Happy Halloween, missing Moguls and details on Phoebe Snow

By Darla Buckhannon

Happy birthday to Evans Ryan, Ronnie Held, Diana Dees, Angie Eftink, Fred Welter, Larry Grey, Wm. G. McFerron, Jack Gladwell, Tanner Morgan, Grace McCann, Evie Morris, Margaret Nation, Kenny Holder, Terry Cannon, David Gardner, Mary Ann Kiefer, Angie Ruiz, Bob Tankersley, Pat Whistler, Sam Hibdon, Paula Hudson, Bobby Eichhorn, Mark Glastetter, Janet Loucks, Helen Masters, Steve Wall, Rob Abernathy, Michelle Dalton, Matt Trost, Jennifer Vandeven, Olivia Gramlisch, Jeremy Pobst and Amanda Hooker.

Happy anniversary to Alvie and Joan Surface, Dewayne and Lana McAlister, Raymond and Nancy Spies, Joe and Kerrie Swain and to Earl and Katie Chasteen, who are celebrating their 60th on Nov. 3.

Halloween happenings

Happy Halloween! Hours for trick-or-treating tomorrow, on Halloween, are from 5 to 8 p.m. Turn your porch light on if you have treats for the little goblins! There are always those residents who go above and beyond with their treats for the little ones. Kids always know where the really good treats are. My mother loved making special treats well in advance of the evening and delighted in seeing the kiddos' joy when they said "trick or treat.

Missing Moguls

The public library is in need of specific Moguls. If you have one of those missing years but don't want to give up your yearbook, Jennifer Nolen says they will be happy to return it to you after it is digitized. You can drop yearbooks off at the library or mail them to 202 Wright Ave., Chaffee, MO 63740. Call Jennifer or Tina at (573) 887-3298 for more information.

Shorter days

Daylight saving time ends next Sunday, so remember to set your clocks back one hour. It will be lighter when we get up and dark when we drive home at the end of the work day, so be careful.

Sorghum and trains

The farmers have been busy in the fields, and one sign we particularly look forward to seeing is Ralph Enderle's sorghum sign in New Hamburg, Missouri. Cooking sorghum is quite a production. I happily picked up ours, which Richard uses in his pecan pies. Check out the pictures of Ralph and his helpers online at semissourian.com, and if you missed seeing the Union Pacific 844, check out James Baughn's blog.

'Phoebe Snow' explained

Trains are fascinating to many, especially those of us who grew up in Chaffee during the Frisco Railroad years and in railroad families. In reading "400,000 Miles by Rail" by Burt Blanton, the author mentions the passenger train the "Phoebe Snow." Most of us think of the singer Phoebe Snow and her hit "Poetry Man." Born Phoebe Laub, she actually took her stage name from the fictional character created in the early 1900s for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Phoebe was a popular name in the 1900s for girls, and snow signified whiteness. So the railroad's advertising agency created this mythical lass to emphasize the cleanliness of the trains, which burned anthracite coal rather than the soft coal used by their competitors. Anthracite was a dustless, sootless fuel found in abundance in the Pennsylvania region served by the Lackawanna and continues to be mined today.

When the celebrated artist Penrhyn Stanlaws created Phoebe Snow on canvas, she was used in the railroad's advertising and became an instant success! The auburn-haired young lady was dressed in all white and wore a small corsage of delicate violets. Her hairdo, dresses, hats and handbags were copied by ladies of the time. The railroad employed a number of young women, including famous actresses, to portray Miss Phoebe at local civic celebrations along the line and to greet dignitaries. Author Blanton says she was a glamour girl of the first magnitude, and all for the calculated purpose of luring travelers to the dustless Lackawanna trains. Miss Phoebe's motto was, "My gown stays white from morn 'til night -- Upon the Road of Anthracite." On Nov. 15, 1949, the Lackawanna's million-dollar streamliner, Phoebe Snow, went into service between New York and Buffalo. Blanton adds, "From the shiny Diesels to the observation car, the train was a luxury daylight passenger consist to rival any in the country."

Phoebe Snow, the singer, died in 2011 at age 60. She took care of her special-needs daughter in her home for 31 years.

Final thoughts

Remember to tell those special people in your life that you love them -- those three words mean so very much and are so nice to hear.

Email your news to darbuck2@airmail.net or leave a message at (573) 887-6430 or (214) 207-7839.

And then ...

Then there was "boo!"