Get Off the Beaten Path: Discover Small Town Missouri

Small towns are the heart and soul of Missouri, and what better way to explore this vibrant culture than through the lens of Caitlin Yeager's new book, Small Town Missouri? This episode of Saint Louis in Tune opens to the colorful tapestry of Missouri's lesser-known gems. From charming town squares where everybody knows your name to hidden histories waiting to be uncovered, Arnold and Mark chat with Caitlin about the inspiration behind her book and the unique stories that each small town has to offer.

There's a lot more than meets the eye in these communities, and Caitlin highlights the significance of local festivals, historic landmarks, and the nostalgia that these places evoke for lifelong residents. Whether you're looking for a weekend getaway or just a little local history, this episode is packed with insights that might inspire you to hit the road and explore the Show-Me State on your own. Plus, Caitlin shares some hilarious anecdotes about her research process, including the inevitable “why isn’t my town included?” questions she faces from locals, reminding us all that every small town has its own unique charm and story to tell.

[00:00] Introduction to Small Towns and Hosts

[01:15] Sponsor Acknowledgements and Listener Engagement

[01:32] Return to Civility: Patience with Elderly Drivers

[02:53] Introducing Caitlin Yeager and Her Book

[03:41] Exploring Small Town Missouri

[04:56] Walt Disney's Connection to Marceline

[06:57] Highway 36: A Scenic Road Trip

[08:28] The Process of Selecting Towns for the Book

[11:50] The Resurgence of Small Towns

[14:57] Missouri Humanities Council and Small Town Showcase

[16:05] Seasonal Festivals and Community Reunions

[17:45] Balancing Growth and Small Town Charm

[18:43] Hidden Gems and Surprising Discoveries

[22:04] Upcoming Book Signings and Events

[22:30] Route 66 Festival Announcement

[22:51] Upcoming Book Signings and Events

[23:19] Where to Find Caitlin Yeager's Book

[24:16] Thank You and Podcast Information

[25:06] Better Rate Mortgage Ad

[25:54] Dred Scott Heritage Foundation

[26:54] Welcome Core Initiative

[27:50] Discussion on Small Town Missouri

[29:52] St. Louis County Municipalities

[37:32] Bizarre Items from 1902 Sears Catalog

[42:32] Humor and Fun Facts

[46:02] Conclusion and Credits

Takeaways:

• Small towns have unique charm and character that make them worth exploring.
• Caitlin Yeager's book, Small Town Missouri, offers a treasure trove of stories and history.
• The resurgence of interest in small towns has inspired many to return and invest in their communities.
• Festivals in small towns often serve as family reunions, bringing people back together to celebrate their roots.

Book Signing

• Saturday, June 21, from 10am-2pm Red Cedar Visitors Center, Pacific, MO 1047 E Osage St, Pacific, MO 63069 [phone] ext. 222 Free and open to the public

Presentation and Book Signing

• Thursday, June 26, from 7 – 8 p.m. Kirkwood Public Library 140 E Jefferson Ave, Kirkwood, MO 63122    [phone] Free and open to the public

Book Signing

• Saturday, July 19, from 11 am-3 p.m. Read the Room Bookstore, Perryville, MO 9 E Sainte Marie St, Perryville, MO 63775 Free and open to the public

• Small Town Missouri – Reedy Press

This is Season 8! For more episodes, go to stlintune.com

#missouri #missourismalltown #weekendtrip #daytrip #smalltowns #smalltownsinmissouri

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Small towns, great townsquares. You know everybody, they
know you. They are fun placesto be. And there's a great book out
called Small Town Missouri.We're going to talk more about that
with the author on St. Louisin Tune. Welcome to St. Louis in

(00:26):
Tune and thank you for joiningus for fresh perspectives on issues
and events with experts,community leaders, leaders and everyday
people who make a differencein shaping our society and world.
I'm Arnold Stricker along withco host Mark Langston. Greetings
to you, Mark.
Greetings to you, Arnold. Goodto see you.
It's good to be seen.
Oh, there we go. Here we go.
We're on the roll.

(00:47):
No matter where you go. Thereyou are. Okay, we need to stop right
now. I know they're gonnacancel the show.
Who knows if we can makepeople smile or laugh once a day.
I feel that the theme of theshow has succeeded.
We've done it.
Yes.

(01:07):
Okay.
A smile and a laugh.
So as long as they're notthrowing things at the radio.
That's true. Or turning toanother station. We're glad that
you joined us today, folks. Wewant to thank our sponsor, Better
Rate Mortgage, for theirsupport of the show. You can listen
to [e-mail] please help us
continue to grow by leaving areview on our website and Apple Podcast

(01:29):
or your preferred podcastplatform. Our return to civility
today because we need to learnto be civil in our society. Be patient
with elderly drivers now.
Oh, yeah.
I have to admit, sometimesGrandma needs to put it in gear,
but it's. And it's usually notGrandpa. It's usually Grandma, is

(01:49):
it okay? And I have toconsider that someday I will be there.
And I don't want someonehonking at me or. Come on, Grandma.
Get it. Get it in gear.
Use that lever on the left ofthe steering wheel.
Yes. That's called the turnsignal. Pretend that they're your
favorite. Grandma, who bakedcookies for you when you were feeling
down?

(02:10):
Yeah. Yeah. When I getimpatient with drivers and I see
it's an older person, asenior, I feel bad that I got upset.
I do, too.
I do. I really do.
Especially when you're drivingby and it's. I can't see anyone.
And then it's just this littleold lady who is just. Yeah. Her hands
are above the steering wheel.She's looking underneath the dash.

