McHuston Booksellers

Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

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It was back in the time we ate dirt. And we loved it.

March 26, 2016 /

The four little words that carry the burden of years: Never Heard of It. It happened most recently while talking cars, when I mentioned the Datsun 240Z.

“A what?” he asked.

“Datsun 240Z,” I replied, figuring I had spoken it clearly enough, assuming that the car was an icon of sorts. Like saying, Corvette. People usually know what you’re talking about.

“Datsun?” he repeated, and frowned. “Never heard of it.”

BANG!

zCar

The hammer of aging. Remembering clearly the stuff people have never even heard of. Like the car model called Datsun before it morphed into Nissan. Used to own a boxy little Datsun and used to drive a Z-car.

But that was after they became known as Nissan in the US market.

The fellow and I were talking about the demise of British sports cars – those little convertibles of the sort I drove in high school. I suggested that the failure of the English cars was in part due to the introduction of the Japanese Z car.

It was the end of the 1960s and the US was clamping down for the first time on vehicle emissions. British car companies bolted on some emission control devices to meet the new standards – resulting in a lower-horsepower version of the previous year’s model. Since they were practically sewing machine motors to begin with, they no longer made for that zippy, happy, driving experience.

The Z-Car was designed with an anticipation of the new standards. Result: zippy, happy, driving experiences.

Needless to say, long-gone are the Triumphs, the MGs, and the Austin Healeys. The Nissan 370Z for 2016 has a suggested retail of 30K, and I bet it is even more zippy than before.

Some of the Tulsa media folks might remember the K95FM news car back in the early days of that incarnation of 95.5. The format had recently changed to contemporary country, with a news department. It was a kick to pull up to the scene in that sporty little blue Z.

It had one of the early mobile phones installed in it. That’s what we called them back then. Mobile phones. They were mobile as long as the car was moving, those first ones. Big as a cinder block and about as heavy.

But that car served to remind me that work can be fun, too. Especially for someone who is a fan of sports cars. Even if it was just a local press conference about the latest fund-raiser. It was a kick for me to drive to it.

So, today’s image is for those of you who don’t remember when the Nissan car company sold vehicles with the name Datsun stuck on the fender. The Datsun 240Z was the first in a long line of imported sports cars.

One of which once roamed the streets and byways of Tulsa County with a big K95FM emblazoned on the hood.

That was back in the days of good news, huh?

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

Seen & Scene around the Rose District

June 25, 2015 /

Here’s proof that Broken Arrow has outgrown its small-town beginnings. In McAlester, where I grew up, if one of the banks was remodeling its building, everyone in town would know about it. Too big a secret to keep, especially if the construction was taking place on Main Street. BA is big enough now that Main Street and bank buildings aren’t on everyone’s radar.

I’ve been asked almost every day for the past several weeks – “What’s going in across the street?”

1BankA

The building project is hard to miss, but perhaps it is harder to see the artist’s depiction of the finished version hanging on the temporary fence around the north and west sides of the building. It’s still 1st National Bank over there. Employees are a little jammed up while the work is being done, but none of the many who drop by for lunch have complained.

And – the job is apparently still on budget and on time.

I had suspected that the extent of the renovation might have thrown some projections off. I understood that the condition of the structure behind the façade might have been somewhat of a surprise. But the previous wooden supports have been replaced by a formidable set of steel beams and girder that should hold up the roof quite nicely.

1BankB

Although the bank has undergone remodeling before, the business has occupied what used to be separate buildings that were merged as the bank expanded. When the front exterior was removed, it was easy to spot where the old structures had their original walls.

According to the 1930 Broken Arrow telephone directory I’m looking at, and the First National Bank ad on page eight (there are a total of sixteen pages in the little phone book), you would have talked to a banker by dialing 234. The ad proclaims the business to be “Faithful Throughout the Years” and “Established 1902.” The address is given as 123 S. Main, which puts them directly across from the current bookstore location at 122. (It has been pointed out to me that one did not ‘dial’ the phone back in that time. An operator came on the line and asked, Number please…)

The bank is still directly across, but it is quite a bit larger these days.

