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| Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo,
and Blair are communities in Shelby
County whose names were appropriated for a plea by crapshooters
for good luck when seeking to roll double fives. Similarly, dice throwers
hoping for an "eight" would sing out, "Eighter from Decatur, the County
Seat of Wise." Later the alliteration in the sing-song phrase "Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair" helped a folk song recorded by Tex
Ritter popular. |
"Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair" on Tenaha Welcome Sign
TE Photo, July 2001 |
How
did the communities become involved with dice and popular music? Robert
S. Maxwell's history of the first railroad
in East Texas, Whistle
In the Piney Woods: Paul Bremond and the Houston, East and
West Texas Railway, offers several accounts. First, some believe
that stringing the town names together began during World
War I when soldiers in a National Guard Unit composed of men from
Shelby County
discarded the familiar cadence of "hup, two, three, four" for "Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo,
and Blair," their home towns. Dice players took up the chant, according
to advocates of this explanation.
Others argue that the popularity of the saying began from a porter
in Houston announcing
the departure of a train on the Houston, East and West Texas line.
The porter called out the various destinations along the way to Shreveport,
and the alliteration of "Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo,
and Blair" made it a favorite of passengers.
Maxwell claims that the song had little to do with the HE&WT other
than through the recording by Ritter
that made the towns and the railroad
line famous.
Courtesy of Dr. Francis E. Abernethy, director of the Texas
Folklore Society, here are some verses of the song:
On
the HE--WT line,
Old East Texas sure looks fine
Drop me off just anywhere (near)
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair
Here those drivers pound the rails,
Takin' me back to Texas trails,
Bought my ticket, paid my fair,
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair
Whooooo, waiting for the whistle,
Whooooo, when you hear the whistle,
It means that the stations not so far,
From where we are,
Let'er highball, engineer,
Pull that throttle, track is clear,
There's a gal just waitin' there,
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair.
The HE&WT also was said to stand for "Hell
Either Way Taken," but that is another story. |
All
Things Historical January
21-27, 2001 Column
Published by permission.
(Archie P. McDonald is Director of the East Texas Historical Association
and author or editor of over 20 books on Texas)
Readers' Forum:
Subject: Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo and Blair
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been trying to think of Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo and Blair for soooo long. My father, Herschel "Red"
Ramsey was born somewhere in that area and used to tell me so many
"rip-roaring" stories about his younger days; that little jingle used
to rattle around in a long lost childhood memory that I couldn't quite
get a-hold of. If anyone remembers him, contact me at freewheelingX4@hotmail.com
Daddy was such a great man, and I miss him. He went on to Texas Tech
from there and played for the "Red Raiders" (hence the nickname);
then played in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of the Philadelphia Eagles
beginning in 1938. - Carol Ramsey, September 20, 2005 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact
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