Tag Archives: Edwardian/pre-war

Biographical, Edwardian/Pre-War, History, Science & Technology

First Flight

“What was impossible yesterday is an accomplishment today — while tomorrow heralds the unbelievable.”
— Percival E. Fansler (1883-1937) American engineer, businessman, entrepreneur, January 1, 1914

 

Wilbur, 1876

Orville, 1876

December 17, 1903. Outer Banks, North Carolina. Two bachelor brothers [1],  face the ocean breeze, the skin of their faces tightening in response. It’s all good: The breeze would improve the performance of their muslin cloth airfoils.

The two, aged 31 and 35 years, had traveled from their hometown of Dayton, Ohio – where the family had had finally settled. Their father was a bishop, and the family had moved multiple times across the Midwest. Consequently, the brothers were a bit socially withdrawn.  Neither formally completed high school.

And yet, they were naturally talented in the fields of mechanisms and power; and were rich in intellectual curiosity and energy.

They had worked together in a variety of their own businesses, all mechanically oriented: printing presses and printing (even publishing their own newspapers), repairing, manufacturing and selling several types of motors. And bicycles. Their bicycle company at first repaired bikes, but eventually they were manufacturing and selling their own, as the bicycle craze swept the nation.  Call them self-taught mechanical wizards.

Kitty Hawk, December 17, 1903

Events over the following decades will connect dots that this day projected into the future – from first powered flights, to barnstorming, through two World Wars, and the transition to jet power. Air flight matured to what we consider most ordinary today: regularly scheduled commercial passenger flights connecting any thousands of municipalities throughout the world.

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10:00 AM, January 1, 1914, St Petersburg, Florida. The new year finds curious activities along the littoral waters of Tampa Bay.  At what passes for a port for Saint Petersburg, a seaplane built by Thomas Benoist of St Louis, Missouri, is made ready to slide off a ramp and into wee waves of the briny bay.

The pilot is Tony Jannus, an experimental aircraft pilot and master of aerobatic demonstrations at air shows. The seaplane, a Benoist XIV christened “The Lark of Duluth”, will carry a single passenger: the mayor of St Petersburg: Abram Pheil. The pilot and passenger sit side-by-side on a wooden bench.

Before the flight there was quite a bit of hoopla and speechifying for the 3,000 spectators gathered to watch the event.  A Florida businessman, Percival Elliott Fansler, was a prominent participant and speaker.  And an anxious spectator.

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A longtime resident of St Louis, Thomas “Tom” Wesley Benoist, was born in nearby Irondale, Missouri, in 1874. Although small, the town had an iron furnace (hence its name) and lay in a shallow valley of creeks, surrounded by gentle hills and fertile farming country.  Although some 75 miles SW of St Louis, it was well connected by the Iron Mountain and Southern Railway.  By 1904 Benoist was a successful businessman in Saint Louis, thriving in the budding automobile manufacturing industry.

Always fascinated with manned-flight, Benoist put together an entry in the lighter-than-air demonstrations and competition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, commonly called the St Louis 1904 World’s Fair.

Thomas Benoist, ca 1914

Benoist’s dirigible entry didn’t fare well; only one entry was able to even leave the fairgrounds, let alone complete 3 laps of the 10-mile L-shaped course. [2]  That “success” was piloted by Roy Knabenshue. (a bit more of the story here and here).

Not at all discouraged, Benoist was captivated by the Fair, especially flight displays like a high-altitude tethered balloon and glider demonstrations. Within a few years he’d founded his own manufacturing company in St Louis to make parts for powered flight.  In a few more years this enterprise became the Benoist Aircraft Company. Among the many craft his company built was the Model XIV, and “The Lark of Duluth” in particular, which we find on the waters of Tampa Bay, January 1, 1914.

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Percival Elliot Fansler was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, January 12, 1881.

In 1898 he enrolled in Purdue University. The 1900 census shows him living with his mother, Ella, at 112 Littleton St, in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Percival Elliot Fansler, ca 1903

He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering, June 1901.[3] He remained at Purdue, earning a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering as well. During his final year there he was recruited by the LPE Company, which ran the 1904 World’s Fair.  He accepted the position of Chief Clerk of Electricity at the Fair. [4]

In 1903 he took his Master’s final oral examination over the phone while in St Louis working for the Fair. Massive spring floods prohibited transportation even to the train station, making it impossible to travel back to West Lafayette.  Masters Orals conducted by phone call: Probably a world’s first! [5]

With well over 1,500 electrically lit buildings at the Fair, many exorbitantly lit, scattered over 1,270 acres, and with electric motors and electric lighting in thousands of exhibits, it was a challenging role for young Percival. History suggests he was up to the task. [6]

Fansler had also become an expert in oil heating and the new technology of air conditioning: One of the world’s first HVAC experts.  The move to oil and gas heat would eventually help spare cities of soot from coal heating.  A/C was used to cool the Missouri Building at the Fair, a welcome relief in the Saint Louis summer, although it’s not known if Fansler had much to do with that, except electric power supply.

