Covington In The Early 1930's

We turn now to the recollections of Philip E. Pfeffer for an overview of Covington in the early 1930's, some 90 years ago. This account was written on February 27, 1993.

Covington In The Early 1930's by Philip E. Pfeffer

The court house was a wooden structure of two stories, and it well filled the needs of St. Tammany Parish. As one entered the courthouse from Boston Street there was a wide hallway the length of the edifice. To the left of the hall was the office of the sheriff, housing the "High Sheriff', a chief deputy, an "outside" deputy, and a clerk.

 

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To the right of the hall was the office of the Clerk of the Court, in which worked the clerk himself and a couple of deputies. Going further to the right there was a "blister", a concrete building not more than twenty five feet square, housing all mortgage and conveyance and court records.

To the rear of the court house proper was a large wooden room which housed the police jury and its secretary and the assessor. A separate brick two story edifice, fifteen or twenty feet square, was the parish jail.

Robert D. "Bob" Jones was the sole judge of the 22nd Judicial District for Washington and St. Tammany Parishes. James T. "Jim" Burns was the only district attorney for both parishes. Neither had a secretary or a law clerk.

 

James T. Burns

Bob Jones lived in Bogalusa in a modest home and came to Covington one week a month to try cases. Sometimes the docket was bare and he didn' t come at all.

The lawyers in Covington were Lewis L. Morgan, Harvey E. Ellis and his son Frank, J. Monroe Simmons, Dalton J. Barranger, Arthur Finney, Fred J. Heintz, Victor Planche, Lindsay McDougall, Victor V. Blackwell, Adrian Schwartz, perhaps one or two more.

The Slidell lawyers were Gus Fritchie Sr., L.V. Cooley, Jr., Sidney Provensal, E.F. Hailey, perhaps one or two more.

Drug stores were all over the place. The principal one was Schonberg's, whose motto was "follow the crowd - there's a reason." It was a gathering place, with its soda fountain, for after school and other events. It was on New Hampshire Street in the Southern Hotel Building, right next to the (then) post office.

Next to the pharmacy was a door leading to the upstairs office of H. E. Gautreaux, M.D.

An amusing story concerns a woman's purse which was left at the drug store. It was placed in a conspicuous place so the owner could claim it. Days went into weeks but no one came forth. At length a grammar school boy with a considerably older sister spied the purse and announced "Why, that's my sister's." A hush came over the place for it was well known that the purse contained a package of condoms - something disgraceful in those days.

About where the former office of August J. Planche was the drug store of Oliver J. Hebert, who had been a pharmacist for Schonberg's and broke away to start his own place. He later moved into the corner building on New Hampshire and Boston Streets.

On Columbia Street in the middle of the block was the City Drug Store, owned by Stanley and Percy 'Theriot. These brothers bottled a vicious green fluid entitled "Ant enemy", which sold hundreds of bottles. In one corner was an alcove with entrance to the office of H. D. Bulloch, M.D.

On the corner (where else?) of Columbia and Gibson Streets, in the brick "Badon Building" was the Corner Drug Store, presided over by Mr. L. J. Nicolle. To the rear in a separate entrance was the office of Ludwig Heintz, M.D.

Dr. F. B. Buquoi had an upstairs office in the brick building on the corner of Boston and Columbia Streets, which had housed the Covington Bank & Trust Company, whose boast was "St. Tammany's Million Dollar Bank." One of Dr. Buquoi's sons often referred to his father's "assets over a million dollars."

It was a joke around town that there was a saloon on every corner and another in the middle of the block. One recalls Charlie Jenkins and Paul Herbez, on each side of the alley on Gibson Street between Columbia and New Hampshire Streets.

"Tugy's" was in the Southern Hotel Building near the corner of New Hampshire, presided over by Julius Tugenhaft, a public spirited citizen. He boasted that he charged a cent a bottle of beer more than other places, and that these pennies would build him a house. This turned out to be true.

A number of Covington citizens who later became prominent in other fields got their start as saloon keepers.