(02:30):
Exactly.
Yeah. She should have a pillowunder her. Yes, they got a pillow.
Seriously. My mom used one of those.
I knew this was coming. I know.
So if you are.
The seat was all the way up.
All the way up. Yeah. You getin the car.
I know.
How do you. I can't get inhere, so be patient with elderly

(02:50):
drivers, folks. That's ourreturn to civility.
Okay.
Our guest is Caitlin Yeager.She's a lifelong Missourian, which
is very unusual. You and I arelifelong Missourians, too, though.
Yes, we are. I guess we are.
She is program director forthe Missouri Humanities Council,
and previously she was programmanager for the Heritage Missouri
Civil War Missouri Civil WarHeritage Foundation. She is the author

(03:12):
of Small Town Missouri, herdebut book. She's written about Missouri
history and cultural heritage.She's been featured on podcasts and
radio shows, including thisone, and has spoken at both state
and national conferences. Shelives in St. Louis county with her
husband. Now, get this, Mark.Two children, two dogs, two cats,
and four chickens. Why fourchickens? Why not two chickens? You

(03:34):
got two. Two.
Not enough eggs.
Welcome to St. Louis in Tune, Caitlin.
Thank you.
Why small town Missouri book?Why do we need a small town Missouri
book?
I think there's a lot of booksout there that maybe feature a particular
story, a particular town,particular subject matter. So I don't
think it's anything to saythat books about small towns don't

(03:56):
already exist. But I thinkthis is a great book to find a lot
of information in one place, alot of different featured communities
in one place, and really giveyou a place to go when maybe you've
got a spare Saturday, a spareweekend. You're looking to take the
kids, you're looking to take alittle road trip. That's. This book
is full of ideas, it's full ofhistory. And I really like that it
ended up being not just atravel or tourism guide, but there

(04:19):
are really good stories inhere to where even if you're not
planning to go take a trip,you're going to find something interesting
in here. You're going to learnsomething new. And I bet there are
many towns in here that evenlifelong Missourians, like the three
of us sitting here, probablyhaven't heard of or really are familiar
with. It really came out of aneed to just tell more stories and
I really think fill in thegaps of what people may or may not

(04:40):
know about Missouri's history,its people, and its places.
I think that's a really goodpoint that you made. It's filling
in some gaps that maybe wedidn't even know exist. I opened
the book to Marceline.
I got it open right now toMarceline, one of my favorite places.
Okay.
Well, gone there quite a few times.
Really? Go ahead, Mark.
Yeah, it's where Walt Disneyhad his childhood, and they grew
up there in a little farmthere. And in fact, I think the Disney.

(05:04):
Somebody owns it now. Thehouse where they grew up and the
thinking tree is out there,but now it's almost gone.
It's thought itself out.
Yeah. And you weren't supposedto take bark from it, and we did.
Police will be here anytime.But we have it on display in one
of our armoires at home. Butyeah. And they donated some money

(05:28):
to Marceline as well. I think.The Disney family did. Yeah.
They're very involved to thatpark. Yeah. It's. They've got actually
on the first page of thatMarceline, that's the. The barn.
It's not the original barn,but it's an exact replica of the
barn from Walt's family'sproperty there. And they've really
done a great job of making youfeel like it's not Disneyland, but

(05:48):
it makes you feel connected tothe story of Disneyland and why Disney
wanted to create the amazingthings that he did and keep people
dreaming and keep themimaginative. And so much of that
was inspiration inspired byhis time in Marceline.
Now if you go to MagicKingdom. Magic Main street on Magic
Kingdom, I'm.
Telling Caitlin they're like agazillion times. Okay.

(06:09):
I can't blame him.
And it's done after that. Mainstreet in Marceline.
Yeah. So the feature Mainstreet usa.
Yeah.
Is. Yeah. Inspired by his timein Marceline.
See what she said? Yeah.
Yeah. Well, what's great aboutthis is you've got legends who were
born there, obviously of thefounding story. I didn't know that
there was mining done there.That's some lore. The important industry

(06:31):
was mining the attractionsthere. Events and then some just
fun facts that are going on there.
Yeah, I think that was reallyfun because like I said, it's not
just a travel guide. It's notjust here's your destination and
here's some addresses ofattractions, dates of events. It
really is meant to read like abook, but give you some ideas of
what to expect when you'rethere. And I think Marceline in particular,

(06:53):
that's part of what could be areally amazing Highway 36 road trip.
That Highway 36 up in northernMissouri is such an amazing scenic
highway, but there's so manytowns peppered along there, and several
that are mentioned in thisbook that have really great history,
really innovative stories ofpeople who came from along Highway
36 and went to do big things,and they formed this alliance called
the Highway 36 Heritagealliance, and they work together

(07:15):
to promote themselves at thedestination area. And so that would
be if anybody's looking for areally great. Just few days of a
road trip. Highway 36, for sure.
Now, 36. Didn't 36 go fromKansas City to Chicago? Is that the
road?
I believe there's a road,essentially what it was. But in Missouri
particularly, it connectsbasically Hannibal to St. Joseph.
Okay.
And then you can go. So youcan go from Kansas city north of

(07:36):
St. Joseph and cut across toHannibal, and then I think go up
to Kansas or to. To Chicago.But, yeah, From Hannibal to St. Joseph,
it's. That's a great road tripfor anybody wanting to explore something
a little bit different in the story.
And what people think is, gee,If I'm in St. Louis and I have to
drive up to Hannibal and maybeI want to do a couple other things.
It's maybe you drive toMarceline, and then you go west,
and then you go east, and youcan stay in Marceline and you make

(07:59):
it, hit several little smalltowns, and you're just not coming
back the same day.
No, I don't remember a motelin Marceline, but maybe there is.
I don't think I've ever stayedovernight. I think I've only ever.
It's a little bit long of aday trip, but I have a cutoff if
it's less than four hours. Iusually try and do it in a day.
Yeah.
But it makes for a long day. Yeah.

