Such a sad birthday greeting this morning on my way to workout. The 1891 Reuter Building is one of the most handsome landmarks on Alamo Plaza. Yet there he is – a huge Shamu brazenly filling the building’s beautiful arched window. I was too saddened to even stop and take a photograph.
This violates the City’s Unified Development Code in so many ways, particularly as I am sure Sea World is not behind those doors. Will no one put a stop to the runaway commercialization of the Alamo Plaza Historic District?
This photograph shows the commercialization of the facade of the Reuter Building prior to the installation of Shamu in the middle window.
I hope the San Antonio Conservation Society will decide to spring into action to defend this affront to the Society’s property. This is the Conservation Society’s facade according to its website:
The facade was given to the San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation by the building’s owner, Mr. Thomas Wright, in May, 1978, and was the first such gift accepted by the Foundation. It was restored with funds from the Foundation, the owner, and a matching grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior administered by the Texas Historical Commission.
The Society helped shrink the banner; surely they can shrivel up this Shamu beached on Alamo Plaza.
Update on August 14: Pictures do say it better; so I went back to Alamo Plaza on my morning walk. Tried to restrict photos to the topic at hand, but portable signboards are creeping back out some of the businesses’ doors and the Alfred Giles-designed Crockett Block has the same window issues as the Reuter Building.
This photograph shows the commercialization of the facade of the Reuter Building prior to the installation of Shamu in the middle window.
Shamu flips his tail at the signage regulations governing the Alamo Plaza Historic District.
Signage completely masks most first-floor windows of the Alfred Giles-designed Crockett Block.
The number of these full-window-size ads has multiplied in the past several months.
Sandwich boards creeping back out the doors in the historic district, despite Sam’s earlier efforts.
Update on August 31: The Historic Design and Review Commission has some tightening of signage regulations on its agenda tomorrow, which is great. But only if it is enforced. Hopefully, the tightening and clarification of who’s in charge means enforcement ahead…. We’ll know when we get to wave goodbye to Shamu, ads for the Buckhorn and all the other clutter.
It’s no secret I am upset by the overabundance of illegal signs in the Alamo Plaza Historic District. But sometimes you are so pestered by fleas you fail to notice the Tyrannosaurus rex coming up behind you.
proposed life-size Alamo to hang next to the grounds of the Alamo itself
Well, this one happens to be 134-feet tall, and the staff of the city’s Historic Preservation Office has no problem with it hanging adjacent to the Alamo grounds for six or seven months. Perhaps they were swayed because the application to install the banner on the Emily Morgan Hotel is coming from the caretakers of the Alamo itself, none other than the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, who brought us an earlier tasteful banner installation and a pop-up tent.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I have trouble understanding why a 2 1/2-story image of the Alamo needs to be installed within 1/2 block of the actual Alamo. Is this new Alamo going to be bigger and better than the real one?
If the members of the Historic Design and Review Commission decide to follow staff’s recommendation and let this Behemoth banner sail through on the consent agenda at the August 4th meeting, I hope they at least attach a recycling amendment. The used banner could be donated to the Women’s Pavilion; a banner that size would make a lot of tote bags. Or probably more appropriately, the banner could be recycled to protect the Alamo roof from water seepage. That way, the Daughters would not have to worry about increasing their preservation budget to anything above the three-digit numbers of the past several years.
P.S. Sarah Reveley has started posting photographs showcasing Alamo Plaza intrusions on a new website.
P.S.S. I would worry more about the tasteful banner on Main Plaza Ben Olivo posted earlier, but guess we should not stop to scratch a flea when a T-rex is barreling this way.
Update on August 4: With instructions to lose the Emily Morgan logo, ditch the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s “Deep in the Heart” campaign image and send the little figures scurrying around the bottom of the banner – the ones that look like Mexican toy soldiers racing to escape the gift shop – packing, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas received approval for a scaled-down, 80-foot-tall banner to be hung on a historic landmark in a historic district for seven months.
