PEARL SPURLOCK, the Tourist’s Friend

 Beautiful Ozarks, Lens & Pen Press, See The Ozarks  No Responses »
Jun 202024
 

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. As they bumped over the rocky hills to Sammy Lane’s Lookout and Uncle Ike’s Post Office, Pearl “not only tells the story in a beautiful and impressive manner, but feels it, … and you feel it must be the first time (she has given it) … It has grown sweeter to her each time it is told.” (Harrison County Times, Bethany, Missouri, Nov. 1, 1934.)

Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey, poet of the hills, even penned a tribute to Pearl:

Velvet fingers, but grip of steel,

Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel,

A flashing smile and a kindly hail,

For passing friends on the shining trail;

 

And a fine, sure knowledge of hill and wood,

With legend, tradition, bad or good.

And Pearl Spurlock floats along

With her big car singing its steady song.

 

And yet, I wonder if sometime she

Dreams a dream of the used to be?

When a good horse answered her girlish skill

In a glorious gallop o’er vale and hill,

 

When the summer days passed gay and sweet,

On the little bay mare with dancing feet.

Today the same strong love abides

For her still streams, her mountain sides,

And that is why they all depend

On dear Pearl Spurlock—the tourist’s friend.

The article noted that Pearl was a Harrison County local, as her family was from there, well outside the territory of the Shepherd of the Hills.

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See The Ozarks: The Touristic Image is available on our website at www.dammingtheosage.com for $22.50 (10% off retail price of $24.95), postage paid.

 

Ozark Chair Shop, Beaver Dam.

 James Fork of the White, Lens & Pen Press  No Responses »
Jun 112024
 

Ozark Chair Shop, Beaver Dam.  Real photo postcard.

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. This craft is known as Como-Craft as originated by Harold Horine,” Pearl Spurlock, explained to her passenger.  Her knowledgeable patter informed and entertained many early visitors to the Shepherd of the Hills country. (quoted in See the Ozarks: The Touristic Image).

Beaver Dam on the White River in Arkansas was authorized by the same legislation that authorized Table Rock Dam near Branson. The Army Corps of Engineers webpage for the dam and reservoir notes: Construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1966. Total cost was $6,200,000. James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River has extensive coverage of Table Rock Dam’s history, controversies, and major milestones.

James Fork of the White is now available on our website at www.dammingtheosage.com for $31.50 (10% off retail price of $35), postage paid.

COON RIDGE NOVELTY SHOP

 Beautiful Ozarks, See The Ozarks, Uncategorized  No Responses »
May 302024
 

 

The caption of this real photo postcard reads: “Rube St. Clair, Champion Basket Maker of the Ozarks, Coon 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.”

Distinctive souvenirs were produced in the Shepherd of the Hills Country and sold at roadside curio and gift shops like Coon Ridge Novelty Shop in Reeds Springs. This shop was owned by John and Mrs. Wallace. She was a teacher at the Crane school.

The shops were stocked with locally made baskets, wood carvings, wares made of cedar, Harold Horine’s colorful drip-glaze concrete pots, and chenille spreads brought in from the southeastern United States. Some of those once-inexpensive souvenirs now fetch many times their original price.

“You will see the natives all along the highways weaving baskets. This is a very pleasant as well as profitable work, as they sell enough to the tourists, or ‘furners’ as they say, to help them live a ‘right smart while.’ The baskets are made in various shapes and sizes, and mostly of white oak.” Pearl Spurlock, legendary taxi driver, tour guide, and raconteur of the Shepherd of the Hills Country, quoted in See the Ozarks: The Touristic Image.

This image and many others are now in the Payton Collection of Ozarks Memorabilia at the Missouri State University Libraries-Ozarks Studies Institute.

 

Lens & Pen Press books are on sale on our website, postage paid.   See the Ozarks is now priced at $22.50, ppd.