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Memories of Ennis

Memories of Ennis - The "Air Hobo"

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That’s what he was called. Poor Alvin Breeland, the “air hobo” of Ennis, had been serving in the 11th Aero Squadron when, in 1919, the young private made national headlines for stowing away in the landing gear of a plane. During a refueling stop at Fort Bliss he was discovered. A United Press reporter asked him why he did it, and his reply was that he was “homesick and wanted to get back to Ennis.” Now that’s some hometown love.

Memories of Ennis - Prayer for Rain

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I think readers will like the old news items I picked for this week. I chose some funny ones from the Ennis Daily News, The Ennis Weekly Local, and a few national papers that carried news of the Bluebonnet City.

Memories of Ennis - Ennis born Bob Banner

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Ennis-born Bob Banner (left) with Dinah Shore and George Montgomery at the 1956 Emmy Awards.

Memories of Ennis - Gossip Writers Parents married in Ennis

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Gossip is just news running ahead of itself in a red satin dress.” New York Post gossip writer Liz Smith said that, and she ought to know.

Known as the Grande Dame of Dish, the late columnist thrashed out scoops aplenty in her 60-plus years of journalism –– like her exclusive interviews with Ivana Trump during the socialite’s divorce from The Donald. Smith has also won an Emmy for her broadcasting work and authored two best-selling autobiographies.

So what does New York’s queen of gossip have to do with Ennis?

Memories of Ennis - Strange Bedfellows

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Two Houston-based railroad-employed brothers who shared a room in Ennis on stopovers actually went two years without even seeing each other, or so a 1939 syndicated column claimed. The brothers’ shifts never overlapped so, although they shared the same bed in the boarding house, they were never there at the same time. The men, J. E. O’Leary and Conductor D. L. O’Leary, maintained separate residences in Houston and in different parts of town

Memories of Ennis - A Fish Tale

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Fish tale - UP International supplied the following brief to newspapers in 1937 about an event that took place at the old Ennis Country Club: “Ennis, Tex., April 21. Helpful hint to fishermen: Take up golf. Owen Satterfield of Ennis drove his ball from a tee at the Lakeside Country Club today. The ball fell in the lake and killed a fish.”

Memories of Ennis - Can You Hear Me Now?

Can you hear me now?

C.W. Duke of Ennis would have answered “yes” in 1930 when a plane ride reportedly restored his hearing. According to an AP release, Duke allowed a stunt pilot to go into a nose dive during a flight recommended to benefit – if not cure – the deafness in his left ear from which he had suffered for eight years. Duke told reporters on landing that his hearing had completely returned.

Bluebonnet City once known for its cotton

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Ennis and fashion? Believe it or not, a hundred years ago the Bluebonnet City was not only a national center for cotton production but its many dry goods merchants were regular seasonal visitors to the fashion hub of New York City. There, shop owners or their agents mingled with the trade of other prosperous cities, buying the latest women’s, men’s and children’s clothing and accessories.

Memories of Ennis - Live Well and Long

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Ennis people and events have often made regional, even national, news. And on occasion, a note of levity marked the various stories of local interest that appeared in daily and weekly newspapers across the country. A couple of years ago I first shared some of these funny bits from the past and I was asked recently to collect a few more. I was happy to oblige and in fact very much enjoyed turning up some of these new additions.

Rose Stivers: Ellis County’s ‘burger lady’

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Rose’s Bluebonnet Sandwich Shop was, for more than 60 years, the best known hamburger joint in Dallas that no one could ever find. Well, many people did find it, but only after much searching. Owner Rose Stivers was from Alma, and despite the popularity of her burgers with die-hard foodies, she remained a small-town girl at heart and couldn’t have cared less about publicity.