A short jaunt through Ollie’s back
yard
From an early age (I’m now 50), I have immersed myself in 20th Century American culture. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ealing Comedies, The Beatles, The Who, Peter Sellers and much much more, but from a moving picture point of view and musically, all roads seem to lead to the USA. My wife Penny and I have been to the USA a number of times but recently spent the best part of a summer driving around some of those 50 states, keen to visit a number of the places that have helped shape our lives through sound and vision. Harlem and the South, Los Angeles and San Francisco were top of the list.
.
Our
first major drive was from Los Angeles to Texas via California, Nevada, Colorado
and New Mexico and it was everything we’d hoped for. Small towns full
of charming, polite and interesting people full of enthusiasm for parades
and festivals commemorating all manner of things. Here are just a few picked
at random:
.
The Giant Omelette Celebration, Abbeville LA; The Yuma Lettuce Festival, AZ; The Bald Eagle Festival, Alaska; The World Beard and Moustache Championship, Alaska; The Columbus, Mississippi Catfish and Karting Festival and the Summer Redneck Games in East Dublin, Georgia. And as I’m sure most of you know, thousands of people descend on the small town of Harlem, Georgia for one weekend a year to celebrate the life of its most prominent son.
.
One
disappointing aspect of British life for me is that we have generally been
slow to recognize and celebrate our Modern Culture. There have always been
numerous places to visit relating to the lives of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen
and William Shakespeare and yet it seems that the great Bill Cubin
had to virtually go it alone in Ulverston and it’s only through the
generosity of fans that a statue of ‘The Boys’ is about to be unveiled
there.
We
stumbled across a balloon festival in Ridgway, Colorado, the town where much
of the John Wayne movie True Grit was filmed. We spent a delightful
impromptu weekend there, dining in the True Grit Café, watching the
balloons at sunrise and enjoying The Rockodiles, a local rock band whose
lead guitarist was Rusty Weaver, son of McCloud actor Dennis Weaver, who’d
recently passed away. This kind of thing is everywhere, it truly is fantastic
and you never know what is around the
corner.
From the outset, it
was our intention to visit Oliver’s home town of Harlem despite it being
slightly ‘out of the way’. But thanks to some homework before setting
off, Georgia proved to be full of juicy treats for the Wyatts: the promise
of seeing the great rock bands Little Feat and the Allmann Brothers in and
around Atlanta; a visit to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, also in
Atlanta; and a special excursion to Macon, the birthplace of Richard Penniman
(aka Little Richard) and home to the late Otis Redding from the age of 5.
And, of course, Ray Charles, the innovator who changed the course of popular
music, was born in Albany, not that far
away.
Entering
Georgia from Alabama, we tuned into Georgia Christian Radio just in time
to hear a gospel choir singing “My God is on Time, Every Time.”
Obviously there have been drastic changes since the late 19th
Century but it was exciting to be in the very area where Babe had started
to form his own unique personality.
It
wasn’t long before our first sight of those white mansions reminiscent
of the images from Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone with the Wind’.
(We later visited the Margaret Mitchell museum in Atlanta and were interested
but not shocked to learn that Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen, the
two black actresses prominent in the film version of GWTW, were omitted from
the guest list for the prestigious premiere of the movie in Atlanta in 1939,
such were the segregation laws at the time. One can only imagine how things
were below the Mason-Dixon Line when Oliver was growing up in the
1890’s.)
Karen
Waters at the Georgia Tourist Office became very animated when we expressed
an interest in visiting Jimmy Carter’s church in Plains, Georgia, to
hear the former President preach.
“President Carter
understands that we ladies don’t bring our Sunday clothes on holiday.
So long as you don’t wear your Daisy Dukes (short shorts), you can wear
what you like,” she kindly advised
us.
As we drove east, we
noticed more and more election campaign fliers for Governor Sonny Perdue,
and stopping for gas at the Knoxville Stores, spotted a wall full of Allman
Brother posters, the owner being a big fan. We’d discovered that
in a lot of US states, customers have to pay for their gas upfront. The
proprietor here told us that this was because of vagabonds driving off without
paying, but he pointed at his new pick-up on the forecourt and
said,
“I’d like
to see any bum outlast that baby and I have a gun under the counter; let’s
see ‘em try it. Are you guys from England? Have a great
vacation”.
Entering Macon we passed
Girl Scout Road and Breeze Street before checking in at the Travel Inn for
$35. The budget status of the motel was confirmed by police notices warning
against stealing from the rooms and a sign on the door read, “Breakfast
6.30-9.30 - No Carry Outs”.
That evening, we enjoyed
watching the Miss Teen USA pageant, won by Miss Montana who looked as if
she knew she’d always win even though another, more homely-looking
contestant had saved a child from
drowning.
[I realize that we
are still to reach Harlem in this tale but we are keen to offer a flavour
of the South, especially if you haven’t been lucky enough to go ‘Way
Out West’ - from the UK, that is]
Our
route to downtown Macon, the next day, took us on the Major Bobby Jones POW
M.I.A. Interchange and we spent a delightful few hours at the Georgia Music
Hall of Fame. The Hall covered Southern Music extensively and featured Tommy
Dorsey, white and black gospel singers, Ma Rainey, Little Richard, Otis,
the Allmanns, Brother Ray and many
others.
