Day 3- Sunday 8 May 1932 Tennessee or Kentucky?

by Grandson Frederick Walton, Family Historian

The story of the Packhiser's 1932 Honeymoon Drive from Coast to Coast

Ninety years ago, in 1932, my Grandparents got married and traveled across the country on their Honeymoon. They left a scrapbook of their trip which I recently discovered.  I am attempting to document their odyssey, uniting old family photos and stories by exploring their treasured mementos from this epic trip. Join me on my journey of discovery.... 

Natural Bridge Hotel

Sunday morning, May 8, 1932, began with fair weather in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, but was expected to warm up throughout the day, possibly delivering thunderstorms by the afternoon. The Packhisers would be long gone by then.¹ They most likely started the third day of their married life in the hotel at Natural Bridge, Virginia based on the inclusion of a brochure from there glued into their scrapbook and a logical guess that this is where they ended their travels the day before. 

Looking ahead at the next four scrapbook items, sorted geographically, may give us a clue to their probable route for day 3.

Nashville or Louisville?

Looking westward,  two possible destinations,  either Nashville, Tennessee or Louisville, Kentucky, are suggested by the souvenirs pasted into the Honeymoon scrapbook. Both lay within a days drive and either would be a reasonable destination. 

The two items from the Nashville area include:

1. Letterhead- W. C. Rion, Rion Brothers paint Store, Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Scrapbook Page 17)
2. Bottle Label- Gerst Pale Beer, Nashville, Tenn  (Scrapbook Page 18)

And two Dated items from Churchill Downs in Louisville really muddy the water!

1. Fifty-Eight Kentucky Derby Official Program; Churchill Downs ; Derby Day; Saturday, May 7 (scrapbook Page 5)
2. Official Program, Churchill Downs; Eighth Day; Monday May 9, 1932 and ticket for seventh Race 3119 “Field” (Scrapbook Page 19)

Spoiler alert...I actually know that the travelers are in St. Louis, Missouri the following week, but that is a story for a future blog. One of the dated items The May 9th race program) were well with our current timeline, but that places the other 3 items in a suspicious light, making me wonder why they are in the scrapbook if they don't belong? 

I needed to investigate further, starting with their most probable route. The map shows us that  Nashville is a little further south and west, and out of the way, when traveling from the Natural Bridge in the Shenandoah Valley to St. Louis.

Were they here on May 7th or May 9th?

As discussed previously, I came to the conclusion that the most probable time line has the honeymooners still in the Shenandoah Valley on May 7th, so I have to guess that the May 7th program was just a nifty souvenir of their later visit, perhaps made more desirable because, unlike the May 9th program, this one actually says "Kentucky Derby". I have spent considerable time looking for a plausible explaination and can simply reach no other reasonable conclusion.

Deciphering the Nashville Clues 

Building on that conclusion, it would appear that the Packhiser's attended the Churchill Downs Race on May 8th, 1932, the day following this one, so the question becomes... could they have visited BOTH Nashville and still made it to Louisville, in one day? 

The Clue that muddied the waters- Rion Brothers Letterhead

Keep in mind that the logical reason for stopping at Nashville would be to visit Lydia's older sister Anna, who actually lives in nearby Old Hickory. Technically, yes, they could possibly fit both trips into the same day, but that would be a huge rush and their late arrival would leave no  time for a visit. If I were planning the trip and was making a stop at my sister's home, it would be for a longer,  leisurely visit resulting in arriving at the races on May 10, or 11. The May 8th race day seems somewhat arbitrary since they missed the main event, The Kentucky Derby,  on the day before, so why rush?.....but since that's not the case we have another mystery to solve!

We know that Lydia's older sister Anna Helene Kroll ( 1894-1981) married William Clyde Rion (1891-1971) on April 3, 1920 and they lived in Old Hickory a suburb of Nashville in 1932, so it is no a surprise to find a Rion Brothers paint Store letter head as a souvenir. The question becomes, WHEN did they acquire it? Was it on this 1932 honeymoon trip to the  West?  Or could it have come from the 1933 return trip east. According to a 1933 journal in my procession that Erwin kept, it is a documented fact that they stayed with the Rions for several days in 1933. 

At first I assumed that all of the souvenirs from the scrap book were, as the scrapbook is labeled, from their Honeymoon. Yet some of the items are dated in late 1932, long after they arrived and settled in Hollywood, so it can not be surprising that a few keepsakes may include items from their trip home.

The letterhead confused me a little because it is from Murfreesboro, southeast of Nashville, and all the genealogical information I have collected over time about the Rions places them in Old Hickory and later in Goodletsville. Both of which are north of Nashville. I also knew that Clyde, as he was known, was a Chemist. Had a gone from mixing paint to mixing chemicals? 

