Tag: Bill Clinton

Time for a Bath

After my day of diamond mining without turning up even so much as a quarter karat, I decided that I pretty much had the basic idea of what was involved. I had booked my campsite to allow for two days of mining, but decided that I didn’t need more diamond mining. What I needed was a bath!

I headed down to Hot Springs to indulge myself.

I wasn’t sure how I’d like it, but I figured that I wouldn’t know until I tried. I climbed the stairs to the Buckstaff Baths. I went up to the counter and paid for the least expensive package they had – The Whirlpool Mineral Bath. It cost $38. I felt a little bit like Jack Benny as I dug the money out of my wallet. I kept expecting moths to flutter out.

Just in case you are wondering what I paid for, this is how their website describes it:

“A 20-minute tub bath with whirlpool at a maximum temperature of 102 degrees. This bath includes, hot packs, sitz bath, vapor cabinet, needle shower, and whirlpool turned on in your tub.”

I got in the elegantly appointed elevator – complete with elevator operator – and rode up to the second floor.

I arrived at the locker room.

The attendant showed me to my cubicle.

My locker even had a small hoop to hold my walking stick, cane or umbrella upright, just in case I had one.

I undressed. While I waited for the attendant, I read the informational sheet about what to expect.

And that’s the end of the photos I have for the bath portion of my visit to Hot Springs. I’ll do my best to fill you in one what came next.

When I had undressed, the locker room attendant instructed me to raise my arms to shoulder height and she wrapped me in a large white sheet and then handed me off to the bath attendant.

She lead me to a long, deep white tub that was filled with hot water. As I remember, it had a whirlpool attachment that kind of reminded me of an outboard motor, except that in place of a propeller it had a water jet. I sunk down to my ears in the lovely hot water. It was great to be almost totally submerged in that long, deep tub.

After the specified 15 minutes, the bath attendant wrapped me up again and took me to a table. She had me lie down and then she applied hot packs. I rested there until they cooled down.

After that, it was off to the steam cabinet.

This is not the steam cabinet I was in. It is similar, though. I seem to remember seeing them in old movies as an example of hedonism. They way these are set up, you couldn’t really do it yourself. You needed an attendant to help.

The attendant opens them up, you sit inside and then they close it up around you so that only your head is sticking out, and a towel is wrapped around your neck so that none of the steam is lost.

Next, I was off to the sitz bath. You sit down with your bottom in a smaller tub of hot water and soak.

Then it was off to the needle shower. That sounds a little uncomfortable, but it wasn’t. As I remember, I stepped into concentric copper pipes – maybe four or five of them arranged in a “C” shape. The pipes were fitted with nozzles that sprayed you with cooler water from about your shoulders to your ankles.

At the end of that, you were escorted back to your locker to get dressed.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I felt marvelous! Completely clean and relaxed and ready for lunch.

I headed down Bathhouse Row to find sustenance.

I passed by the Ozark Bathhouse, which was completed in the summer of 1922. It was built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style at a cost of $93,00.

Originally, the Ozark Bathhouse looked quite different. Here it is in 1882.

They don’t seem to be satisfied with their design, as this photo from 1915 demonstrates. Or, maybe, the person who made the 1882 drawing took some artistic liberties.

I passed by the Quapaw Bathhouse, which is also built in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style and also opened in 1922. Its most notable feature is its dome covered with colorful tiles.

It was originally going to be named The Platt Bathhouse, after one of the owners. However, during construction, a cavity in the rocks in the building site was found, and the owners decided to promote it as an Indian cave. They named it after the Quapaw Indians that had occupied the area for a while in the early 1800s.

I walked up to the doors to take a peek inside.

Naturally, it was closed. That’s how I roll!

I came across this elevation marker as I continued my hunt for lunch.

I noticed this plaque set into the pavement as well.

Finally, I crossed the street and I found lunch.

Lunch!

Thus fortified, I headed back across the street to the Fordyce Bathhouse, which is now the Visitor Center for the Hot Springs National Park. Yes, this whole area is one of our national parks!

