Beech Grove Independent

06/01/2024

03/01/2024

On this date, January 3, 1921, the Studebaker Corporation announced that it would no longer build farm wagons. Studebaker began in 1852 as a horse-drawn wagon shop in South Bend, Indiana. Over the following years, the company became the world’s single biggest manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages and carts.

In 1897, Studebaker began experimenting with the newfangled “horseless carriage.” By 1902, the company had produced several electric automobiles; and by 1904, gasoline-powered motorcars were rolling out of Studebaker factories. Throughout the early twentieth century, Studebaker remained one of the biggest names in the automobile business.

In 1954, Studebaker merged with the Packard Motor Car Company. Production of Studebaker automobiles ended in 1963 in the U.S., and in 1966 in Canada.

Photo attribution: Dunn Museum

03/01/2024

02/01/2024

Les Nessman, five-time winner of the Buckeye Newshawk Award.

01/01/2024

On this date, January 1, 1940 Orville Redenbacher started working at Princeton Farms, where he began working with popcorn. In his youth, the Brazil, Indiana native began growing corn and selling popcorn, participated in 4-H clubs, and studied vocational agriculture in high school.

Redenbacher earned a degree in agriculture at Purdue University and served as a Farm Bureau extension agent. By 1965, Redenbacher and business partner Charlie Bowman had engineered a hybrid popcorn that was fluffier and lighter than previous varieties, making Redenbacher a brand name.

In 1976, Redenbacher sold the company to Hunt-Wesson Foods, a division of Norton Simon. In 1983, Esmark purchased Norton Simon, which in turn was acquired by Beatrice Foods in 1984. In 1985, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired Beatrice with the goal of selling off businesses. In 1990, they sold the popcorn business and other old Hunt-Wesson businesses to agribusiness giant ConAgra.

Orville Redenbacher died September 19, 1995 in the whirlpool bath of his condominium in Coronado, California. He suffered a heart attack and drowned. He was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea. He was 88 years old.

Photo attribution: Reddit

01/01/2024

30/12/2023

Cold weather safety message..

With the cold weather here, be sure to check your vehicles before starting them up. Animals love to crawl underneath and lay on top of your vehicles to stay warm during these cold days.

29/12/2023

Price shock indeed..

22/12/2023

Going all out this year, dug out the rotating color wheel..

22/12/2023

Oh yeah, smashed burger with tots. Might have to add some fried apples to the mix..

22/12/2023

Dated photograph of John E. Steeg's Pharmacy and the Standard Market Grocery Company that were located at the corner of 25th and Central Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Falstaff beer, Rice Krispies cereal, and iced coffee are advertised on billboards overhead. Next door is another food store owned by grocer Joseph Hyman. Circa @ 1942

Photo attribution: Indiana Historical Society

20/12/2023

Time to make some breakfast..

20/12/2023

On this date, December 20, 1963 and just two weeks after the announcement was made that the plant would close, all production ceased at Studebaker’s South Bend plants in Indiana. The truck, GT Hawk and Avanti lines were closed and anything on them was left in place.

The last car off of the line was a Lark designated for Boyer Brothers Motors in Moselm Springs Pennsylvania but instead it ended in the Studebaker Museum in South Bend. This last Studebaker was a Daytona 2-door with an R-2 engine.

The shutdown of the plant, whose work force was nearly a quarter African-American, hit that community especially hard. The engine foundry remained open to supply the Canadian plant until the end of the 1964 model year, after which it was also shuttered.

The Avanti model name, tooling, and plant space were sold off to Leo Newman and Nate Altman, a longtime South Bend Studebaker-Packard dealership. They revived the car in 1965 under the brand name "Avanti II". They likewise purchased the rights and tooling for Studebaker's trucks, along with the company's vast stock of parts and accessories.

Trucks ceased to be built after Studebaker fulfilled its remaining orders in early 1964. There were some '1965' model Champ trucks built in South America using CKD parts ( completely knocked down ). These models used a different grille than all previous Champ models.

Photo attribution: Encyclopedia Britannia

20/12/2023

Get this, 132 years ago, Schimpff's Confectionery opened in Jeffersonville, Indiana. They survived floods and depressions and is still operated by the same family using many of the original recipes. The shop features live candy-making demonstrations, an antique candy museum and a real vintage soda fountain.

18/12/2023

Batteries not included...

It is Christmas day today, and all are full of cheer,
But I lay freezing on the step, I always sleep right here.

I never get to go inside, and join in all the fun,
I'm what they call a yard dog, when all is said and done.

They have given me some scraps, I think it was last week,
Now laying in the snow today, I am feeling tired and weak.

I can hear the children playing, as my head lay on my paws,
This time just last year, I was a gift from Santa Claus.

I don't know what I did wrong, to be shut out in the yard,
I only lived inside 6 months, since then my life's been hard.

The snow is falling heavy now, I'm just a block of ice,
And when I breathe the cold air, my lungs feel like a vice.

A miracle then came to pass, an Angel did appear,
She glowed, and I could feel the heat, as she floated near.

She reached her hand and beckoned, it was such a sight to see,
She smiled and said "Good Dog, it is time to come with me.

I will take you to the bridge, where all the Good Dogs go
You can play there in the sunshine, there will be no freezing snow."

My bag of bones stood up then, I shook the snow from off my fur, And, as I slowly followed, this is what I said to her.

