Automotive Riverbank Preservation

Back when I was in college I noticed something odd on my daily drive.  There was a random car sticking out of a river in Sylva, NC.

I found it quite interesting, especially since it was on the opposite side of the river as the road.  There had to be a good story behind it.  Turns out there is.

I decided to try to get some good pictures of the car, but there was thick brush near in the river and it was quite a hassle fighting my way down the river.  I ended tearing my clothes in the brambles, but what I found was worth it.

 

It wasn't the only car.  There were several antique cars stuck into the riverbank.  I was puzzled.  Was there a flood?  Why would someone dump a car into the river.

At the time I was working part time at a local museum and I asked around to the people who knew about this sort of thing.  I was told that these cars were placed here completely on purpose.  They were stuck into the riverbank to keep the bank from eroding and causing flooding.  It was pretty resourceful trick, if not environmentally short sited.

I found that there were several more examples of automotive riverbank preservation in the area.

In Cherokee, NC there is a patch of tucked into a riverbank.  They are covered in Kudzu and presumably alot of snakes.

Of course the most impressive example of this practice lies right across the Cherokee line in Bryson City, NC.  There is a whole stack of cars seemingly holding the road up.

Here is my friend Yankeepez snapping some photos

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to e-mail me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
and check out my Flickr Photostream

The Lost and Recovered Memories of Pauline Smeltzer

I like collecting pictures of strangers, usually found at antique stores, flea markets, and occasionally ebay.  I have been told this is strange, but I love the mystery behind the photos and the stories they tell.  It seems a little sad for other people's family photos ending up in the possession of a stranger, but I like to think of it as giving the memories a new home.

One of the most fascinating encounters was one I had with a woman named Pauline Smeltzer.

I was at a local antique mall and I found and old photo album from the 1940s with wonderful pictures.  Someone had even taken time to mark the photos with typewritten notes.  I mulled over this purchase, but being a cheapskate I decided against buying it.  The next day my wife walked in and handed the album to me.

I had a great time going through it and trying to figure out the stories being shown.

The album was somewhat pilfered, as about half the photos had been torn out.  Obviously someone had stripped the album for the pictures they wanted, and discarded the rest.  I was amazed that such a family treasure could wind up in a antique mall in North Carolina.  The photos appeared to be based in Kansas City, with some travel to Pennsylvania and Montana.

The album was centered around a lady named Pauline Smeltzer and her friends and family.

Here is Pauline and her camera.

Here is her mother Blanche Smeltzer.

Here father Monroe Smeltzer

 

And here quirky little brother Jerry

Here is her friend Winnie

And her friend Helen

The album is put together well and has some beautiful design to it.

Pauline had an undeniable spirit to her.  Check out these photos of Pauline having a good time.

Here is Pauline hitchhiking on the Pennsylvania turnpike 2 weeks after it opened.

There are some other great stories told by the pictures in the album, such as this intimate series of photos of Pauline and her friend Ray Chapman taking each other's photos in the woods.

Photo appeared upside down in original album

Other photos in the album stand on their own as beautiful bits of photography.

At one point I decided that to not keep Pauline to myself and started posting her photos on my Flickr Photostream.  I was quite pleased with the positive response I received from my friends on Flickr.  Pauline's bright personality was infectious and people seemed as taken with her as I was.

My Flickr friends even helped me start identifying people in the album and filling in some of the background.

A friend was able to determine that Dale was Pauline's first cousin, who was born in 1920 and died in 1988, which means it looked like he made it through the war.

Mystery still surrounded Pauline.  How did her pictures leave the family.  What happened to her?

I never expected to find the answers to these questions until one of my Flickr friends shocked me by finding Pauline's obituary.

SMELTZER, Pauline E. 89, passed away Saturday April 7, 2007 at the Otterbein Lebanon Retirement Community. Pauline was born December 4, 1917 in Glendive, Montana, the daughter of the late Monroe & Blanche (Hollinger) Smeltzer. She is survived by a niece and nephew and a host of friends. Pauline was an elementary school teacher in the Dayton area for many years and retired in 1989 after 25 years from Franklin Elementary, Dayton Public Schools. She had been a long time member of Hope United Methodist Church and was active in the UM Women's Hope Circle. She was a lover of nature, especially birds, with her favorite being cardinals. In keeping with her giving spirit, Pauline has donated her body to Wright State University School of Medicine. A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held Tuesday May 1, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at Hope UM Church, 5980 Wilmington Pike, Dr. Thomas E. Brown, Sr. Pastor, officiating. Donations may be made in Pauline's memory to the charity of your choice.

