Landmarks

The hospitable history of an attempt at "the finest hostelry in the Southwest.'? Determined to build the city's finest hotel, Joplin's first millionaire spared no expense on the magnificent Connor. The lobby, with its Italian marble rotunda and grand staircase, served as the city's main gathering spot for the next 50 years. Thousands flocked to the rooftop garden, which became known as the "most pleasant spot in all Joplin.'? The Connor hosted hundreds of conventions, outlaws such as "Pretty Boy'? Floyd and more reputable guests including star athletes, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gene Autry, and Robert Wadlow - the world's tallest man. Local residents rallied to "Save the Connor'? in the 1970s, but couldn't stop its demolition and the tragic ending that caught the nation's attention. Author Chad Stebbins details the fascinating history.

In 1891, Siegmund Harzfeld and the Parisian Cloak Company introduced a new era of commerce and fashion to the residents of Kansas City. Women no longer needed to make lengthy and expensive appointments with dressmakers to maintain the latest fashion trends; the ready-to-wear movement had begun!
Join historians Joe and Michele Boeckholt as they uncover the story behind Harzfeld's department store, from its first offering of coats, blouses, petticoats, and furs to the beloved Petticoat Lane flagship location and regional network of satellite stores. With archival photographs and memorabilia, personal narratives and interviews, and a wealth of local and historical knowledge, the history of this local landmark franchise is revealed, one seam at a time.

In the Ozarks, music frames everything. The Ozark Opry was a focal point of that cultural tradition for over fifty years, playing to sold-out audiences and influencing the course of the American entertainment industry in vital ways hitherto untold. This behind-the-scenes story of Lee and Joyce Mace's incredible venture by historian and former Opry performer Dan William Peek reawakens the foot tapping and fiddle scraping still clinging to the shores of the Lake of the Ozarks. This story also spotlights some of the most fascinating characters of the times, the Nashville stars, Chuck Foster, the Mabe Brothers, Albert Gannaway, Seymour Weiss, Scott O. Wright, Sarah Gertrude Knott and Cyrus Crane Willmore.

For ninety-five years, St. Louis residents counted on Famous-Barr to buy the things they used every day and to celebrate the moments that happened only once a year. Customers might bump into Sophia Loren while shoe shopping or confide in Santa Claus during a visit to Toyland. May Company purchased the Famous Clothing Company in 1892 and acquired the William Barr Dry Goods Company nineteen years later. In 1914, Famous-Barr opened the doors of its iconic downtown location, treating folks across Missouri and Illinois to almost a century of spectacular window displays and legendary luncheons.