 Clare
B. Richardson1 ,
2 , 3,
4, 5,
6, 7,
8,
9, 10,
11, 12,
13, 14,
15, 16,
17, 18
| During my visit I also met important people
like Dean Stafford who serviced "Curly" while working for Meeks Sign Company for
many years and Harold Wallace II who worked for NASCO along with his late brothers.
They both told me how heavy paper patterns were drawn for the characters and a
sort of knurling tool perforated holes through this paper as artwork lines were
retraced. Then blue powdered chalk, like that used to "snap a straight line" in
masonry and construction jobs was powdered over the paper with nothing more than
a compact powder puff, leaving chalk dots on the bare metal figurines. From there
an air brush artist, like Mr. Doyle, could paint the figure accurately and fairly
consistently on both sides of the sign simply staying inside the powdered dot
artwork lines and rotating the animated sign on a spindle to paint both sides
the same before changing to another color. |
| I
also went back to the Garland County Historical Society to see Bobbie Jones McLane
and to tell her what I had found. She wasn't there and I was asked to sign in.
I mentioned I was there a few days before and didn't sign in so probably should
do it in retrospect. The desk receptionist said you were signed in on your behalf
after you left. Sure enough there I was listed as "Clare Richardson - The Dairy
Queen Man." I laughed and now have a second title to add to my already established
"Dairy Queen Detective" identification. |
|
Wayne Truman also had me contact a childhood friend named Donald "Sonny" Wynn
because he is seen in one of the photographs with friend Max Smith published by
the Sentinel-Record in the second front page article that appeared October 19,
2003. Sonny is the one in the baseball cap tilted upwards behind the close-up
of the man in suspenders and hat. Max is peering over Sonny's shoulder. Ironically
Sonny does not remember being at the event but said he frequently passed there
and ate at that Dairy Queen on his way to visit his life-long friend, Wayne Truman,
so probably happened to be there when this event was going on and thought nothing
of it or just can't remember. Sonny showed me another picture of himself back
then and he is wearing what appears to be the same baseball cap tilted up the
exact same way and wearing the same type of patterned shirt. Sonny says he has
a double cleft-chin hidden with whiskers nowadays, but is apparent in the 1951
picture. He lost touch with Max over the years but a high school yearbook picture
appears to match Max. |
| I stayed
an extra week in Hot Springs doing more research after George and his wife left
and to review what I had learned. I wanted to find where the original locations
of NASCO, Slyman's Rug Cleaning, Tuggle Neon, and the residence of those owners.
What I found was, many businesses were very near the Dairy Queen and their owners
often lived just around the corner from their businesses. During this visit I
learned that this business district was referred to as South Hot Springs back
then and businesses helped support each other and were very competitive with Hot
Springs itself. This south portion of Hot Springs had its own Christmas parade
and everything that Hot Springs had South Hot Springs had also. This is probably
why the South Hot Springs Dairy Queen party on Wednesday was timed to rival the
Hot Springs Phillips Drive-In 11th anniversary party on Friday, two days later.
This is probably why the establishments supporting each event are also mutually
exclusive. I found Mr. Tuggle had the actual shop for his neon business at nearby
712 Hobson with his house just around the corner at 409 6th. In the next block
was Wylie Studios, owned by a Ralph Wylie, and was located just up the street
at 823 Hobson. He was a commercial and portrait photographer and one of three
major ones in 1951 and the only one with his business located in South Hot Springs.
It was most likely that Mr. Wylie, himself, took these four Dairy Queen pictures
for Mr. Tuggle's NASCO and probably the mural photograph was taken using 5" x
7" flat plate film while the other three photos were taken on 4" x 6" flat plate
film using a Speed Graphic camera, the standard for commercial photographers at
that time. B.W. Studios has such a camera in their archives inherited with their
business and it is probably the same camera that took these now famous pictures.
On my most recent visit I met the owners and found the receptionist had also attended
the event back in 1951. I also got to hold what I believe is the Speed Graphic
camera, serial number 830880, made by Graflex Inc. of Rochester, New York that
took those four pictures. It produces a clear upside down view that is unsurpassed
for quality. |
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