"I am not a Good Dog though, in that I think you're wrong,
No one would shut a Good Dog, in the garden for so long."

The Angel turned and smiled, as I walked with head hung low,
Then she said "I'm sorry, I thought that you would know.

You really are a Good Dog, the reason why your time is up,
It is just unfortunate, you were born a Christmas pup."

I now live at the Rainbow Bridge, and I am filled with joy,
But remember this at Christmas time, a dog is NOT a toy.

To clarify this message, to which I have eluded,
Animals are living things, batteries are not included.

~ Author Unknown..

18/12/2023

On this date, December 18, 1994, race car driver Henry Banks died in Indianapolis, Indiana, he was 81. Born in England, he began competing in 1932, when he was 19 years old and became successful in the midget cars.

He was the first driver to pass the qualifying "rookie test" at the Indianapolis 500 in 1936. He also drove as a relief driver in 1937, 1939, and 1940, with a 21st-place finish in 1938.

He won the 1941 American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) championship in New England. After a break during the war, when he worked at Ford’s aero-engine division, Banks’ career took off.

In 1947 he won 30 midget car races. In 1950, he was the AAA National Champion and, in the same year, came second in the National Midget points.

Banks later retired from racing and became USAC Director of Competitions, and was also inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.

Banks also appeared in two films, To Please a Lady with Clarke Gable and Roar of the Crowd, a movie set around the Indy 500.

Banks is buried at Washington Park North Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Photo attribution: Speed Age

17/12/2023

Colder weather is here, so I'm putting an all nighter' in before bedtime..

17/12/2023

Oily Rag: Life is a canvas

17/12/2023

On this date, December 16, 1811, the New Madrid earthquake swept through a seismic zone that included Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The Midwest at the time, was sparsely populated, and deaths were few.

Sections of riverbed below the Mississippi rose so high that part of the river ran backward. Thousands of fissures ripped open fields, and geysers burst from the earth, spewing sand, water, mud and coal high into the air.

Photo attribution: Encyclopedia Britannia

17/12/2023

On this day, December 16, 1980, Henryville, Indiana native Colonel Harland Sanders, died at 90. Sanders was diagnosed with acute leukemia in June 1980. Sanders had remained active until the month before his death, appearing in his white suit to crowds.

His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort after a funeral service at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Chapel, which was attended by more than 1,000 people.

Sanders was buried in his characteristic white suit and black western string tie in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. His wife, Claudia, died on December 31, 1996 at the age of 94.

Photo attribution: History of Fast Food

16/12/2023

When a law firm gets into the Christmas spirit..

14/12/2023

14/12/2023

The Indiana Pacers has confirmed that Indiana basketball legend George McGinnis has died, he was 73 years young.

12/12/2023

Amazing! Hey, wait a minute..

12/12/2023

New Palestine Main Street

12/12/2023

Ain't nothing like counter nachos..🤣 🤣

11/12/2023

Helping a friend while the weather is nice..

10/12/2023

In the late 1800's and early 1900's houses rarely had built-in cabinetry, and as family size began to grow, the kitchen was increasingly becoming one of the most important rooms in the house. A movement started in the late 1800's to set forth a new standard of an “Efficiency Kitchen” that would make it easier to manage the additional kitchen “stuff”.

In addition, as women became more involved in civic and local life, they sought to spend less time in the kitchen and to keep things as clean and organized as possible. It’s no surprise that a new industry built up around this. The Hoosier Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1899 in New Castle, Indiana.

Their President, John M. Maring, anticipated this move to “Efficiency” in the household, and he sought to build a new type of cabinet. Their idea was to take the traditional baker’s cabinet and re-arrange its components, and add some new ones to make a kind of one-stop-shop for everything kitchen-related.

Their new invention was a well-organized, compact cabinet that provided a place for everything ranging from salt shakers to mixing bowls and also a handful of key tools like a built-in flour sifter! The idea caught on and the brand was sold as making kitchen work “a pleasure” and also the cabinet “that saves a thousand steps!”

This 1906 ad from Good Housekeeping shows an early version of the cabinet before the marketing caught on. The text reads: “It has an arrangement all its own – it’s more convenient, more practical, more get-at-able, more sanitary, and has special features no other cabinet possesses, no matter how high the cost.”

Photo attribution: Reddit

09/12/2023

Sorry but, Donner Lake is not named after Santa's reindeer..

08/12/2023

Photo of HA-19 on display at Monument Circle, one of the five Japanese midget submarines that participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The HA-19 was captured by United States forces and the government sent the HA-19 around the United States on war bond rallies from 1942 to 1945.

Admission to view the submarine was secured through the purchase of war bonds and stamps. Many stores and shops can also be seen including: Canary Cottage Restaurant, Reed's, Fannie May, Astor Shop, The Carter Co., Army Store, Sibyl Deluxe, Hollywood Dresses, and a cart selling war bonds.

The English Hotel building can also been seen on the right side in the background. Circa @ 1940's

Photo attribution: Indiana Historical Society

19/01/2023

David Crosby, Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash Co-Founder, Dies at 81..

19/01/2023

18/01/2023

Les Nessman, news director and reporter at WKRP in Cincinnati, since 1954. Nessman is a ten time winner of the coveted Buckeye Newshawk Award, Silver Sow, and the Copper Cob Awards. To this day, Nessman is still the most decorated AM radio newsman in Ohio history.