The Roman Catholic Church was near the fair grounds. The square it now occupies was vacant and a diagonal path through it showed its use as a short cut. The Presbyterian Church was where it is now, but much smaller, having many years later been enlarged. The Methodist Church was in its present location but was a wooden building. The Baptist Church was a converted home and was known as "the poorest church in town."

 

The Covington 1st Baptist Church Building, Jefferson Avenue at 23rd Avenue

High school students were glorying in their new building under the name of Elmer E. Lyon High School, named after the (then) Parish Superintendent of Schools, which was placed in operation at the beginning of the 1925-26 school session. It was in the square bounded by Jefferson, Madison, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth.

The superintendent's office was just inside the entrance of the front door. The staff consisted of Mr. Lyon himself, Josie Frederick, and Josie Diehl. A state law later forbade the naming of any public facility after a living person, and the name was changed back to Covington High School.

Up to 1925 the high school had been on the upper floor of the very substantial brick (not brick veneer) building in the square bounded by Jefferson, Theard, Twenty Third and Twenty Fourth. This same building continued to be the only other public school in the town. It is now utilized as the C. J. Schoen Middle School.

Lyon High School was attended not only by Covingtonians but by pupils from Abita Springs, Mandeville, Madisonville, and even Sun and Bush.

A public spirited citizen had donated fifty thousand dollars to erect a cupola over Lyon High School, in which was housed a large four-sided clock which sounded the hour loudly all over town. Unfortunately this did not survive a later fire and was never replaced.

St. Scholastica's School (Convent) was housed in a huge three (four?) story wooden building painted green. It had great potential as a fire trap which fortunately it did not fulfill. It later had to be torn down by orders of the Fire Marshall.

St. Paul's College (known as college because of the Latin "Colegio", but later changed to St. Paul's High School), was under the auspices of The Christian Brothers, who did not believe in sparing the rod. In fact a venerable teacher named Brother Raphael was known by the students as "Bre'r Rap".

St. Paul's was widely attended by boarding pupils from Central and South America and the Caribbean. Generations of Covington day students got an education which many considered superior to that obtained in the public school.

Saturday nights at the town's only movie palace were a riot, as the St. Paul's boarding students, confined to their campus all week, descended. Loud was the appreciation for the escapades shown on the silver screen.

Pre schools and kindergartens were virtually unknown but later "Miss Reeder's" on Seventeenth Avenue prepared a great host of Covingtonians for their first grade.

See also:

The 1953 CHS Band

Covington Invitation Basketball Tournament 

CHS Class of 1958, Memories Along the Way

Covington in the 1940's and 1950's

Vintage Memories You Can Wear

 

 

 

 

 

The 1953 CHS Band

Phil Pfeffer shares another memory of Covington High activities, this time the student band.

Memories of The CHS Band by Phil Pfeffer

The Covington High School band hall was located on the corner of 18th avenue and Madison street. Those band members who brought their instruments home after school, could bring them back and leave them inside of the band hall before school. If it were locked, they would just leave them on the porch (do that today and someone would steal them). Not all instruments were easy to carry home; the bass drum and the tuba for instance.

The band met every day in the band hall at fifth period; i.e. 1 o’clock to 2 o’clock. They assembled in the large room of the band hall. Ray Wadenpfuhl was the band director. Directly in front of him were the cornets and trumpets. To his left were the clarinets and to his right were the saxophone(s), flute, French horn and trombones. The drums (percussion) was to his left past the cornets and clarinets.  In a similar position to his right were the Baritone(s) and Sousaphones.

For the most part, the band played marches by John Philip Sousa, the March King. On the lighter side, they played ”In the Mood,” “Sing, Sing, Sing” or “The Happy Wanderer.” One favorite in the classical variety was “Zampa Overture.”

The band would play during the home football games, including playing the national anthem. They would perform at half time forming block letters or figures, while an announcer in the press box described the action on the field.

