In lieu of the usual Texas musical moment I normally post each night, my favorite Texas movie scene. I recognize that many Texas movie scenes are more artistic, emotionally compelling etc ... but are they this much fun? youtu.be/Or2gV2aqZcs?...

"I don't know why I wandered out to this part of Texas drunk, and you took me in and pitied me and helped me to straighten out, marry me. Why? Why did that happen? Is there a reason that happened? ... See, I don't trust happiness. I never did, I never will." ---- Mac Sledge, Tender Mercies

Thinking of Robert Duvall (and Texas), I always liked "The Apostle," parts of which were filmed in Dallas and Denton. Robert wrote and starred in the movie, a Southern Gothic film about a charismatic Pentecostal Texas preacher named Sonny Dewey. Marlon Brando loved it and I do, too.

RIP Augustus McCrae. It was a helluva party.

Houston native Billy Preston and the great Nat King Cole when Billy was only 11 years old. What a great video! youtu.be/QXX2Xw4FHBQ?...

Total joy: native Houstonian Billy Preston and his friend George Harrison.

Downtown Bartlett, Texas, played the role of 1923 Amarillo, Texas. in the TV series "1923," which is one of the shows in Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone universe. The show ran for two seasons. Chad Mees, the mayor of Bartlett, sent this photo to me and said they had 800 cattle in Bartlett that day.

Mission Espada in San Antonio back in 1892 along with a current photo. Mission Espada, founded in 1690 as San Francisco de los Tejas near present-day Weches, Texas, was the first mission in Texas. In 1731, they it over to the San Antonio River and renamed it Mission San Francisco de la Espada.

A very Texan-looking man buys a saw at a small-town hardware store in San Augustine, Texas, 1943. What a face this customer has! Taken by John Vachon.

Still hurting over Joe Ely's death. Glad I can post this song tonight. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw9Z...

The front and back side of a valentine sent from Paris, Texas in 1910. I love the old artwork! Courtesy The Portal to Texas History

Photo of the funeral of Juan Valentine Ramirez. who died at the age of 19. This was taken in Houston's Magnolia Park. From L-R: Juanita Sanchez Rodriguez (Ramirez's fianceé), Mrs. Isabel Angela Ramirez (Ramirez's mother), Pedro Goza and Antonio Flores. Juan Valentine Ramirez was a saxophone player.

Crossed that ol' Red River and this is what I saw ... youtu.be/kLL7Eu7mdIo?... One of the greatest music videos on the internet!

Traces of Texas reader Judith Booker graciously sent in this wonderful shot of young ladies swimming in the Temple Lumber Company mill pond in Diboll, Texas, back in 1913. Judith's grandfather, J.O. Booker, took this photo. Thank you, Judith. I love seeing folks back in the day having a good time!

Watch out ladies ... Marcia Ball is going to put on her soulful dress! "If you wanna keep your man You better keep as sharp as you can I'll be at my best When I put on my soulful dress" www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VuO...

The Orphan Photo of the Day was sent in by Traces of Texas reader Steven Martin. It's a Kodachrome slide of siblings posing by a highway sign on U.S. 80 in West Texas. The slide is dated September, 1958 and was likely taken at least a month earlier. 7,093' Gomez Peak rises in the background.

Traces of Texas reader shared this super interesting photo. Jerry was riding his motorcycle on a Saturday afternoon and wound up in the little community of Polar, about 20 miles north of Snyder. This sign is in front of the Polar Cemetery along with a small stone set in the ground. Read the text!

Sheriff Jim Halbert was the immaculate embodiment of an East Texas lawman in San Augustine when John Vachon took this in 1943. He looks like he could be the nicest guy ever, provided you were acting right, but also like he could be .... stern ... if you crossed over the line into tomfoolery.

Cody Jinks is a native of Haltom City, Texas, and attended Haltom High School. His dad gave him a guitar and he started learning country tunes, migrated into heavy-metal for about five years in the late 1990s-early 2000s, then sort of re-migrated back. I'm digging it. youtu.be/Vfv9ijR7e6M?...

Women on a trolley in Seguin, 1912. They were on their way to the dedication of the main building at Texas Lutheran College. A lovely collection of hats!! Courtesy The Portal to Texas History

Two views of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient railroad depot in Fort Stockton. The first was taken right after the building was completed in 1911. The second shows the building in 2023. It's now used as the Fort Stockton Visitor's Center and it's worth a stop if you are passing through.

A lovely young woman in (I think) a Buick convertible in front of the West Mall on the University of Texas campus in 1948. Man oh man I want that car! What a time to be young and alive and in a cool convertible in Austin! Taken by Dewey Mears and courtesy the Austin History Center.

The Orphan Photo of the Day comes from TOT reader Chris Hernandez, who bought a lot of old negatives which appear to be from the Kennard/Trinity area. Does anybody recognize these two young Texas ladies? This appears to be perhaps 1955-1960. The ladies are great and so is that boat!

Two old farmers conversing on a bench outside a cafe in Taylor, 1939. A classic, Norman Rockwellian slice of pure Americana. There's at least a 50% chance that one of these men is of Czech descent and has a last name with 13 consonants and 3 vowels, like Syozckezwhizck --- pronounced "Sef check."

The Sears Roebuck store on Allen Parkway in Houston during the 1930s. Buffalo Bayou flooded so bad in Dec., 1935 that all sorts of appliances all kinds of stuff floated away. It was during the Great Depression and it was reported that folks thereabouts were happy to "help" in the cleanup. 🙃

A man, his son, and (I'm guessing) his father share a fence at a horse auction in Eldorado, Texas, 1940. What a wonderful capture of a classic West Texas tableau by Russell Lee.

