Last week, I wrote an article detailing the excellent exhibit at the Indiana State Museum called “200 Objects.” It tells the story of the great state of Indiana through objects associated with the Hoosier state. It will be on display now through January 29, 2017 and you should venture down there for an afternoon of unmatched delight guaranteed to make every Hoosier chest swell with pride. But… it got me to thinking. What would I have added to the exhibit if given the chance?
I’m a pop culture guy, so most of my selections would deal with objects, relics and displays dealing with the modern day pop culture history of our fair state. In fairness, the ISM has done a fantastic job and what will take me minutes, took them months and really could not be improved upon. But, any time you see an all-time list whether its greatest all-time teams, movies, songs or books, well, questions arise. All-time lists are designed to provoke conversation via addition or subtraction. So at the risk of offending all you Hoosier historians, and in the interest of provoking thought and water cooler conversation, here’s a summary of items that I would have included. Some of them are fanciful and many not even survive while others are contained in local collections, museums and historical libraries.
Ernie Pyle’s typewriter. Ernie, from Dana, Indiana, was the voice of the common soldier during World War II. Perhaps the most respected journalist of his generation, he was killed by a sniper near Okinawa on April 17, 1945.
Oscar Robertson’s Crispus Attucks basketball jersey. Oscar led Attucks to back-to-back IHSAA state championships in 1955-56, the first for any all-black school in the nation. T.C. Steele’s paintbrush and pallette. Steele was an innovator and leader in American Midwest Impressionist painting and is considered to be the most important of Indiana’s Hoosier Group painters.
Oscar Charleston’s bat. Charleston, born and raised in Indianapolis, was a Hall of Fame center fielder and manager in baseball’s Negro Leagues from 1915 to 1945, including three separate stints on teams from his hometown. Steve McQueen’s sunglasses. McQueen was born at St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove in 1930 and lived in Indianapolis until moving to Los Angeles at age 12. He would become the essence of bad boy cool and define a generation.
Howard Aiken’s 1919 Arsenal Technical High School yearbook. Aiken is considered to be the founding father of the Computer Age who conceived then helped create the world’s first large-scale computer, IBM’s Harvard Mark I.
Red Skelton’s cigar. Skelton, from Vincennes, was the Hoosier state’s most prolific entertainer, appearing in vaudeville, films, television, stage shows, nightclubs, and casinos during his 60 year career. Philo T. Farnsworth’s image dissector video camera tube. Farnsworth’s Fort Wayne factory produced what most consider the first viable television broadcasting device. His image dissector was used to send video images back to earth from Apollo 11 on the moon.
James Whitcomb Riley’s pince-nez eyeglasses. When Riley read his poems live on stage, crowds would clap and stomp their feet like a modern day rock concert.
Mayor Bill Hudnut’s Indianapolis Racers toboggan stocking cap that he wore on air for days during the Blizzard of 1978. Dick Lugar’s running shoes. Although a devoted long distance runner, those shoes could symbolize a lot of things. Birch Bayh’s U.S. Senate desk name plaque. Every female athlete in the country owes a debt of gratitude to this man who opened the door to equality for female athletes for all time with his Title IX bill.
David Letterman’s Atlas Supermarket nametag, Mike Ahern or Howard Caldwell’s hairbush (both newsmen ALWAYS had great hair), Jane Pauley’s 1968 Warren Central state debate champion trophy, Garfield creator Jim Davis’s orange pencil, Kin Hubbard’s sketchbook (his Abe Martin character is still the unofficial mascot for Nashville in Brown County). A ticket to the first Halloween Festival in Irvington — the nation’s first and longest running of its kind (I believe Dawn Briggs has one courtesy of Stan Denski if memory serves). Or how about a bottle of Pluto water from French Lick? It was all the rage until people figured out it was heavily laced with lithium salts, a powerful mood altering drug that became a controlled substance in 1971.
Reggie Miller’s wristbands, any one of Bobby ‘Slick’ Leonard’s loud jackets and while we’re at it, how about Dancin’ Harry’s cape? Wayne Gretzky’s WHA Indianapolis Racers jersey because we all know it all started for the great one here in Indy. Randy Johnson’s Indianapolis Indians jersey with extra tail length (remember he was 6’ 10”). Butler basketball coach Tony Hinkle’s whistle? Hinkle was the first to put Indiana basketball on the national map by winning an NCAA title in 1929. Or John Wooden’s vinyl stat folder, always curled up in his hand on the sidelines like a military baton. True, he gained fame as the UCLA hoops coach but starred at Martinsville high school, Purdue University and began coaching (for several teams) here in Indiana. Not to mention he was the first to go into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.