The band was also invited to march in New Orleans Mardi Gras parades. To get to New Orleans, the band had to get a school bus and travel around the lake via Slidell. For their participation, the band received between $75 and $125.

In the spring of 1955, the band had a dance (see photo for 1955 Band Ball court). In the photograph: Back Row: Gene Sykes, Lloyd Cambre, Phil Pfeffer, Nathan Sharp, Unknown --- James Montgomery, John Braun, Lionel Mathies, Reid Richardson, Vic Osbon, J.B. Fitzmorris. Front Row: Patsy Rushing?, Patsy Champaign, Betty Sharp, Rosemary Fredrick, Unknown. Frances Musante (Queen), Johnny McNeely (King), Marion Erwin, Lillie June Bruhl?, Peggy Casserta, Jackie Dell, Joan Crow?.

Each spring, the band performed in concert in the high school gym (see 1953 concert program and band members below).

 

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The 1953 band members consisted of: 

Flute: Marion Erwin

Clarinets: Robert Fineran, Beverly Morgan, Lucille Fitzmorris, Joyce Smith, Barry Mahady, Lynell Theriot, Lynn Theriot, John Braun, Lionel Mathies and Lloyd Cambre
Bass Clarinet: Yvonne Keller

Alto Saxophone: Betty Williams and Billy Schroeder

Tenor Saxophone: Carolyn Beal

Cornets: Walter Smith, Kay Henderson, Ulmer Cleland, Charles Smith, Phil Pfeffer (trumpet) and Nathan Sharp

French Horn: Karen Burns

Trombones: Carol Burns and Joe Mathies

Baritones: Richard Warner and Victor Osbon

Sousaphones: Reid Richardson and A.V. Scheck

Percussion: John McNeely, Jimmy Breazeale and Beverly Pichon

Usherettes: Ellen Smith, Barbara Pennington and Sybil Wilson

The Elementary School Band consisted of:

Flutes: Eileen Mahady and Devra Moskovitz

Clarinets: Leonard Ochs, Nancy Dillon and Ronnie Fortier

Alto Saxophone; Arlene Jourdan

Cornets: Will Jones, Wendell Goodbee, Andy Willie, Floyd Perriloux, Michael Julian, Johnny Coltura; Don Ray Pellegrin and Eugene Sykes

Trombones: Doyle France and Martin Keller

Bell Lyre: Terry Mahady

Snare Drum: John Willoughby

 

 

Covington Invitation Basketball Tournament

In today's Tammany Family article, Phil Pfeffer shares another memory of Covington in the mid-twentieth century. This account deals with the Covington Invitational Basketball Tournament of the 1950's. 

By Phil Pfeffer

In the 1950s, and before and after that decade, Covington hosted an annual high school basketball tournament. Teams were invited from around the region for this three day event. It would begin on Thursday afternoon and culminate with the championship on Saturday night. At one time, it was the second oldest consecutive invitation high school basketball tournament in the country.

The bracket was drawn up so that it was “almost” a pure double-elimination tourney. If you lost your first game, you moved into the loser’s bracket. If you lost again, you were out. If you won your first game and lost your second, you moved into the loser’s bracket. So many tournaments in those days were set up whereby if you won your first game and lost your second you went home. That was unfair. Below is the filled-in bracket for the 1956 tournament.

Game times were set up so that Covington high school always played their first game on Thursday afternoon during school time. Students were let out of class to attend the game (and pay their admission). It was also set up so that if CHS lost they would play on Friday morning, if they won they would play on Friday afternoon. Either way, students could again attend the game. In the late 1950s, Covington high school actually won its own tournament several years in a row.

Games were played in the old gym which was attached to the main school building. On the north east corner was the boy’s dressing room. On the southeast corner was the girl’s locker room which was commandeered for one of the visiting teams. The gym was unique in that it had a balcony that surrounded the court. It actually overhung the side of the playing area by six-inches to a foot, making an inbound pass difficult at times. The backboards were metal and fan shaped units, not like the rectangular, wooden backboards found elsewhere. Glass backboards were still in the future.