As
an example of family planning among the Southern working class even in the
mid-20th century, Melvina Spence, museum curator, who has 13 brothers
and sisters, told us that her mother had wanted to simply make sure that
she would be looked after in her old
age.
After enjoying some pittas in the Roly Poly Restaurant we headed to City
Park, by the river, to see the wonderful statue of the late great Otis Redding,
who enjoyed great success with the Stax Record label before his death, aged
27, in a plane crash. People who have contributed to the funding of the statue,
we noted, include: Gladys Whipple, Lakisha Donelly, Tamira Slaughter, Cobretti
Wilson, Clarena Hoskins, Donte Finney and D’Morea Zyshon.
Whilst
we were there, a mile-long freight train passed by on an elevated track -
another thrill. We then stopped at a downtown Goodwill Store (charity shop)
where we bought some books and shorts. We also met John Franklin, a WW2 veteran
who’d been based on the Eastern Seaboard guarding German POWs. He recognized
our accents and seemed quite excited to meet us. We found this a regular
occurrence, especially in the South where people couldn’t believe how
we had just turned up in their town. Southern ladies would often say things
to me like “Well, bless your heart, Honey” and men would be unfailingly
polite to Penny, always removing their hats to greet her. One young lad with
a charity box outside a supermarket asked me if I could teach him to talk
like I do, as he was sure this would help him get a
girlfriend.
It
is no surprise that Mr.Hardy’s genteel manners (honed in the South),
especially towards women, were so noticeable up there on the big screen -
when he wasn’t being cantankerous and awkward, that
is!
Back
at the motel that evening on America’s Got Talent, we cheered
on 14 year old Taylor Ware, from Franklin, a yodeler who had worked in Dolly
Parton’s Dollywood.
The
following morning, before making the drive to Harlem, we found ourselves
watching a classic Waltons episode, over breakfast. I’m quite proud
to have recognized the actor Nicholas Hammond (who’d played the eldest
Von Trapp child, Friedrich, about ten years earlier in The Sound Of
Music). He was playing a no-good fop with a fancy car and was
attempting to steal John Boy’s girlfriend, a young Sissy Spacek, away
from him.
We
then took Route 49 and passed through Milledgeville, a pretty, wealthy-looking
college town and the capital of Baldwin County. Crowds of beautiful, bright-eyed
students milled about the smart boulevards and we noticed something of an
excess of hairdressers and beauty salons. I’m sorry to report that I’d
forgotten that Ollie first became interested in acting whilst residing at
the Baldwin Hotel in Milledgeville, so I don’t know if his presence
there has been recognized in any way.
Passing
through the poorer-looking Jewell Community, we spotted several dead armadillos
on the road. A number of classic Munsters/Psycho-type properties caught
our eye and we made a brief stop in the town of Thomson. One of my old school
friends is named Pete Thomson, so in his honour we took a bunch of photos
of carpet stores, court houses, and shopping malls with the Thomson name
prominent. I can also report that later in the trip we went on a pilgrimage
to the small hamlet of Wyatt in Indiana, where we took similar photos of
Wyatt Feed Farm and enjoyed hospitality in a bar called Wyatt Beef and Brew
where several afternoon drinkers insisted on buying us drinks. Simple
stuff, but strangely thrilling!
Eventually we entered the small town of Harlem, Georgia (pop 1814), where one’s first view is of a smiling Oliver Hardy on the town’s water tower, below which has been printed the legend
HARLEM
– Birthplace of Oliver Hardy
Near
the traffic lights by Main Street, we saw the multi-coloured mural that you
may have seen pictured before, painted on the side of the old theatre which
is being restored. Not great likenesses to be honest, but no matter, it’s
a lovely tribute all the same. Before we visited the Museum we went to a
favourite chain diner of ours, the Huddle House, where we were served by
Melissa who was too shy to ask us where we came from, though we noticed her
pointing and whispering with a colleague. “You can tip me if you really
want to”, she said sweetly.
We
wandered slowly (I’ve omitted to point out just how hot it is in the
South especially in the months of July and August) over to the museum and
noticed an electrician’s truck outside and a man hanging from
an electric pole - hopefully ‘A Lineman for the County’, even though
we weren’t in Wichita! Denise, the curator that day, explained
that the electric had been down most of the day and by chance had just been
restored so we were able to visit and enjoy some films during our
stay.
Denise
told us that entry was free “because families can’t afford to pay
museum entrance fees” but of course donations were welcomed. She told
us a little about the history of the museum and we grabbed some leaflets
and flyers. The museum had been 17 years in the planning, inspired by the
Harlem Oliver Hardy Festival which is held on a weekend in October every
year. In 2004 there were 32,000 visitors to the town on that day, with
350+ vendor and craft booths and parades (of course). The whole event sounds
truly fantastic, done in a way that only Small Town America can.
Memorabilia, books, pictures and the like had been collected by fans over
the years, including Denise herself, and the museum was opened in July
2002.