The Fordyce Bathhouse was built by Colonel Samuel Fordyce. Inspired by the spas of Europe, it opened in 1915 and was the largest bathhouse on the row. Built in the Renaissance Revival style, it eventually cost over $212,000 to build and equip and had 28,000 square feet on three floors.

I stepped inside and was greeted by terra cotta fountains.

I took the elevator up to see what I could see. The original equipment was there.

They had upgraded it to modern standards, though.

As I remember, I just kind of wandered around.

The first thing I came upon was The Hubbard Tub. It was installed in 1939 for conducting physical therapy with non-ambulatory patients. The therapist was normally in the water with the patient, manipulating the affected parts of the body. The buoyancy and warmth of the water enabled people to move joints and exercise muscles impossible to use elsewhere.

Here is a photo of the tub in use. You can see the lift that was used to get the patients into the tub.


As I wandered, I came across the men’s lounge.

The women also had a lounge.

There was an assembly hall between the two segregated lounges,

It was complete with a grand piano.

This photo from the past shows display cases where Fordyce displayed his Indian artifacts.

The stained glass in the vaulted ceiling was quite lovely.

It appears that music was encouraged.

They also displayed what the well-dressed male wore during the Edwardian era, which was 1901-1910. The outfit for physical education looks much more comfortable than the three-piece double-breasted linen suit. Just in case you were curious, the jacket and vest have mother-of-pearl buttons. I am not sure what kind of buttons were used on the button fly trousers. The cotton shirt has French cuffs and no collar.

I can see you scratching your head. You see a collar, don’t you? Well, that is a separate starched collar. It is double folded and has buttonholes to fasten it at the front. Do you suppose that they or their man servant tied the bow tie? They did not. The black silk bow tie has an adjustable elastic band with hook and eye clasp.

And there you have it – more information than you ever wanted about resort wear for men in the Edwardian era.

You might wonder why I have little to say about women’s fashion during this period. Well, the answer is quite simple. If they had an information sign about it, I neglected to take a photo of it! (You didn’t really think I remembered all these details, did you?)

I do like the women’s clothing. I could even see myself wearing the physical education uniform. The white dress is lovely, but doesn’t look particularly comfortable. I do like the hat, though.

They had a beauty parlor at the Fordyce. After all, what is a spa without beauty services? I’ll let you read about what they offered.

Massages were also available.

You can read about what they shared about the massage room and services.

They also had an extra massage room that used various electro-massage machines. The glass objects on the end of the wand are interchangeable high-frequency vacuum electrodes used for applying electric charges to various parts of the body.

In 1936, this room was converted for use as a mercury rub room.

What?! They rubbed mercury on people?! Well, that’s what the information said.

They were truly full service.

You could get it all done here. According to a guide written in 1917, they had “…a Chiropody Department to satisfy the most fastidious.”

Apparently fastidiousness declined because patient use of the chiropody room declined in the 1930s.

I wonder if they resorted to soaking their feet in mercury instead?

If all this pampering left you needing to recover, there were staterooms available.

According to what I read there, “Twenty-two private staterooms occupied part of the third floor. Each came equipped with a metal bed, dresser, and coat rack. A few rooms even offered hot and cold running water and telephones.

Valet or maid service was provided, however, no overnight accommodations were available to the customers

I don’t know for sure, but I think the gymnasium was exclusively for men. I could be wrong, but if women used a gymnasium, I imagine they had their own separate room.

Dumbbells have changed a bit in the last century. I guess “free weight” is the more correct term.

Here you can stretch out any kinks that the masseuse wasn’t able to exorcise.

Then, head off to the dressing room and get ready for what ever came next. I imagine they had to take off their physical education uniforms and get back in their three-piece double-breasted linen suits with the mother-of-pearl buttons, starched collar and black silk bow ties.

This stained glass ceiling was in the men’s bath hall.

It was full of all sorts of flora and fauna…

…and mystical creatures.

Before I left the Fordyce, I checked out some of their exhibits. This was the Bathhouse Row.

This ornament came from the Fordyce Bathhouse. The second floor windows have them on the lintels above the awnings

Do you see them?

