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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Making a Bee-line to World War II
By Wanda Orton
Contributor Published November 18, 2009 In my possession is an April 1945 copy of the Humble Bee, and World War II is written all over it.
Longtime Baytonians will remember the Bee, a magazine published by Humble Oil & Refining Co. and edited by Norman D’Olive.
A page entitled “Humble men in the service” includes a photo of war hero Manton P. Stewart receiving the Bronze Star. A staff sergeant in the Sixth Rangers, he participated in the liberation of more than 500 prisoners of war from a Japanese concentration camp. Among the POWs he helped to free was a former high school classmate, Sgt. Ray Smith.
Another photo shows a pilot, Staff Sgt. B.D. Badgley, who was forced by harsh weather conditions to bail out of plane over China. He hiked more than 75 miles through enemy lines to reach a U.S. Army post three days later.
The Bee quoted an AP report about Lt. Pat Blakeney, credited with capturing 63 Nazi soldiers, and there’s news about Pfc. Hobart Enoch and Pvt. N.D. Thompson recovering from combat injuries in Europe.
The issue includes a photo of the Arcadia Theater where record crowds watched “The Fighting Lady,” featuring combat scenes in the Pacific, and “Humble Highlights,” about the Billion Gallon celebration in Baytown.
The Hollywood movie and local production had an important link and that’s why approximately 7,000 Humble employees and their families were treated to the double feature. For three days in March ’45 the films were shown seven times daily.
The 100-octane aviation gasoline and other petroleum products evident in “The Fighting Lady” came directly from the local refinery. The other movie, “Humble Highlights,” depicted celebration of the manufacture of a billion gallons of 100-octane aviation gasoline at the Baytown Refinery in December ‘44.
The Arcadia was packed during the showing of the films – standing room only. With a magnifying glass I could recognize some of my friends in the audience in the photo but I don’t remember being there myself. I must have been sick, because I rarely turned down a chance to go to the picture show.
Throughout this issue runs a thread of news about employees, their kin and friends, serving in the war. A wartime angle even shows up in every story in the society news section. Eldon Berry, for example, was a Marine lieutenant stationed at Cherry Point, N.C., when he married Dorothy Clark … Another serviceman, E.F. Toups, was stationed at Portsmouth in New Hampshire, when he married Audrey Fay Toups … Elda Rae Goodman’s engagement was announced to Petty Officer C. Hugh Powell, who was serving overseas.
In other news, John Sylvester, Humble Club president, announced that ration points had been approved by the war ration board for the barbecue being planned for the annual Humble Day in May.
Bill Buelow, entertainment chairman for Humble Day, said, “Under our present wartime working schedule many of our members will be served after they complete their shift in the plants. … The Humble Club’s wartime recreation program has been designed to provide maximum wholesale entertainment for war plant employees’ limited leisure time.”
From the photo on the magazine cover, you’d never know a war was going on. Two four-year-old cousins, Mike Floyd and John Floyd Seiders, appear so happy and peaceful relaxing on the waterfront. Across the bay, the San Jacinto Monument stands where a long-ago war was fought.
The caption doesn’t pinpoint where the photo was taken but my best guess is the old Brownwood subdivision.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published November 18, 2009 In my possession is an April 1945 copy of the Humble Bee, and World War II is written all over it.
Longtime Baytonians will remember the Bee, a magazine published by Humble Oil & Refining Co. and edited by Norman D’Olive.
A page entitled “Humble men in the service” includes a photo of war hero Manton P. Stewart receiving the Bronze Star. A staff sergeant in the Sixth Rangers, he participated in the liberation of more than 500 prisoners of war from a Japanese concentration camp. Among the POWs he helped to free was a former high school classmate, Sgt. Ray Smith.
Another photo shows a pilot, Staff Sgt. B.D. Badgley, who was forced by harsh weather conditions to bail out of plane over China. He hiked more than 75 miles through enemy lines to reach a U.S. Army post three days later.
The Bee quoted an AP report about Lt. Pat Blakeney, credited with capturing 63 Nazi soldiers, and there’s news about Pfc. Hobart Enoch and Pvt. N.D. Thompson recovering from combat injuries in Europe.
The issue includes a photo of the Arcadia Theater where record crowds watched “The Fighting Lady,” featuring combat scenes in the Pacific, and “Humble Highlights,” about the Billion Gallon celebration in Baytown.
The Hollywood movie and local production had an important link and that’s why approximately 7,000 Humble employees and their families were treated to the double feature. For three days in March ’45 the films were shown seven times daily.
The 100-octane aviation gasoline and other petroleum products evident in “The Fighting Lady” came directly from the local refinery. The other movie, “Humble Highlights,” depicted celebration of the manufacture of a billion gallons of 100-octane aviation gasoline at the Baytown Refinery in December ‘44.
The Arcadia was packed during the showing of the films – standing room only. With a magnifying glass I could recognize some of my friends in the audience in the photo but I don’t remember being there myself. I must have been sick, because I rarely turned down a chance to go to the picture show.
Throughout this issue runs a thread of news about employees, their kin and friends, serving in the war. A wartime angle even shows up in every story in the society news section. Eldon Berry, for example, was a Marine lieutenant stationed at Cherry Point, N.C., when he married Dorothy Clark … Another serviceman, E.F. Toups, was stationed at Portsmouth in New Hampshire, when he married Audrey Fay Toups … Elda Rae Goodman’s engagement was announced to Petty Officer C. Hugh Powell, who was serving overseas.
In other news, John Sylvester, Humble Club president, announced that ration points had been approved by the war ration board for the barbecue being planned for the annual Humble Day in May.
Bill Buelow, entertainment chairman for Humble Day, said, “Under our present wartime working schedule many of our members will be served after they complete their shift in the plants. … The Humble Club’s wartime recreation program has been designed to provide maximum wholesale entertainment for war plant employees’ limited leisure time.”
From the photo on the magazine cover, you’d never know a war was going on. Two four-year-old cousins, Mike Floyd and John Floyd Seiders, appear so happy and peaceful relaxing on the waterfront. Across the bay, the San Jacinto Monument stands where a long-ago war was fought.
The caption doesn’t pinpoint where the photo was taken but my best guess is the old Brownwood subdivision.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The Baytown Sun.