Texas | Columns

Folklore, Traditions & Things

• Reading newspapers by Bob Bowman 12-1-08
  I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. But I am addicted. Give me a stack of East Texas newspapers, and I’ll be hooked for hours...
  
• The devil and ghosts by Bob Bowman 10-20-08
  Devil’s Pocket, Devil’s Race Track, Widow’s Bend, and the Laughing Ghost of Todd Springs.
  
• The Legend Of Bone Hill by Bob Bowman 7-7-08
  Bone Hill, a landmark standing about four miles northeast of Center, reportedly got its name from a herd of cattle who died atop the mill, leaving their bones to whiten in the East Texas sun. But, as with all legends, there’s more to the story...
  
• Quilting a family history by Bob Bowman 4-21-08
  If Teddy Ivy wakes up in the middle of the night, curious about a part of his family's history, all he has to do is consult the quilt on his bed...
  
• Mayhaws: A spring delicacy by Bob Bowman 4-7-08
  "In case you haven't lived in East Texas for a long time, mayhaws are to East Texans what blueberries are to Maine. The trouble is they don't grow in convenient places like fields and roadside bar ditches. Most mayhaws are found in swamps, river bottoms and other places where large snakes, giant mosquitoes and other varmits make their home..."
  
• The “Indian” bootlegger by Bob Bowman 1-28-08
  Tony Sanches, a Lufkin sawmill hand in the 1920s, not only made some of the best bootleg whiskey in East Texas; he had the best customers--people like singer Jimmy Rodgers, Clyde Barrow of the Bonnie and Clyde gang--even the local sheriff...
  
• New Year’ Day by Archie P. McDonald 12-24-07
  Happy New Year! Many dates and symbols have marked the waning of the old and welcoming the new year, but the most difficult thing has been getting a majority of us to agree when to observe the passage.
  
• The Big Thicket Light by Archie P. McDonald 1-29-07
  "The Big Thicket Light, a.ka. the Saratoga Light, shows up at night on a seven-mile stretch of road connecting Farm Road 1293 and Saratoga, a former health spa/oil town/Big Thicket gathering area in Hardin County."
  
• The Possum Dinner by Bob Bowman 11-12-06
  While most East Texans were planning Thanksgiving dinners in 1929, four old friends in Frankston were sitting down for a meal of possum and sweet potatoes...
  
• A Christmas Treat by Bob Bowman 12-19-05
  "Stars top the sixty replica derricks, helping Kilgore maintain its title as the state's official "City of Stars." Kilgore is also among the stops on the Holiday Trail of Lights, which includes Marshall and Jefferson in East Texas and Natchitoches and Shreveport in Louisiana."
• The Poinsettia by Archie P. McDonald 12-11-05
  Every Christmas your house and mine brightens with the seasonal introduction of the poinsettia plant with its red and green leaves and tiny yellow blooms. Perhaps you would like to know how such came to be.
• A steamboat’s Tale by Bob Bowman 9-18-05
  The Ruthven
  
• The Lady in Blue by Bob Bowman 5-1-05
  For longer than anyone can remember, the story of “the lady in blue” has existed on the fringes of East Texas history and religion.
• Hushpuppies by Bob Bowman 9/15/04
  The annual Southern Hushpuppy Cookoffs in Lufkin
• Webster's Buck by by Bob Bowman
  The San Augustine Tribune, publisher Webster Hays and his buck.
• Post Office Art by Bob Bowman 8/2/04
• Big-and-Historic-Trees by Bob Bowman 4/11/04
• The Murchison Hotel by Bob Bowman 3/1/04
  After years of sampling East Texas Plate Lunches, I have concluded there is an unwritten law that says the best are served in nondescript, slightly rundown country cafes.
• Inventing the Oilfield Pumping Unit by Bob Bowman 1/20/04
  The invention of the counterbalanced pumping unit -- the most visual piece of machinery in today's oilfields.
• The Ezekiel Airship by Bob Bowman 11/03
  In late 1902, at least a year before the Wright brothers soared into the sky, an airplane designed by Rev. Burrell Cannon was flown 160 feet at Pittsburg.
  
• Superstitions by Bob Bowman 10/26/03
  Ghosts, witches, graves, black cats, Halloween, Friday the 13th.
  Never slam a door. You might hurt a ghost, who'll haunt you for the rest of your life.
  
• Juneteenth by Archie P. McDonald 6/03
• Dinner on the Grounds by Bob Bowman 10/02
• The First Air Flight by Bob Bowman 9/02
• Inventing the Hamburger by Bob Bowman 6/22/02
• Ghost in East Texas by Bob Bowman 10/21/01
• Ghost Road by Bob Bowman 9/23/01
• The East Texas Plate Lunch by Bob Bowman 7/3/01
• That Old Steer by Archie P. McDonald 6/24/01
• Grandma's Daylilies by Bob Bowman 6/3/01
• Ugly Sayings by Bob Bowman 5/20/01
• Poke Sallet by Bob Bowman 5/6/01
• Thergood's Pine by Bob Bowman 12/31/00
• Warts by Bob Bowman 8/21/00

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