After the Fair, Fansler – a man of many interests – went through a series of entrepreneurial endeavors and jobs with engineering companies.  By 1913 his career had taken him to Florida, where he was the sales manager of the Jacksonville office of Wisconsin-based Kahlenberg Brothers, which made diesel engines for boats.

A Business Opportunity. It was there that Fansler hit upon the idea of a commercial airline that provided regular passenger service.  In 1912 he had come across an article describing a 1912 long-distance flight from Omaha to New Orleans. In the story, the airplane’s designer, Thomas W. Benoist, discussed the potential costs and benefits of carrying packages, mail, and passengers. [7]

At the time, a typical overland trip from St Petersburg to Tampa took 5 to 6 hours by train. Cars and roads were relatively new: by auto it was all day, up to 20 hours. By steamship, 2 hours.  Separated by only about 25 miles (40 km) as the crow flies, across Tampa Bay, there was no reasonable direct terrestrial route.  The trip required going all the way up Pinellas Peninsula, then over the top of Old Tampa Bay.  But, it would be a short hop for a seaplane.

Transportation and geography around Tampa Bay, 1914

Fansler contacted Benoist. Some phone calls and visits … and Benoist agreed to get aboard the opportunity.  The St Petersburg-Tampa-Airboat-Line was formed. [Known more commonly as SPT Airboat Line].

Benoit agreed to provide a seaplane for the endeavor, one of his newer models: the XIV.  Fansler raised money. The city pitched in with a grant. The city authorized the business, but they required SPT to provide at least two regular flights, each way, 6 days a week.  [There was no FAA back then, and the forerunner, the Bureau of Air Commerce wasn’t formed until 1934].  SPT also had to agree to charge no more the $5 for each one-way trip [about $160 in 2025 dollars].

There was great excitement in the area as January 1, 1914 approached – the scheduled date of the first flight.

If you think $5 one-way was expensive.  Well …  There was an auction held to determine just who would be the first commercial airline passenger ever.  Bidding went up and up until ….Sold! … to the gentleman in the fancy hat … His Honor Abram Pheil, mayor of St Petersburg.

The winning bid?  $400.  [Almost $13,000 today. See image of check beneath footnotes].

The pilot recruited for the passenger business was Antony “Tony” Jannus.  A famous pilot at the time, he was an artist at airshows, a test pilot, and the pilot of the flight mentioned above, down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, from Omaha to New Orleans, … and the pilot of the first flight with a parachute jump.    [with no instruments and few landmarks, pilots followed known geographic features, such as these two mighty rivers].

By coincidence, Will Rogers — just now emerging as America’s most famous humorist — was in town for the event. Rogers had also been at the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis, performing rope tricks and displaying his aw shucks common-man humor.  This New Year’s Day he met Fansler and Pheil; the latter formed an enduring friendship with Rogers.

Jannnus waves to crowd as he approaches Tampa, (State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.)

Pilot Tony Jannus and passenger Mayor Pheil completed the trip without incident, cruising over the water at a height of only 50 feet. 23 minutes after take-off the Lark of Duluth settled down on the Hillsborough River, alongside the Tampa Electric Company power plant, in downtown Tampa.  Another large crowd had gathered to witness the float plane touch down.  In this famous photo, we can see Jannus over the ripply waters, waving to the crowds, as the Benoist XIV is about to splash down. [7]

Downwash and the plane’s shadow are observable beneath the fuselage.

History was made.  The first regularly scheduled commercial passenger flight was successfully completed, to great fanfare.

The SPT “airline” soon expanded to other nearby cities: Tarpon Springs, Sarasota and Bradenton.

The lifetime of SPT was not long.  After about 3 months the charm wore off.  The Snowbirds went back up north. It couldn’t generate enough cash flow to stay afloat (ha, see what I did there?).  It folded.

Nonetheless, the legacy of that short flight, and what it spawned, live on.

 

“The short flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa ignited an industry that changed the way we travel”
– Barack Obama, on the occurrence of the 100th anniversary of the flight.

 

 

Jannus, Benoist and Fansler all went on in the aircraft industry after SPT.  They are further linked by the tragedies that brought their eventful lives to early conclusions.

The story is over, but, like a Russian novel, we now follow the major characters to their demise.

Pilot Antony “Tony” Jannus became a test pilot and pilot instructor for Glenn-Curtis.  He was killed on October 12, 1916, while training two Russian pilots on a Curtiss Model H, crashing into the Black Sea near Sevastopol.  Age 27.

Antony “Tony” Jannus, 1914

It was an era of many small airplane manufacturers.  Benoist, facing ever more competition, moved his business twice, to be nearer vendors and seeking lower overhead.  His company’s first move was to Chicago, and then to Sandusky, Ohio, on the southwestern shores of Lake Erie, between Cleveland and Toledo.  His preferred motor manufacturer, Rogers Motors, was located there.

Tom Benoist used the Sandusky trolleys to commute.  While riding to Rogers Motors on June 14, 1917 he carelessly struck his head on a streetlight pole when he stepped out of a trolley.  It was fatal. Age 42.  His business folded.  He had never married.