The balcony had numerous two-tier benches along both sides which were constructed by the school’s wood-working classes. At the southwest corner of the balcony were a Coke machine and a 7-Up machine. On the north east corner, tables were set up to sell candy and hot dogs during tournament time.

Teams from Hammond, Ponchatoula, Albany, Bogalusa, Franklinton, Slidell and others could travel to Covington in about thirty minutes and return home between games. St. Paul’s participated every year. However, teams from New Orleans or Baton Rough had a longer travel time. The Pontchartrain causeway was not there until the late 1950s so New Orleans teams had to travel around the lake through Slidell, a two-hour journey, one way. From Baton Rouge area it was also two hours because the Interstate highway system was not yet available.

To alleviate the travel problem, local families were asked to house individual (or a couple) visiting players for a couple of nights, giving them food and a place to sleep. Many families stepped up. It was particularly exciting for a young boy in the family who aspired to play some day on the high school basketball team.

One memorable (or maybe forgettable) occasion was when the boys from Baker high school near Baton Rough stole the Abita Springs fire truck. They were kind enough to leave it at the traffic circle approaching Baton Rouge.

There were a lot of good and great players who participated in the annual tournament. Many of them went on to play college ball. The most famous of these young boys played for Baton Rouge high and was selected the MVP of the tournament in the early 1950s. He was slightly over 6-foot, five-inches tall then but still growing. He played for L.S.U. and was all-American. He had a distinguished career with the Milwaukee/Saint Louis Hawks in the NBA. L.S.U. retired his jersey number 50 and a street on campus bears his name. That was Bob Pettit.

CHS Class of 1958, Memories Along the Way

For today's Tammany Family article, Phil Pfeffer is sharing with us some more memories of the Covington High School Class of 1958, which graduated sixty-one years ago.

Covington High School Class of '58

 By Phil Pfeffer

The journey of the Class of ‘58 began in early-September 1946. Covington Grammar School was located on Jefferson Avenue, between 23rd and 24th Avenues. As the six-year-olds lined up for their first day of school, there were several emotions. 

Some were anxious to start school, having older brothers and sisters already in school. Some were just awaiting a new experience while others were scared, leaving mommy and daddy for the first time.

The students, new and old, lined up outside the school building awaiting the bell to ring. Once inside, they would find out where their classroom was located and who would be their teacher.  Not all of the Class of ’58 would be here. Some were starting first grade in Madisonville, Mandeville, Folsom or Lee Road. A few were possibly starting out of state.

One first grader in this group would go on to reach international fame. Although no one remembers him from the school days, he was in Mrs. Morgan’s first-grade class. He and his mother lived in an apartment building (since been torn down) on Vermont street between Gibson street and Boston street. He would move out of Covington before completing the first grade, but his name appears on the rolls of the school archives. His name was Lee Harvey Oswald.

Once the students were settled, it was time to go to work. Students had their supplies which consisted of a pencil, a pad of paper (with wide ruled lines), some crayons, a scissors and some paste. Coca-Cola would give each student a supply packet containing a ruler and a pencil. The ruler had the Golden Rule printed on it. 

The pencil was red and had the words, “Coca-Cola.” Each of the classrooms had a blackboard and a pencil sharpener. Above the blackboard was the alphabet, in cursive showing both lower-case and upper-case letters.

The Beginning of the School Day

Before school began, the students would gather in the school yard awaiting the bell. The boys would play marbles or spin tops. There were two merry-go-rounds near Jefferson Avenue and later there were “monkey bars” for the children to climb on. In the front of the school were some outside steps going to the second floor where some of the children played “Mother, May I.” Recess occurred about ten o’clock and the students would go outside for exercise and commence the same activities as before school.

First grade students learned the alphabet and then to write it. They learned to write the numbers and then some simple addition. They learned words and then to read simple books. The main book at the time was “Mac and Muff.”

