Frank's Dream Girl Has Some Serious Baggage
Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
We're in a series about one of the top Texas Ranger lawmen to ever wear the badge, the great Frank Hamer, who was brought out of retirement to take down Bonnie and Clyde.
Recap
In the last post Frank finally landed a job that paid good money doing work that he loved so things were looking up. After he divorced Mollie he was quite depressed and gun-shy when it came to women though.
Plus with his work he was gone for weeks riding all over West Central Texas so he didn't have much time for courtship or romance.
However...when you're not looking for a mate that's generally when you'll find one and he was introduced to a lady that really got his attention and he got hers.
This is the main street of the small town of Snyder, Texas which was the hometown of Gladys's family where her father was co-owner of the bank. No word on whether they had an ice cream parlor for Frank.
Today's story
As mentioned yesterday, Gladys was the daughter of a wealthy rancher named Billy Johnson. Frank's brother, Harrison, was staying with the family and he told many stories of Frank's exciting life as a Ranger and lawman so Gladys already knew alot about him.
She liked what she heard and when she saw him she liked him even more.
Gladys's situation: a hot mess
The problem with Gladys was that she was already married with 2 kids. But she was staying with her parents because she'd left her husband.
The deal with her is that her dad spoiled her rotten. I mean she got anything she wanted from the time she was born.
He admitted that he made a big mistake raising her that way. Well, when she was 14 yrs old she wanted to marry a 21 yr old guy named Ed Sims. So of course her dad consented because he always gave her what she wanted.
Can you predict the future from a photo? Believe it or not this was taken on their wedding day. Ed looks like he's bored stiff and Gladys looks like she's about to cry! lol.
Of course, when Frank met her it was 11 year later and I'm sure she looked quite different.
This photo is from the Scurry County Museum in Snyder, Texas.
Some child brides grow up. She didn't.
But she found out that marriage involved actual work and was hard. Then she got pregnant at 16 and found out that was even harder. Now she was supposed to be a wife and mother and she hated it.
She couldn't handle the responsibility and didn't want to. Nothing Ed did could make her happy.
The marriage was doomed
They fought constantly and were both miserable. It was pitiful. Ed started drinking. Gladys started seeing another man. This was in 1913 when these types of things were not that common. Ed intercepted her mail and found letters from her lover.
Ed and her dad Billy confronted her and she admitted that she'd slept with the other guy three different times. She tearfully begged Ed for forgiveness and asked if they could try again. He agreed but it was never the same.
Things got ugly
They kept fighting and accusing each other of cheating and they probably were. She kept moving back to her dad's place, then she'd go and try to work it out. Finally when she confirmed that he was seeing an ex best friend of hers she filed for divorce.
Things got uglier
I think this was about the time that she met Frank. Her daughters were Trix, 9, and Beverly, 7. As with most marriages, the kids were the issue which caused all the anger, resentment, desperation, hatred and fear to come out.
Ed Sims was also from a very wealthy ranching family and he also filed for custody. The divorce caused a bitter feud between the two clans. Threats were already beginning to fly.
In the next post I'll explain why bloody family feuds often started with divorces because of the culture of West Texas.
-jonboy
Texas
PS- Hey check this out guys. They actually made vending machines that sold lit cigarettes in the 1930's! lol. This is an ad showing one of them, this one is in England in 1931. Shame on you Brits! lol.
I don't know if we had these in the States. They cost 1 cent! Look how small they are though. There ya go sir @glenalbrethsen, how'd you like to service those? I'd love to see the insides.
Hey, @janton.
Oh, thanks for dragging me into this one. :) I think I even remember cigarette vending machines in my lifetime, but by the pack. It's been a pretty long time, though.
I don't think I could be party to something so directly involved with smoking. Since it's basically against my beliefs. It's not quite as direct to fill ATM machines in the bars though drinking alcohol also goes against those beliefs, but I've been thinking about that quite a bit lately, along with the ATMs in the cannabis shops, where there really aren't any other options.
Places where we have pool tables or juke boxes and change machines can drive that money towards our own equipment, so there is that. I don't know. I'm not planning to retire at this job, but fortunately, the ATM filling in such places is the least of what I do.
