The Superior Express -

Nuckolls County neighborliness was demonstrated in recent days when three of Butch Higer’s neighbors helped a man from Oklahoma.

The Oklahoman had agreed to buy a truck from Butch who has been battling a string of health problems in recent months and no longer had use for the truck.

When the buyer arrived to get the truck, he was unable to get it started. He stayed overnight but was unsure what to do next. His worries were soon put to rest when three of Butch’s neighbors arrived and started working on the truck. With their expertise, they got the balky truck running and the buyer headed south with it.

May have been somewhat like an experience I had about 30 years ago.

A visitor from Mankato attended an Olive Hill Church evening service.

After the service, I was inside talking when the guest returned with a troubled look on his face.

I wasn’t surprised to hear him say, “I can’t get my car started?”

I looked at him and asked, “Is it that green 1972 Chevrolet I saw in the parking lot when I arrived?”

When he confirmed I had identified the right car, I volunteered to start it for him.

I headed to the vehicle and heard him offer me the keys. I took the offered keys and told him I didn’t need the keys to start his balky vehicle. He didn’t know I was a previous owner of the vehicle and had learned its idiosyncrasies.

For example, when the manual transmission got stuck between gears, I knew how to take the tire iron and free it up.

It frequently refused to start, but I knew to reach under the dash, wiggle the right wires and try again. With that procedure, it never failed to start. I knew it frequently burnt out headlights so I kept two spares in the trunk.

And about the key, I knew the switch was so worn I could start it with my pocket knife.

I wasn’t the car’s first owner but I took it for a test drive when it had less than 200 miles on it.

The first owner had ordered it direct from the factory without consulting his wife. She didn’t like it and a replacement car was immediately ordered.

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A few days ago a friend asked if I knew anything about a picture postcard that was represented on an internet marketing page as a picture of a horse jumping from a tower erected on the main street of Superior into a tank. I remembered the Nuckolls County Fair once had such an attraction and a picture of the event hangs in the Nuckolls County Courthouse.

I don’t remember reading or hearing about the event which appears to have happened about 100 years ago in Superior but I recognized the buildings pictured in the background as having been part of the 200 Block of Central Avenue. The buildings were there before the lots were cleared for the construction of current Cowboy Museum and Ace Hardware buildings. And one of the building fronts had a sign identifying it as the Long Hardware Store which was a Notebook topic a few weeks ago.

I thought the picture would be an interesting one to include in this newspaper but it was not suitable since it was a screen shot of a post card offered for sale on the internet. I went to the site to get a better look at the picture. While searching for items related to Superior, Nebraska, I found many interesting listings.

I was a member of the journalism staff which produced the 1963 Superior High School yearbook. At that time I had the opportunity to order hundreds of the books for probably $4 each. Last week a copy of the book was listed for sale at $54.99 plus $3.99 shipping. The 1963 yearbook was also available for $54.99 but shipping for it was $4.99. The 1963 book was listed by a seller located in Virginia.

I didn’t buy either since I have copies of both books. However, when I checked the website prior to writing this column, it appeared the 1962 book may have been sold.

While the book appears to have appreciated in value, surely the market for 1962 SHS yearbooks is limited.

A Superior Chamber of Commerce pen like ones I bought while serving as chamber manager could be purchased for $19.49 plus $5.25 shipping. Fifty or more years ago, the chamber freely gave those pens out at special events. At the time the probably costs less than 30 cents each.

The web site had lots of picture post cards for sale. Subjects included the Superior City Hall which people of my generation knew as the fire hall. It was located on West Fourth Street where the city administration building is now located, Other offerings included pictures of street scenes, churches, schools, hospital, cement plant, Bossemeyer Elevator and multiple railroad themes. There were many pictures of the Republican River dam, mill and associated race.

There were promotional pens given away by the Farmers State and Security National banks and Superior Motor Parts, ice scrapers from Superior Transfer and a thermometer from Al Shorey’s Digging Service. Safety match books were also common including one that had been given away by a Superior shoe store.

I was surprised to see a 1920 photo of what was identified as the Superior Alfalfa Mill. I don’t believe it should have been included on a Superior, Nebraska, site. Neither do I think the Nebraska map sponsored by the Superior Oil Company can be traced to a company of that name which a great-uncle of mine operated at Third and Kansas.

There were various things relating to the former Superior Bottling Company including cancelled checks.

I wasn’t surprised to see a picture post card featuring what was described as Nebraska’s largest tree. I have one of those post cads in my collection which claims the tree was growing near Superior. I have been unable to confirm the location of the tree. In more recent times, the state’s largest cottonwood tree may have been located in the Guide Rock area.

From Australia there was advertised an “Old 8x6 historic photo” of a Superior, Nebraska, railroad depot station taken in about 1950. I recognized it as the CB&Q depot in which my Grandfather Wrench worked. It was a popular photo subject and I went there to get my first photo enlarger from the Railway Express Office. I have in my picture collection several photographs I took of the depot.

The listing was interesting. The photo from 1950 was described as being brand new. If new, like made in 2022, should we assume seller has the original negative and is making prints on demand? Or is he selling an uncirculated print from 1950?

I enjoyed looking at the picture but didn’t make a purchase.

The website indicated the seller has sold 263,000 items and has 5,100 followers. I looked to see what else he currently has for sale and found he has dozens of photos listed. The photos included a diverse range of subjects including train stations from all over the United States and movie stars from the 1950s and 60s. I found no clue as to how those pictures made their way to Australia. Did the seller buy American picture collections and ship them to Australia? Or is the seller acting as a marketing agent for someone in the United States?