(08:19):
And I don't think a lot ofpeople just. I'll just wrap it up
with this. I don't think a lotof people know that Walt Disney has
roots here in Missouri, whichis really neat.
Right.
Exactly how did you pick thetowns to be in the book?
Oh, gosh, I threw a dart at amap. No.
Now, did some towns say whywasn't my town.
Oh, it's legitimately my. Ihave nightmares about people I know

(08:40):
in towns that aren't in thebook coming and being like, why is
my town not in there? Ithought you liked us. But it was
a hard process. So Reedy Pressgave me some guidelines. For example,
our starting point was, okay,so we have to define what a small
town is, and we don't exactlydefine that. It's that we just picked
towns with fewer than 25,000 people.
Okay.

(09:00):
Which I still think that25,000 people is a fairly big town.
However, you'll notice if yougo through the book, each town's
cover page basically has alittle circle that has their population
on there. And you'll noticethat there's really only a couple
that even are over 10 to15,000. So we tried to still keep
it fairly small. So eventhough we say under 25,000, most
of them I think are under10,000. So started with that. One

(09:23):
thing I wanted to make sure wehad was geographic diversity. So
that kind of helped narrowthings down. There are some obvious
ones that we wanted to makesure we got in there, even if they
were close together. Placeslike along the Missouri River, I
think Herman in Augusta,Marthasville. But I wanted to make
sure that no matter where youwere in Missouri, if you were to
pick up this book, you couldfind a day trip destination or at
least several places that youmight be able to visit no matter

(09:45):
where you are in Missouri. Sothat helped as well. And then it
was all about just doing theresearch. And I basically had a massive
Excel spreadsheet of the townsthat kind of fit that bill and then
columns for each of the bulletpoints, the founding story, the events
and all that. And I juststarted filling it in and it ended
up being which ones had themost to offer and. Or filled in,

(10:06):
like we said, filled in someof the gaps. We had a bunch of river
towns, so we wanted to makesure we got some mountainous towns
or some places that weren't asrepresented. So it was a hard process.
And I still. I think everytime I'm in a different community,
I'm like, darn it, they couldhave been in the book.
It's part two. That's.
That's what I would say.
That's what everyone keepssaying, is that there just has to
be a part two or an addition.
I don't know how you don't.
I know you're not going to do that.

(10:28):
It's fun looking at this page,folks. That has the state and then
the towns that are in thebook, they are listed in bold print,
which you give a. Gets areally good flavor of. You did go
all around the state. It'stough being where the Lake of the
Ozarks is, obviously, becausethe lake there, and it's hilly and
everything like that. Some ofthese towns. I think I've heard of
all of these towns, Mark.There was one that was. I was looking

(10:51):
at Hamilton, wasn't quitefamiliar with Hamilton, and come
to find out that it's thebirthplace of JCPenney.
The JCPenney.
Get out of here. Okay.
That's the kind of stuff,folks, that you find in these. It's
a town of 1690 people therewas the Penny's Quilt Shop there.
Wow.

(11:11):
Some attractions. The MissouriStar Quilt Company. I have heard
about that.
Yeah, it's. That's a big deal.Yes, It's. They. They call it the
Disneyland of quilting. It'sjust this massive operation, and
people come from all over theworld to do quilting retreats, to
shop for designs, to takeclasses. Hamilton is a huge destination
if you're the largest.
World's largest spool ofthread is located there.

(11:32):
Because, of course, now you're talking.
So that's the kind of thingsthat you will find here. And the
founding stories, too. Thoseare really interesting. The founding
father, Alexander Hamilton andJoseph Hamilton, that's who it's
reportedly named for.
Lots of little stories likethat, too.
Those are the things thatoften get lost and as small towns
have, I don't want to saydrifted away, they're actually gaining
a little momentum back now.

(11:53):
Yeah, I agree.
Is that what you found whenyou were doing research about this?
I did. I think something thatreally helped with that. I think
my generation, I would say,was a generation that, you know,
and I'm from St. Louis, so I'mspeaking a little bit out of turn
here, but I also. My husbandis from a small town, and I've known
a lot of people, people fromsmall towns in both my work and from
the book. But I think themillennial generation was a generation

(12:14):
that really, you know, wantedto get out of their small town, that
get out of Dodge, saying. Butas they started their careers and
started families, what we'veseen in a lot of these communities
is them realizing that, oh, mygosh, no, I want to raise my family.
I want to invest my time andmy money and my efforts into my hometown,
where that raised me. That'smy community. Those are my people.

(12:36):
This is my place. And I havethat same sentiment. I'm from a big
city like St. Louis, and Ithink that's a sentiment that a lot
of people can relate to. Nomatter how big your hometown is,
that you think that you'reover it, that there's nothing special
about it. You want to see whatelse is out there. And often when
you see what else is outthere, a lot of people want to just
to come back. Seen it, andthey want to come back. Yeah. So
I think that's really helped.A lot of people in their 30s and

(12:58):
40s are coming back andestablishing businesses in their
small towns to reinvest intheir communities. More volunteers
that are in that age group aretaking over for that retiring generation
because that was a hugeconcern that we found when we were,
when we've been exploringthese towns and talking to people
is that that volunteergeneration that retired, but didn't
really retire, they're fulltime volunteers. They were nervous

(13:19):
that the millennial and theGen X generation weren't going to
have the time that they did toput forth the volunteer efforts,
to do the preservationprojects, to do the fundraisers,
to have the community events.But they are finding that there's
a lot of places where they arestepping up and they are realizing
the importance of beinginvolved in reinvesting in your communities.
And I think that's reallyhelped put small towns, as they say,

(13:39):
back on the map. But I thinkthere's just been this resurgence
in wanting to explore yourplace a little bit more. I think
Covid helped with that.Something that a lot of these communities
have reflected on as I'vetalked to them, is Covid forced people
to stay local. It forcedpeople to support local businesses.
When people wanted to travel,they were more comfortable traveling
close to home. They didn'thave to get on an airplane, they

(14:02):
could camp, which I think alot of small towns have those opportunities
for being close to stateparks, conservation areas, being
close to rivers. A lot ofpeople took advantage of outdoor
recreation. So I think there'sa lot of different facets that have
led us to this point of, okay,small towns have something to offer.
You don't have to be a majordestination or have a week's worth
of attractions. Be a placethat can be a destination. And I

