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Belle of Louisville Illustrations
See also, Belle of Louisville Photos


BELLELOUISVILLE_letteringPortsideForNORI



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"BELLE of LOUISVILLE" sketched by Bill Olendorf (not dated)

From an 11 x 14 print on paper

©2003, William Carr Olendorf Trust billolendorf.com

CHICAGO TRIBUNE obituary
Artist William C. Olendorf

chicagotribune.com

March 02, 1996

By Kenan Heise, Tribune Staff Writer.

William C. Olendorf, 71, an internationally recognized painter, illustrator and printmaker, also had a long career as an advertising executive. A resident of the Near North Side in Chicago, Bill Oldendorf died Wednesday, February 28th at his home.

Mr. Olendorf had a studio in Tree Studios at Ontario and State Streets in Chicago. His style was considered neo-impressionistic. His paintings were principally landscapes and cityscapes, based on photos he had taken while traveling extensively. He was strongly influenced as an artist by Ivan Albright.

He held exhibitions of his works in museums in Paris, Stockholm and Mykonos, Greece, as well as New York and Chicago.

Mr. Olendorf illustrated several books, including the Sketchbook Series, which focuses on Paris, Chicago and Palm Beach, Florida.

Recently, he established the William Carr Olendorf Foundation, dedicated to the education of young artists who emphasize representational art and who need financial assistance or mentoring.

A native of Deerfield, Illinois he attended Harvard University and Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

During his career as an ad executive, he worked for Leo Burnett, Foote Cone & Belding and Peterson Publications. He also was with Tobias and Olendorf and The Promotion Network.

Survivors include two sons, Donald and Bill.

A memorial gathering will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday in the Claridge Hotel, 1244 N. Dearborn St. Chicago, Illinois.

GreatSteamboatRace30April1963_SixtyPercent
NOTICE!
Ladies and Gentlemen
GREAT STEAMBOAT
RACE!

STERNWHEEL STEAMER
DELTA QUEEN
CAPTAIN ERNEST WAGNER
MRS. LETHA C. GREENE, PRES.
GREENE LINE STEAMERS Inc.
of Cincinnati

Will race the
STERNWHEEL STEAMER
BELLE OF          
          LOUISVILLE

CAPTAIN CHALRES H. BRASHER
FOR THE GILDED ELK ANTLERS
SYMBOL OF RIVER SUPREMACY ON THE OHIO RIVER

FROM LOUISVILLE, KY.
FOOT OF FOURTH STREET
Tues. April 39, 1963 5:30 pm

STEAMBOAT TUNES
Calliopes to Duel Again
AFTER RACE STEAM VS. AIR

SPONSORED BY
KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL COMMITTEE
BOAT RACE TICKET SALES LOCATIONS

BANK OF LOUISVILLE 5th & Broadway ~ 4th amp; Walnut
CITIZENS FIDELITY BANK 5th & Jefferson ~ Heyburn Building
FIRST NATIONAL BANK Algonquin Manor ~ The Mall (St. Matthew)
LIBERTY NATIONAL BANK Starks Building Arcade ~ 416 W. Jefferson St.


MAIL ORDERS, WITH CHECK OF MONEY-ORDER TO:
DERBY FESTIVAL BOAT RACE
525 East Broadway
Louisville, Kentucky 10202

ONLY 500 TICKETS
$10 A PASSENGER ~ PHONE 584-6751

DON'T MISS THIS GALA EVENT.


Letterpress "broadside" poster advertising tickets for the Tues April 30, 1963 race at Louisville on the Ohio River between the DELTA QUEEN and the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE. The size of the original letter press type set poster was 7 x 19 inches.

BoatRace63Restored

Our thanks to S.M. Frisby for sending in this clipping. It appears to be from the Delta Queen Calliope newspaper. Any ideas? Thanks also to Dave Thomson for restoring the image.


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Belle of Louisville, 1979 watercolor by Dong Kingman

1979 watercolor of the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE on the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky.