Fansler was living in Samford, CT in 1910 as an independent electrical engineering contractor. When the United States entered World War I, in April, 1917, Fansler registered for the draft.  At  36 years old, he was not fit for battle.  But the War Department did need him.  He served as the production and inspection chief of all aircraft engine manufacturing operations in the east during the Great War.

Fansler worked as an engineer for several companies and ended up as editor of a technical journal in New York.  On November 7th, 1937 he suffered a sudden massive heart attack.  He was 56, leaving 6 children at home (he had married late).

In another weird coincidence of history, Mayor Pheil succumbed to cancer, at age 55, in 1922.  In August, 1935, Will Rogers, the man with whom he formed a close friendship, perished in a plane crash riding with famed aviator Wiley Post, in northern Alaska, in August, also age 55.

The 1904 World’s Fair was a sort of three-way coincidence, Rogers, Benoist and Fansler all prominently there.  But, there’s no evidence to suggest that they ever met there, and didn’t fulfill that line from 1904 hit, Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis: “Meet me at the Fair.”

Wilbur Wright succumbed to Typhoid Fever, May 30, 1912.  Age only 45.  Orville had the most longevity of the group, passing at age 76, in 1948, from his cardiac condition.  Neither ever married or had children.

 

“Aviation is proof that given the will, we have capacity to achieve the impossible.”
– Edward Vernon Rickenbacker, #1 US Ace in WWI (27 confirmed kills)

 

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This essay’s opening quote, from Percival Fansler’s address on that New Year’s Day morning, were certainly foresightful.  Indeed, in the decades ahead many, many things, including the progress of powered flight, proved to be “unbelievable.”

 

Joe Girard © 2025

Thank you for reading. As always, you can add yourself to the notification list for newly published material by clicking here . Or emailing joe@girardmeister.com

 

Footnotes and other sources:

[1] Neither Orville nor Wilbur Wright ever married.

[2] 1904 dirigible competition.  https://www.blimpinfo.com/airships/the-little-dirigible-that-could-and-did/ 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/kings-of-the-air-3437428/

Some sources say 15 miles.

[3] The Indianapolis Journal, June 11, 1901, Page 5, Image 5

[4] The Washington Times, June 14, 1903, Page 12
Also from Plaque at the St Petersburg (FL) History Museum
Edison had won the contract to supply electricity; hence all electricity was DC
LPE Company = Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company; https://mohistory.org/legacy-exhibits/Fair/WF/HTML/Overview/

[5] Washington Times, June 14, 1903

Fansler’s Senior Thesis (1901) was titled: “An Investigation of the Factors affecting the Operating Efficiency of the Lafayette Railway System”, 1901 Purdue University Yearbook

[6] Electricity at the St Louis 1904 World’s Fair;  https://lpe.slpl.org/col/6_1.html

[7] https://uselessinformation.org/worlds-first-commercial-airline/
Of course the “flight” was not non-stop.

[8] Downwash and the plane’s shadow are observable beneath the fuselage.

Also:

Fansler.  Census data after 1880 shows both parents as “widowed”, and not living together.  I suppose that being divorced led to social shunning.  They were married in Juneau, Wisconsin, 13 Dec 1874.
On 20 Dec 1921 he arrived at Key West harbor from Havana on the ship Miami.  Note: His father (Newton Oliver Fansler) was in the cigar business.  So Havana is perhaps not a coincidence. Newton passed on in 1923, age 79.

Benoist.  Lifelong bachelor, he did spend several months in England (manifests say to/from Liverpool) in 1915-16.  I assume he was on business scouting vendors, or perhaps to re-locate the business.

Tons of great pictures here, with some historical notes too: https://twinportspast.wordpress.com/2021/05/18/one-of-zeniths-most-unique-citizens-julius-h-barnes/

Nice video: https://twinportspast.wordpress.com/2021/05/18/one-of-zeniths-most-unique-citizens-julius-h-barnes/

Abram Pheil, a wiki info site:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pheil-4

https://www.historynet.com/st-petersburgtampa-airboat-line-worlds-first-scheduled-airline-using-winged-aircraft/

Just before boarding, L/R, Fansler, Jannus, Pheil, Benoist Model XIV flying boat, 1 January 1914 (State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory)

 

Purdue Graduation program, makes him a likely contemporary of Ray Ewry

 

$400 check for 1st passenger airplane flight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memorial plaque where the Lark of Duluth put into the water, St Petersburg, FL

Promo poster

Autobiographical, Biographical, Edwardian/Pre-War, History, Music

Medley

Nat King Cole had perhaps the sweetest and smoothest voice of all the 20th century American male singers. His voice easily evokes feelings of warm, genuine love.  I’d vote him to the top of that class of crooner. After all, I’ve admitted before that I am a hopeless, sentimental romantic.