(14:22):
think that's hopefullysomething that this book helps to
promote.
I think access now, because oftechnology makes small towns more
accessible. And they don'tfeel like they're isolated like an
island. You feel, oh, thecity's got the libraries and all
the museums and everything youcan. Now with technology, the Internet
and everything else you can,boom, you're there, right? So it's

(14:42):
not, as an important, I wouldsay, detriment this. Arnold Stricker
with Mark Langston of St.Louis in Tune, we're talking to Caitlin
Yeager. She is the author of anew book, Small Town Missouri. Tell
us a little bit about what youdo at the Missouri Humanities Council.
My job at Missouri Humanities,I'm a program director. Missouri
Humanities as an entity, is anonprofit organization. We have a

(15:04):
statewide presence. So I workhere in our St. Louis office, actually,
just down in Midtown. And wehave a Kansas City office as well.
So we have about half of ushere in St. Louis, half of us in
Kansas City and MissouriHumanities, basically, as I like
to say, two facets. We are agrant making agency, so we give out
grants to other Missourinonprofits, Missouri communities,
but we also do our ownprogramming as well. For example,

(15:24):
my programming, one of themain projects I do is Small Town
Showcase, which kind of iswhat kind of led me down the path
of being involved with smalltowns. So things like storytelling
through podcasts and shortfilms about a lot of the stories
that you might find in thesebooks and some others as well. So
educational public programminghelping to keep Missourians engaged
with their communities andwith one another, and also helping

(15:46):
to support them through grantfunding as well. So it's a lot of
fun. I'm one of those peoplethat is very lucky that I love my
job so much. I love it very much.
So then you're not working aday in your life.
Exactly.
Did you find some of theseseasonal festivals that these communities
have, that there's some kindof common thread that runs through
them?
Yes. The first thing thatcomes to mind when you talk about

(16:07):
the annual festivals, a lot oftimes it's in the fall, a fall festival.
Sometimes it corresponds witha homecoming, sometimes it's a Christmas
festival. Right now we're kneedeep in a super busy time for those
like summer festivals. I thinkjust for work alone, every weekend
I've got some festival orsomething that I'm doing in one of
these communities, Pacific'sfestival coming up next weekend,
for example. But oftentimes wehear that it's basically the town

(16:29):
reunion. Most towns, I'd sayeven if they have several festivals,
they probably have that onethat's the big festival of the year.
It brings the most people, itraises the most money, etc. And we
often hear that's the timewhen people plan their school reunions,
that's the time when familyplans for out of town family members
to come and meet up at thefestival. It just turns into this
big family reunion, schoolreunion, community reunion, where

(16:51):
everybody's coming andcelebrating this place that raised
them and celebrating beingtogether and reconnecting. And I
think that's something that'sconstant throughout all these communities
is the role of a town festivalis really bringing everybody together
and catching up on what'shappened over the last year or several
years in some cases.
Did some of the people thatyou talk to in some of the small
towns have a little hesitancyabout, my words, city slickers moving

(17:16):
in or this maybe a migrationfrom a more densely populated area
to a more sparsely populated area?
I don't think so. The Onlything that I've heard more on more
than one occasion, on severaloccasions is not exactly that. It's
not being against people fromthe city coming in or against urban

(17:36):
sprawl or anything like that.It's just they don't want to lose
their small town atmosphere,their charm, their close knit feeling.
So it's this almost thisbalancing act of small towns wanting
to make sure that they'restaying relevant and being progressive
and developing newopportunities to attract more people,
but also not wanting to growinto a big city or lose the culture

(17:58):
that they've developed as asmall town. Every town I've been
in has been completelywelcoming and wants people to come
experience what theyexperience, but they don't want to
lose their atmosphere of beinga small town, their identity. So
I think that's more, more theattitude more than anything.
I think something youmentioned, I thought was great was
the recreation destination.Some of these towns because they're

(18:20):
by state parks and trails andrivers and that kind of thing. I
think that is a somethingthat's probably a vibrant part of
their economy and that's whatkeeps them going. So I guess there
are some hidden gems that. AndI don't want you to maybe you probably
have towns that you like morethan other towns. But what was a

(18:43):
town that surprised you? Iknow you mentioned and maybe I'm
going to steal your thunderhere, I know you mentioned Pacific,
but what was a town thatsurprised you? Maybe you hadn't heard
of it or maybe I'm going togive you several kind of things to
think about here. You werelike wow, I didn't know that was
there or wow, they do thatkind of industry there. Or wow, this

(19:03):
is just a gorgeous place.
Oh my gosh.
It's probably several of them.
It is several. And I think it.When this. Because variations of
this question gets asked alot, I think it just depends on what
you're looking for. I thinkfor me, I grew up knowing St. James,
the town of St. James becauseof what St. James Winery. Like everybody
else seeing the bottles ofwine in the grocery store and seeing

(19:25):
it along Highway 44. But St.James is a beautiful town with a
really rich history. Actuallythat whole area, if you talk about
St. James in Cuba andSteelville, it's beautiful. They've
got the rivers out there,beautiful. Merrimack Spring park
has some of the most crystalclear spring water I've ever seen.
So I think people often thinkof a place like St. James as oh,
you go there to go to thewinery. But I think when you get

(19:47):
off of 44 and actually go intothe town, there's a really great
burger place called Rich'sFamous Burgers. Absolutely amazing.
Go down.
Are they smash burgers?
They're smash burgers, yeah.
Gotta check it out.
Yes, absolutely.
I'm going.
And then, yeah, you go intoMerrimack Spring park and you spend
the day and it's beautiful andyou get some nature and trout fishing.
And you can go to theneighboring communities like Steelville.

