The original Coca-Cola bottle. This particular bottle was not manufactured, The bottle was reduced in width by its designer,
Earl R. Dean of the Root Glass Company.
Omer "Salty" Seamon's Rocky Edge
Tootootch the totem poleTerre Haute has enjoyed being the home of several well-known artists. Recently, an artist that has traveled around the world from Columbia to England, Spain, Egypt and Indonesia has landed here in Terre Haute. But it was not until she made the trip to Terre Haute that she found her Promised Land (see article). Terre Haute has a strange attraction for artists, whether born and raised here, or from Bogotá, Colombia. Why?
Other familiar artists who worked primarily in Terre Haute were Omer "Salty" Seamon (see more), and Earl R. Dean, who designed the famous contour Coca-Cola bottle, among others. If you visit the Vigo County Historical Society on 1411 South Sixth Street, you will see the Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculpture Tootootch the totem pole (more). It's worth stopping to see it.
I'm starting get a grip on why Terre Haute is so artsy. As you drive around down town you will notice several sculptures, large and small, lining the streets. I think a lot of pride is being taken regarding art, and displaying art in Terre Haute. I have an upcoming photography session at an incredible home, and one of the best kept secrets in Terre Haute. I really hope it works out.
I'm starting get a grip on why Terre Haute is so artsy. As you drive around down town you will notice several sculptures, large and small, lining the streets. I think a lot of pride is being taken regarding art, and displaying art in Terre Haute. I have an upcoming photography session at an incredible home, and one of the best kept secrets in Terre Haute. I really hope it works out.
I grew up in this house. Lived there from 1966 on. The Blacks own the estate now. There were some nasty rumors that the President of the First National Bank wanted to tear it down and build condos. I hope this is not the case. My grandfather, Paul Johnson, Sr. (see Indiana Theater - he played piano for the silent movies) played many of the Prohibition Parties there. That is how we found out about the room above the pool being the "Hootch Room". He had some stories to tell!! My best friend had parents that attended some of the parties my grandfather played at. He had a band, Paul Johnson's Jazz Kings. The estate fell into decay throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's. With Dad's passing in 2003, the estate was sold to Robert and Sandra Black who did their best to restore the beast back to her former glory. I loved that house, miss it terribly and hope someone has the heart to take it on. Yes, Charles Manson's name does appear in the elevator shaft. If you go and look, it should still be there. Strange and not so holy things went on there when the Claretian fathers owned the property and after. Some say it is cursed. I would not argue that at all. Thank you for the lovely article about the house. Someday I will finish the book about the place. Ha! In my spare time! Regards, Vicki Johnson.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Allendale and went to school with Vicki Johnson's brother. The Root estate, Rocky Edge, the Ijams estate (designed by a student of Stanford White) up the hill and Fred B. Smith's mansion across U.S 41 (garden designed by landscape architect Jen Jensen) are monuments to the Gilded Age of Terre Haute.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do have one caveat emptor that might provide some historical insight into Rocky Edge -- Chapman J. Root, one of wealthiest men in Indiana, had a son named William R. Root. William Root was killed in an airplane crash when he was 30 years old in a farmer's field at Shelburn, Indiana, on June 25, 1932, shortly before Prohibition was repealed.
Root was a passenger in an airplane flown by WWI flying ace Paul Cox. The friends were returning from a trip Owensboro, Kentucky when they went down at dusk. Eyewitnesses reported that the plane was flying very low, as if the pilot was looking for a place to land. The airplane banked sharply, the engine revved, and the plane plowed into ground in cloud of dust. The left wing struck a gully and the plane rolled over and over, scattering debris 300 feet from the fuselage.
Although officials and Dresser Field employees rushed to the crash site to keep the public away from the wreckage and the aviation accident report was never made public by the U.S. Department of Commerce -- "...The results of such investigations are not are not made public except in cases of nation-wide prominence..." -- it was reported later that Cox and Root were flying a cargo of bootleg liquor back from Kentucky when they crashed.
Root's pallbearers were among the most prominent men in Terre Haute -- Frank Boyer, Alfred Chaffee, Anton Hulman Jr., Burch Ijams...
Liquor, fast horses, planes, cars, gambling and prostitution were a big part of early Terre Haute history.
Beati possidentes
I've just published a book, "Christ to Coke. How image becomes icon". I look at the origins of the Coke bottle and speculate that Chapman Root might have been interested in Arts and Crafts design, since he sent his employees to the Vigo County Library to look for botanical sources for the bottle shape. They got the wrong pod, as I show in the book. The pics here are an important testimony to his tastes. The house, very handsome, cries out for restoration. Perhaps it could become somewhere for the public to visit and learn about the bottle design. Martin Kemp
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I visited this house this past weekend and took photos from outside the fence. What a shame that this property has wasted away to its current state. My Grandfather Wayne Morris was the grounds keeper and handyman for the Root family and lived in the caretakers cottage behind the mansion until the Roots sold this house. I remember the ponds that were on the west side of the road in front of the house, but its been nearly 60 years so memories are dim. I would like to get permission form the owners to take pictures of the house from inside the fence if anyone knows how to get permission?
ReplyDelete