Nat King Cole, 1952 — as good looking as his voice

Some people attribute his tone and resonance to a rugged life that spared neither alcohol nor heavy smoking (he died of lung cancer, in 1965, shortly before reaching age 46). That is simply not true.  Cole was truly gifted and worked hard at his craft.  For evidence I submit the sweet and professional voice of his daughter, Natalie Cole.

I have a Pandora station that I like to play at low key get-togethers and quiet evenings that include, among other genres, some harmonica-based blues, ‘70s soft rock, ballads, bossa nova, and love songs. Cole’s voice comes up frequently.  I’m never disappointed.

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The year 1911 stood at the twilight of the Edwardian Era, ‘twixt the death of King Edward and the outbreak of The Great War. That year an amateur musician named Charles Dawes composed a little instrumental tune for violin and piano that he called, simply, “Melody in A Major.” Dawes was a self-taught pianist and flautist who composed merely as a hobby. The tune become somewhat popular in his lifetime.

That Dawes should have success in far-flung fields would not come as a surprise to anyone who knew him.  Born in Ohio in 1865 just after the close of the Civil War, he was the son of a hero and general of that nationally tragic and transforming war. After college and then law school Dawes went off to Nebraska – a frontier land of opportunity. There, in Lincoln, he established himself as a successful lawyer and made friendships with both John “Black Jack” Pershing (who would go on to command all US forces in WW1) and Williams Jennings Bryan (who would go on to promote Free Silver – i.e. liberal monetary policy— and thrice secure the Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States, eventually serving as both Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, and, later, as prosecuting attorney in the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial”).

Dawes also got interested in business.  An opportunist, he moved to Evanston, Illinois (just north of Chicago) during the 1893 Panic, and began acquiring interest in various companies at bargain prices, beginning with a slew of gas companies. Success gained him attention, and in 1896 he managed the Illinois presidential campaign of William McKinley (against his Nebraska friend, Bryan). From McKinley’s win, he was rewarded by being named Treasury Department’s Officer of the Currency. In this roll he was able to recover many millions of dollars that banks had lost during the ’93 Panic.

Dawes resigned from the administration in 1901 to set up a run for Senator. He believed the timing was right, since he had McKinley’s support (who had been recently re-elected and was hugely popular). But McKinley was assassinated at the World’s Fair in Buffalo in September of that year.  The new president, Theodore Roosevelt, would not be supporting Dawes (this was before direct election of Senators). Dawes fell in his attempt to become Illinois’ 16th Senator to fellow Republican Albert Hopkins.

He returned to business, expanding into banking and investment management, forming the Central Trust Company of Illinois.

When Dawes wrote “Melody in A Major” in 1911, he was already a successful lawyer, businessman, banker and government official. 

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June 1, 2019 – It’s late evening and my wife and I are relaxing in the Colorado mountains. She’s doing a little work on her computer. I’m reading Le Ly Hayslip’s autobiographical book, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (subtitled: A Viet Nam Woman’s Journey from War to Peace). 

We’re listening to the aforementioned Pandora station, when a beautiful and well-arranged father-daughter duet comes on: When I Fall in Love (it will be forever), sung by Nat and Natalie Cole.  That duet, which won a Grammy in 1997, was made possible by the magic of technology, since Nat had passed away some 30 years earlier.

I wondered if it’s true. Does “falling in love” last forever?  It makes a nice tune, but ….

I put the book down.  Le Ly had mostly terrible luck with men.  And more than just a few. Can someone be simultaneously in love with more than one person?  Like Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Berman) in Casablanca?  Or Dr Zhivago (Omar Shariff) in the eponymous movie? What about falling in love multiple times?  Does that count? What does falling in love even mean?  It’s June 1, the birthday of the young lady I fell for in 1978.  I still remember so many details, even her birthday, and I still have many fond memories and a small place for her in my heart.  Does that count?  Probably not.  No matter how far, or hard, you fall, it’s not love if it can’t be returned.

My one forever love is Audrey.

Why do I even ponder these things?  Is it because I’m a hopelessly sentimental romantic?

A half dozen songs later and Nat comes on again, this time with “It’s All in the Game” – with the great lyrics “Many a tear has to fall, but it’s all in the game”— as in the “game” of falling in love.  No one said it would be easy.

Cole’s smooth voice and recording is one of many covers – and perhaps the best – of a 1958 hit song by Tommy Edwards; others had recorded it as well, but the Edwards version made it to #1 on the charts in both the United States and England. 

The song (often simply called “Game”) had actually been lying around since 1951. That’s the year that songwriter Carl Sigman put lyrics to a decades old melody with no words.  It was a tune that had been lying around since 1911; a tune called “Melody in A Major.”

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Established as a successful banker and businessman with a can-do attitude, Dawes was made chief of Procurement and Supply Management for “Black Jack” Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force during the Great War.  He achieved the rank of Brigadier General by war’s end. 

Charles Dawes

After the war, he returned his attention temporarily to private business, only to be appointed to be the first ever Director of the Budget, in 1921 by President Harding.  This is now called the Office of Budget Management.  Dawes helped grow the bureau into one of the most important serving under the president: producing the president’s budget, tracking expenses against the budget, and monitoring and tracking the efficiency of the many agencies that serve every president’s administration.

