Raymond and Ella Lee: 1940s

Ella Lee Carley met Raymond Lamont Pierce (1923-1981) when the two of them were working at Gulf Shipbuilding Corp. in Chickasaw, Alabama, during World War II.

Ella Lee, as she was always called, joined the war workers flooding into Mobile from the rural areas of Mississippi and Alabama. The demand for workers at the city's shipyards and Brookley Army Air Force Base was so great that the city's population doubled almost overnight. Ella Lee moved from Electric Mills, Mississippi, and counted herself lucky because she had friends in Mobile who gave her a place to live. Housing was very scarce. So scarce in fact that many places rented beds for 8-hour shifts.

The above photo was taken in front of the Reservoir Inn. As you can tell by the sign, N.B. "Bonie" had switched from selling the Sinclair gasoline brand, which he sold when the business first opened, to the Cities Service brand.

Reservoir Inn: Interior

The inside of N.B. "Bonie" Pierce's Reservoir Inn did not have any fancy appointments. Simple aluminum frame tables and chairs filled most of the open space. Along one wall, in the background above, Bonie built plywood booths.

In the above photo, Beatrice Valara Pierce (1921-1993) sits with her hand resting against her face. She is wearing an apron because she did most of the work tending customers. The Reservoir Inn did not serve prepared food, but it had all sorts of convenience foods and served beer and soft drinks.

Bonie is in the background walking toward the old-fashioned wooden phone booth. Barely visible behind him in the window is Bonie's wife Julia, looking in on who is in the store. Behind the window wall was Bonie and Julia's home.

The names of the three customers at the table are not known, but they were regular visitors to the Reservoir Inn. This photo was probably taken in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Gibsons at Jack Dempsey's

For many people in the late 1930s and 1940s a trip to New York City was not complete without a visit to Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant. Located on Broadway between 49th and 50th streets, the restaurant became an American institution. Heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey opened the restaurant in 1935.

On the left side of the table in the above photo are a 14-year-old Ralph N. Gibson (1933), his father Joseph Gibson (1900-1966) and mother Ina Mae Pierce (1903-1977).

The names of the couple on the right side of the are not known, but the man was Joe Gibson's partner in Sweet's Foundry in Johnson City, New York. The photo was taken about 1947.

As he did most nights with customers, Dempsey came by the Gibson's table to greet them.
The painting on the wall behind the table is a well-known one. It shows Dempsey on the right, crouching and bobbing his way to a heavyweight victory over the giant Jess Willard to win the championship on July 14, 1919.

Cecil Alvy Pierce: 1940s

Cecil Alvy Pierce (1907-1975) stands proudly with one foot on the running board of his car.

Does anyone recognize the make, model, and year of the car? The style is typical of the 1940s.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Pierce Tilley.

Looking for more info on Mamie Poore and Earl Andrews

I’m looking for more information on the two people in this photo: Mamie, or sometimes Mammie, Poore and Earl Andrews, both of Jasper County, Mississippi.

Mamie (b. 1897) is believed to be the daughter of Joseph Truett Poore (1871-1958) and Rosa McCraw (1874-1962). Earl’s Navy uniform appears to be from World War I.

Mamie and Earl are believed to have been friends at one point. Earl later moved to California after he was discharged from the Navy. He met and married his wife in southern California in early 1923.

Any additional information would be appreciated.

Velma and toddler

Velma Moree Pierce (1913-1993) plays with a toddler on a front lawn. The baby is not identified, but it was possibly a child of her sister Ina Mae Pierce (1903-1977) and brother-in-law Joseph Gibson (1890-1966). Velma and her husband Charles E. Barnhart (1913-2004) did not have any children.

The location is not identified but may have been in either Hammond, Indiana, or Chicago, Illinois.

Honeymoon Road Trip: Anna and Cecil Pierce

Probably not many people take road trips for their honeymoons anymore, but in the 1920s and '30s it was a popular thing to do. A road trip at the time was more than just driving to a destination. There were no interstate highways and few four-lane roads.

Anna Catherine Edwards (1909-2008), left, and Cecil Alvey Pierce (1907-1975) were married on November 28, 1929.

Cecil had moved to Akron, Ohio, to live with his sister Hazel and her husband Don Vickers and to work with Don at the Goodrich Rubber Company. That is where Cecil and Anna met.

Cecil later got a job with a railroad company in Akron. They often traveled by train to Mobile for visits. But that was years after this photo was taken.

The car tag bears a 1930 date and is an Ohio plate. This outing was probably something of a honeymoon trip for Anna to meet her Pierce in-laws. Traveling from Akron to rural Wilmer, Alabama, in 1930 by car must have been quite an adventure, especially given the condition of roads at the time.

A few years earlier, Cecil's sister Hazel and her husband Don Vickers also made a honeymoon road trip in the opposite direction. You can read Hazel's diary account of that trip on this blog.