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I have mentioned the Independence Daily News a couple of times on this thread.
I was around ten years old when my younger sister and I had our pictures on the front page of this newspaper when we participated in a Rotary Club Fishing Derby at the Triple Lakes on the then US 71 Bypass (now M-291). We were fishing with cane poles on the lake bank and I had on a cowboy hat and my sister had on a Chinese coolie hat. We never caught anything and I don't think we even had a bite.
The Daily News published from January 1, 1950 through April 17, 1963, according to one web site. Another says it started publishing in 1900 and went belly up in 1963. Craig Siegfried was the publisher. I recall that name as a civic leader in Independence but other than that cannot place him.
I found the photo taken by the Independence Daily News this evening while looking for something else. My mother had someone scan and colorize the photo in the 80s or 90s.
My sister is on the left and I am on the right. The caption says we were "Looking like a Chinese coolie and a typical barefoot boy, a brother and sister team participating in the Rotary Club Fishing Derby." It went on to say that there were over 500 children on the banks of this lake when the picture was taken.
I see where the 39th Street dual bridge over the Little Blue River east of Independence Center is 35% complete.
The 35th Street widening from Chrysler to Noland is 94% complete.
The police building is going to come under alternation or renovation, also. Not sure why they need that, it is a brand new building..............chuckle.
The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) was officially announced today (May 19) during a press conference in Baltimore, MD. The new league, consisting of professional indoor soccer teams from the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL) and the former Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), was formed to create a new super-league. The MASL will begin play this fall when the Dallas Sidekicks face off against this past season’s MISL Champions, the Missouri Comets on Saturday, October 25 at the Allen Events Center.
24 teams in the US and Mexico, including Independence.
The police building is going to come under alternation or renovation, also. Not sure why they need that, it is a brand new building..............chuckle.
I can remember when it smelled brand new and looked shiny. But then I realize that was almost 40 years ago!
When the Kansas City A's played down at 22nd and Brooklyn, night games started at 8:30 pm. Except for day games that was the standard start time across the league.
I always arrived early for batting practice. When the game finally started, it seemed like it was bed time already. The end time for a nine inning game was bad enough but if a game went into extra innings it sure played havoc on getting up for work or school the next morning.
Charley Finley, bless his heart, was instrumental in getting the game starting time to 7:30 pm. Now, games here in Colorado start at 6:30 pm on week nights and 6:00 pm on Saturday nights. The Royals have similar start times.
I enjoyed going to the Royals games much more because of the more reasonable start times.
Finley also got the color into baseball uniforms. His proposal for orange baseballs, though, went nowhere. And, apparently, the A's were the only team to adopt white shoes.
Baseball item of note: The air is very dry in this part of Colorado. The Colorado Rockies (and their farm team Colorado Springs Skysox) keep their baseballs in a walk-in humidor. The controlled humidity helps keep the baseball from going out of the park as much as a dry ball normally would.
I am not sure if I brought this up before--That is Missouri in our life time printed or coined its own currency, although it was not worth very much.
When I would go shopping on the square with my mother, probably in the late forties, there was a sales tax but it must have been less than one penny on the dollar. I think the tax was for the state only and there was no city sales tax. It seems to me Independence relied at that time greatly on the property tax for income.
At any rate, if the sales tax overall came to a fraction of a penny, my mother paid the full rounded amount and received mills back in change. Mills were red discs maybe the size of a quarter and each had a value of one-tenth of one cent. There was also a green mill that was worth 5 mills or half a cent.
Even back then when money was tight and scarce, these things did not have much value as we kids and our friends would bend the mills into half just for the fun. They were made of rather thin plastic.
Littleton, CO, the county seat of Arapahoe County where I am located, has a coin dealer who has both the Missouri red 1 mill coin and the Missouri green 5 mill coin for sale. The price is 25 cents for an uncirculated 5 mill piece.
Thought I had a red mil too but can't find it if I do. The larger token is a metal Missouri 1 mil. I presume these came before the plastic mils. Not sure why the photo flipped, sorry.
Last edited by Major Tom 58; 05-20-2014 at 08:24 PM..
When the Kansas City A's played down at 22nd and Brooklyn, night games started at 8:30 pm. Except for day games that was the standard start time across the league.
I always arrived early for batting practice. When the game finally started, it seemed like it was bed time already. The end time for a nine inning game was bad enough but if a game went into extra innings it sure played havoc on getting up for work or school the next morning.
Charley Finley, bless his heart, was instrumental in getting the game starting time to 7:30 pm. Now, games here in Colorado start at 6:30 pm on week nights and 6:00 pm on Saturday nights. The Royals have similar start times.
I enjoyed going to the Royals games much more because of the more reasonable start times.
Finley also got the color into baseball uniforms. His proposal for orange baseballs, though, went nowhere. And, apparently, the A's were the only team to adopt white shoes.
