Tag: Bonnie Kourvelas

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Pancho’s in the 1950s

CREDIT: PHOTO BY JERRY DAWS

Panchos on South Bellevue

  • PHOTO BY JERRY DAWS
  • Pancho’s on South Bellevue

My pal Bonnie Kourvelas recently sent me two wonderful images (originally Kodachrome color slides taken by her parents, Jerry and Edna Daws) showing the exterior and interior of the old Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant that was located on South Bellevue. That’s the Daws family in the pictures, but don’t ask me to identify all of them. It was a private affair, and I wasn’t invited.

To tell you the truth (as I am prone to do, from time to time, mainly when I am drunk), I wasn’t familiar with this location. I knew Panchos’ had (and still has) a restaurant on the outskirts of West Memphis, and I knew there was also a branch at Union and McLean, and later at Poplar and White Station.

But sure enough, from about 1959 until about 1972 (those dates are guesses, based on city directory listings, which are not complete, for some reason), Pancho’s was located at 1670 South Bellevue, just across the street from the entrance to Forest Hill Cemetery. That building is gone now, so I’m glad to see these photos. I especially like the wonderful mural, and the terrific neon sign. And I’d certainly like to have some of those fine cars out front. And below is a shot of the interior. It’s rather dark, and I certainly don’t know WHAT the photographer was aiming at, but you can get a sense of the “authentic” Mexican clutter inside.

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Homer Wells — “The Bloodhound Man”

Homer Wells

  • Homer Wells

In the next installment of WKNO’s fine Southern Routes show, I talk about the life and times of a very interesting character named Homer Wells, known far and wide as “The Bloodhound Man.”

Wells was a private eye in Memphis in the 1920s and ’30s, then tried his hand writing stories about his exploits for True Detective Mysteries, Master Detective, and other magazines of the day and became quite a local celebrity. These (below) are just some of the many “true-crime” publications that contained his stories.

Don’t miss it! Southern Routes airs on WKNO-TV this Thursday, March 4th, at 7:30 p.m. The show will repeat on Saturday, March 6th, at 9:30 a.m. and again on Sunday, March 7th, at 7:30 a.m.

Also on the show will be episodes that take viewers to Tennessee’s Duck River, a profile of metal-detector guru Sid Witherington, and — a special treat — a segment on local fire dancer Nadia Sofia, who just happened to be featured on the cover of the Memphis Flyer‘s recent “Hotties” issue. Hot stuff, indeed.

Southern Routes is produced by my pal Kip Cole and co-produced and hosted by my good friend (and fellow historian/explorer) Bonnie Kourvelas, and they do one heckuva job, if I do say so myself.

Why, just keeping me sober for each episode is almost a full-time job for them.

Hope you enjoy it.

DetectiveMagazines.JPG

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WKNO-TV to Feature “Ask Vance” — Tune In!

Southern Routes Airs Thursday

  • “Southern Routes” Airs Thursday

After years of turning a deaf ear to movie directors, television executives, and purveyors of cheap pornography, I finally gave in to the persistent demands of WKNO-TV and will now make a regular appearance on their popular Southern Routes series.

It’s true! The first show airs on WKNO this Thursday, February 4th, at 8 pm.

So plop yourself in front of the television, set your TIVO, or just wander around the appliance section of your local Target store. If you still miss it, the show will repeat on Saturday, February 6th, at 2:30 pm and again on Sunday, February 7th at 12 noon. After that, well, I really can’t help you.

I won’t tell you what topic I’ll be discussing on the premiere episode; you’ll just have to watch. I guarantee you it will be a good show, since it’s produced by a super-talented gentleman named Kip Cole, and the “Ask Vance” segment (no, the whole show isn’t about me — not yet, anyway) will be produced by my pal Bonnie Kourvelas, who has produced and hosted many of WKNO’s wonderful Memphis Memoirs specials. If you saw “Beyond the Parkways” or “At the Movies” — well, that was some of her fine work, so I’m in good hands.

Don’t worry; I’m not leaving the world of magazines or blogs or books or calendars; I’m just spreading out a bit, that’s all.

Of course, this is only the first step. Next: Billboards, iTunes, and podcasts. I’m trying to get some of my colleagues to wear those old-timey sandwich boards — adorned with a stunning portrait of me, of course — and walk up and down the Main Street Mall. So far, no takers, even though I’ve offered them a fistful of nickels. How lazy can you be?

(And yes, that IS me on the TV screen in the photograph here. Don’t squint at the image; click to enlarge it, for goodness’ sake. Gosh, what a cute tyke! I think I was only 35 or so, singing in the school play.)