Category: Brother

TV in 1934? A Trip to the Chicago World’s Fair.

On By donlkincaidIn Brother, Kincaid, Mr. Burl's Writing1 Comment
By Weimer Pursell, silkscreen print by Neely Printing Co., Chicago – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress

From Daddy’s notes on the 1933-1934 Chicago World’s Fair:

What is Television? Who are you trying to kid? Projecting a picture and sound through the atmosphere? No, we believe this to be some kind of joke!  Well, let’s go in and see about this thing called television.

Five young Owingsville men, after hearing all the glowing remarks about the Chicago World’s Fair(also known as “A Century of Progress”), decided to journey to this big city. The young men were, Richart Brother, Bronson Snedegar, Burl Kincaid Jr., John H. Elliott, and Theodore Crouch. Theodore was older than the others and owned an automobile, so the other four supplied the gas and oil. Off and away they went to a week of fun and education. 
    
This was in 1934 which was in the heart of the so called “Great Depression.”  For those of you who do not remember that era, there was little money in the United States. Many families found themselves with every member unemployed. If you did not live during those years, there is no way that you can imagine what some fellas lived through.  

Upon entering the building which was built for the display of this new media called “television,” we were surprised at the shape of the auditorium or theatre (we did not know what to call it). The building was narrowly rectangular with a telecasting booth in one end and a large TV screen in the other. The large center section had seating much like movie theatres. Since it has been some 60 years since being privileged to witness a great electronic device being publicly born, the writer does not have much idea as to the number of seats. 

The young men were seated together and were anxious for the program to start. The announcer made some glowing remarks about the fair in general and TV in particular. A program was presented (do not remember much about it) but the presenters were concerned that the audience might think the whole thing could be a fake. To dispel any thought of the presentation on the screen being a fake, a person surveyed the audience and asked certain persons to go to the telecast booth. It seemed that he chose one person from each group. The writer was chosen from our group and got to be on television!

Daddy spoke of this trip often. He and others were only eighteen years old. He brought back the official book from the fair and we still have it.

His favorite area was the Little Town. It was an exhibit of everything small, with an entire home and its furnishings built on a small scale, but still big enough to enter and walk around.  ~ Don Kincaid

A participation card from the television exhibit at the Chicago World’s Fair. Image courtesy of https://www.earlytelevision.org/chicago_1933_worlds_fair.html

For more information about the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933-1934, you can visit the following links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_Progress

https://www.earlytelevision.org/chicago_1933_worlds_fair.html

A Letter from WWI in Honor of Veteran’s Day

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Brother, Dawson, Military HistoryLeave a comment
Jefferson Dawson Brother


           What follows is a letter written during WWI that Mr. Burl had kept in a box of his childhood mementos.  The “Dawson” who wrote the letter is Jefferson Dawson Brother, who was a relative. I’ve checked the WWI registration cards to try to find out who Addrou Kerns is, as well as Guy and Joe Arnold. I did find an “Augustus Adrien Kerns” who I think might be the Kerns who is referred to (perhaps “Addrou” is a nickname or misspelling) , but I have had zero luck finding out who Guy and Joe Arnold might be.  From what I understand, a lot of the Pioneer Infantries were made up of Black men, so that is one clue that might lead to discovering who they are.  Of course, if any of you reading this know the answer, please leave a comment or let me know.

A few comments:

  • Dawson mentions Burl, Jr. in his military uniform, and Don says there is a picture of his dad wearing it somewhere.  We still haven’t made it through everything, but if we find it in the future, I will post it on here.  Mr. Burl would have been three years old at the time this letter was written.
  • The letter mentions the flu.  The Spanish Flu pandemic was occurring at that time, and you can read what my great uncle Bill Karrick wrote about the flu in Bath County here.
  • The Cousin Henry referred to is Henry Ficklin, a preacher who baptized countless people in the area, often down in the Slate Creek at Kendall Springs. He was related to Mr. Burl on his maternal side (as was Jefferson Dawson Brother), and then he married Mr. Burl’s aunt (Aunt May) on his father’s side. 


Rugendorf, Germany
2 Feb. 1919

Dear Jane:
           Well I received that nice letter of yours some few days ago and it surely was a pleasant surprise.  Burl Junior certainly does look quite military in his uniform and when I come back will try and give him a little drilling. Believe me! it wouldn’t be long until he would hate the sight of that uniform.  But laying all jokes aside I was so glad to hear that you have all been well and I trust have escaped the flu.
           I came awfully near seeing Guy and Joe Arnold when we were on the front. One afternoon I was going down the road to our Reg. Headquarters and there were several squads of infantry men working the road and I asked one fellow who happened to be a Kentuckian what outfit he was in and he said Pioneer Inf.  I then asked him if he knew Guy or Joe Arnold and he said “yes” but they belonged to the Supply Co. and they were expecting him later there that afternoon.  So I waited all afternoon but never succeeded in seeing him.  Surely did hate to miss him too, because the only fellow I’ve seen over here that I know except those in our outfit was Addrou Kerns  from Sharpsburg. Wrote Willie [164 Inf] a card some time ago but I wasn’t sure of his outfit and of course don’t know whether he got it or not.
          Tell Cousin Henry that I still talk plain USA and haven’t acquired any brogue as expected.  Give my regards to all the folks and let me hear from you again sometime.  Dawson

          We hope you enjoy this letter.  I confess I have romanticized it a great deal and even have plans to frame and hang it.  I picture him writing it in a tent, huddled over and cold.  It is obvious that he misses home, so let it act as a reminder to all of us on this Veteran’s Day of the sacrifices that all who serve make on our behalf.  From our family to yours, Happy Veterans Day and God bless all who serve. ~ Ginger