Back in 1930, Kennedy Implement Company was also directly across the street from what is now our shop, and it took up considerably larger parts of Main. The business owned by J. W. Kennedy took up buildings at 117, 119, and 121 South Main – pretty much the part of the bank building currently under renovation.

Mr. Kennedy was a versatile businessman. In addition to the implements, furniture and hardware he sold at retail, residents could summon his aid by dialing 365 and he would dispatch an ambulance. If that didn’t work out, calling the same number would connect the next of kin to Kennedy Funeral Service and the expertise of L.L. Streed, the funeral director in the employ of Mr. Kennedy. Of course, during the daytime hours, Mr. Streed had his own direct line, and could be reached at 211.

So – it may be another few weeks before the bank’s exterior will reassure folks that First National is remaining at its current location on Main, in our Rose District. Until then, I’ll have to keep answering the questions.

And no, it isn’t going to be a new mall.

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow, OK!

Water, Water, Everywhere.

May 24, 2015 /

Thankfully, the water is outside the buildings, for the most part.

Not exactly the way I wanted to spend Memorial Day weekend. A lot of us making the best of it or changing our plans. But at least it’s mostly disappointment in the air along with the rain.

Prayer3

Still, the storms brought tragedy as high waters claimed the life of a Claremore firefighter.

It was Memorial Day weekend thirty-one years ago that the storm was such an event that it was described as a Hundred-Year Flood and water rose to startling levels. Those of you who recall that weekend remember the months of recovery. Ruined household items like mattresses, carpeting, and sheetrock lining the curbs for pickup.

Particularly shocking to me was a reminder that remained for months on the Broken Arrow Expressway near the downtown exit. Along the route I drove every morning while heading to work was a line sprayed on a cement bridge pillar. Painted underneath it were words to the effect of “high water mark.” That line was so high up that it had to have been painted from an aerial ladder or cherry picker crane.

The Tulsa World headline in the image attests to the extent of that tragic event, and prompted major flood-management projects that certainly aided in slowing the floodwaters Saturday night. Some of you may be young enough to have grown up with the many bowl-shaped soccer fields located throughout the Tulsa area. Those grassy areas are the result of that 1984 flood and were designed to trap and manage flood runoff.

In the aftermath, there was so much information that needed to be passed along that our newscasts on K95FM seemed to be nothing more that clean-up tips and safety precautions. For weeks on end. But from that tragic event came storm management routines that came into play Saturday night.

Prayer2

More storms are forecast for the remainder of the weekend, but if the meteorologists hit their mark, they won’t be quite as powerful in the Tulsa area. Still a disappointing forecast for a lot of folks with holiday plans, but calling off a cookout is a lot easier to deal with than facing the effects of three feet of water in your living room.

Memories of that weekend so many years ago made me worried about the bookshop, where we haven’t experienced that amount of water since the Main Street renovation project. Before the street construction, I remember watching during a storm as a river of water raced down the street and lapped over the curb. Back then, there weren’t storm drains along Main. Thankfully, that has been corrected.

With all the reports of waterlogged streets Saturday night, I opted to wait until morning to inspect and thankfully all is well here, high and dry inside. Outside, later in the afternoon, there was a surprise of a different sort. I was taking out some trash and spotted some scurrying specks on the car.

All over it.

By the time I got the camera out they were mostly gone, and when there were only a dozen or so, they were harder to spot. Speedy too. Hard to photograph.

Prayer1a

But I managed to get a couple of shots of the flood of newly hatched praying mantis babies, which are only slightly larger than the raindrops dotting the car hood. One of those Discovery Channel moments that allowed me to see something for the first time ever.

Hopefully for the last time, too. Kinda creepy.

We’ll be having a rare two-day weekend and will be closed Monday for Memorial Day. Hope yours is safe even if it probably won’t be dry.

On Tuesday? Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

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