think. Daily rates then on a share basis were about $85. This was for a C room, which I don't know what that is today, but it was room 338 and the like, the cheapest rooms with a bathroom.

The Gong Show

The Gong Show I mentioned that we had a wonderful solo of Old Man River by a passenger. We weren't always so lucky. In 1978, a woman and her 20ish daughter were riding and trumpeter John Ramon was romancing the mother during the cruise. Vic would help him out by playing her requests. One day she asked to have her daughter sing. Well, if they had any milk at the bar, it would have curdled. Fortunately they got her off after one song. Unfortunately, the next day they let her sing again. But we were ready for this possibility. The Gong Show was an extremely popular TV show then. I don't remember all the members of our boat gong show crew, but Watchman Keith and I were two of them. When this babe started caterwailing (sp?) again, we gave the signal, and someone started ringing the roof bell. Dan was in hysterics as were we, but most of the people, including the 'singer', didn't get it. I don't think she sang again that trip. Vic and Dan were good about giving passengers a chance to perform. Karen Dodd, aka Toots Maloy, got her show biz break in the Texas when she was a bartender. Dan gave her some voice lessons and she got to sing occasionally at the 5 PM sessions. She was so well-received that she moved over to the MQ as a vocalist the next year. On the hokey side: who remembers Vic and Mom singing "Mountain Dew" during the country music session? Boy, if we did this stuff today, we'd probably be whacked off the ships by those elegant fluffy bathrobes!!!

Hi Judy,

Appropos of your post about the young lady trying to sing is the musicians' joke that follows:

An musician passes away and is met at the pearly gates by St Peter. The following conversation ensues:

"Welcome to heaven, man. You check out just fine. Come on in. You're gonna love it up here. We have something for everyone."

"Hi St Peter. That's good to know. As you can see from my record, I'm a musician. What do you have for me?"

"We've got just the thing. Every Friday nite there's a jam session. All the cats are here. Satchmo, the Duke, Gene Krupa ... all of them. And ANYONE can sit in, so have a great time. There's just one thing though"

"What could possibly be wrong with that?"

"Well, God has a girlfriend and she thinks she can sing"

And BTW, Judy, if you come aboard, I'm sure Jackie Bankston will happily sing "Mountain Dew" for you. "Hokey" is not out of style. "Hockey" maybe, but not "hokey".

:O)

Paul

From my 1974 trip, I have a picture of Captain Gabe in his First Mate's uniform, which I've given to him. The uniforms then were much nicer than what the mates wear now! Captain Wagner was not aboard--I would have known that, don't you think? He would have been too memorable. I don't think the Tookers were on, either--Judy, your memory is phenomenal. There was a Dixieland band that later played in Cincinnati at Joe's Bar--I went down to see them that fall. Somehow, I sat at the Captain's table--maybe because I was 21? 😉 I'd been a steamboat fan since I was a teenager--this trip was a present from my parents when I graduated from college. I got home and immediately applied. Alas, no openings--went to grad school instead. Fell in love, got married, had kids--but things have a way of coming full circle when you truly have a passion for something.

Nothing wrong with hokey-ness

There's nothing wrong with a little hokey-ness. In fact, this youngen found it to be rather enjoying. One of the things that is needed on a steamboat cruise is the encouragement to slow down, do simpler things, and just relax. A little silly fun goes right along with that. If the MAL marketing folks would get with it, they would point out the benefits of a quieter, slower paced vacation, instead of installing TVs, or possibly giving every passenger free Internet usage or dailiy newspapers. Worry about real life when you get back home, and turn off the cell phone and enjoy the cruise.

Darin, you just hit the nail on the head. Learning to relax without all the real world distractions like TV, newspapers, telephones, and computers is the real magic of a steamboat vacation. I can still remember seeing the tension in many people's faces as they came on board for their very first experience. By the end of the second or third day there was a real physical change. There is a lot to be said for the lack of modern day technology......at least when you are on vacation.

Well, if it wasn't Capt, Wagner, then it was probably Capt. Fred Palmer. As I recall he wasn't very tall and had blond hair and was 50ish and wore glasses. I don't think I have any pix of him.

