From the Corolla From the Corolla From the Gargoyle. That's his youngest brother, David, walking next to him Leslie Howard, Will Rogers, Carol Lombard, Spencer Tracy and JMB All four men are holding their trophies for winning the game. Miss Pelham is on the left. On the steps of the present-day Dothan High School. The Brown Store in Downtown Dothan. I need this address. JMB on the bench after a game was "on ice." He is surrounded by the Hollywood actors who were in B'ham making MEN OF STEEL. publicity shot from the Twenties From the Corolla During his career in silent pictures, he was billed as both "John Mack Brown" and "Johnny Mack Brown". Dell Comic Book back cover of Dell Comic wire service story printed in papers coast to coast at the beginning of the 1925 football season First silent picture where Johnny Mack got star billing wire service story printed in papers coast to coast during the summer of 1926 example of the way image quality varied from different newspapers The Dothan Antelope in the 1926 Corolla Johnny Mack changed the name of his horse from RENO to REBEL Johnny Mack wasn't the first athlete to try out acting in Hollywood but he was the first one to be successful. Johnny Mack wrote a great article comparing Mae West to Greta Garbo in a movie magazine. Joan Crawford may have had a major role in ruining Johnny Mack's career as a leading man when talkies came in. This was Mary Pickford's first talkie and she won the Academy Award. She also introduced Johnny Mack and Connie to CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. I'm pretty sure only 22 players went to the Rose Bowl from Tuscaloosa and there were only two substitutions during the entire game. Champ Pickens, Johnny Mack Brown's first agent Headline from 1928/29 article 1926 Rose Bowl Johnny Mack Brown's first starring role still from THE FAIR CO-ED Cornelia and Johnny Mack in the yard of their house, NINE GABLES, in Beverly Hills. NINE GABLES
 New Yorker Frank Burghduff first came to Panama City in the winter of 1936-'37 and fell in love with the place. The next year he returned and in 1939 began construction of THE OLD DUTCH TAVERN. It took two years to build out of cypress logs and handmade shingles. 113 tons of stone were used in the construction of the fireplace. The OLD DUTCH operated every tourist season until 1976. Photographs of the interior and exterior of THE OLD DUTCH are desired for this research project. Burghduff advertised that over $10,000 dollars worth of curios were on display inside the tavern. From a 1942 ad,"Don't fail to bring your friends to see the $10,000 exhibit of curios from all over the world, free of charge." The western portion of Panama City Beach was so isolated that planes could land on the beach.
The Old Dutch was the original bar on Panama City Beach. Many musicians got their start in show business playing gigs at this tavern seven days and seven nights a week. Burghduff's wife Etta died in Dothan in September of 1939. By 1942, there was a new Mrs. Burghduff. Burghduff was accused of being a Nazi spy during World War II. This may have been a ploy to force government confiscation of his valuable property. By the early Fifties, Birmingham's C.F. "Cliff" Stiles owned the Old Dutch. He built an adjoining motel and eventually owned many other properties in the Panama City area including two Holiday Inns, the Dixie-Sherman Hotel and various cottages. Stiles routinely hosted conventions of the Alabama Hotel Owners Association in Panama City.
In 1963, Stiles announced that he was building the first Holiday Inn on the beach on property just west of THE OLD DUTCH. When the Holiday Inn opened for the 1964 tourist season, it was advertised as the tallest building on the Gulf of Mexico (four stories and 100 rooms). PHOTO COURTESY OF BILL ELROD~ This single un-air conditioned room was the free accommodations Stiles provided for bands that included five or more members. In 1970, rooms at THE OLD DUTCH ranged from $6 to $15 a night but this was far too expensive for musicians.
Cliff Stiles died in Las Vegas in June of 1975 and in September of the same year, Hurricane Eloise hit Panama City. This spelled the end of the 40 year run of THE OLD DUTCH. August 1962 It is said that it took 113 tons of rock to build this fireplace. The closest thing to it today are the fireplaces in the Big House at Camp Helen. After 1971, July 4th week meant the bar opened at 10 A. M. and you had continuous live music from noon until 4 A.M. all week long. 1968 The last advertisement for THE OLD DUTCH during WWII~ November 1943 July 26,1943~ Gas and sugar rationing due to the War may have made it difficult to stay open, even during the summer season. December 24, 1943~ He'll take colored now. Wanted white back in September. September 2, 1943 July 5, 1968 End of an era~ 1972 December 27, 1940~This is about the time that a 17-year-old Hank Williams was playing Panama City and Pensacola with Neil McCormick. That's Ritch Brown on the far left. Wayne "Suga" Johnson on drums, Edward McNeil on guitar, Frankie Davis on bass, and the guy setting down is Lamar Spence AKA "The Shrimp Man". 1943 Bus Schedule for the Wainwright Shipyard Bus Christmas 1941 Reopening THE OLD DUTCH in April 1950 Fifties ad Forties help wanted ad August 25, 1950 floor show Forties help wanted ad June 29, 1950 ad August 6, 1950 ad Early Fifties post card? Early Fifties post card? image courtesy of http://www.jdweeks.com Early Fifties ad Early Fifties October 1938 Early Fifties Early Fifties and first time the apartments are mentioned REEFER MADNESS Early Fifties musicians 1950 1952 1953 THE ROCKIN'-AND-ROLLIN' CULT

