Maturity Journal 5.18

Maturity Journal
May 2018 Page 11
derful new life-saving medical procedure at the time.)
October 1945, week four: The Evansville shipyard
reported that it had built 205 ships: 171 LST/APBs, 18
DYFs, 13 YFs and 3 all steel LCVPs. Evansville’s first
new car, a gray Ford two-door, arrived on October 28
to the Snow and Wheaton dealer on Riverside Drive.
(It was not for sale until more cars arrived during the
following week, but a large number of people came for a
look-see.) Large crowds came to the Evansville riverfront
on Navy Day to tour LST-56 and a PT boat.
Evansville’s shortage of consumer goods was said
to be as bad or worse than during the war years.
Evansville College began construction of its Science
and Engineering building. An airplane pilot died in a
Rockport air crash; the pilot thought the city lights were
the Evansville airport.
November 1945, week one: General Eisenhower
told that areas in Germany were in dangerous unrest and
Picturing Our Past
by Pat Sides,
Archivist at Willard Library
Evans Café
When Henry
and Ann Evans
opened the doors
to their new restaurant
before
dawn on October
23, 1943, the juke
box was blasting
the hit song “Pistol
Packin’ Mama,” as
workers from the Evansville shipyard filed in to grab
an early breakfast. Evans Café was one of the city’s
most popular dining venues for decades, advertising
itself as “Evansville’s Leading Family Restaurant”
and attracting loyal customers from a 50-mile radius.
Located at 1010 South Kentucky Avenue, the restaurant
soon developed a reputation for home-style
cooking, which was served at affordable prices. Evans
Café originally had only 28 seats, but eventually seating
capacity exceeded 200. After 1984, the café closed
and re-opened several times under new owners. MJ
“just one step” from an organized resistance to begin.
British intelligence officers believed that Hitler shot
himself while his mistress took poison in their bunker in
Berlin. A redesigned P-47 flew with a 2,500 hp Chrysler
water cooled engine above the Evansville airport; it was
built in the Modification Center building. Evansville
began a rat killing drive.
November 1945, week two: The new Burkhardt
and Vogel schools were dedicated in Evansville. An
Evansville Courier article revealed that 74 P-47D models
that were all Evansville-built were loaded on two small
“escort” aircraft carriers and moved to Saipan Island in
June, 1944 for combat flights. Everything worked well
and the P-47s were successful in the island fighting.
50,000 Evansville people watched as retired veterans
and active service men and women marched on Main
Street. MJ