The purpose of having a larger Alamo hanging next door to the real Alamo remains unclear after listening to the continually shifting explanations. When the presenters realized the concept of advertising the Alamo (and thanking the Emily Morgan) to motorists on the highway was sounding exactly like a super-sized billboard to those sitting in judgment, the banner instead became an educational tool to inspire awe in pedestrians. Bruce Winders, PhD, the Alamo’s historian and curator, said it would make children realize the Alamo is important and even labeled the banner “art.” Tony Caridi, the Alamo’s director of development who designed the banner, might have beamed with pride, if not for board member Harry Shafer’s suggestion that it should then also go before the Public Art Board for review.
Caridi expressed his opinion that curtailing the size of the banner would make it look more like a sign. It will not look more like a sign, it will just look like a slightly smaller sign with slightly less square footage than two highway-size billboards, still representing a major visual intrusion in the Alamo Plaza Historic District.
Despite being told by one of Davy Crockett’s descendants that a 13-story banner is what Davy would want, four board members dared to stand fast behind the newly revised Unified Development Code passed by City Council only this summer. But, alas, the code was no more effective a shield than the crumbling Alamo walls in 1836. They were outnumbered. The banner will hang.
As for the banner’s future life, Caridi said they were lifting my earlier suggestion, which I lifted from the Women’s Pavilion, and plan to recycle the banner into tote bags to sell in the gift shop. Guess he did not like the suggestion to recycle it as a rain bonnet for the Alamo roof.
Update on August 5: Scott Huddleston of the Express-News on the shrunken banner:
Caridi and Bruce Winders, Alamo historian, said the banner would send a statement to visitors and locals that the landmark anniversary of Texas independence offers an exciting occasion to revisit true stories of the past.
“It’s the opportunity to say the Texas Revolution isn’t just a movie. It isn’t just John Wayne,” Winders said.
Now, when I first read about the theme for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas’ 175th Anniversary Gala, my thought was it was a guaranteed success. But Dr. Winders’ statement confuses me greatly because the caretakers are centering much of the celebration on guess what? John Wayne’s role in The Alamo.
To set the record straight, the following is lifted directly from the Daughters’ website:
Honoring the 50th Anniversary of John Wayne’s movie “The Alamo”. The sixth Alamo Gala will be held under the Texas stars on Alamo Plaza. All proceeds will go toward preservation, education, and maintenance of The Alamo Complex.
Silent and Live Auctions; Colonial Menu of appetizers and buffet dinner; Music and dancing to St. Vincent and the Grenadines featuring a custom arrangement of music from the score of the movie.
Reel History: John Wayne’s Alamo 50th Anniversary Exhibition will premiere the evening of the Gala. The exhibition will feature movie memobriila from around the nation including items from the DRT Library, John Wayne Enterprises private collection, and other collectors. Organized by John Farkis and Dr. Bruce Winders, Alamo Historian, the exhibit will be free to the public beginning October 10 – December 31, 2010.
Now I understand. Since the exhibit housed in the Alamo compound will focus on the movie The Alamo, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas need a really, really, really big – a Behemoth – banner to try to remind people that, despite the exhibit on the movie they are showcasing, “the Texas Revolution isn’t just a movie. It isn’t just John Wayne.”
2nd Update on August 5: Read the statement Rollette Schreckinghost, the president of the San Antonio Conservation Society, read at HDRC in opposition to the banner.
3rd Update on August 5: And on KTSA Radio, Rolette Schreckenghost said:
Goodness knows I’m a native and I’ve never lived anywhere but San Antonio, but I don’t need a sign to remind me to remember the Alamo…. It’s the cultural integrity of San Antonio that people come to see.
A Milam descendant and, according to Veronica Flores-Paniagua, former Alamo committee chairman for the DRT weighs in on the issue.
