It's called "The Hookworm Bench" and it is found in the tiny town of Kirbyville, Texas, a sleepy little place in the heart of Deep East Texas located on Trout Creek about halfway between the Big Thicket and the Louisiana border. It is signed by one Jason Morgan, who is thought to have been a resident of the community at one time - maybe still is, for all I know. Its conception and design, according to Morgan's brother, was according to local mythology of the "Hookworm Bench," taken from a stockpile of old photographs by a local photographer, Dr. D.T. Kent. I find only a few references to "hookworm bench" on the Internet. The phrase seems to be used in books to refer to men who hang around town, often around a courthouse, doing nothing but swapping tales, spreading gossip and whittling on a stick of wood. One of those books is by an author who actually grew up in Kirbyville, Sam Watson.
If you've ever lived in a small town in the South or Texas you probably know these people. They still exist; they just dress a little differently. Maybe they lived in New England or other parts of the country. I don't know about that. I know that cowboys in Arizona who worked on ranches would ride horses into town to drink coffee at local cafes if they worked anywhere near one. In my little town, they congregate at the hardware store or at the Fina station which has a small convenience store with a few tables where the old men drink coffee pretty much on a daily basis. Now, it hasn't been a Fina station in years but it will be called that until the end of time or until the end of the town. When my dad was alive, they met at the bank. In the enlarged photo above, I picture these men (left to right) as the local constable, the kid who skips school and practices the art of whittling (he probably does something else today, like plays Candy Crush on his smartphone), the mail carrier, the farmer who is a talented whittler, and the town boss, the one who is responsible for most of the jobs in the village. (Kirbyville was founded by a man named Kirby who owned a lumbermill.)
On this side of the mural we have the farmer in overalls, the train engineer or maybe the county road grader (notice he has a sack lunch by his side), and perhaps the insurance salesman or maybe even the town doctor. And then of course there is the ever-present stray dog.
Kirbyville today has a population of around 2,000 (which is pretty big for a small town in Texas). It can be found 135 miles northeast of Houston, 250 miles southeast of Dallas, and 872 miles east of El Paso.
8 comments:
a GREAT mural in content and character! awesome find!
fantastic find... i agree it is wonderful and the best. it is because the men look like they are really sitting on the bench, the man leaning on the wall looks so real.. this artist is truly talented.
That mural is fantastic. I love it. Almost 1000 miles from Dallas, yikes! That's from one end of a very big state to the other.
Very interesting post. In my hometown there was an old church pew in front of the barber shop where the old men sat to tell tales and pass the time.
That's fun.
Agreed-- this is an awesome mural, especially with your accompanying explanation. I had never heard of the phrase 'hookworm' before very interesting. And, I laughed about your reference to the former Fina station still being called Fina. What is that all about with some people? Fear of change? Anyway, delightful post!
Love these small-town characters. They look somewhat familiar, a lot like some men seen "chewing the fat" in my village.
Awesome bit of Americana! I love it! Yes, I think later it became the "coffee club" for many a retired man who wanted to swap tales with buddies over coffee at a local cafe. My Dad went to the Virginia Diner in the years before he got so bad from Alzheimers. It's a time-honored tradition--courthouse bench or cafe stool! :-)
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