Additional sleuthing uncovered this critical clue found in the local newspaper:

An article appeared in the September 17, 1932 issue of the The Daily News-Journal from Murfreesboro, Tennessee describing the formation of the Rion Brothers paint store...in SEPTEMBER of 1932. That proves there was no Letterhead in May 1932! While this isn't conclusive proof that the Packhisers didn't go to Nashville on May 9th, but removing the Nashville "clues" makes it  easier to focus on the Louisville Clues. It also fits my timeline better. So let's just throw out this "clue" for now!

What about the Beer Label? This might seem an odd souvineer, but not if you are a young adult in 1932, Remember prohibition was not repealed until December 1933. That means that in May of 1932 Alcohol was still prohibited! 

This colorful label provides us an important clue on the bottom right corner- "Permit Tenn U-672". This is know as a  U-Permit beer label. [2] The repeal of the 13th Amendment (National Prohibition) had been eagerly awaited by beer drinkers and breweries alike. Small breweries that had been suffering for years finally could begin to sell beer again. Each brewery competed for the thirsty public with unique eye-popping label designs like this one. The Federal government taxed every alcoholic container and each brewery was assigned a unique Federal Tax number. This number is now known by collectors as the "U-Permit"and was a mandatory requirement from 1933 to 1935. This label was not produced until 1933, so, like the letterhead, it could not have been a souvenir in May 1932, which knocks this off the list as a clue. Eliminating these clues opens the way for figuring out the Packhiser's Sunday drive. 

Louisville Today, Nashville Later

Louisville, Kentucky appears to be the likely city where they headed after leaving the Natural Bridge. This is about a 7 hour drive, today, according to Google Maps. We know that traveling at a slower speed, on two lane roads, passing through every rinky- dink town, a large part of it through the Appalachian mountains, means that this trip would have taken them all day and they wouldn't arrive in Louisville until late in the evening.  I would calculate the trip to be approaching 12 hours.

1931 Map showing potential route from Natural Bridge, Virginia to Louisville, Kentucky.

When looking at a 1931 Map,  contained within the Shenandoah Caverns Brochure that they kept for their scrapbook, it looks like an obvious route is U. S. Highway 60. This is similar to the modern interstate 64 route, that today cuts off considerable time by bypassing cities and has a faster speed limit. If I "force" Google to follow the still existing old route 60, passing through many towns in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky, it generally follows the Kanawha river as it snakes its way through the rugged Appalachian Mountains.  

Modern map of Old U. S. Route 60

Google agrees with my 12 hour calculation  which allows a leisurely 45 MPH speed and the requisite stops for gas and meals. There is no record of where they may have stopped or what sites they may have seen, but at least one the photos they took may give us a clue. The following photo is unlabled, but was taken on this trip. It appears  to be mountainous and they appear to be eating, maybe a snack or a picnic lunch. Who knows? Of course, This could be the mountains of Pennsylvania, but it just might be the Mountains of Tennessee. It is unidentifiable, in fact not even very appealing, but it does document their journey! Can we interpret this as their youthful approach to travel and adventure. We don't know if they had a deadline and firm travel schedule or if they were simply headed west and happened to be "in the neighborhood" when the Kentucky Derby was running and decided to make a stop, but the evidence shows us they were there.

Roadside Lunchstop.
Erwin, Lydia eating Sandwich, Sister Helen, looking glamorous for her boyfriend, Ric, who is snapping the photo.

They spent this sunny Sunday in 1932 in the car taking a scenic drive through the mountains. Imagine the sights they saw in depression era  Appalachia.

Depression Era Appalachia

Remember that in 1932 everything is CLOSED on a Sunday. Did they stop at a roadside stand to buy some fresh fruit or jars of honey? Did they buy a handmade quilt? Maybe they came across someone selling moonshine to help them celebrate their honeymoon? I wonder what the hillbilly farmers thought about the well dressed "foreigners" in the fancy new automobile driving through their mountains?

So, not withstanding the distance, this was a day devoted to travel more than anything else. Which works perfectly for our narrative, now that we can conclude that they traveled on this day to their next destination: Louisville, Kentucky.

Next Stop: Day 4-The Kentucky Derby

https://packhisers.blogspot.com/2023/01/day-4monday-may-9-1932-louisville.html

NOTES:

1. "The Daily News Leader";  STAUNTON, VIRGINIA; Sunday, May 8, 1932; Weather Forecast

2. Beer Labels-https://www.usbeerlabels.com/u-permit-beer-labels.php