The school day was often started with the students standing and saying the Pedge of Allegiance. Every classroom had an American flag. They would learn patriotic songs like “America” and “America the Beautiful.” Nothing like this could happen today because someone might be offended. One teacher tried to have her students sing “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from the Broadway musical Oklahoma.

The students got an introduction to music. Besides learning the basic notes on a musical scale, they each had a “tonette” on which they would play simple songs. 

In February, the students exchanged valentines. One little girl got a card from everyone in the class until the teacher recognized the handwriting and the exchange. The student had got the “to” and “from” confused.

School Lunch

Lunch was served in the cafeteria adjacent to the gym. Lines were formed with the first grade going first, then the second grade and so on. Once you got you plate, you were expected to eat everything. To some, there was food that they just did not like. To others, some of the food was new to them. Being a large Catholic population in Covington, fish was always served on Fridays. To almost all of them, the food was probably better than they got at home.

When they were through eating, they would scrape any remaining food items into a garbage can and place their dish and utensils on a table to be cleaned. A teacher would monitor the discards, expecting you to eat everything. If you had too much food still on your plate, the teacher would send you back to your table to eat some more. The more ingenious students would watch for the teacher to turn his or her back and then rush to discard their food. Some students just shoveled their food on to the floor below the table.

 

Ralph Menetre

The fifth-grade teacher was Ralph Menetre. Mr. Menetre organized a softball game to be played at noon after lunch. It was played with home plate near the intersection of 24th Avenue and Theard Street. While a normal team had a pitcher and a catcher, these teams had an additional player. He was positioned behind the catcher and was called the “hind catcher.” It was because cooling water from Delta Pine Company ran underground from their plant along Theard street to the Bogue Falaya River and street drains along the east side of Theard street also emptied into this water way. If the softball went into the drain, it was gone, thus the hind catcher to save the ball. 

There were also a couple of boys that were older, having been held back a couple of times, were larger and would occasionally hit the ball on to the cafeteria roof. Time out was called while the ball was retrieved.

Each year, the grammar school staged a May Festival. It was held in the high school football stadium. There was a king and queen and their court, selected from the sixth grade. Members of the court were selected from each of the lower grades. Each class had an act to perform. The fifth grade always did the May Pole. 

All of the classes would rehearse in the grammar school gym and a day or two just prior to the big event they would walk down in groups to the high school football field for one final practice at the festival location.

After school each day, the school buses would line up along 23rd avenue for the rural children. Once the bus had collected all necessary kids, it would travel down Jefferson avenue to the high school where they would line up along 18th Avenue waiting the high school students.

Entering Junior High was another new experience. Junior High was in the same building as the high School. Now, you no longer sat in the same classroom with the same teacher all day. Each hour, the bell would ring, and you would change classrooms, subject matter and teacher.

Discipline

Discipline was handled by the principal, James Plummer. Corporal punishment was handed out in the boiler room. When it became unacceptable for this punishment to be administered by an adult associated with the school, boys were forced to use the paddle on each other. If the application was not up to the expected severity, they were forced to do it again.

In high school, you were introduced to America history, World history, civics and Louisiana history. Also, classes in biology, chemistry and physics. Here you might dissect a frog or mix some chemicals. Arithmetic became mathematics and you learned algebra and geometry. The girls would take a class in typing and home economics, boys were offered classes in agriculture, wood working and mechanical drawing or drafting.

During the morning, an hour was set aside for physical education. Most of the boys enjoyed it, most of the girls hated it. The boys got a gym outfit which consisted of a white shirt and white shorts with writing on them and a number. The number did not mean anything. The girls were adorned in baggy blue bloomers, not very flattering.

In about the tenth grade, boys and girls began to notice each other. Some would pair off and “go steady.” For some it was “puppy love” and for several others, they would eventually marry.

Football Provisions

School varsity athletics consisted of football and basketball. Since a good number of boys on the football team had to catch the afternoon school bus to get home, football and basketball practice took place during 5th and 6th periods or from one to three o’clock in the afternoon. Because of the timing, the football players had a special lunch line so that they could eat first and have time for their food to digest before practice.