The following is abridged from the Wikipedia biography (Wikipedia):

Dong Kingman 1911-2000 was a Chinese American artist and one of America's leading watercolor masters. As a painter on the forefront of the California Style School of painting, he was known for his urban and landscape paintings. Dong Kingman was born Dong Moy Shu in Oakland, California, the son of Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong. At the age of five and a half he traveled with his family back to Hong Kong, where his father established a dry goods business. He began his formal education at the Bok Jai School, where he was given a school name in accordance with Chinese customs. Hearing that he aspired to be an artist, his instructor gave him the name "King Man" (lit. "scenery" and "composition" in Cantonese). He would later combine the two names into Kingman, placing his family name first in accordance with Chinese naming conventions, creating the name Dong Kingman.

Kingman returned to the United States in his late teens. In 1929 he attended the Fox Morgan Art School while holding down a variety of jobs. It was at this time that he chose to concentrate on watercolor painting. His critical breakthrough occurred in 1936, when he gained a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Art Association. This exhibition brought him national recognition and success.

During the 1950s, Kingman served as a United States cultural ambassador and international lecturer for the Department of State. In the 1950s and 1960s, Kingman worked as an illustrator in the film industry, designing the backgrounds for a number of major motion pictures including "55 Days at Peking", The Sand Pebbles and Hollywood's Technicolor film of Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical "Flower Drum Song."


AvalonDecal

Decal for the STEAMER AVALON

Souvenir decal of the STEAMER AVALON published by Goldfarb Novelty Company of Jersey City NJ U.S.A. 4.25" paper backing; the sticker itself is about 4 inches in diameter.

The print is sharp and brightly colored. The yellow cast over the image comes from the glassine overlay overlay which I haven't removed yet. The lettering is more likely white without the "veil" of smog.

The graphic of the boat looks like it may have been recycled from prior use on a decal promoting one of the Streckfus steamboats like the J.S. This boat doesn't resemble the AVALON as much as it does an Streckfus excursion boat.

In April, 1947, the steamboat IDLEWILD was sold to J. Herod Gorsage of Peoria, IL. There she got her second name AVALON in February, 1948.

She was sold in 1950 to THE STEAMER AVALON INC. of Cincinnati, Ohio, to serve as excursion boat. In 1962 the boat was sold to Jefferson County Fiscal Court and renamed the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE, based in Louisville, Kentucky.


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GREAT STEAMBOAT RACE commemorative ticket 1976

GREAT STEAMBOAT RACE
Commemorative Ticket for the "Epic Race" between the BELLE of LOUISVILLE, the DELTA QUEEEN and
the JULIA BELLE SWAIN.
Wednesday April 28, 1976 5 p.m

Wharf at 4th and River Road, Louisville, Kentucky

Sponsored by the Kentucky Derby Festival Inc.
Signed by the President of the Kentucky Derby Festival Inc. and the Chairman of the Belle of Louisville Operating Board

Measures 3.85 x 8.50 inches


BelleLouisvillePosterOfPainting

Detail of a framed print/poster in the offices of the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE aboard their headquarters in the 1929 Life-Saving Station No. 10.

Appears to date back to the '60's, lining up the boat and bridge in stylized perspective with sky & water applied with palette knife using fine art/illustration techniques. Art experts and critics can interpret it further.

Eric Wehder, Jr.
For Louisville Magazine
Screen Printed by
Sullivan Screen Print Company

Prints of Wehder's painting "Kentucky Wild Cat" were published in 1979 and a number of them can be found online. The site Worth Point states that Eric Wehder Jr. immigrated from Germany and became a resident to Kentucky where he was commissioned to produce paintings and sculptures for the University of Kentucky.


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BELLE of LOUISVILLE "cooling down"

The BELLE OF LOUISVILLE "cooling down" after an evening cruise in the early 1990's as the warm vapors escaped into the cold night air through the stacks, the pilot house stood well illuminated by lights. I took this with a tripod as a time exposure and it came out pretty satisfactorily.