Howdy sir Glen! You are very welcome for me dragging you in on this one. lol. I thought of you right off when I saw that machine. The irony of servicing a cigarette machine was what made me think about, going against your beliefs. It should be against everyone's beliefs.
You're lucky the cigarette vending machines are long gone, I used to see them all the time, they were in every restaurant and of course bars but I didn't see them in bars because I never went to bars.
Here's a great Deco style vending machine.
But we used to see this kind all the time;
I'm sure you saw those too, you ain't THAT far behind me! lol.
The top one I don't think I ever saw, but the bottom one is closer to what I'm remembering. At any rate, they're not as easy to get to as they used to be. :)
I haven't seen a cigarette machine for ages but I figured they look alot different now. How's work, or did you post about it recently, I gotta get over there.
I actually did post about it last Friday. Not remembering if you've seen it or not. If you're not remembering it, maybe you haven't. :)
You're right sir Glen, I'm way behind on almost everything steemit. I barely get a post out each day because I'm working on home projects. I'll be over there today.
I’m just always shocked at the amount of details in these stories! It sounds like this young woman was a millennial a century too early lol! Nicely written and kept my interest. 😁
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ha! That's a great analogy sir badger, that's very true! I never know how detailed to get but I wanted to know what kind of mess Frank was getting into. lol. Thanks so much for the kind words.
I enjoyed reading your write up. Lighted Cigarettes? I wonder how does the machine work haha. Thanks for sharing this with us
Howdy sir sgbonus! I agree, lighted cigarettes is crazy! lol. It would be great to have one of those and take the cover off so we could see how they operate and how the cigarettes are lit!
Great story, I hope to read more!
Thank you so much for reading amelisfer!
Damn that woman was young to have children. For some reason I'm suspecting none of this had anything good in store for Frank either.
Haha! Howdy sir wwwiebe! Yes way to young.
As to your second suspicion..maybe. lol.
I sure hope he learns to use some common sense when it comes to his personal life!
Lit cigarettes! I've never heard of such a thing! @Tipu curate
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Howdy Melinda! I'm not sure Frank will heed your advice! lol. Those cigarette machines are wild! I'd like to see how they get lit, I'm sure an electric element.
Oh, Frank😕 I bet you are right about the element... An open flame wouldn't have been very safe. Giving out books of matches seems so much more practical!
I agree about the matches, I'm amazed that they had such good engineering in 1931. Hey, I never heard what happened on Monday Night Football!??
Packers won. Not by much and it was rather an ugly game with some bad calls by the refs, but a win is a win.
Another win! wow so they've only lost one game so far?
She looks ecstatic about getting that lit cigarette. This saved me all of five seconds! She gleefully proclaimed.
lol! I know, it's ridiculous! Plus they're so small. I'd like to know how long they put those machines out there. Even in those years it's hard to believe that one cent could give them a profit, I can see 5 cents. Plus you'd have to have them where there weren't any kids.
Human nature do not change very much, do they? People falling in love, getting divorced, fighting for custody of children... Same shit, same baggage through the years.
Vending machines that sold lit cigarettes. That's interesting. 😊
I agree sir Vincent but I think those cigarette machines would do well over there don't you? Might have to raise the price to 25 cents!
Rest assured it wouldn't be allowed here. Over here, hops selling cigarettes can't even display the cigarettes. They have to keep them out of view.
Howdy today sir Vincent! what are hops? And how do people know if they sell cigarettes if they can't display them?
Howdy Jonboy. Sorry typo error, hops = shops. You ask them if they sell cigarettes. The whole idea is - hoping you will not be tempted to buy, or be reminded that you need a packet of cigarettes.
Ok, got it sir Vincent, about the typo which was pretty amateurish and totally unacceptable, and the cigarette thing. So smoking is definitely discouraged there I guess. But you're a rebel so you smoke like a chimney right? lol.
Oh well, no one is perfect.
Yep - I smoke like a chimney and drinks like a fish - not.
lol! Just don't look at my spelling!
Hey is vaping all the rage over there?
Love this story, now it's getting juicey, keep it coming. @janton you are a good story teller.👍
Howdy farm-mom! Well I like to tell stories but sometimes I think I kinda mess them up but thanks so much for the kind words, this is a good one. Also, did you ever hear of a vending machine like that?
Are you guys ready for the snow? When does it start up there?
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