Sunday, November 16, 2014

The Mark Twain, March 1958

If you have to look at more photos of the Mark Twain, they might as well be pretty pictures. And these two qualify nicely. 

It's not hard to pretend that this photo was actually taken at a small landing along the Mississippi river. Just squinch up your eyes a little bit! The sternwheeler will stop to pick up passengers and goods. Bales of cotton add to the veracity of the scene. Note the name "Fred Peltzer" on that crate… I Googled the name, and checked IMDB, but had no luck; but he has to have been a real person of some significance, don't you think?


This one is as pretty as a postcard. All riverboat gamblers, be sure your aces are securely hidden in your sleeves before boarding.


at

7 comments:

  1. Nanook12:37 AM

    Well, Major-

    According to "Legacyofwrestling.com", on Friday, August 17, 1845 - Babe Zaharias beat Fred Peltzer (of La Junta, CO). There are other wrestling references dating back to 1935. Evidently, Fred weighed-in @ 215#. He'd be perfect as a bouncer on a Mississippi riverboat, keeping all those gamblers in-line.

    Thanks, Major.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nanook12:37 AM

    Uh-hum -

    Make that "1945".

    ReplyDelete
  3. K. Martinez9:16 AM

    Wonder what happened to the Cordelia K. steamboat after the Silver Bullet hit it? Did they sell it on EBay?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1:05 PM

    Nice pics of the Twain, Major. I'm voting for Nanook's storyline as the most likely, but weirdly, Fred Peltzer is also listed as a Delta Force character on TV's "24". Obviously far too late for March of 1958, but curious, no?

    Bill in Denver

    I love writing "curious, no?"

    ReplyDelete
  5. Melissa7:37 AM

    Peltzer? hardly knew 'er!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9:40 AM

    Ha, from the looks of his legacy on the wharf, Peltzer was a "boxer", not a wrestler.

    You can see, he did "crate" work!

    Great sleuthing, Nanook.

    JG

    ReplyDelete
  7. Major Pepperidge12:26 PM

    Nanook, Fred Peltzer lost a wrestling match against a woman? Granted, Babe Zaharias was an exceptional athlete. Still, Andy Kaufman would be ashamed! ;-)

    K. Martinez, I found a website that said, "The Cordelia K. is one piece of Knotts' that will never come back, because a few years back whoever Cedar Fair put in charged of moving the boat broke the Cordelia K. in half". Arg.

    Bill in Denver, it still seems weird to me that such a prominent prop would have the name of a wrestler on it. But you never know.

    Melissa, yuck yuck!

    JG, wha whaaa (sad trombone)….

    ReplyDelete