(20:08):
It's the floating capital ofMissouri. It's got the great Huzzah
River Resort down there. Tonsof other outdoor recreation. Cuba's
got really great history, too,all the murals downtown. So I think
that area of Missouri, whichtends to be that pass through area
along Highway 44, it really. Ihope this book entices people to
just pop off the highway for afew minutes and just explore just
a little bit. So I think thatarea of Missouri was one that. You

(20:30):
know that there's stuff there,but you got to dig a little bit deeper
and go beyond what the obviousdestination is.
They have a national cemeterythere also.
Yeah, that's right.
They also have a.
You're a wealth of informationdriving back and forth.
Why do you need me?
You see these things. Isn'tthere a vacuum Museum there, too?

(20:50):
A vacuum.
Vacuum Museum.
It's somewhere down there. Idon't. Yeah, I don't want to misspeak.
I don't know. I've heard ofit. There's been a billboard. I don't
know if it's still open.
Okay.
But it existed at some point.It might still exist. So apologies
to the Vacuum Museum. Ifyou're listening, that. I don't mean
to misspeak, but look it up,because it did exist at one point
and it may still exist. Butyes, a vacuum museum.
And that's another way to getto the Lake of the Ozarks is to get

(21:13):
off at the St. James X. Go upthe back way.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's one ofour favorite ways. Why did you not.
It doesn't look like any ofthe lakes, Truman. Lake Ozark, some
of the cities around there,down in Branson, around there, you
didn't feature any of thosecities. Was there a reason for that?
Not a really purposefulreason. I think when I think of Lake
Ozark, I think it's. Peopleknow it. And yes, there's a lot of

(21:36):
little communities aroundthere that want people to know that
their identity is more thanjust the lake. But I really wanted
to make sure that I got offthe Beaten Path and told stories
that were a little bit moreunexpected. I think when you think
of Missouri, I think people dotend to think St. Louis, Kansas City,
Mizzou.
Yeah.
And Lake of the Ozark. So Iwas trying to get off of the obvious.

(21:57):
Yeah, I get it.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Yeah.
It's a great book. And thepictures in here are. Are stunning.
Love it.
You've got some presentationand book signings coming up. You
just completed a boatload.You're going to be in Pacific, Missouri,
June 21. And that's not goingto be at the visitor center.
Correct. So we just. That wasa very recent change. They're actually

(22:19):
doing. I'm going to make sureI get this title right because it's
the first time they're doingthis festival. It's a long title.
The Route 66 barbecue battleand Blues Festival. We're just gonna
put it all together. Route 66barbecue and blues, all in one festival.
It's the first time they'redoing it. They're doing it out at
Liberty Field in Pacific. Andinstead of doing a signing and selling
event at the visitor center,I'll have a little booth there next

(22:42):
to their information center.So if anybody's come down to Pacific,
it's. That's a great town. Youmentioned Pacific, but it's 25 minutes
away. You've got no reason tonot go. Go on. Come on down to Pacific
this weekend. But then, yes,after that, we've got a next week
I'll be doing an actualpresentation, information, informational
presentation, signing andselling event at Kirkwood Public
Library next Thursday.
So that's June 26th from 7 to8pm and then Saturday, July 19th

(23:05):
from 11am to 3pm in Perryvilleat the Read the Room bookstore and
some future ones at the ArnoldPublic Library in September. And
where can people getinformation about these book signings
and presentations if they like?
So I try to keep my. I have anofficial author Facebook page now
because I realized I just gotto separate it. But so my Instagram

(23:28):
and Facebook are AitlynYeagerAuthor. Look at the book for
the correct spelling of bothof those names because they are both
very commonly misspellednames. But Aitlyn yeagerauthor. So
I try to keep those pretty upto date with upcoming events. But
as far as the book itself,Ready Press does a great job of keeping
that updated. Soreadypress.com and you can buy it.
Honestly, I think it's. It'severywhere at this point. It's pretty

(23:49):
amazing, but it's you can buyit at Barnes and Noble, Target, Amazon.
A lot of local bookstores herein St. Louis have it.
Even local grocery stores.
Yes, the schnooks on Arsenaldown the street there. A friend sent
a picture.
Yeah.
Yeah. And what did you callit? It's Bookazine.
Sure. We'll call it aBookazine. It's a book, but it's
a cross between a book and a magazine.
Yeah, but I. Yeah, it's betterthan a magazine. But it.

(24:11):
Yeah, not quite a book, butbetter than a magazine.
Yeah. I love it though. I dolike it.
It's great.
Yeah.
Caitlin, thanks for coming in today.
Thanks for having me. Yeah.
We will post that informationon the podcast page, folks, so you
can check that out. It's A andthat's C A, I, T, L, I, N, Y, A G,
E, R. Author. You all know howto spell author, I hope.

(24:34):
Yeah.
So this is Arnold Strickerwith Mark Langston. We will be right
back. Don't go away. Asstrange as it may sound, at Better

(25:08):
Rate Mortgage we love talkingto people about mortgages. Everyone
in St. Louis promises a bettermortgage rate. But what you really
need to turn that perfecthouse into your dream home is a better
mortgage. At Better RateMortgage, we open the door to so
much more. So where are you inthe home buying process? Researching,
maybe wondering how much youcan afford? House hunting. Get a
pre approval from Better RateMortgage Ready to buy. Our team is
ready to make your mortgageprocess fast and easy. Whether you're

(25:31):
purchasing your first home ortaking cash out to make your dream
home even dreamier. Our dooris open. Come on in and get started.
Today. We'll show you how.Call Sean directly at 314-375-3293
[e-mail] Remember,
at Better Rate Mortgage, abetter rate is just the beginning.
Betterratemortgage.com MLS ID2401335 and equal housing.
Lender.