With that, my visit to Hot Springs National Park drew to a close. There was one thing I still had to track down in Hot Springs, though.

I wanted to find where Bill Clinton lived. I found it.

The current owners were not particularly welcoming, though.

That is putting it mildly. In fact the guy on the porch was even yelling at me, and I was standing across the street!

I headed back to Crater of Diamonds State Park. I had to get ready for a day of travel in the morning.

I dumped my waste tanks. I took advantage of having a full hookup (which means water, electric and sewer, for the non-RVers among you.) I gave my tanks a good rinsing out.

I checked my tires and made sure they were all inflated to the proper psi and then I got ready to roll in the morning.

Next stop: Memphis.

 

Hope

I had a day to explore somewhere in Arkansas. I had a reservation at the next stop, which was a place that was officially on my “Next Time” list. I decided to spend it in Hope. Was I looking for “a slice of the good life?”

No.

I chose to visit Hope so that I could see Bill Clinton’s birthplace. After dropping my trailer at the RV park, I headed over.

I parked and went into the Visitor Center and got myself signed up for a tour. Luckily for me, one was about to start.

Bill’s first home was in the home of his grandparents, Eldridge and Edith Cassidy. He was born as William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, three months after his father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr, died in a car crash. Virginia, his mother, had married his father on September 4, 1943. Unfortunately, Bill’s father hadn’t quite bothered to divorce wife number three, so the marriage was declared to be bigamy. I guess multiple wives might be an occupational hazard when you are a traveling salesman.

I went looking for some additional information about Bill’s grandparents and ran into this interesting Washington Post article by Gene Weingarten about Bill’s father and what he had to endure during the Great Depression. Although it didn’t have the information I was looking for, it was riveting. If you want a window into the lives of people who endured poverty and the dustbowl, you might want to set aside a few minutes to read it.

We walked over from the visitor center. The ranger unlocked the door and invited us inside.

Bill’s grandparents owned and ran a small grocery store. My Preferred Source mentions that they sold goods on credit to people of all races, an unusual thing back in those days. Apparently, treating people like human beings is a good business model, because their house looks quite comfortable, in a 1940s sort of way.

Most of the furnishings are not original to the house. In fact, I don’t think any of them are “family pieces.” But, they have added touches that help to envision what life would have been like back when Bill and his mother lived there with her parents.

When I saw this old-timey box of Crayolas, I was impressed that it had survived all those years.

I was impressed, that is,  until I noticed the bar code and the CE marking on the bottom of the box. Just in case you had noticed the CE mark and wondered about it, my Preferred Source says that it is a certification mark that indicates conformity with health, safety and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area.

Now you know. (And so do I!)

After we looked around the living room, it was on to the dining room. Baby Bill probably spent a good deal of time in a playpen like this one. Eldridge and Edith cared for Bill when his mother went to finish her nursing studies in New Orleans.  I remember having one of those folding wooden playpens in our house when I was growing up.

This practical little vignette was in the corner opposite the playpen.

We didn’t have a wooden ironing board, and I don’t remember an iron like this one, but I do remember bottles with those sprinkler tops on them. After all, Bill Clinton was the first Baby Boomer President and I am a Baby Boomer.

We never had a stove like that one, but it sure looks cool!

Bill’s grandfather used to pin up cards on the curtain in the kitchen to teach Bill his numbers.

Bill would have been about four months old in January of 1947.

Bill and his mother shared this bedroom. I clearly remember my two youngest siblings using a bassinet like the white one next to Virginia’s bed. We must have come up a bit in the world by then, as this is a photo of what I slept in when I was tiny.

But, enough about me. Back to the tour.

There is a charming photo of Bill and a giant cake at what must have been his third birthday, judging by the candles.

If I remember correctly, this book is the one of the few things in the house directly related to Bill. Little Golden Books started publishing in 1942. I imagine most of the people reading this post have fond memories of Little Golden Books. I know I do.

When Bill got older and would come to stay at his grandparents’ house, he got his own little room.