Update on August 7: Veronica Flores-Paniagua of the Express-News questions the appropriateness of Caridi’s banner design: “Why didn’t the DRT see that?”
I keep wondering how in the world the DRT will possibly handle the potentially explosive land mines involved in mounting the 50th anniversary exhibit centering on The Alamo. How will the DRT distinguish “real” from “reel” with appropriate respect for historical accuracy? The banner does not seem like it is going to help; the curators have their work cut out for them.
Update on August 12: Revised on August 13 following article in the Express-News (Didn’t mean to jump the gun. I think sometimes a request accompanied by a please receives more positive results than immediate escalation to threats of legal action.):
The sound of Davy Crockett’s lone fiddle echoing from the ramparts of the wall around the Alamo will be multiplied _________________________________________ as part of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas’ celebration of the 175th anniversary of the battle, ______________ _________ _________, maybe this will encourage a round-up and removal of all illegal signage prior to focusing that much national and perhaps international media attention on the plaza.
Hey, I just barely escaped the MDA jail yesterday.
Update on August 14: The DRT does now have an image on its website promoting a March 5th “Symphony Concert.” So that part is official and those who mention it need no longer fear legal action.
Update on August 15: Something was nagging me. Personally, my concern is the proliferation of signage in the Alamo Plaza Historic District, not the anniversary celebration itself. But somehow I remembered reading about the anniversary concert earlier. Was Sarah Reveley really the one to spill the beans, or did someone else? The following is from a July 6 article in the Dallas Morning News:
Caridi said that the Alamo’s operations were not threatened by the current lull, but that new programs and offerings could be scratched.
He said it has been difficult, for instance, persuading corporate sponsors to come on board for a nearly $400,000 concert being planned for next year’s 175th anniversary of the famous battle at the Alamo.
2nd Update on August 15: Was struck by this photograph by Matt Wright-Steele to accompany the Observer’s article “Davy Crockett Tried to Trim his Myth, but It Grew Back.” But, on the other hand, I also loved one of the online comments submitted by J. Norton-Keidel:
My family history includes the story that when Davy Crockett came to East Texas, wearing a black stovepipe hat, en route he stayed with our family. Legend is Crockett admired the coonskin hat worn by a young man of the household and offered to trade his black hat plus a gold piece for the young man’s coonskin hat. The deal was struck and thus historical tableaus guaranteed!
What’s real and what’s reel, and how does one ever distinguish myth from reality?
Update on August 28:
Weel, blude’s thicker than water; she’s welcome to the cheeses and the hams just the same.
Sir Walter Scott, Guy Mannering, 1815
Checked on membership requirements this morning. As someone not from Texas, I always thought your proof of revolutionary bloodline was all that was needed to qualify for membership in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. But ancestry is the secondary half of the requirements for admission into the sisterhood of approximately 6,700. While the organization professes to encourage “anyone with a love of Texas history to join us in celebrating and preserving this heritage,” the first part of its requirements is that a woman “is personally acceptable to The DRT.”
According to the San Antonio Express-News this morning, the Daughters officially are disowning the Texas Centennial-obsessed, Alamobsessed, whistle-blowing daughter they wish they never had, Sarah Reveley – a rather late-term abortion. Sarah is now severely sentenced to endure shunning by many of her former siblings for the rest of her life. Never having been in a sorority, I am unsure how this would affect one.
But do I believe banishment is an Alamoment for Sarah? Don’t think so. She is too busy dedicating her energies to tracking down missing monuments dating from the celebration of the Texas Centennial.