(25:54):
This is Arnold Stricker of St.Louis in tune on behalf of the Dred
Scott Heritage Foundation. In1857, the Dred Scott decision was
a major legal event andcatalyst that contributed to the
Civil War. The decisiondeclared that Dred Scott could not
be free because he was not acitizen. The 14th Amendment, also
called the Dred ScottAmendment, granted citizenship to
all born or naturalized herein our country and was intended to

(26:16):
overturn the US Supreme Courtdecision on July 9, 1868. The Dred
Scott Heritage foundation isrequesting a commemorative stamp
to be issued from the USPostal Service to recognize and remember
the heritage of this amendmentby issuing a stamp with the likeness
of the man Dred Scott. But weneed your support and the support
of thousands of people whowould like to see this happen. To

(26:36):
achieve this goal, we ask youto download, sign and share the one
page petition with others. Tofind the petition, please go to dredscottlives.org
and click on the Dred Scottpetition drive on the right side
of the page. On behalf of theDred Scott Heritage foundation, this
has been Arnold Stricker ofSt. Louis Intune. The United States
has a strong tradition ofwelcoming newcomers and refugees.

(26:58):
The welcome Corps is a newservice opportunity for Americans
inspired to welcome thoseseeking freedom and safety and in
turn help strengthen their owncommunities. Welcome Corps is a public
private partnership that isinspired by what Americans represent
to so many around the world. Abeacon of hope and refuge. All it
takes is a helping hand. Areyou ready to learn more? Contact

(27:19):
the International Institute ofSt. [e-mail] or call 314-773-9090.
That's infoistl.org or call314.773-9090. Welcome back, folks,

(27:51):
to St. Louis in Tune. Mark,what a great book. Small Town, Missouri
Legends, Lore and Attractionsin the Show Me State by Caitlin Yeager.
I really like it. There's somegreat stuff in there there. Really?
And I was perusing through itas well while you all were talking
and there's some great. Thevery first city I think they have
in there.
Yes.

(28:11):
I have to go back and grab it.Is it Arrow Rock?
Arrow Rock in Saline county,which is out west.
And how many people are inthat town?
59.
There you go. That's a small town.
That's out by Blackwater. Yousee some signs. We drive 70 frequently
when we go to Kansas City.Obviously you drive 70 when you go
to Kansas City, but can't waittill there's some historic areas.
And it's these small areas,especially along the river.

(28:33):
Right.
Really cool.
It's amazing. Yeah, it'spretty. It's a neat book. I. I would.
I'm all about. Yeah, youshould pick that book up.
George Caleb Bingham.
It's a fun.
Had deep roots at Arrow Rock.I didn't know that. Had no idea.
Missouri artist.
Oh, I'll be darn.
The oldest continuouslyoperating restaurant west of the
Mississippi.
An Arrow Rock.
Yes, the J. Houston Tavern.

(28:56):
Who knew that?
Who knew that?
See, if you're going to go toArrow Rock, you'd want to go to that
Tavern.
Yes.
And have something there. Iwonder if they.
You'd want to know all about this.
I would want to know all about that.
Wow.
I'd want to see how they did.
Very cool. For those who arewatching on YouTube and Facebook
Live, there it is right there.
Yeah. Small town, Missouri.

(29:16):
This is the. Would you call it Bookazine?
Bookazine, yeah. Yeah.
You've invented a new word.
Bookazine. Yeah, Bookazine.But it's. Yeah, it's kind of magazine
ish.
Yeah.
But it's thicker and it'sbuilt better.
It's something that you couldtake in the car. And it's not going
to take up a lot of room.
No.
And it's pop it in a backpack.

(29:37):
And it seems like most of thecities have got just like one or
two pages. It's not. It's nota big hard read. There's a couple
that have three or four pages,but that's about the max, I think,
is like four pages for one ofthe cities in there.
Yep.
I'd love to see one with St.Louis county is weird as far in many

(29:58):
ways, but one way is. I thinkwe're one of the. There's maybe two,
I think, communities that haveall these small towns that are cities.
They're not city. They'retowns. They're cities that make up
St. Louis County. I thinkthere's 92. It varies. 92 municipalities,
municipalities and. And Iwould love to see something that
kind of talks about each oneof those municipalities before they

(30:18):
all go.
Away in one big county again.
When I was mayor, we tried tocombine three communities. We looked
at doing Richmond Heights,Maplewood, and we talked about Clayton
and we even called. We had aname for it, Claywood Heights.
Ooh, that's cool.
And it was not going well. Thepeople of each one of those cities
have their own identities. Andthe police department that each city,

(30:42):
Little municipality has, itmeans a lot to the people in that
city.
See, that's the issue becausein the city of St. Louis, there's
lots of differentneighborhoods. And if you can compare
that, the county has thesemunicipalities and they're their
own form of government. Theyhave their own, generally, police
and fire departments, but inthe city, they're neighborhoods.
But there's one police,there's one fire.

(31:03):
That never show up. I didn'tsay that. Or they do, but it's.
I was thinking it three hoursaway. No, but that's true. You try
to do some combination, butsomebody's going to lose a job. And
they all have Their I'm goingto pick on the fire department here,
which they're very thankfulfor, the fire department, don't get
me wrong. But you have to havethis battalion chief and then some

(31:24):
other chief and how big is the place?
I'll get letters about this.But we looked at putting together
a fire department which was cooperative.
Right.
Instead of a district becausethe city, the municipality, honestly,
and I'm not saying anythingbad about districts because heaven
forbid, but the districts,they have a three person board or
something. And so the city hasno real input into the. What's going

(31:48):
on with that. So that wassomething that we worked on trying
and I think it's consolidationof services. What we found in our
research is a city of 30 to35,000 people is what works best
for trash for. So we talkedabout economy of scale. Yeah, exactly,
Arnold. And so we talked aboutcombining like the parks departments,

(32:12):
the street departments, makeit the central corridor street department.
And then we all chip in andwhoever has like this, like Richmond
Heights has a great garage orMaplewood has a great garage. They
have. So you could combinethese services. You don't care who
fills up your. No, you knowthe holes in the.
Street as long as it getsfilled up.
That's right. But you can doit and do it cheap, cheaper. But