Today's (Friday) musical memories

Well today I finished both of the previously mentioned tapes. The downbound one of probably '77 or '78 had Fred Dodd doing the calliope concerts as we left Burlington at 1PM and Nauvoo at 6PM. I had noted that many of our passengers had been bussed to Nauvoo. So we few had the run of the boat for a few hours! The upbound tape of July 30, 1977 had another singalong, ending with numbers 4, 5, and 6: Yankee Doodle, Grand Old Flag, and Dixie and then Magnolia Margaret Peabody led the second line around the Texas Lounge to the "Saints". Margaret was a purser and was from Natchez, MS. Wasn't her father mayor then? After the Captains Dinner, which then was on the last night out, Dan Forman played the farewell calliope concert. This was a good trick to empty out the Orleans Room to get it ready for the show. Dan always looked resplendent in his tuxedo at the calliope keyboard for these performances. I remember once hearing someone say, "So this is where it is. I was looking in the After Cabin Lounge for it." 'It' being the calliope!!! The last night show featured clarinetist Pat Patterson doing the vocal honors on "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate", and Dan on the piano with "Rhapsody in Blue". Capt. Art Zimmer, pilot, joined us and sang "Angry". (Other guest appearances by officers over the years of course included Capt. Wagner on the bones for "Alabama Jubilee" and "Down Yonder", his favorite song; Mate/Capt. Gabe Chengery on the piano, almost always with "Darkness on the Delta" and more; and Chief Al Boulton playing a mean slide trambone, and vocalizing "Cecilia". The last evening's dance music included "Sentimental Journey" and "Till We Meet Again". The tape ran out before the closing numbers, or maybe I ran out to watch a locking at 3 or 2! It was understood by all the crew- dining room and entertainers, that they weren't to be offended if I suddenly left, as my number one priority was the navigational end of the trip, so I made every lock and landing possible. On an upbound trip, I usually missed #25 early the first morning and #5 or 5A above Winona. I was out for the other 25 regardless of weather, food, or show, and tossed several hundred souvenir doubloons to the crowds along the way... 1) Vic and Mom "Mountain Dew". That's trumpeter John Ramon on the bass while Mom sings. 2) Karen Dodd in her very early singing days. 3)Pat Patterson probably singing "Shimmy" Mom's on bass and the partial girth to the right is trumpeter Little John.

Here are some calliope players on the DQ in 1978: Dan Forman, Fred Dodd, and Dave Tschiggfrie. Dave always stands when he plays.

...and three more calliope players on the DQ. As you can see, we had several capable and willing players, and there weren't any union restrictions as to who was allowed to play the calliope. Whoever was available, played, and we covered almost every departure and locking, and sometimes just passing towns. 1) Gabe on the way to Pittsburgh on June 10, 1977. This was the first time he brought the DQ to his hometown as the Master, and it was quite a celebration. Anyone remember the band out on the Texas Bow as we went by the Golden Triangle at 11PM???? 2) Bob Reynolds, when he was Mate. 3) Keith Norrington, watchman. As we've discussed previously, the lower keyboard was for the Uniphon, whose bells were in the boxes to either side of the console.

Judy, the picture of Capt Gabe at the calliope in Pittsburgh...there appears to be a lock in the picture (Monongahela lock and dam #2, I don't recognize it?) with a sizable hill in the background. The first locks on both rivers is, I believe, a bit of a trip from the point. Did the DQ head up the Monongahela a ways back in those days? And if she did, how far south did the boat go? I was under the impression that the DQ couldn't get under the Liberty bridge, one of the first major bridges in Pittsburgh (looks like a figure eight on its side). Only in my dreams could I expect the DQ going north on the Allegheny or turning south onto the mighty Mon.

And thanks for the picture of Karen. Very precious, and I didn't know she sang. Deb and I miss her alot. One of these days we gotta try that "other" boat.

Bruno

Judy, thanks for posting those pics...it brought back some great old time memories from when my family 1st started with the DQ and why we fell in love with cruising it...
It's too bad that's all gone now...

I captioned that wrong, I should have said, Gabe on the trip to Pittsburgh, not in Pittsburgh itself. Sorry for the screwup. We docked on the Monongahela, just across from the incline. Is that Wood St.? I've only been to Pittsburgh twice, so I don't know the area. In that pix, Gabe is playing as we're leaving a lock somewhere on the Upper Ohio.

