Retracing the Sawdust Trail


I spent several hours combing through the newspaper archives at the Los Angeles Central Library last Saturday. Lucky for me, they’ve digitized over a century’s worth of the L.A. Times!  Along with other artifacts, I unearthed this classified advertisement for one of my father’s tent revival meetings. It was filed among those belonging to the biggest stars in the evangelical orbit of that time period—Billy Graham and Marjoe among them.

I’m grateful today for the forward-thinking individuals who stored these images where I could find them. Thanks to their efforts, I’m able to piece together certain elements of my past. And in a larger sense, their efforts have kept the Sawdust Trail from being swept into the dustbin of history.

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34 Comments

  3. What a discovery! Congrats! 🙂

    I’m not even writing a memoir, yet I still love finding things from my family’s past: like a campaign button from the one and only time my father ever ran for state representitive. He was 25. I was still in my mom’s womb. I can’t even imagine what that whole campaign must have been like for my very young parents-to-be!

    • I think it’s easier, now that we can digitize our memories for long-term storage–at least in image format. But I have to admit…it’s a big thrill to find these things on my own!

      I hope you’ll talk to your parents, and that you’ll somehow record what they say. Memories fade, treasures disappear, and “permanent records”…well, suffice it to say that they’re a myth.

      • Oh, they love telling me those old stories…especially my dad. But yes, you are right. I need to start writing them down! Right now, my family is all about the oral tradition; and I’m sure that gets a little muddy as the years go by…

        • Even among contemporaries, the retelling of certain stories will vary–sometimes, dramatically so.

          I’m sure your kids will thank you (at some point) for preserving those family heirlooms for future generations… 🙂

  4. Oh WOW, Melodye! You really ARE a real-life Nancy Drew. I suspect you’d be in high demand as an investigator after all your recent fact-finding missions. Really–amazing! I’m so glad you found this new information. Your dedication and determination leave me in serious awe.

    xoxo,
    Cathy

    • I was so wishing for a sidekick, like Nancy Drew’s Bess, with whom I could celebrate this thrilling discovery. 🙂

      I’m glad you’re here to help me celebrate.

    • He did?! Very interesting! I wonder where and when.

      I have an insider’s view of the goings-on, but I love to see/hear/read about tent revivals from an audience member’s point of view….

      • He wrote me about them one time, but no idea where that letter is. He probably attended them in the 20s and 30s in Texas or the LA area, and he died in 2003.

        My grandfather was a failed Baptist minister who could never really muster a congregation.

        • I’m so sorry about your loss, April.

          My father’s ministry took him all over the country, as you know, but he had a soft spot in his heart for Texas and California. Being a minister is extremely hard work, especially for itinerant preachers. Lots of evangelists’ careers flamed out long before they actually died.

  12. This is amazing! My goodness, I am thinking of how your heart must have sped up when you found it….how you tumbled briefly down the time tunnel. How you stood up and remembered how much you survived.

  13. One never knows what they will find that brigs back floods of emotions and memories. It’s how one handles the find that is important. We know that you came through this with flying colors and will forever hold the memory you found.
    4500 people…..WOW!!!!! Now that was a lot of people and your dad was more than a one man show. I know your book will be a hit. Keep looking for that special find just around the corner.

    • Pardon that Texas slip up. Should say ” brings” instead of brigs. Now you know us Texans talk differently, funny but you know what I mean. :o)

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