The Texas Orphan Photo of the Day is this lovely circa 1902 portrait of a young lady in Mason, Texas. It's quite something, isn't it? Her exquisite hat, her parasol, that painted backdrop, her awesome dress ... too great! I have no idea who she is or what her story is or who sent it to me. Sigh ...

Highway 81 from Austin to San Antonio in an undated photo. In the distance there's a Pearl beer sign. Very cool!

Alan Kirby shared this lovely shot of his dad's first cousin, Gale Black, in rural Cherokee county with a nice catfish back in 1947. Doesn't she look happy/proud? She's beaming. I wonder if it was her fish or if she just posed with it. Maybe it was her first fish. Do you remember your first fish?

This great collaboration between Dwight Yoakum and Texan Buck Owens on a song that Buck had a hit with in 1973 is about 10,000 times better than the Super Bowl. 😉 Such a joyous sound! youtu.be/A0PNW4DXwJ0?...

Bounce this little nugget at your watch party tonight: The name "Super Bowl" was created in Dallas. It was invented by Lamar Hunt, writing a letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in a letter back in 1966. Hunt's daughter played with a toy called the Super Ball and the phrase stuck in his head.

A family in San Antonio, circa 1905. The little girl with the bow in her hair and her doll is just so sweet. I wish I knew their story. I wish I could somehow tell them that, 120 years later, I blasted their portrait around the world. It's a wonderful shot.

If you haven't seen Los Texmaniacs play Low Rider you've missed six and a half minutes of joy. youtu.be/PtuLdX81PEE?...

This photo of folks at a polo match in Abilene back in 1939 is a wowser. Everything is perfect: beautiful horses, wonderful hats, the policeman in the background on his horse, the expression of the woman as she looks at them. Judging from that look, I think she's the mom. 😉 Taken by Russell Lee.

Houston Oilers QB Kenny "The Snake" Stabler was only 35 years old in regular human chronological time when this photo was taken in 1981, but he was 127 in Kenny Stabler party years. Thanks so much to the TOT reader who sent this in to me. It's awesome!

An outhouse in Midland, 1939. It appears somebody in Midland had a sense of humor. I'm no expert on outhouse design but I am a bit of an expert on weather in Midland and, while I can see the benefits of ventilation, I am also mindful that, in Midland, this structure might be a bit drafty at times.😀

The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day: The Chisos mountains in Big Bend National Park are the only mountain range contained entirely within a national park. Shown here: dawn comes up over the Chisos. One of my own photos, taken at sunrise in November, 2014.

Reader Randy Morgan kindly sent in this great portrait of his dad in Refugio. It was 1941 and his dad's fifth birthday. Another portrait taken by an itinerant photographer, Isn't it amazing how powerful the cowboy myth is? Only 5 years old and knows he wants to be a cowboy when he grows up.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdLk... “Deep Ellum is the one spot in the city that needs no daylight saving time because there is no bedtime…the only place recorded on earth where business, religion, hoodooism, gambling and stealing goes on at the same time without friction." --- Darwin Payne, 1982

Mrs. Rushing, wife of the mayor, puts cornbread biscuits in her oven in San Augustine, Texas, 1943. My grandmother's oven looked very similar to this in the 1960s. What are the odds that photographer John Vachon stuck around long enough to sample some of the biscuits she undoubtedly offered? 🙂

Of 32 Carnegie libraries built in Texas from 1898-1915, only four are still use as libraries. They are: Ballinger Carnegie Library in Ballinger Jefferson Carnegie Library in Jefferson Stamford Carnegie Library in Stamford Franklin Carnegie Library in Franklin

Corpus Christi's Farrah Fawcett as the flower girl at a wedding in 1954

The IBM booth at Hemisfair in San Antonio, 1968. I love the "mod" fiberglass design aesthetic it has. It's a bit surreal looking, isn't it? Interesting photo. I regret that I did not attend Hemisfair. I'd love to hear any memories from any of y'all who did.

The very last song that Buddy Holly ever played was this one, Brown Eyed Handsome Man, from the stage of the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmo... RIP Buddy Holly!

Today marks the 67th anniversary of the day the music died. Feb. 3, 1959. 67 years ago today (at 1:00 a.m.), the plane carrying Buddy, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson went down in a field near Clear Lake, Iowa. I took this photo at the edge of that field in 2014.

A man turns a valve at the carbon black plant in Sunray, Texas, 1943. I am almost certain that what he's covered in is carbon black dust itself. Probably part of the war effort. Looking at this photo, taken by John Vachon, makes me think of Uncle Lucius' powerful song "Keep the Wolves Away."

Traces of Texas reader Eddie Dismukes was nice enough to share of his great grandfather John B. Dismukes, a farmer who lived in McDade, Texas. J.B. sired at least 31 children and maybe as many as 33, including six twins. His first two wives died after bearing seven and 12 children, respectively.

Holy cow! Traces of Texas reader Lonnie Massey thoughtfully sent in this incredible circa 1915 photo of the Claude Cornet Band from Claude, Texas. Look at this great photo! And a band consisting primarily of cornets? In tiny Claude, Texas, which had a population in 1915 of about 725 people? SUPER!

Reader Alex McNeal was nice enough to send in this nifty circa 1925 photo of the Van Zandt County courthouse in Canton, Texas. The photo was taken during the time when Alex's grandfather was a judge there. They used this courthouse until 1937, when the current art-deco style courthouse was opened.

One of y'all sent me this photo of two young women drinking beer at Dessau Hall near Austin back in the 1930s, but I don't know who they are or who sent this in. It's a great snapshot because it captures the spirit of the moment and because you so rarely see women posing with bottles of beer!