It
is a wonderful museum, as you’ll see from the photos, and when Denise
asked us which of the L & H ‘Shorts’ we’d like to see
(we were the only visitors that afternoon), we chose County Hospital
and The Music Box, the latter ostensibly because we had a plan to
visit the steps on our return to Los
Angeles.
We
chatted some more with Denise and she told us that a local family of Mennonites
(modest dress, no cars or television) come in once a month and watch the
films all day. Denise has visited the museum in Ulverston and I told her
that I visited when Bill Cubin was still alive in 1991 - I actually visited
about two weeks after Pen and I had begun ‘courting’, and she still
has the promise of an Ulverston trip this summer to look forward
to.
We
said our goodbyes after a delightful visit and headed for Harlem Library
where we sat on tiny seats in the children’s section, to use the free
internet service. We also chanced upon Ollie’s Laundry at 125 S.Hicks
Street, the site of the Hardy household over 100 years ago. It’s felt
that the town is slightly embarrassed that the house isn’t there anymore,
but considering the small size of the town and how little time Oliver spent
there, it’s a tribute to them that they’ve managed to put Harlem
on the map and it must be fantastic to attend the Oliver Hardy Festival every
October.
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GALLERY - CLICK ON THUMBNAILS
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(Small
American towns have no peers when it comes to making the most of a tenuous
connection. We spent a weekend in Winslow Arizona enjoying the Standing
on the Corner in Winslow Arizona music festival. This stems from one
line in the Eagles song Take it Easy, “I’m standing on the
corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl,
my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me”. Needless
to say a corner has been selected in the town where you can have your photo
taken next to a mural of a girl in a flatbed Ford. Eagles tributes
and other local bands play at the festival and you can bring the kids along
for fairground rides, the petting corner, the hotdogs … another great
community event that we were privileged to be a part
of.)
We
then headed in the direction of Atlanta and pulled in at a Super 8 in Madison,
Georgia. I’m afraid it had slipped my mind that our hero had spent a
number of childhood years in the town (though I have read the books!), but
we had a nice overnight in the town. We wandered into the historic Downtown
(most American towns name their town centres thus as so many of the businesses
and stores have now moved out to shopping malls and estates on the outskirts
of town. Many, we learned, are now trying to reverse this trend). And
it was charming walking around the beautiful tree-lined square and
gazing at the huge white stately houses along the avenues. Latonia, serving
in the Post Office, wished us well and we set off for Atlanta with the prospect
of more wonderful Southern hospitality, Presidential Goings-On, American
rock groups and another epic journey north to
Chicago.
Six
Weeks Later
At
the end of our fabulous journey, we arrived back in Los Angeles and checked
into the cheapish Guesthouse Inn on Sunset Boulevard. Despite having
been in the city before, there was plenty more to see and we had a great
couple of days here. The highlights
included:
Seeing
Jerry Lee Lewis promote his new record in the courtyard of the Virgin
Megastore (Jerry will be 74 this
year)
Driving
up into Laurel Canyon, where Joni Mitchell, and Crosby Stills and Nash and
their mates wrote all those great songs circa
1969/70
Standing
above the Hollywood sign near Mulholland Drive where we looked over the Hollywood
Bowl and the
City
Penny
having her photo taken with Superman and The Incredible Hulk on Hollywood
Boulevard, which was great
fun.
Visiting
Santa Monica Pier and the Carousel which was used in the film The Sting.
I didn’t have a clue where Stan used to live when he was in this
area.
On
our final day, we were determined to visit The Music Box staircase at 927
Vendome Street in the Silverlake area, which we’d deduced was not that
far from Sunset Boulevard.
On
our trip we’d been greatly helped by two books written by a chap called
Chris Epting. These have the titles Elvis Presley Passed Here and
James Dean Died Here – The Locations of America’s Pop Culture
Landmarks. The Music Box, address and description is prominent
on page 200 of the James Dean tome. Yet again, a lady in a Post Office came
to our aid and pointed us in the right
direction.
Vendome
is a quite nice, though not fancy, leafy residential area. Most L &
H types know that there is a road at the top of the steps and not a posh
house, but I went up for a laugh. We took some photos and read the memorial
plaque in the sidewalk with the images of the
boys.
We
also met Clifford who was pushing a shopping cart containing a number of
metal items for recycling. It became clear that Clifford was down on his
luck but he was keen to talk at length about Laurel and Hardy, the history
of the steps and the sort of people that visit. We also discussed how the
USA is not an overtly racist country but that race is a major issue - we
had met examples of this over and over
again.
I
don’t know why, as all there is to see is an unremarkable staircase
like any other, but it was a thrill to be there over 70 years on from the
filming of such a popular twenty minutes of black and white movie history.
I’m altogether chuffed that, in Harlem and Vendome (and Milledgeville
and Madison by accident), we’d managed to visit two 20th
century cultural landmarks made famous by L &
H.
Our
Harlem Oliver Hardy Festival sticker is now proudly displayed in the rear
window of our car.
Pete Wyatt (plus major
contributions and editing from the esteemed
Mrs.Wyatt) Go here for all your Laurel and Hardy Collectables VISIT: The ALL NEW 'Laurel and Hardy Catalogue'
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