Lens & Pen Press

11/03/2025

Imaging Hoover Dam: The Making of a Cultural Idol was published eleven years ago but the book only came to our attention recently. Author Anthony Arrigo of course deals primarily with that gigantic plug on the Colorado River that generates electricity and diverts much of the Colorado’s flow to thirsty southern California. Our collection of dam memorabilia contains material imaging Hoover as well as dams across America, even some around the world....

Imaging Hoover Dam: The Making of a Cultural Idol was published eleven years ago but the book only came to our attention recently. Author Anthony Arrigo of course deals primarily with that gigantic…

05/03/2025

We had two young sons to raise after Leland lost his employment creating photographic exhibits for the University of Missouri Extension. He was let go because of pressure from Stuart Symington. Missouri’s senior U. S. senator was angered because he sicked the Environmental Defense Fund on the Army Corps of Engineers’ Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir project that would block the Osage River....

We had two young sons to raise after Leland lost his employment creating photographic exhibits for the University of Missouri Extension. He was let go because of pressure from Stuart Symington. Mis…

05/03/2025

The great spring that significantly increases the flow of the Niangua River attracted homesteaders in the 1830s. James and Ann Brice arrived from Illinois and purchased 400 acres and in 1837 constructed a watermill. Other pioneers settled nearby, and a community called Brice was created. Another millwright, Peter Bennett, built a competing mill at the confluence of the spring branch and the Niangua....

The great spring that significantly increases the flow of the Niangua River attracted homesteaders in the 1830s. James and Ann Brice arrived from Illinois and purchased 400 acres and in 1837 constr…

28/02/2025

This post is a review of Imaging Hoover Dam we submitted to Amazon, here illustrated with objects from the Payton Dam Collection. Dr. Arrigo, in his preface, states: In this book I try to answer the question of how Hoover Dam evolved from a pipe dream of land developers and farmers, to an ambitious civil engineering project in the middle of the Mojave Desert, to the visual and cultural icon that it is today....

This post is a review of Imaging Hoover Dam we submitted to Amazon, here illustrated with objects from the Payton Dam Collection. Dr. Arrigo, in his preface, states: In this book I try to answer th…

29/10/2024

“Shall we gather at the river? The beautiful, the beautiful river?” Familiar lyrics bring images such as this to mind. Since before photography people have gathered at the river to play, to relax, to share momentous events and ceremonies like baptizings. Indian Creek flows from the north into the Elk River in McDonald County. The clear, spring-fed streams of the Ozarks have always attracted folks for recreation....

“Shall we gather at the river? The beautiful, the beautiful river?” Familiar lyrics bring images such as this to mind. Since before photography people have gathered at the river to play, to relax, …

01/10/2024

Real photo postcard. Entrance to Meramec Cave in Stanton, Missouri. Probably 1930s Caves have been inhabited and served as the stage for mythological tales in most cultures, past and present. Indigenous peoples used Missouri’s numerous caves for shelter long before Europeans arrived. For a century and a half after that, it was mined for saltpeter (potassium nitrate, which is used in the manufacture of fireworks, fluxes, gunpowder, etc.), and was even named “Saltpeter Cave.” By the time this photo was taken Meramec Cave had a well-known history....

Real photo postcard. Entrance to Meramec Cave in Stanton, Missouri. Probably 1930s Caves have been inhabited and served as the stage for mythological tales in most cultures, past and …

10/09/2024

The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway brochure advertises Resorts and Attractions of the Southwest. Circa 1910. This brochure is part of the Payton Ozarks Collection now housed in the Ozarks Studies Institute at Missouri State University Railroads were built to facilitate timbering and mining. The Iron Mountain Railway was an American railway company that operated from 1856 until 1917 when it was merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad....

            The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway brochure advertises Resorts and Attractions of the Southwest. Circa 1910. This brochure is part of the Pa…

27/08/2024

Eureka Springs’ main tourist attraction was “taking the spring waters” which were thought to have medicinal value. Luxury accommodations were available and attracted upscale tourists to “The City that Water Built” in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There was a Eureka Springs Gun Club and although local boosters didn’t promote hunting and fishing the mythic hillfolk were acknowledged as this postcard shows....

Eureka Springs’ main tourist attraction was “taking the spring waters” which were thought to have medicinal value. Luxury accommodations were available and attracted upscale tourists to “The City t…

14/08/2024

Excellent article on the innovative, congenial, overall good guy and Dean of Library Services at Missouri State University - all hail, Tom!Thomas A. Peters

Missouri State's Dean of Library Services Tom Peters began working at the university in August 2012. He retires in December.

09/08/2024

Real photo postcard, circa 1920. “Taking his medicine in the Ozarks, Anderson Missouri.” Note the long gun on the ground by his feet. This hunter was thirsty! The spring-fed creeks and of the Ozarks were promoted in tourism literature from the beginning. Claims were made that additional benefits came from bathing and drinking from the pure waters flowing throughout the region....