That senior year the basketball team did well. They won several area invitation tournaments, won the district championship and went into the state championship playoffs. In the playoffs, they eventually lost to Deridder, a town just northeast of Lake Charles, by one point.

The 5th period was also the time set aside for band practice. Obviously, you could not participate in both the band and be on the football or basketball team. Some of the band members had their own instruments but the school also furnished some (the base-drum or the Sousaphone, for instance).

Most if not all the teachers that developed our lives are now gone. Our principal Jim Plummer died in 1988. Coach Hubie Gallagher died in 1992. Gone too are Helen Boyd, 1985; Lela Menetre, 1990; Rosemary Pfeffer, 1998; Louis Wagner, 1999; Elizabeth Alford, 2008; Erlene Howser, 2017; Johnny Foster, 2017; and many others. We miss these earlier mentors.

Story-telling Teachers

One math teacher was a storyteller. If he started a story before class began, students would egg him on, and he would use 20 or 25 minutes on his story. It was better than doing math.

One English teacher was Miss Congeniality. One morning after a basketball game, she told one of the team members that she thought that he played a good game last night. Problem was that he never got into the game, but she wasn’t there, so she didn’t know. She just knew that he was on the team.

The physics teacher also liked to tell stories. We had only one girl in the class so if the story turned a little risqué, he would ask her to out into the hall and get a drink of water.

In the woodwork class, there was a walled-in area where wood was kept. It was also kept locked. One afternoon, the teacher went into the enclosure for a piece of wood and left the padlock hanging on the hasp. Once he was inside, a student ran over and locked him in.

As a way of judging the level of English and composition of the incoming class, one English teacher had the students write a two-page essay about themselves. It wasn’t so much as judging their writing skill but learning about each student for future gossip.

Each year, the seniors put on a class play to demonstrate their thespian talents. The Class of ’58 was no different. The play was entitled, “The Perfect Idiot.” It was about a very, very smart boy that did not want to go to college. So, when he took his university entrance exam, he made sure that he scored a perfect zero. After taking the test and flunking, he changed his mind, but it was too late. Further examination showed that to score a perfect zero, you must have known the correct answer to every question. You could not have scored zero at random. In the end, it was acknowledged that he had scored a perfect exam.

During a school assembly in the gym, the school was introduced to a rock and roll band. It consisted of four boys, three of them part of the Class of ’58. They would play music currently on the top ten music charts. One of them actually sounded like Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry. They played at several venues around town and on Saturday nights they played at the Village Inn.

Graduation Ceremonies

Graduation Day was at the end of May. It took place in the high school football field and stadium. The story was that this outdoor event had been going on for years and it was never rained out. This year was no exception. The graduating class marched to their chairs to the classic strains of Pomp and Circumstance or the Triumphant March from Aida. Those were the only two processionals available. After several speeches, diplomas were handed out and the new graduates formed a line for the well wishers to shake their hand and offer congratulations. It was here that several of the girls began to cry, realizing that they would not see many of their friends ever again.

From here, it was really commencement. It was the beginning of a new life. Some of the graduates would go on to college, some would join the army, others would join the work force, and some would now get married and raise a family.

Several of the graduates of the Class of ’58 went on to successful and satisfying careers. One member of the class joined the Air Force upon completing college and eventually retired as a Lt. Colonel. Another received a Ph. D. in engineering and became a college professor. Still another received an engineering degree and went on to direct the engineering and construction of offshore oil platforms around the world. 

Another graduate became mayor of a town in central Louisiana. An unlikely entrepreneur ended up owning and operating Tugy’s. One girl had several books published about her gay and lesbian life.

Sixty one years have elapsed since that graduation day. The grammar school has moved to 18th avenue and Jackson street and the old building now houses the parish school board. The high school building burned down in 1974 and was demolished. Sadly, several members of the Class of 1958 have gone on to that great classroom in the sky.

See also:

Covington in the 1940's and 1950's