Published in Dayton Daily News on April 25, 2007 

I was floored. Pauline was actually alive at the time I started posting her pictures and died only about a month later. She was never married and never had any kids, which explained how the album wound up getting abandoned.  It saddened me a little that such a bright woman who obviously was quite close with her family would wind up alone.  She was however a teacher for 25 years, so obviously children were her first love.  I found her decision to donate her body to science quite touching.

My experience with Pauline would not end here.  Pauline's family members began tracking down my photos.

A distant relative of hers provided me with this photo of a younger Pauline with a broken neck, looking shockingly well groomed and chipper.  

 

Eventually it became clear that it was no longer appropriate for me to keep the album.  There was a family member who was desperate to have the album.  I simply asked for them to provide me with a later photo of Pauline to prove that they were a genuine family member.

And there she was, still with her trademark smile after all those years. With much saddness I returned the album to the family.  

UPDATE: I have found out an amazing secret that Pauline had been keeping.  Find it here.

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to e-mail me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
and check out my Flickr Photostream

Dent Meyers, The Wildman

In the sleepy little town of Kennesaw, GA lies one of the most controversial antique shops in the country:  Wildman's Civil War Surplus and Herb Shop. 

Now you may think, that Civil War Surplus and Herbs are an unusual combination, but this shop is run by a very unusual man.   Meet Dent Meyers.

Dent is a true enigma.  To some he is a beloved folk hero, to others he is nothing more then a disgusting racist.

Dent became known as a poster boy for a controversial law in Kennesaw that required citizens to own a gun.  Dent honors this law by keeping two loaded pistols in a holster at all times. 

Dent's prime focus is on the Confederacy.  Dent was told by a psychic that he was the reincarnation of Stonewall Jackson, and he believes it.  Dent states that he hasn't had a president in 150 years, since Ole Jefferson Davis was booted from power.

Dent's shop looks like an episode of "Hoarders".  There are piles old yellowing new clippings, racks and racks of clothing, piles and piles of dusty books and other indecipherable clutter.  There is a "museum" in the back with a 50 cent entrance fee, but its actually just more shop, where everything is for sale.  In the museum you will find a lot of old military stuff.

There is also a large selection of herbs.  Apparently, Dent has a distrust of doctors and western medication.

And standing right next to the herbs is this:

Sweet Jesus!  Let me out of here!

There are some very disturbing racist displays

So, its pretty cut and dry here.  Dent Meyers is a terrible evil racist Bastard.

But, Dent disagrees.  Dent states that he is not racist.  Dent states that his displays are either jokes or have historical significance.  Dent states he does not believe that any race is inferior to another.  Dent even claims to like black people.  He has a wall of photos of black people enjoying his shop to prove it.

There was actually an African American customer in the store at the same time as me.  His reaction: he laughed as if the store was the most hilarious thing he had ever seen.

Then you have Dent himself.   He comes off as a folksy old grandfather.  He is pleasant and loves to chat with customers.  Dent has been interviewed many times to find out what his "deal" is.  Dent refrains from saying anything horribly racist (nothing worse then you'd hear on fox news).  Dent simply claims loyalty to the southern "lost cause". 

His belief system is somewhat puzzling.  He seems to be big into any conspiracy theory he can find.  He has a great distrust of the United States Government, which he believes is controlled by the Illuminati.  He claims Pearl Harbor and 911 were inside jobs.  He believes car seats were designed to train children to be accustomed to being confined, so the government can control them.

Meyers was a big believer in the 2012 Mayan apocalypse to the point where he went ahead and had a giant tombstone erected in the local cemetery marking his death year as 2012.  It is the largest stone in the cemetery and has his life mask plastered to it.

I have to imagine he is somewhat disappointed.

So what is there to say about Dent?  Is his store racist?  Yes.  Is Dent racist?  Probably.  Still, he is a fascinating southern character study.  That is something that can't be denied. 

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to e-mail me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
and check out my Flickr Photostream