Summer of 74 on the DQ

Judy, after following this posting, I rifled through my file cabinet and what should turn up but the passenger list for DQ cruise #41, St. Louis to St. Paul, August 7-13, 1974. And there you are! "The Steamboat Times" for the last full day of that cruise lists Capt. Fred Palmer as Master. I believe Capt. Wagner may have spent some of '74 away from the boat in consultation with engineers and designers prior to the building of the MQ. Kenny Howe could probably tell you for sure. Jane Curry was hostess. Mary, your Pittsburgh trip in June may have been with Capt. Palmer also. Gabe would undoubtedly have been mate, and yes, Capts. Ware and Louden were most likely the Upper Ohio pilots. Red Lundsford was 2nd Mate, and I think Mike O'Leary might have been chief engineer. I don't remember who my partner as watchman was, but perhaps it was Le Roy Smith. Terry Severns was probably cruise (tour) director, and either Bill Allen or Duane LePew served as purser. That's about all the names I can come up. Oh yes, Mary Thomas, Connie Kaufmann and Ida Ferrill were maids, and one of the stalwart deckhands was Vic Stadtmiller (immortalized in DQ history as driver of the boat's VW when it went overboard on the lower Mississippi!) Ah, seems like yesterday ... them wuz good times. That's quite a rogue's gallery of DQ calliopists that Judy's put together. But, where is Vic Tooker's photo in that noble assemblage?

Chief Mike O'Leary

and I think Mike O'Leary might have been chief engineer.

Chief Engineer Mike O'Leary is another who has been "immortalized" on the river, but with the enviable distinction of having been the subject of a song written by none other than John Hartford. "Don't Put Him Down for It Now" tells the story of how Chief Mike started steamboatin' on the Streckfus steamboats, and in addition to his engineroom duties, "played in the band on two different boats."

It was my great priviledge to get these two distinguished gentlemen together not long after a day I was on the bow of the DELTA QUEEN with a group of deckhands, one of whom was strumming on an ancient battered geetar. Chief O'Leary appeared on the bow, about that time, to check on the level of the house-water tank, and after watching and listening for a few minutes, asked the strummer if he could give that old guitar a try. Of course we all sort of chuckled, for that was in the early 1970's when "no one over the age of 30 was to be trusted." So with a smile the deckhand handed over his instrument, and what magical music flowed from the beat-up guitar caused the lot of to, as JH once said, bounce off all four walls. From then on, Chief Mike O'Leary was one of us. He was also a mighty fine steamboat engineer, and he taught me how to "field strip" a Carlilse and Finch carbon arc light.

I, too, have been following this thread and enjoying it immensely. I did not go to work on the DQ until the summer of '75, but I can shed some light on a few of the observations/speculations:

First, Capt. C.S. "Rip" Ware's license did not extend all the way to Pittsburgh, so it probably was not he who was pilot. I think Capt. Rip's license ran out up around Catlettsburg. Could Capt. Louden's partner have been Capt. Bill Dugan?

Leroy Smith was the night galley man in early summer of '75 and was not promoted to Watchman until later that summer. Leroy stories could be a thread in themselves! Dave, I can SEE the guy who was your partner earlier that year...his name was Mark, and he had red hair, but I can't remember his last name.

I can't say whether Mike O"Leary was Cheif or not, but 2 other Chief Engineers from that period were Oskar Vennarsborg and Albert Boulton. Chief Boulton played a mean trombone. Chief could also have been Charles "Jerry" Critchfield, who usually ran First Assistant Enginer, but occasionaly would fill in as Chief, if needed. He did not really care for the Chief's job. Jim Bryeans was another assistant Engineer from that period.

Capt. Fred Palmer, by the way, died as a result of falling overboard from a towboat in about 1978. I think his only season as relief Master was 1974. His real first name was "Miles", Fred being his middle name.

My head is so full of useless information it gives me a headache.

Summer 74 on DQ Postscript

Sorry, Franz, but I can't figure out the "quote" thingy to respond to a quote in a specific posting, so I'll have to go this route!