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Belle o' Louisville fish eye lens view of sternwheel and Letter from Senator Marlow Cook

Wonderful fish eye lens view of the BELLE of LOUISVILLE's sternwheel by photographer Zimmer and a 2014 Letter from the late Senator Marlow Cook

Marlow Cook's Belle of Louisville recollections
The LOUISVILLE Courier-Journal
Feb. 8, 2016

We were saddened to hear last week of the death of U.S. Sen. Marlow Cook, who also served in the Kentucky legislature in the 1950s and as Jefferson County judge-executive in the early '60s.

During his time as county judge, he made a decision that impacts our waterfront to this day - he purchased the steamboat Avalon and rechristened her the Belle of Louisville. The Belle, a National Historic Landmark, is known internationally and draws visitors from all over the world to take a step back in history as they cruise the Ohio River on her decks.

When the Belle celebrated her 100th birthday in 2014 with the Centennial Festival of Riverboats at Waterfront Park, we asked Sen. Cook to record his memories about the Belle and her auspicious beginning in Louisville, and his response was this letter to the community.

David K. Karem
President
Louisville Waterfront Development Corporation

----

To the citizens of Metropolitan Louisville,

Over one-half century ago, I was elected county judge of Jefferson County, a position in which I presided over county government outside the city limits of Louisville. It thrills me that today you have a consolidated government, so that there is no longer a need for a separate county government.

I wanted to join you today [for the Belle Centennial Celebration], but I am 88 and lacking the Belle's steel hull, I'm not as healthy as she is.

It's true that former Mayor Charles Farnsley came to my office and talked me into buying the steamship Avalon. It's also true that my wife Nancy's nickname at Connecticut College was "Belle," and that when I heard the auctioneer say that I had bought the vessel, I knew the Avalon's new name had to be "Belle of Louisville."

Some people thought that a government should not own a steamboat. Nancy's father told me that his friends at the Pendennis Club told him I "would never be re-elected to anything." Hundreds of people called my office saying I was crazy to waste tax money that way. My golf pal Pee Wee Reese, former great Dodgers short stop, advised me to get a big pigs feet jar from a bar and fill it with pennies. Then I was to place it on my desk and tell every complainer to take out seven cents, the cost to every taxpayer of the county.

Two friends of mine, both good Democrats, Henry A. Triplett and Daniel B. Boone, filed suit against the Republican county government to hold the purchase void. During the litigation, there were no funds appropriated to restore the old boat, but volunteers called every day offering services to help us rebuild her.

Buying the Belle had brought hundreds of people on the western river system out from under the rock. People from Tell City, Ind., offered to supply lumber for the paddle wheel. Local industrialist Wendell Smock gave us a steam calliope so folks could hear its music miles from the river. H. Clyde Glass donated his mechanical know-how to the restoration.

A river rat first class, C. W. Stoll, worked hard on the boat and then he organized a great Steam Boat Race with the Delta Queen to be held every Derby Week. The day before the first big race Nancy and I were on the Belle. She was forward and I was aft. The stern wheel began slowly turning, over went the lines, and we moved. I ran to join Nancy. We looked at each other with tears in our eyes and yelled, "It works!"

Yes, Kentucky's highest court eventually ruled that we had the power to buy and own the Belle. I still remember hearing of the decision from Cecil Davenport and Mark Davis, who had argued the case with their boss County Attorney E.P. "Tom" Sawyer.

I arrived in Louisville as a kid of 16. I did not know it, but it was the best day in the rest of my life. I married a Louisville lady and we have five great children. Jefferson County, Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky are a dream come true. I can sing the National Anthem without a problem but when I get to "weep no more my lady" in My Old Kentucky Home, I cannot sing without tears in my eyes. Good luck with the Belle over her next 100 years, and thank you all so much.

Sincerely,
Marlow W. Cook
Oct. 6, 2014


More Belle of Louisville pages at this site:
Centennial of Steamboats to honor the Belle of Louisville's 100th Anniversary
Photos of an accident that damaged Belle of Louisville bucket boards in 2009
Belle of Louisville Photo page

Videos of the Belle of Louisville:
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Search YouTube for Belle of Louisville videos - click here!





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With the exception of images credited to public institutions,
everything on this page is from a private collection.
Please contact Steamboats.com for permission for commercial use.*

All captions provided by Dave Thomson, Steamboats.com primary contributor and historian.

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