Updated 10.16.2022
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| 1930's postcards of the Miami Country club. | |
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| This
is the view I saw on a daily
basis as a child growing up around the Miami Country club. The building
faced the North side where the pro shop ran a business, two lower
outside bathrooms for boys and girls were available. To the left, the
open space held benches for shade and golfers could sit on the north or
east sides of the club house and watch others playing golf from the
shade of the clubhouse. |
I
can't begin to recall the names for us as this picture, captured with
my mother's Brownie Kodak camera, must have been about 1957-58. I am on
the front row, the girl with two huge pony tails on my picture right is
Renicker daughter and her brother is there somewhere. On the second row
Joe Thompson is the first,... the last three on the right are Nancy
Baron, Patty Lou Gibson, Sara Lynn Salling. The third row on the left
is Richard Wright, Katy Murphy, Joyce Luttrell, Bob Hill, ?,? Bill
Lacaff, Richard Russell. Fourth row standing ? Sue Lowry ..
sixth from the right is Hoot Gibson. (What fun it has been to correspond
with people and refreshing our memories about that time and place.
Thank you all for your help)
What
is unique about this photo is the emptiness around. On the right side
notice the open door under the stairwell. The space under the steps held
the push carts for rent. When I worked there from 1960-- the cart
handle cost 10 cents in the 50's but went up to a quarter in the '60's.
Once paid I retrieved the cart handle from a barrel in the back of the
golf shop, attached it to the push cart and set it up for the golfer to
walk directly to the first tee, facing north. Once a person walked under the
steps and beyond the cart storage, the boys restroom was under the porch
and to the right. There were several showers and toilet stalls. It was used by men and boys.
The
girls bathroom was raw and open like the boys. The door faced the
entrance to the swimming pool. We merely stepped on several slabs of
concrete and down one step and underneath the porches above. There were
lockers for bathing suits, two toilets with doors, and two showers. The
concrete was wet and slippery. During the winter months these doors were
locked. It was also used by women golfers and girls swimming.
The golf shop stood on the bottom floor immediately behind the kids in this photograph. It also served as the passage way to the lower floor where the men and women had locker rooms.
The postcard view (is looking at the southeast corner)shows cars parking in the south oval driveway. There was a large overhang that originally was built for a much smaller car to drive through and let people off at the entrance. (Although one story tells us the Mrs. Coleman did manage to drive her car under it.)
South side driveway
The
slot machines were hidden in the small area that says storage open to
the sitting room for men and women. When the Sheriff would raid the club
the slots were hidden underneath a shelf in the storage room. (This is pre 1963 when the club was renovated.)
Also, hidden behind the kids photo would be a screened window area, like our pubic swimming pools had, where kids could order candy bars and pop through the wooden framed screen. The screen lifted up and for fifteen cents kids could boy candy and pop.
Botts'
Wholesale house arrived every Wednesday about 10am to deliver the
candies, chips, pop, and cigarettes for the week. I felt so grown up
when I first signed for order.
Between 1960-62 the shaded deck area on the east and northeast corner were cemented in leaving a twelve inch area for windows. This area extended the men's locker room. The dirt area on the far right will become the space where my father stored the electric golf carts and his workshop area. The golf shop also expanded toward the east side giving dad room for merchandise.
During this time my father extended the golf club storage to the east by cementing in a corner of space and then opened that area to the dirt. This is time when he once again had cement laid in a large square area giving him a workshop area and place to store the beer that he could sell after 1960. By 1963 they had completely converted the dirt space to an are for the the golf cart storage, and created a small two step down square space where Dad put up a net and in the winter people could go down to the "snake pit" as it was nicknamed and hit golf balls into the net. Once again he was ahead of his time when it came to teaching golf and using only what materials he had available.
My childhood memories of the upstairs, second floor are very limited as children could use any of the porch areas which ran the length of the building on the north side from east to west. Lunches took place on metal tables or concrete floors. Metal chairs filled the porch for parents and kids. Towels were laid out by our parents if we needed to take naps. We could order sandwiches from Faye Doty in the dining room if we didn't have a sack lunch. Manners were required and we needed to knock on the double doors to get service.
There
were two large chimneys in the clubhouse. One on the West side that
opened to the dinning and dance floor area. The other large chimney
stood on an inner wall in the kitchen area. It was actually used for
heat through the inner core of the clubhouse until the renovation in
1963.
I do recall that the women's bathroom on the east side of the entrance steps was decorated with frilly skirts around the sink and table where personal items were stored. Even though I wasn't allowed upstairs I did make time to prowl around and know every square inch of the building without getting caught.
When our parents went to the club on weekends for parties and dances they brought the kids and we had a special playroom on the third floor. I recall the Robinson family brought a portable record player, and we played records that kids brought from home. There were game boards set up for us, ping pong table that didn't last long, as I think the older kids made every effort to knock the ping pong balls over the iron railing along the balcony and onto the dance floor below.
Sometimes the girls brought dolls and trunks of doll clothes from home, while the boys brought cars. Dad often shared his piles of cut wood blocks left over from his woodworking hobbies. We used the blocks to build race tracks or houses. We sometimes had crayons, coloring books, paper cut out dolls, and decks of cards. Depending on the age group, we all found entertainment. Best of all we were allowed to stay up late and watch our parents dance and party.
The living quarters on the east side of the third floor were once the home to the first few golf professionals and their families. It was a two bedroom apartment with an amazing view of the chat piles. As a child I was a guest in the apartment from time to time. When Faye Doty and her son Johnny lived there we spent many a summer hour playing cards and exploring the upstairs attic areas. There was also a house for the golf course greens keeper that was built in the 1940's along with a large barn for the equipment.
Between 1960-63 the clubhouse was renovated the the slot machines moved upstairs to a special room and a bar was built on the Northeast corner where previously it had been a screened in porch. Keep in mind that up until 1959 liquor by the drink did not exist in Oklahoma. Consequently, the state line drive to Seneca/Joplin became an important liquor run for clubs in Northeast Oklahoma that labeled bottles of whiskey with members names on them and sold 3.2% beer.
** In 1933 when the Federal government repealed the 18th Amendment, Oklahoma did not ratify the new 21st Amendment and instead approved the sale of beer containing not more than 3.2 alcohol by weight with the Oklahoma Beer Act of 1933. On April 7, 1959, the legislature voted on House Bill 825, which repealed prohibition and created the Alcohol Control Board.
***
This is the original country club that George L. Coleman imagined. In 1963 the interior was redecorated and rooms moved around. The bar moved to the east side of the second floor and the upstairs kids playroom vanished.
I have filled in with stories the best I can, but I could really use help from each of you IF you have memories of the inside of this lovely old building.
I will have a 1963 series of pictures taken for the first event held at the opening in 1963.
Thank you for following, participating in this history, and reading along.
*A note of thanks to my husband, Jack, for helping me design this layout from my memory. I know it is not to size but it is to my memory the best we can show.