Bob, thanks for your observations and gentle jogs of this old guy's memory. I can use all the help I can get these days!!! If Capt. Ware's license didn't extend to Pittsburgh, it may well have been Capt. Dugan, but I don't seem to remember him on the Upper Ohio much after 1970-71 or so. Could it have been Capt. Harry Hamilton or Art Zimmer if it wasn't Bill Dugan? As far as Chief that summer, I'm fairly certain it was Mike O'Leary, since I have a photo taken on the head of the boat at Marietta in the summer of 1974 showing Capt. Fred Palmer, Chief O'Leary, Red Lundsford, and myself all standing at the foot of the stage. Can't come up with a last name for "Mark," even with your description of him having red hair. After twelve summers as watchman, my partners all kind of run together . . . except for a few outstanding characters (like Le Roy). My first partner in 1970 was Leonard Wyrobnik (honest to goodness, that was his name.) Why I would remember a name like that is beyond me, but there you have it. One summer I punched clock with Bill Muster Sr.'s son, Billy. Capt. Don's story about Chief O'Leary is a classic, and I've already related an incident with Don about a Capt. Wagner/Chief O'Leary "confrontation" which took place one summer on the Upper Ohio. I'll have to share that one some time. Those of us who knew or worked with these old-time pilots, engineers, and mates were given a rare opportunity of seeing some of the classic steamboat men of that generation. I wish now that I had written down or recorded more from them than what I did. Thanks to all for rustling up some priceless images from the past.

Dave, the only reason I said it might have been Capt. Dugan was that in 1975 when we went to Pittsburgh, he was aboard and your assignment that year was to be his "babysitter". Bill Muster, Jr. and someone else punched the clock, but you were assigned to stay with Capt. Dugan on account of his age and general condition. I believe that summer of '75 was his last trip on the DQ.

I cannot remember what other pilots they used for the upper Ohio. Lexie would know the answer to this question. Captains Fontain Johnson and Ben Bennett both had license to Pittsburgh, but they did not start until at least 1976. Capt. Oren Russell's license ran from Cairo to Cincinnati on the Ohio. Capt. Carl Shelton, who was hired to work as Master to give Capt. Wagner and Capt. Gabe some relief, worked as pilot on the DQ a few trips before taking the permanent Master's job on the MQ in '77, but his license was from Point Pleasant to Chalmette.

Did Capt. Zimmer's license go to Pittsburgh? I can't remember. I do know Zimmer took us to Nashville in '78, with Capt. Tommy Utter riding along. The original plan was to have Capt. Tommy stand pilot watches opposite Capt. Zimmer, but since he did not have a radar observer's endorsement, he could not work, but he did ride. No matter that Dave Rainbolt would have been on watch with him and Dave had the endorsement, the USCG nixed that plan. We ran daylight only with Capt. Zimmer at the sticks. So many memories!

DQ pilots

Bob,

I think Capt. Art Zimmer had license all the way up the Ohio River; at least, I seem to remember him on watch in the PH leaving Pittsburgh. Capt. Carl Shelton had a well-deserved reputation as a crackerjack pilot, if I recall correctly. The only time I remember being in the PH with him on watch was on the lower Mississippi, I think. His appearance always reminded me of Capt. Charlie Fehlig. But nobody was as suave and sophisticated as Charlie. One of my favorite Charlie Fehlig stories was one that happened on a regular basis on the boat's annual 20-day St. Paul cruise in September back in the sixties. Charlie was a fantastic dancer, and he would always be down in the Orleans Room after dinner with his wife for the dance party. Well, September on the Upper Mississippi, with the warm days and cool nights, makes good fog weather. And one of the notoriously foggy stretches up here is down around Green Island and the mouth of the Maquoketa River below Lock 12. Now Charlie and his partner, Capt. Walt Karnath, would always relieve each other early (part of the old school professional courtesy.) So before 11:30 approached, Charlie would leave the dance floor to head upstairs. After standing behind the sticks for a few minutes, he'd turn to Mate Doc Hawley and say, "Looks like it's gonna fog, Doc." He'd head her into the bank and the mate would have the boys get out a line. Back in those days, the pilot didn't have to remain in the PH if he had a line out and the mate was somewhere down by the head of the boat. So Charlie would go back downstairs to continue dancing till the band quit. When the dancing was finished for the night, he'd climb the PH stairs again, the boys'd let the line go, and Charlie would back her out into the channel and then head on up to Lock 12. I wonder how many of those "landed in fog" entries there were in the log back in those years, and how many of those times there actually was fog!!