When I visited Harry S Truman’s birthplace in Lamar, Missouri, I saw his outhouse and did some research to try to find out if he was the last President to not have indoor plumbing. The source that I found said Bill had an outhouse. He might have had one when living with his mother and stepfather, but not at this house!

I believe that his was his grandmother’s bedroom.

There was a letter from Bill to her in the room.

I was amazed that he had letterhead note paper as a student. I wonder if that was “a thing” back then?

I imagine that this room was set up as his grandfather’s bedroom. That afghan is a bit more “manly” than the one in his grandmother’s room.

And that was pretty much it for the tour.

I enjoy taking photos of the informational signs. I get some of my best information from them!

Fun fact: Mike Huckabee, who was governor of Arkansas from 1996 – 2007, was also born in Hope. I am sure that he wanted to be the second Baby Boomer president, but George W. Bush, who as born in 1946, actually got that honor. So, he would have been the third Baby Boomer, except that he didn’t get the nomination.

I headed back into the Visitor Center, to see what I could see.

I like how timelines lay information out so…linearly. And I do love maps! I decided to try to find the home he lived in 1950-1953 when I was done in this part of town.

Here’ a photo of Bill and his classmates at Miss Purkins’ School. Notice that Vince Foster, who lived just next door, was a classmate. Joe Purvis is also identified in the photo. I didn’t remember that name, so I went looking. It sounds like Hope produces a lot of lawyers and politicians!

Do you suppose that it’s something in the water?

This was labeled as a mother’s day photo.

A sweet photo of Bill, his brother, Roger, and his mother, Virginia. I imagine that it is from 1959 or 1960, judging by the size of Roger.

I do hope that Bill’s mother took this photo. I can’t imagine just putting a young child on a train and sending him off to visit his brother in college several states away!

According to the information in the Visitor Center, Bill went down to the courthouse and had his name changed legally from Blythe to Clinton. One of the reasons he did it was because Roger was about to start school and he didn’t want the differences in their lineage to ever be an issue for him. He thought that it would be good to have the same name as the rest of the family. He also thought that he might have wanted to do something nice for his Daddy, even though he was glad that his Mother had divorced him in 1962.

Ah! Another time line! This one shows when Bill’s stepfather entered and left his life.

This photo shows Bill being sworn in as governor of Arkansas in 1979, at age 32. He was the youngest governor in America at that time, and the second youngest governor ever in the state of Arkansas.

(If you were wondering, I did manage to track down the name of the youngest Arkansas governor. It was John Roanne, who was also age 32. He was the fourth governor, 1849-1852. If you are curious about the governors of Arkansas, the Secretary of State has a PDF you can download.)

A little more Fun with Timelines…

And then it was time to head out. I walked down the street to the train station. What a beautiful fall day it was! Look at that clear blue sky!

I was expecting that the train station had been converted to some other use, like most train stations have been. Believe it or not, this 1912 station still has passenger service! Trains run daily between Chicago, Illinois and San Antonio, Texas.

I did a little exploring around the station.

Hey! They even have a place for you to wait.

Not being visually impaired myself, I often wonder how useful signs like this are. Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad that we are working toward a world that enables all to take part. I just would like to know how a person who wasn’t sighted would know that there was a sign there to read.

If anyone knows, please fill me in.

On the sunny side of the building, there were a few plaques.

Golly! Yet another Hope native that was involved in Clinton’s presidency.

Oh! This is also a visitor center?

Ah, yes…

Of course, it is closed!

Across the street from the train station was a local watering hole. Apparently, the burgers are quite good, judging by the Yelp reviews. Then it was time to get in my car and look for the other home of Bill Clinton in Hope. I wondered if I would have trouble finding it.

No, it wasn’t hard at all!

It wasn’t as impressive as his grandparents’ house, but it looks like a nice place. Since this was obviously a neighborhood full of private homes – including this one – I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. So, I snapped a few shots and moved on.

This plaque was on a boulder in front of the house.

With my tasks in Hope complete, I headed back to the RV park, which also happened to be at the county fairground.

Good thing I didn’t bring my horse!

It was time to get packed up and ready to head to my next destination: Crater of Diamonds State Park.