from the Thursday, August 30, 1962 issue of the PANAMA CITY HERALD

COLUMNIST OFFERS PRYING GLIMPSE OF LIFE ON LOCAL BEACH
BY TOM SELLERS

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since the coming Labor day climaxes the traditional trek of Tri-State neighbors to the local beaches, we thought it appropriate to take a peek at how these neighbors may view us from a tourist's standpoint. Here is the way Tom Sellers, writing in the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger column "Valley Echoes", offers as a public service an inside view into the life of a beachcomber at Panama City. 

Almost every resident of Georgia and Alabama finds himself in Panama City one time or another. The beaches west of that city have become a sort of summertime Riviera. And like a lot of others, I succumbed during the past in the strange allure of the white sands, impassive green Gulf of Mexico, and the cool sea breezes.

 There are pitfalls for the average tourist in Panama City, however, and before going there, one should make certain be is adequately prepared.

 First of all, one should never leave home without being well supplied with pictures of Presidents and early American patriots. The natives of Panama City are uncommonly fond of these trade items and are partial to those printed in green ink bearing portraits of Ulysses Grant, Andrew Jackson, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington- in that order.

Tourists will learn that these little pieces of paper will fetch them all kinds of special consideration such as room and board, native trinkets, entrance to snake-handling establishments,etc. Silver coins are acceptable but one will need a great many and these are apt to be rather burdensome.

In a bathing suit, a person ought to travel as light as possible.

One thing that visitors to Panama City should know is how to get along with teenagers. Young people are far more numerous and active along the beaches than mosquitoes, and since there are no effective teenage repellents on the market, one should study their habits and be ready to cope with them scientifically.

For some reason, high school and college students on vacation love to congregate at a few approved places such as the Long Beach Resort and the Old Dutch Inn. It appears that they are happiest in large groups- several hundred at a time- and they are most plentiful around juke boxes, hot dogs and big iced drinks.

At Long Beach Hangout, for example, there are three music machines operating beneath the pavilion beside the rockin'-and-rollin' cult. Normally, you will hear three different records playing at the same time, and this makes for an unbelievable jumble of sounds.

Imagine, if you can, the following scene: One juke box is giving forth loudly with "Ahab the Arab" and has its own select following of bathing suit clad youth. A few steps away is another box featuring Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You"- also with its own little group.

Beyond that is still a third crowd, larger than the others, patronizing a machine producing a weird African beat. Thirty or 40 admiring young females. And on the dance floor, two of the girls are dancing with each other. However, the step is not quite like anything you have ever seen before: it is a cross between hop and twist.

The species of teenager that visits Panama City is a hardy type; he is apparently immune to bad food, dangerous traffic and blistering sunshine.

One adult driver had a nerve-shattering experience about sundown when the beach highway was filled bumper-to-bumper, and the boys and girls were swarming to their various rendezvous.

This driver, hands shaking, recalled later a brash youth had dashed in front of his car and was hit squarely while the horrified motorist was slamming on the brakes. The boy soared into the air, sprawled on the highway, and immediately picked himself up, brushed off his bathing trunks and disappeared into the throng while the man stood there trying to collect his wits.

The best approach to Panama City, I have learned, is to rent an air-conditioned motel room or cabin, stock it with food-and stay there.

Occasionally you will want to run out and paddle in the surf or lie on the sand in the hot sun until you begin to turn pink. But the night life and the highways require a stout heart- you will invade them only at your own risk.

Even the fishing nowadays is crowded, and if you catch any there's always the problem of what to do with them.(Riding back to Columbus with a carload of dead mackerel is a unique adventure,if you haven't tried it.)
Outside of these considerations, you will find that Panama City is a perfect vacation spot.

But you should never visit the beaches expecting to find peace and solitude, because several thousands of your friends and neighbors will be there looking for the same thing.

And the safest thing to do is stay at home. But who wants to be safe?