Baseball item of note: The air is very dry in this part of Colorado. The Colorado Rockies (and their farm team Colorado Springs Skysox) keep their baseballs in a walk-in humidor. The controlled humidity helps keep the baseball from going out of the park as much as a dry ball normally would.
I don't remember the games starting that late. In 1960 we had two season tickets, upper deck third base side, and I was able to attend 78 of the 81 games (school got in the way of the other three which were day games) God bless my parents who both worked for staying up that late. Don't think there was an I-70 either to speed up the drive home. There was also one of the two All Star games at Municipal that year (previously mentioned here)
All three of us were big baseball fans. We got one or two foul balls which might not be saying much since the A's typically sucked so bad there were likely few competitors for souvenir baseballs. I probably still have them, scuff marks and all (from the bat or hitting the seats or concrete). Russ Nixon was one of the batters, I think with Boston. Lefties would hit spinners up our way and even with my glove every night I dont think one was caught cleanly, just chased down. I do remember the crowd applauding every time a youngster got the souvenir
Years later my Mom claimed I cried after every loss ("That was the Cryinest Summer" since the A's were so bad) I disputed that even though I did take my baseball very seriously. For some reason the third base vendors referred to me as "The Sheriff" Not sure why but I guess it was due to my nearly unanimous presence at sparsely attended games
EDIT: On second thought I think you may be right about the 830. Seem to recall the mid June games still being daylight at "play ball" time. Municipal would still turn the lights on (it was strange to see the lights with daylight) so when dusk settled in the field remained lighted. Those must have been really late night rides home, and if there was a rain delay or extra innings, sheesh. But even I couldn't sleep in since I had to go to work with Mom during summer vacation and school holidays.
Last edited by MRG Dallas; 05-20-2014 at 11:04 PM..
I don't remember the games starting that late. In 1960 we had two season tickets, upper deck third base side, and I was able to attend 78 of the 81 games (school got in the way of the other three which were day games) God bless my parents who both worked for staying up that late. Don't think there was an I-70 either to speed up the drive home. There was also one of the two All Star games at Municipal that year (previously mentioned here)
All three of us were big baseball fans. We got one or two foul balls which might not be saying much since the A's typically sucked so bad there were likely few competitors for souvenir baseballs. I probably still have them, scuff marks and all (from the bat or hitting the seats or concrete). Russ Nixon was one of the batters, I think with Boston. Lefties would hit spinners up our way and even with my glove every night I dont think one was caught cleanly, just chased down. I do remember the crowd applauding every time a youngster got the souvenir
Years later my Mom claimed I cried after every loss ("That was the Cryinest Summer" since the A's were so bad) I disputed that even though I did take my baseball very seriously. For some reason the third base vendors referred to me as "The Sheriff" Not sure why but I guess it was due to my nearly unanimous presence at sparsely attended games
EDIT: On second thought I think you may be right about the 830. Seem to recall the mid June games still being daylight at "play ball" time. Municipal would still turn the lights on (it was strange to see the lights with daylight) so when dusk settled in the field remained lighted. Those must have been really late night rides home, and if there was a rain delay or extra innings, sheesh. But even I couldn't sleep in since I had to go to work with Mom during summer vacation and school holidays.
I can only recall that Finley argued that baseball was a family affair and 8:30 pm was too late of a start for most families. He tried everything he could to bring people into the stadium. I cannot recall whether he had to seek league approval or he just made the change and everyone else (except the Cubs) followed suit. I have surfed the web to confirm but so far have not found anything. I did see where he suggested night World Series games as all seven of those games use to be in the afternoon.
I also see where Finley tried to move the Oakland A's to Denver; I was not aware of that. When the A's moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City the old Kansas City Blues became the Denver Bears. I went out to watch them after I moved here in '80. The Bears name eventually changed to Zephyrs for some odd reason and it totally turned me off.
The Bears/Zephyrs played in the old 75,000 seat Mile High Stadium sharing with the Denver Broncos until the Rockies came to town. The old Mile High had a 500 foot long portion of the stadium that weighed around 10 million pounds that was moved 150 feet by water and ram action to accommodate football or baseball. It took a few hours but the stadium could accommodate an elongated football field one day and a normally proportioned baseball field the next.
On one day in 1993, Mile High had 80,000 people watch a baseball game and the Rockies drew 4.4 million people that year. Charlie Finley would really have been envious.
Thought I had a red mil too but can't find it if I do. The larger token is a metal Missouri 1 mil. I presume these came before the plastic mils. Not sure why the photo flipped, sorry.
I dont remember the metal mills but a web site says they were used in the thirties. I also saw a Missouri one mill that was green.
I recall my mother used a ladies bill fold that had a change pocket with a snap to open or close. She would open up that change pocket to pay for something and she always had a red or green mill piece mixed in with the change.
I dont have a clue when they stopped using mills. I am also wondering if people back then used mills to pay for the "odd" 21.9 per gallon cost of gasoline.
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