A game ball from the 1971 ABA Champion Pacers versus the NBA Champion New York Knicks. Unquestionably the two greatest teams of their day with Roger Brown, Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netoclicky, Freddie Lewis, Darnell Hillman, Billy Keller and Rick Mount for the Slick Leonard led Pacers and the Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Jerry Lucas, Dave DeBusschere and Phil Jackson for the Red Holzman led Knicks. The Knicks won a close one 98-96, but it proved that the ABA could play with the big boys.
A Burger Chef and Jeff glow-in-the-dark frisbee (you probably have one in your garage, I know i have a few), Colonel Harland Sanders first driver’s license. The Kentucky Fried Chicken founder was born in Henryville lived in New Albany and Greenwood and learned how to drive on the back roads of Southern Indiana. Dave Thomas’s pocket protector. The Wendy’s founder started out in the restaurant business at Hobby House and later KFC in Fort Wayne and was the first to make being a nerd cool, so you know he had one. How about a Native American themed menu from the Tee Pee restaurant or a cup from Al Green’s on East Washington? (Fifties hot-rodders would agree on that one).
Lew Wallace’s eyeglasses. He wrote Ben-Hur and almost single-handedly saved Washington D.C. from Rebel invasion during the Civil War. General Solomon Meredith’s officer’s commission signed by Abraham Lincoln. You can see the Gettysburg Iron Brigade Commander’s document at the Cambridge City library if you ask politely. The original wooden toll sign from the Historic National Road currently housed at the Henry County Historical Museum in New Castle. The original Democratic Rooster symbol. Stuffed and on display at the Hancock County Historical Museum in Greenfield.
How about Governor Henry Schricker’s trademark fedora hat? Legend has it that in 1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Schricker to be his running mate, but Schricker declined and told friends that he could tell FDR was a dying man and he (Schricker) didn’t want the responsibility of the Presidency. Truman was picked instead and the rest is history. But, what if?
How about Neil Armstrong’s 1952 and Eugene Cernan’s 1956 Purdue senior yearbooks, placed side-by-side? Armstrong was the first man on the moon and Cernan the last; both were Boilermakers. How about a Daylight Savings bill signing pen from Mitch Daniels, because like it or not, we’re all living with it now.
How about a collage of hood ornament emblems from all of the Indiana motor car makers over the years, Studebaker and Stutz most prominent among them. How about Orville and Wilbur Wright’s school ledger? Wilbur was born in Millville and I was once told that a man walked into the Wayne County Historical museum in Richmond and showed the relic to the curator, then promptly walked out. So I know it’s out there somewhere. John Muir’s walking stick. He worked at a carriage factory on Illinois Street in the years immediately following the Civil War and began his legendary love affair with nature in the still heavily wooded landscape surrounding our Capitol City.
A room key from the Bates House hotel where Abraham Lincoln stayed on the eve of his 52nd birthday on his way to assume the Presidency? A door plate from the English Opera House on the circle? A wood relic from the front porch of the Benjamin Harrison house. Little Ben was one of the first to actively campaign for the office and he did it in 1888 from his front porch. The Harrison Home used to sell them to visitors 40 years ago so I know they are out there.
A ticket to one of the two shows by The Beatles at the State Fairgrounds back in 1964? Or to Janis Joplin’s concert at Indiana Beach back in 1968? How about a ticket to Frank Sinatra’s first concert at the Circle theatre back in 1940? Or a ticket to Elvis Presley’s last concert at Market Square Arena back in 1977? I know Dale Harkins has one half of the original stage Elvis performed upon in the Irving, so how about that? Sammy Terry’s green Playtex gloves? A pie (in the face) from Harlow Hickenlooper? Janie Hodge’s Gilroy Gopher? Cowboy Bob Glaze’s cowboy hat? Or a Tom Johnson sketch of Herman Hoglebogle… remember him?
For those wanting to represent the darker side of Hoosier history, how about young Charles Manson’s Indiana Boys school ID. He spent some time here as a youth and even made the newspaper in 1949 when it was announced he was being sent to Father Flanagan’s Boys Town. From which he promptly ran away. Tony Kritsis’s Logansport mental hospital wristband I.D. because everyone knew he was bat-dung crazy. Or the bullet riddled shirt of Clyde Barrow, of Bonnie & Clyde fame, purchased at the HP Wasson store in our city and currently on display at Whiskey Pete’s Casino in Nevada. Or maybe the school photo of Sylvia Likens, the tragic symbol of lost innocence who resonates in the minds of Circle City natives 50 years after her passing.
I could think of more, but then it wouldn’t be a game but an obsession. The best way to add to the list would be for you to go down to the ISM and see for yourself. And if you happen to have any of these items, please ask to see State Museum curator Dale Ogden while you’re there. I’m sure he’d love to add them to the state’s collection.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest book is “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