(32:35):
the real rub was that policedepartment and the fire department
people really appreciate thata whole lot. And we talked about
we'd have one chief that wouldbe over three or four different communities
and that was. There's a lot ofpolitics there. But there were, I
have to say there were somefirefighters chiefs that said no,

(32:56):
that for the greater good ofthese communities, I will step aside
and you can have one chief.
That's good because a lot oftimes it's based upon salaries or
your pension or how muchthey're contributing into all of
those different kinds of things.
Well, yeah, let's just say$150,000 for a chief. I'm just, I
think some of them are morethan that. Every mile you've got

(33:18):
another chief and that'sanother. So you could save so much
money and you could still givegood services as well. But people
in St. Louis county enjoy, andI'm not saying there's anything wrong
with it, they enjoy theirsmall town being Maplewood, Richmond
Heights, what a Ferguson.
And in some small bergs there,there's one police car and a town

(33:42):
council.
Now I am, I am happy because agroup of the mayors got together
and we tried to do this. I'mnot happy with the way St. Louis
county did this. I can'tbelieve I'm going down this road.
But the North County Policecooperative, it's good. But what
St. Louis county decided theywanted to do a tax, a law enforcement

(34:02):
tax, and it was done wrong.And who's going to vote against that
tax? St. Louis county stilltakes the lion's share of that money.
Now, when the mayors had. WhenI was a mayor and we got together,
we wanted to do. St. Louiscounty did not do a law enforcement
tax. We called it a publicservice tax. You can do a fire tax.
We'd levity fire tax to payfor our fire tax, trucks and stuff

(34:24):
like that. But the, the lawenforcement tax, St. Louis county
takes way too much of thatmoney. And we as mayors wanted to
do a law enforcement tax forSt. Louis and then contribute a lion's
share of that money to northSt. Louis county and to areas that
could not do good policing,because that was the problem. They

(34:47):
didn't have the Walmarts. Theydidn't have that tax revenue coming
into their city. And so thereare. There were some. There are some
good Mayors in St. Louiscounty that really wanted to do something
to help help North County. Andthe cooperative is a great step in
that direction. But I don'tthink they're getting enough money
from Sam Page's idea of let'sdo. Maybe it wasn't Sam Page. I think

(35:10):
it was the guy before.
Him, the guy who went to jail.
Yeah, but you don't want to.And it was really hard because I
was like, I want to come outagainst this. That. It's a. It's.
The idea is fantastic. But theway they structured it was wrong.
But who is going to want tovote against a police department?
But that was the. I'm tellingyou, St. Louis County Police. And

(35:30):
they do a fantastic job, don'tget me wrong. And they need funding
as well. But if I even didtheir. I'm sorry, I'll try to wrap
it up. I even did theircalculation how they calculate where
the money goes based on yourpopulation. If you go to the unincorporated
part of St. Louis county andyou look at that population, they
have gotten twice as much asthat calculation says. So I was like,

(35:54):
oh, man.
What's interesting, you'retalking about an unincorporated area
in St. Louis County. You'retalking Wildwood out in Baldwin,
some of those areas.
And they need that money too.
Right.
And I don't think anyonewanted. It's just they were. St.
Louis County's a little greedywith that particular tax that maybe
that's one.
Reason they have somefinancial issues right now.

(36:16):
That's why I want to. Alwayswanted to run for the county councilor
just to fix those kind ofthings. What's wrong with you people?
Come on, quit trying to pullone over on the public. It just drives
me crazy. Drives me crazy. No,I'm getting too old to run anyway.
It's a.
You're never too old to run.
But those are the. Yeah. AndI'm very proud of the mayors that

(36:36):
wanted to try to help northSt. Louis County.
You have to look beyond yourown community to those as you were
stating, to those that don'thave some of the things that bring
revenue in and to my words,level the playing field a little.
I know Chesterfield's reallyupset about that. A lot of their
money goes out ofChesterfield. But that's part of.
If you've been given much isrequired. Right.

(36:58):
So yeah, there was like weknew of one or two policemen that.
That had issues and they wouldroll from department to department
about the time that, you know,they're per. I don't know, their
90 days was up when they.They'd moved to another department
and that they knew about it upthere. They just needed police though,
and they couldn't afford police.

(37:18):
So you. That's what you take.
That's why the North Carolinacooperative is good.
Yeah.
They're able to pay anyway.
It is.
Okay. We'll still go on.
Well, Mark, some mental floss here.
Something to break up.
It's our new seriousness.Yeah. Portion of the show. Here are
some bizarre items that weresold by Sears in 1902. Okay, now,

(37:39):
you ready for this?
No, but go ahead.
There was Dr. Rose's Frencharsenic complexion wafers. These
were. These poisonous waferswere advertised as being, quote unquote,
simply magical for thecomplexion. Their most striking effects
being brought about by theirsteady use. So they were guaranteed

(37:59):
to improve even the coarsestand most repulsive skin and complexion,
especially if you're in thelurid pallor of death. Then there's
the toilet mask. You get thisat Sears. At first glance, a toilet
mask doesn't sound so bad. Butthis mask doesn't use soothing cucumber
extracts. It's an acid curedrubber mask coated with healing agents

(38:22):
meant to eradicate freckles,liver spots and other facial blemishes.
So why would you need micro.Microdermabrasion when you can just
use trace amounts of acid?
Oh my.
Let's see. Spirits ofturpentine. This elixir was ingested

(38:42):
to kill Intestinal parasites,and hopefully not the human host.
So turpentine has been used,obviously, to clean things, clean
paint off of things. But itstill has some modern medicinal uses,
but usually in chest rubs,like Vicks, for example, and not
drinkable medicines. Thenthere was the kerosene emulsion.

(39:03):
Used as an insecticide oncrops and animals. This product promises
to kill, quote, plant lice,red spiders, scales and mealybugs,
unquote, among other pests.Then you could also buy a castrating
knife, which was used forveterinary purposes. And it came
with your choice of 1, 2, or 3blades of varying sizes to meet all

(39:26):
of your gelding needs. Youcould buy a Heidelberg electric belt.
I remember seeing these incomic books. You know, in the back
of comic books, they alwayshad these ads for these things, like
the X ray glasses.
Oh, yeah, yeah. Did you everget those?
I never did.
I don't think they ever worked.