By 1923 Germany was in great economic distress:  hyperinflation, vastly diminished industrial capability,  unable to pay reparations. Dawes was assigned to a commission to figure out what to do for Germany.  Excessive war reparations and allied occupation of industrial districts had ruined the economy.  The situation led to social and political – as well as economic – instability; it inspired Hitler to attempt the Beer Hall Putsch.

The commission’s plan, which came to be known as the Dawes Plan, called for complete re-organization of the German national bank (Reichsbank) and a reset on their currency, to be anchored by a loan from the United States. Re-industrialization was begun as was acceleration of France’s de-occupation of the Ruhr district. Concessions from the French also allowed for slower, more gradual, and less painful reparations.

As a result of the Plan’s success, Charles Dawes was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925. 

Dawes’ star was shining.  At the Republican convention in June, 1924 he was chosen to be the running mate to Calvin Coolidge in that fall’s election.  He then served as Vice President of the United States (and president of the Senate) for the next four years.

Dawes also served in the Hoover administration that followed, first as ambassador to England and, later, as head of the newly formed Reconstruction Finance Corporation to help fight the depression.

After leaving the Hoover administration he served on many industrial and bank boards and continued running his own banking businesses from his home in Evanston, until his death, in 1951. 

Not coincidentally, Sigman was inspired by Dawes’ lifetime of accomplishment and wrote the lyrics to complete Dawes’ “Melody in A Major” shortly after he learned of Dawes’ passing.

Charles Dawes had a remarkable life. And if you remember him for one thing, well, here’s something that might help you in a trivia contest: Dawes is the only person in history to have co-written a song that made it to #1 on the charts, served as Vice-President of the United States, and been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.   

This sentimental romantic wishes you all a lifetime of fulfillment and fully requited love.

Peace,

Joe Girard © 2019

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Edwardian/Pre-War, History, Music

Meet Louie’s Woman

There are two successful and conspicuous songs from American music history that share a remarkable and unique coincidence — as well as several minor coincidences.

Each is so well-known that it would be difficult to find many adults raised in America who cannot at least hum along to one of them.  Many could hum along to both, recite a few words, and drop immediately into a comfortable toe tapping when each chorus is struck up. Yet, hardly anyone knows the words to the songs; hardly anyone knows the story behind these songs, or knows the stories they tell.

On the other hand, the songs’ differences are stark.

The later song is rowdy and timeless; for six decades running it’s been a top choice at parties and gatherings, especially if there is a dance floor.  And it seems destined to ride that fame indefinitely.

Fireflies at twilight

Fireflies at twilight

The earlier song is stuck in history, firmly planted in the first decade of the 20th century — the Edwardian Era.  And yet it retains its popularity as a quaint reminder of perhaps simpler times: when powered flight and electric lights were new; when great enjoyment could be found in playing flat music records on a gramophone, or sitting on the porch in the company of a comfortable friend, sipping sweet iced tea, watching fireflies in warm summer twilight.

But that one remarkable unique coincidence: a man’s name, Louie, is repeated in both of the songs’ title and chorus.

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There aren’t many finer men than my dear friend Kevin Shepardson. One month after surviving cardiac arrest, he is still in hospital. Finally out of ICU and moved to a hospital closer to his family, he’s still in need of great medical care, and all the love, prayers, good thoughts and wishes we can send his way.

Right up to this past New Year’s Eve day, when the “event” happened, Kevin published a daily newsletter via email, which he called “The Good News Today.”  It came in two parts.  The first was spiritual, connected to the scriptures of the daily office, with a short reflection by a staff member of Creighton University.

The second part was what he called his “ramble”, with whatever was on his mind, from weather to current events.  The rambles frequently contained music tributes to some special event.  Perhaps a birthday  or anniversary of one of his many friends, or an approaching holiday.  They were always appropriate and fitting.  Kevin is a bit of a music expert (OK, music trivia geek), and you could tell he put care into selecting the proper songs, complete with Youtube links so we could hear them professionally performed.

If Kevin were to select a music tribute song for a celebration party (like his 60th, which is next week), or for a nostalgic commemoration of early 20th century America, he might have selected one of these two songs.

Or, maybe not.

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Part I

Singer/songwriter Richard Berry was a talented musician, and could perform early R&B as well as doo-wop.  In 1955, aged only 20, he penned the lyrics to a song that may live forever.

It’s about a lovesick guy at a bar, talking to a bartender named “Louie.”[1]  Berry claims he was inspired by a similar song — One for my Baby (and one more for the Road) — best sung by Frank Sinatra, where a lovelorn guy is pouring his heart out to a bartender named “Joe.”  In “Louie Louie” the guy at the bar is talking about his girl back in Jamaica … a three day and night sailing trip away. And it’s time for him to go see her.