You might question why I inserted the second part of Scott’s quotation, with good reason. When I was looking for the meaning, I turned to the primary source. It is hardly applicable. But in wandering randomly through Guy Mannering, I found another reference to cheese with a footnoted explanatory text relating to small-town life that I loved more than Scott’s writing:
The groaning malt mentioned in the text was the ale brewed for the purpose of being drunk after the lady or goodwife’s safe delivery. The ken-no has a more ancient source, and perhaps the custom may be derived from the secret rites of the Bona Dea. A large and rich cheese was made by the women of the family, with great affectation of secrecy, for the refreshment of the gossips who were to attend at the ‘canny’ minute. This was the ken-no, so called because its existence was secret (that is, presumed to be so) from all the males of the family, but especially from the husband and master. He was accordingly expected to conduct himself as if he knew of no such preparation, to act as if desirous to press the female guests to refreshments, and to seem surprised at their obstinate refusal. But the instant his back was turned the ken-no was produced; and after all had eaten their fill, with a proper accompaniment of the groaning malt, the remainder was divided among the gossips, each carrying a large portion home with the same affectation of great secrecy.
Update on September 24: I felt Jan Jarboe Russell stayed so completely on the tightrope without tipping either direction in her Texas Monthly article about recent issues involving the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the Alamo that I was left blogless. The headline was the most sensational part of the article. Shows it all depends on your perspective.
According to a thread posted on Texas Centennial, the Daughters viewed the article differently:
THE DAUGHTERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
HEADQUARTERS & MUSEUM COMMITTEE MINUTES September 15, 2010
DRT Headquarters Board Room
Austin, Texas
President General’s Remarks:
An expulsion hearing is set for October 29th for Sarah Reveley, DRT member.
Regarding the Texas Monthly article concerning the Daughters, the author had spent a full day at the Alamo seeing and hearing about all the good things happening at the Alamo, but he chose not to include the positive notes.
Although, when Jan spent a whole day at the Alamo, seems they might have noticed she’s a woman.
And, to further blur the line between reel and real, the DRT, the Alamo and IMAX are partnering to bring John Wayne’s The Alamo to a theater near you on Friday, October 8. Click here to get $1.50 off your ticket.
Blame this post on the cowgirl, the one serving as my “gravatar.” She was the first one I stumbled across with part of “San Antonio Song.” Then some postcards in the Anglo Life Series began dishing out portions of the lyrics piecemeal.
Santoniobsessed (apologies for the poor portmanteau), I had to track down the music. Maybe this is the theme song San Antonio needs, I thought. Maybe this could be the After Midnight Blues Band’s greatest hit, I speculated.
Finally found the sheet music written by Tin Pan Alley pioneers, Harry Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne, and published in 1907 by Jerome H. Remick & Co. The pair collaborated on song upon song, many of which endured into the ‘50s and ‘60s to torture young children forced to sit through the Lawrence Welk Show with their parents and grandparents. The songwriters’ sheet music for In The Shade of The Old Apple Tree sold more than 700,000 copies, a record sales level at that time.
Came across this Petula Clark version from Vote for Huggett:
Prepped by Petula, I’ll now punish you with the lyrics of “San Antonio Song.” Remember, this was a huge hit, not just here, but throughout the country, as seen on postcards (too prehistoric for “as seen on t.v.”).
San Antonio Song
Just as the moon was peeping o’er the hill, after the work was through, there sat a cowboy and his partner Bill. Cowboy was feeling blue. Bill says “Come down pal, down into town pal, big time for me and you. Don’t mind your old gal. You know its ‘cold’ pal, if what you say is true. Where is she now” Bill cried, and his partner just replied: [Chorus} San An-to-ni An-to-ni-o. She hopped up on a pony, and ran away with Tony. If you see her, just let me know and I’ll meet you In San An-to-ni-o. You know that pony that she rode away, that horse belongs to me. So do the trinkets that she stow’d away. I was the big mark E. I won’t resent it. I might have spent it plunging with Faro Jack. If she’s not happy there with her chappie, tell her I’ll take her back. No tender foot like him could love her like her boy Jim.