(39:47):
No. And they also had theelectric belt. This is suffering
from. I'm going to read fromthe article. Suffering from nervous
disease, infertility, aweakness peculiar to men. Then this
electric belt may be for you.In cases of sexual weakness, a cure
is certain. This belt promisesthe best, most reliable, most harmless,
yet powerful, cheapest curepossible. Just shock yourself back

(40:07):
to health.
Okay, we'll do that then.
You could even get a set of.Of McKinley assassination slides.
You could order a lecture setof slides for your stereophone. A
home slide projector depictingrealistic views of the assassination,
including images of McKinley'sattacker taken within 10 minutes

(40:29):
of his capture by the police.The Stereo Opticon. Stereo Opticon.
Excuse me.
Wow, that's scary. That's scary.
So just think, folks, we'vecome a long way from 1902 Sears and
Roebuck catalog.
Yeah. I want a pair of those Xray glasses, though.

(40:51):
I wonder if they still make them.
Got to find them. Check it outon ebay.
Maybe they have in the comic books.
I remember those. And theyjust said X ray vision.
On it.
And then a little hole becauseyou can look through. I think it
was mainly just for the impactof it.
Now, Mark, do you have anydays of the day?

(41:12):
I got a couple if you want tohear them. It's national eat your
vegetables day for granted. Lodge?
Yeah?
Do you eat your vegetables? I don't.
I do. I love vegetables.
Clean your kitchen vents day.There's a good one for you.
Yeah, I know.
Let's see. Oh, a globalgarbage man day. How long do you.
Yeah. Gosh. What do you dowithout. Oh, I've lost everything.

(41:34):
Global Garbage Man Day.
That's right. You should pickit up all.
Picking up the garbage.
Gosh knows what would happenwithout that.
Oh my gosh. It'd be a stinking place.
Nurses Assistant Day. That's agood one.
That is a good one.
Let's see there. I. Hold on.I'm sorry, there's not a whole lot.
I'm happy to report there'snot as many as I. I thought there
would be today. No, I thinkthat's about what I got. Let's see.

(41:58):
National Mascot Day. Oh, yeah.Today is National Mascot Day. Did
you know that?
National mascot.
Yeah, Fred Berg.
Yes.
It's his day today.
And apparently Fredberg wonthe. Was it the baseball competition?
Did he? Yes. I believe that weare very blessed to have him in.

(42:19):
In our midst. He's fantastic.And I think. I'm sorry, I'm having
computer problems here. It'sjust not cooperating with me this
morning. Here we go. I gotta.I don't know if I have any more.
Nope, I have no more.
I have some humor that I'vebeen saving.
Good. It's about time.
Remember the show, folks. It'sabout helping people smile and laugh.

(42:40):
So you've been to the doctorsometimes and they make you wait
in the waiting room. So thedoctor said to me this morning, I'd
like to talk to you about yourweight. And I said, it was 25 minutes,
but at least the chairs werecomfy. And he was talking about the
weight of the individual.
I like your answer better.
Did you know that the genderneutral term for sugar daddy is glucose

(43:02):
guardian?
You hurt so bad.
So I was told that after avasectomy, I wouldn't have kids anymore.
Imagine my shock when I wenthome and they were still there.
Oh, my God. That's bad. That'svery bad.

(43:25):
Two weeks ago, I told kids atschool to write an essay titled if
I were a Millionaire. Everyonewas writing except a girl who leaned
back with her arms folded.What's the matter? I asked. Why aren't
you writing? I'm waiting formy secretary, she replied. I scored
her 10 out of 10. And did youknow that sometimes this is. A vessel

(43:50):
had been attacked by. Somebodyhad been attacked from a planet by
a vessel from the planet Omega3. Thankfully, the damage was only
superficial.
Omega 3. Okay.
And Mark, I know you love dadjokes, but where do you keep all

(44:13):
your dad jokes? In the database.
Wow.
Now these are.
You hear why the duck wasarrested? Because he was selling
quack. Okay, where that came from.

(44:34):
Here's some euphemisms. Anddiphemisms. Euphemisms are. They
describe something that'sunpleasant and diphemisms do the
opposite, making neutral orpositive things sound worse. So passed
away instead of dead. Preowned instead of used. Let's see.
Chronologically gifted insteadof old. Past. Gas instead of the

(45:00):
F word. Correctional officerinstead of prison guard. Downsizing
instead of layoffs. So here'sthe other one. The opposite would
be croaked instead of died.Kicked the bucket instead of passed
away. Freak show instead ofunusual performance or talent. Toilet

(45:23):
instead of restroom or bathroom.
Okay, like these.
Cattle class instead ofeconomy seating.
Cattle class.
I've never heard that one. Howabout old hag instead of elderly
woman?
Okay.
Very interesting there.

(45:46):
Okay, some rough stuff there.
And I guess we will leave youfolks with this fact of the day.
Even if a bear is wearingshoes and socks, he will still have
bare feet.
Oh. Oh, I like that one.
That's all for this hour.Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed
this episode, you can listento additional [e-mail]

(46:09):
consider leaving a review onour website, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser,
or your preferred podcastplatform. Your feedback helps us
reach more listeners andcontinue to grow. Thank you to Bob
Berthiselle for our thememusic, our sponsor, Veterate Mortgage,
our guest, Caitlyn Yeager andco host, Mark Langston. And we thank
you folks for being a part ofour community of curious minds. St.
Louis in tune is a productionof Motif Media Group and the US Radio

(46:32):
Network. Remember to keepseeking, keep learning, walk worthy,
and let your light shine. ForSt. Louis in Tune, I'm Arnold Stricker.
Sam.

(47:14):
It.