The song was finally recorded with his group, The Pharaohs, in 1957 as the B-side to “You are my Sunshine” on the Flip Records label. Their R&B version of “Louie Louie” was totally understandable and was pretty easy to follow.  As a minor hit; it was soon re-released as an A-side.  Richard Berry & The Pharaohs’ original version of Louie Louie is almost painful to listen to. That is, if you’ve been weaned on the later rock version. Their version of the song soon languished, maintaining some popularity on the west coast, from San Francisco to Seattle.

Album Cover - Richard Perry and the Pharaohs

Album Cover – Richard Perry and the Pharaohs

Over the next few years, quite a few groups in the Pacific Northwest picked up the song, and played versions of it in concerts and small gigs. Some recorded it.  In fact, to date, “Louie Louie” has been covered and recorded over 1,500 times. [2]

Well, moving to 1963, “The Kingsmen” were a new group in Portland, Oregon. They had been playing the song for months at parties and gigs, getting wilder and wilder with the song.  No longer Rhythm and/or Blues, it was full raucous Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Ken Chase had a local radio show, and ran a teen night club where the Kingsmen played. After hearing them play the song live, he agreed to set up a recording session for the song.  They did the song in one take, since they were tired from having just performed a Louie-thon. Or because they were cheap (the recording only cost $50).  Or both.

Nonetheless, over the years, it’s the Kingsmen’s almost totally incomprehensible version of “Louie Louie” that has become the standard. Since the Kingsmen, it’s known more for the guitar instrumental bridge than its lyrics or story.  It has been recognized by organizations and publications worldwide for its influence on the history of Rock and Roll.

 

  • In 2007, in Rolling Stone ranked it #5 in its list of 40 songs that changed the world.
  • In 2004 Mojo Magazine rated it #1 in “Ultimate Jukebox: The 100 Singles You Must Own”.
  • Mojo and Rolling Stone have rated it the #51 and #54 top songs of all time, respectively.

 

Stories and commentary on “Louie Louie” and the Kingsmen could fill volumes. For example:

 

  • The lead singer for the famous Kingsmen 1963 recording, Jack Ely, quit the group four months afterward over a disagreement. At the time only some 600 copies had been sold. Ely missed out on large royalties.
  • Washington State considered making it the state song.
  • The states of Washington and Oregon, and the cities of Seattle and Portland have declared “Louie Louie” days. [3]
  • There is an “International Louie Louis Day” [4]
  • The FBI investigated the song to determine if it was obscene [5](the lyrics are that incomprehensible), as it was so popular at raucous parties (as recreated in National Lampoon’s movie “Animal House” [6]).

    • Which is pretty laughable today, considering how “artists” like Barrack Obama’s good friend Jay-Z fill their “songs” with the F-word and the N-word – not to mention gratuitous violence, usually against women – and are rewarded with critical acclaim and Grammy awards. Not that most true music aficionados or anyone with common sense would give two BMs about that.

 

Interlude

Another somewhat famous song nearly shares this unique “Double-double” Louie coincidence.  Each is named “Brother Louie”, wherein “Louie” is repeated in the song lyrics, but not in the title.  One version was recorded by Hot Chocolate (in the UK), and was covered by the group Stories (US based).  The Stories’ recording came in at #13 in the US for 1973; Hot Chocolate’s recording was #86 that year in the UK.

There is a second “Brother Louie” which is completely different, by Modern Talking (1986). It did not crack the top 100 for that year. I’m not familiar with this song, but it seems mildly annoying.

After Jack Ely had left the Kingsmen he soon realized he was going to miss out on those royalties.  So he wrote and recorded several songs with his new group, The Courtmen, alluding to his “Louie Louie” connection, including “Louie Louie ‘66”. But it is really the same song, although this time easier to understand.

Subsequent lawsuits between the Kingsmen and Ely resulted in him getting paid $6,000 and label credit as the lead singer on future record pressings.

You can read much more about the history, mystery and saga of “Louie Louie” here, here and here. And about a zillion other sites.

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Louie, part deux

July 1848 was a seminal moment.  The Seneca Falls Convention kicked off what could be called the Women’s Movements that still have modern-day repercussions.  Historians have suggested that it was not so much a feminist movement or a woman’s rights movement – it was a wide reaching social movement. [7]

By the turn of the 20th century, it was women who had led the charge for founding the Red Cross (Clara Barton) and for humane treatment of severely ill mental health patients (Dorthea Dix).  Women were becoming doctors and surgeons (not the same thing then).  They supplied the energy and drive to reform labor: advancing stricter child labor laws, organizing unions to drive for better and safer working conditions (especially for garment workers), and for five day work weeks, instead of the usual seven days. And pushed for forty hour work weeks, instead of the usual 60 or 70, with paid overtime compensation.

Alcohol abuse – in fact downright drunkenness – was a huge problem in 19th century America.  The temperance movement – based on the desire for a healthier family life – owes all of its early energy to Women.

Yes, women were feeling their oats and ready to do more.  They were shockingly daring to smoke in public and demanded the right to vote (By 1900, several western states, — Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Colorado — had already granted full women’s suffrage [12]).