Real photo postcard, circa 1920. “Taking his medicine in the Ozarks, Anderson Missouri.” Note the long gun on the ground by his feet. This hunter was thirsty! The spring-fed creeks and of the Ozar…

04/08/2024

What color is night? What a wonderful question!

What you see overhead is a combination of where you are, how our vision evolved, and that flimsy layer of atmosphere that keeps us all alive.

24/06/2024

We're anticipating the big auction this Thursday (June 26) at Potter&Potter Auctions in Chicago where we have consigned pieces we've long held. The entire catalog is online; bidding process is simple.

The Edward Patrick Byrne paintings are personal favorites. Leland and I found a stack of these futuristic/ultra modern paintings on board in a small antique shop in Edina, Missouri in the late 1970s. The vintage shop owner was the artist’s niece. Her Uncle Ed took up painting in his later years, but instead of the expected rural-theme subject matter, Ed, who was a rambler, painted Vintage Roadside (like the bright yellow Phenix motel), suburban ranch houses at brilliant sunset, and the occasional sketch of his favorite animals and people. Over the years we have placed some of his paintings with major collections or collectors.

Take a look at the online catalog: auctions.potterauctions.com/_BYRNE__Edward_Patrick__American__1877_1974___A_Gr-LOT80431.aspx

23/06/2024

Leland has always been ahead of the curve ... and once more he's done it again. He's kept a flip phone through every change in technology and all available upgrades. The world is finally catching up to him:

Flip phone sales and interest are soaring as more smartphone users say they want to stop being constantly pressured and distracted.

23/06/2024

Retirement has its own adventures. In our case – exploration of long-stored antiques and . Some of the treasures we brought to light will be offered June 26 (next Thursday!) at Potter & Potter’s Outsider, Folk, Contemporary and Fine tion (https://auctions.potterauctions.com/Catalog.aspx?auctionid=1184 ). As the title says, this auction will cover a wide range of tantalizing art and artifacts from the creative imaginations of fine and folk artists. Our offerings are on the “Folk Art” side.

20/06/2024

Pearl Spurlock, tourist guide and raconteur extraordinaire of the early Shepherd of the Hills days in Branson. “Sparky” was such a legend herself; we used this photograph as a full page illustration in See The Ozarks Pearl Spurlock became as well known as the characters and locations of Harold Bell Wright’s best-selling 1906 novel, The Shepherd of the Hills. As ‘furners’ traveled to Branson to pay homage to the events and people of the novel, most were treated to the knowledgeable services of “Sparky” – early on by horseback, and later in her car....

Pearl Spurlock, tourist guide and raconteur extraordinaire of the early Shepherd of the Hills days in Branson. “Sparky” was such a legend herself; we used this photograph as a full page illustratio…

11/06/2024

Although this was called Ozark Chair Shop, for the passing tourist what caught the eye were the colorful drip-glaze pots in many sizes that filled the shelves and yard. Nut head dolls, cedar boxes and wood carvings were more locally made souvenirs sold along the highways. “You may also see many small jars in a very attractive variety of colors to please the many tourists who stop there....

Although this was called Ozark Chair Shop, for the passing tourist what caught the eye were the colorful drip-glaze pots in many sizes that filled the shelves and yard. Nut head dolls, cedar boxes …

03/06/2024

This post on Ozarks Alive (https://www.ozarksalive.com/stories/the-boots-court-an-old-yet-new-place-along-route-66-in-carthage) brought to mind my visit in 2020 with the under-renovation Randles Court Motel in Eldon, Missouri http://beautifulozarks.com/historic-randles-court-motel-in-eldon/

It's great to see (over the years) the resurrection of the Boots Motel. You mention the Boots' sister establishment, the Randles Court in Eldon. It too has been renovated in period style and reopened after a small tangle with a tornado (2020) and delays caused by Covid lockdowns. I had the pleasure of seeing it when it neared Grand Opening in 2020:

The rock rubble classic motor court from the early days of America’s roadside culture is coming to life again along Business Route 54 through Eldon, Missouri. Jeremy and Jennifer Hart are renovatin…

30/05/2024

The caption of this real photo postcard reads: “Rube St. Clair, Champion Basket Maker of the Ozarks, C**n Ridge Novelty Shop, Ozark Route US 65 … Reeds Spring, Mo. Con Jock Studio.” This is a sharp, well-fixed image from a photographer/studio we have not encountered before. Unfortunately, a search of newspapers.com did not pull up any ads for the “Con Jock Studio.”...

https://beautifulozarks.com/coon-ridge-novelty-shop/

  The caption of this real photo postcard reads: “Rube St. Clair, Champion Basket Maker of the Ozarks, C**n Ridge Novelty Shop, Ozark Route US 65 … Reeds Spring, Mo. Con Jock Studio.” This is…