If the lyrics did not convince you to fail to launch a movement for the song’s revival, listening to it surely will. “The Denver Nightingale,” Billy Murray recorded “San Antonio” for Edison the same year the sheet music was written, and the library of the University of California at Santa Barbara has preserved it for us, “San Antonio Song.” Don’t think After Midnight will be rushing to add “San Antonio” to its set list, but, according to Red Hot Jazz, Murray was one of America’s best-selling recording artists during the phonograph era:
Around the turn of the century, Murray joined the Al G. Field minstrels as a blackface singer and dancer. When the troupe traveled East to New York City in 1903, Murray… freelanced for any record company that was willing to pay for his services, and soon became one of the most popular singers in the mid-naught years…. Until microphones were used for electrical recording in the 1920s, recordings had to be done acoustically by the use of a horn. Murray was a master at the acoustic process because certain qualifications were required in order to achieve acceptable results. Soft sounds didn’t reproduce very well, so one had to have a clear, strong voice to achieve acceptable volume during playback. Murray had powerful lungs, excellent intonation, the ability to sing at a rapid-fire speed without taking a breath, and delivered his songs with a distinctive style that’s easy to understand and recognize. In the 1920s, new styles were coming into vogue. Microphones were beginning to replace the early acoustic horns, and the soft whispering style of singing, known as “crooning,” became a favorite. Murray was more used to singing in a full voice instead of toning it down. His popularity waned….
“Cowboy Blues: She broke my heart…and I miss her rabbit stew.” This collage uses the Starmer-designed cover of “San Antonio Song,” original sheet music by Harry Williams and Egbert VanAlstyne copyrighted in 1907. Part of the chorus serves as a backdrop for the “gal” who got away, pictured here as a huntress.
Chorus of “The San Antonio Song” written by the Tin Pan Alley pioneer team of Harry Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne in 1907: “San An-to ni An-to-ni-o. She hopped up on a pony and ran away with Tony.”
One of the Starmer brothers designed the cover for “That Slippery Slide Trombone” by Williams and Van Alstyne, with lyrics sliding down the slippery slope of sexual innuendos.
Postcards from San Antonio ~ No 20, “And ran away with Tony.” This postcard is part of an “Anglo Life Series” of postcards dating from 1909 and relating to the lyrics from “San Antonio Song.”
Postcards from San Antonio ~ No 12, “They Rode off into the Sunset.” Couple on horseback at sunset combined with San Antonio cowgirl postcard and song lyrics: “San Antoni Antonio. She hopped upon a pony and ran away with Tony; If you see her just let me know, and I’ll meet you in San Antonio.”
I’d conclude the music was from some earlier more naive time, still pure enough for replication 50 years later on Lawrence Welk, who “fired Champagne Lady Alice Lon for ‘showing too much knee’ on camera,” but….
Wait. What did Jim mean when he was talking about spending his money “plunging” with Faro Jack? Was that a card game or would that be a trick?
Times were not as naive as I tend to think. “That Slippery Trombone Song” written by the Williams and Van Alstyne team in 1912 was about as subtle as an old blues song peppered with jam and jelly:
That Slippery Trombone Song
Down, down, down in an old Rathskeller, where the strains of ragtime fill the cellar, there’s a musical man. Are you listening? Grandstand trombone “feller,” weepy, creepy, music mellow, from his old trombone would slide, and Lucy would shout as she hustled about just to get up by his side. Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, slide me a ragtime slide. [Chorus] Honey, honey, hear that tone on that slippery slide trombone; Um Ain’t it beautiful! Um Tu-ti-frui-ti-ful! Honey, don’t blow “Home Sweet Home.” Stephen, don’t you ever waste a breath to telephone. Slide, slide, when I glide, glide, glide, to the music of your slide trombone. [Verse 2] Up, up, up from an old Rathskeller, why, they both slipped right up from the cellar, on a slippery night. Are you listening? She and that young “feller,” they went out to slip the preacher, but she slipped upon a stone. She fell with a sprawl; he accompanied his “doll” on his slipp’ry slide trombone. Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, all that she did was moan.
Postcards from Barton Springs 