In marriage, women grew less and less inclined to be totally subservient to their husbands.  Yes, they loved their men and were devoted spouses and mothers, but – especially in the middle and upper classes – they were eager to get more out of married life than children and laundry.

Women, their influence and their interests, cut a wide swath across the social milieu as America approached the grandest, the largest, and the most extravagant World’s Fair in history: the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, to be hosted at Forest Park, in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1904.

In 1890, Saint Louis was the nation’s second largest producer of beer. By 1904 they had dropped to number five, but that’s still a lot of beer. The big brewer Anheuser-Busch sold large quantities on the East Coast thanks to enhanced distribution via refrigerated cars they had helped pioneer on the nation’s ever expanding railroad capacity.[13]

Early in 1904, New York lyricist Andrew Sterling was trying to come up with a song to promote the upcoming World’s Fair in Saint Louis.  Two stories of his inspiration for the earlier “Louie” song survive, although it is likely that each is apocryphal.

The first story claims that in New York, those Saint Louis beers (Budweiser and Busch) were often called “Louis”, pronounced “Lou-ee” —the same as the French Saint, King Louis IX, after whom the city is named. It seems that at a bar one night, Sterling hailed the bartender, whose name happened to be Louis (Louie).  Wanting another beer, he called out, “Another Louis, Louis.” [8]

A second, similar, version of the song’s inspiration has Sterling and co-composer Kerry Mills (who wrote the music) sitting together across a bar from a bartender named Louie and ordering a mixed-drink called a Louie. [9]

In any case, it was the repeating of the name “Louis” — pronounced “Louie” — that caught on and inspired Sterling to pen the lyrics to the song “Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis.” He must have been feeling a bit jolly, since he wrote each half-verse and the chorus in the form of a limerick (A-A-B/B-A).

In the opening verse of the song, we find that Louis’ wife (Flossie) has left him, apparently without warning.  She leaves a note with the line: Life is just “too slow for me here.”  She’s perfectly willing to re-connect with him, but on her terms, as her note continues in the chorus:

Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the Fair.
Don’t tell me the lights are shining anyplace but there.
We will dance the Hoochee Koochee. I will be your Tootsie Wootsie.
If you will meet me in Saint Louis, Louis; meet me at the Fair.

Billy Murray was a very popular singer of that era.  In fact, his voice graces four of the top ten hits of 1904.  His recording of “Meet Me in Saint Louis, Louis” was made in May of that year and was immensely popular.  It was the #2 song of 1904 (behind Sweet Adeline, which actually had three different recordings make the billboard).

The Murray version is kept light and cheery – it skips a key verse that makes it quite clear that Flossie (Louis’ wife), is making an extreme act of defiance.  She wants more out of this marriage.

The dresses that hung in the hall,
Were gone; she had taken them all.
She took all his rings, and the rest of his things.
The picture he missed from the wall.

“What? Moving?” The janitor said.
“Your rent is paid three months ahead.”
“What good is the Flat?” said poor Louis, “Read that!”
And the janitor smiled as he read.

Chorus: “Meet me in St Louis, Louis …”[10]

 

Flossie had not only left, she … took all of HIS things.

Further fixing the song firmly in a long ago era, Flossie’s note pledges “We will dance the Hoochee Koochee; I will be your Tootsie Wootsie.”

We might recognize Tootsie Wootsie from context, as it also appears in “In the Good Old Summer Time”, the #6 song of 1902 as recorded by William Richmond, charting at #1 for seven weeks.

You hold her hand and she holds yours
And that’s a very good sign
That she’s your Tootsie Wootsie
In the Good Old Summertime

“Tootsie Wootsie” is a sweetie pie: a boyfriend or girlfriend you can cuddle up to. And more.

The Hoochee Coochee was a dance that was considered very daring – even lewd – at the time. It was sexually provocative with lots of mid-section gyrations. It had become somewhat popular through exhibits at two earlier well-attended World’s Fairs in America; the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

The Hoochee Coochee was an “entertaining” dance to observe —usually men observing women with a bare midriff.  Flossie says “we will dance” it — as in, together.  Hmmmm.

If you think about it, Louis’ runaway wife, Flossie, really had a lot on her mind, and lot to offer.  As Michael Lasser says in “America’s Songs II” — “It offers a tempting invitation: She promises him a good time at the Fair and afterwards. … the promise borders on sexual abandon.” [10]

So Flossie was not simply rebelling and running out on poor Louis.  Her offer was all, or nothing.  As in: All of her, or none of her.  She was promising him some exciting “action” — connubial pleasure, if you will — if he would simply comply with her demand to leave home and…

“Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis.  Meet me at the Fair!”

No wonder it was so popular!

Yes indeed!  Marriage can be plenty interesting in a fun way if men would just take the time to listen to their wives once in a while!

Here’s hoping and praying that Kevin, and his Tootsie Wootsie Sue, can very soon run away and enjoy the delights of “hoochee koochee” as well.

Kevin and Sue Shepardson

Kevin and Sue Shepardson

Until then, I wish you all peaceful snuggling; or rowdy dancing.  Or both.  Your choice.

