The Kelly Pages - A True West Moment? :)

Hi Everyone!

After a brief spell under the weather (I'm fine now), I'm back with one more Kellectible from last week's paper show.

The paper show isn't only for kellectors of old JK magazines. It also offers vintage books, postcards, photos, posters and much more.

One might even discover a rare old document, such as the newspaper story I found from 1876. Strangely enough, the names mentioned in the story sound very familar! It's very browned and fragile, so I'll transcribe it here:

"GA-GA GALS GANG UP ON GAMBLER

by Belle Boze Bobb

A roving gambler by the name of Bart Maverick was arrested and placed in our town's jail today. It was not for any crime for which Mr. Maverick was jailed. Rather, it was for his own protection, because Mr. Maverick's appearance anywhere in public provoked a stampede of frenzied females, as illustrated here:

The woman shown at left accosting Mr. Maverick was identified as a Miss Labartista. The other two ladies did not give their names. However, they may be members of a literary society, as they mentioned they often had their faces in a book, or some such thing.

All three ladies apologized to Mr. Maverick, explaining they were merely trying to see upon which finger he was wearing his 'pinky ring'. They also wanted to determine the color of his eyes and his height. Then, they asked if he'd seen a pair of bookends apparently belonging to Miss Labartista. The women also sought Mr. Maverick's culinary advice. They desired to know if they should bake their chicken with or without the skin, and wondered if Mr. Maverick had a recipe for potatoes.

Mr. Maverick thought perhaps his accosters had been out in the sun too long and declined to press charges against the ladies.

Surprisingly, Mr. Maverick had charges pressed against him. Magistrate Joe Wheelwright declared Maverick 'too handsome for his own good' and feared his sons (Moose, Henry and Small Paul) would never be able to find wives as long as Maverick was around. He charged Mr. Maverick with disturbing the peace and sentenced him to 20 years hard labor.

The magistrate mercifully suspended the sentence after Mr. Maverick volunteered to help find wives for the Wheelwright boys.

Mr. Maverick approached Miss Labartista and the 'face book' women about becoming Wheelwright brides. The three ladies laughed, saying they preferred living 'the maverick life' and declared they would settle for nothing less than a 'tall dark stranger' as far as matrimony is concerned.

Mr. Maverick then muttered something about his 'old Pappy' and continued with his matchmaking search."

Wow! That sounds like a real true west moment--or not? ;->