Cheers,

Joe Girard © 2015

 

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Final notes and thoughts, followed by footnotes and bibliography.

 

  • Neither Sterling nor Mills attended the Fair in Saint Louis.
  • The Song was revived in the 1944 movie starring Judy Garland “Meet Me in Saint Louis” (this time pronounce the American way: like “Lewis”), wherein the chorus is sung by quite a few excited folks in the opening scenes. [Plot flaw: this is mid-summer of 1903, and according the sources I cited, the song’s words and sheet music were not written yet, nor had it become popular]
  • My Friend Max Storm, founder of the 1904 World’s Fair Society, has his doorbell set up to play the chorus to “Meet me in St Louis, Louis” when it rings. His Tootsie-Wootsie, Shara, lovingly puts up with this, and much more.
  • The song is often shown without the second “Louis” and  without the comma between.  This is incorrect.
  • The Berry song “Louie Louie” is often shown with a comma between the two Louies.  This is also incorrect.

 

 

Footnotes/bibliography.

[1] “Louie Louie,” the saga of a lovesick sailor pouring his heart out to a patient bartender, named Louie. — and other “Louie Louie historical highlights: http://seattletimes.com/html/entertainment/2003643550_louietimeline01.html

[2] According to some references, Louie, Louie has been recorded over 1500 times. LouieLouie.net and Peter Blecha, 4/1/2007 Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.com/html/entertainment/2003643548_louie01.html ]

[3] Washington, Oregon, Portland and Seattle “Louie Louie Day”.  April 12, 1985 (Washington), April 14, 1985 (Seattle), April 2, 1986 (Oregon): http://www.louieday.org/default.htm

Finally, in the city where the Kingsmen recorded it, Portland celebrated “Louie Louie Day” October 5, 2013: http://koin.com/2013/10/05/its-louie-louie-day-in-portland/

[4] April 11 (the birthday of Richard Berry) is celebrated as International “Louie Louie Day“ [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Louie_Louie_Day]. It is also listed by Chase’s Calendar of Events, and the National Special Events Registry

[5] FBI investigates “Louie Louie” for obscenity.  http://vault.fbi.gov/louie-louie-the-song

[6] Plot error.  Animal House supposedly occurred in 1962, one year before the Kingsmen’s recording was released.

[7] Women’s movement as Social Movement. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/647122/womens-movement

http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/socm/intro.htm

“Women and women’s organizations also worked on behalf of many social and reform issues. By the beginning of the new century, women’s clubs in towns and cities across the nation were working to promote suffrage, better schools, the regulation of child labor, women in unions, and liquor.” http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/progress/suffrage/

“Women were key players in the push for prohibition (meaning outlawing the sale and consumption of alcohol), improved housing standards, regulations of the food and drug industry and government inspections of factories. ”

http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/womens-suffrage-early-feminism-movement-19th-amendment-leaders.html
The above link has been changed to: http://study.com/academy/lesson/womens-suffrage-early-feminism-movement-19th-amendment-leaders.html

[8] The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought,  William R. Everdell [chapt 14/pg 206]; https://books.google.com/books?id=yVRb9sJ2KjEC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=sterling+get+me+another+louis,+louis&source=bl&ots=znJQdCCPif&sig=zfezVLEHcMmQC78dXauLWFRVxJo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HX7IVPGaIoKnNv7wgqgM&ved=0CD0Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=sterling%20get%20me%20another%20louis%2C%20louis&f=false

[9] America’s Songs II: Songs from the 1890’s to the Post-War Years, Michael Lasser [1901-1905/pg 27]; https://books.google.com/books?id=RlmLAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq=America%27s+Songs+II:+Songs+from+the+1890%27s+to+the+Post-War+Years,+Michael+Lasser&source=bl&ots=H_e1kCaphg&sig=hnTC8TDuh_gj_vV2NjlgW9l9e_A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=U4DIVLK7GYedNrfwgbgN&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=America’s%20Songs%20II%3A%20Songs%20from%20the%201890’s%20to%20the%20Post-War%20Years%2C%20Michael%20Lasser&f=false

Note: In further research, I could find no such drink called a “Louie” or a “Louis.” But that could just be that Google hasn’t found it yet.

[10] Meet me in St Louis, Louis: lyrics. “500 Best Loved Songs”, edited by Ronald Herder, page 219-220.

Verified lyrics; http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/judy_garland/meet_me_in_st_louis.html

[11] The Hoochee Coochee (or Hoochie Coochie) in America: http://www.readex.com/blog/hoochie-coochie-lure-forbidden-belly-dance-victorian-america

[12] Women’s suffrage timeline by state in the US: http://constitutioncenter.org/timeline/html/cw08_12159.html
Odd that Washington as a territory granted full suffrage in 1883, but not as a state until 1910. In fact, the territorial laws were twice overturned.  http://www.washingtonhistory.org/files/library/TheFightforWashingtonWomensSuffrageABriefHistory.pdf

[13] Primm, James Neal (1998). Lion of the Valley: St. Louis, Missouri, 1764–1980, pg 328-330

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