Dave's River Room, page 3 River Room Animals Yours truly with Toby the devoted Shepherd/Husky mix, Bart (short for BartholoMEW) the well behaved deaf white cat, Ginger the sweet Golden lab mix and Punky the ex-wife's devoted dog. Abby as a kitten posing with the 3 chimer and some framed Mark Twain stuff. On the same day that I picked up Abby from the Pasadena Humane Society I took Abby with me in her carrier into the Pasadena Antiques Center where one of the dealers had accepted my phone offer for a retired street sign from Disneyland's New Orleans Square - this had with the best possible name for association for the city it celebrates: 'PLACE D'ORLEANS.' I took this photo of Abby on the antique glass display case in front of my 9 foot pilot wheel from the PEERLESS and perched a hand puppet of a mouse on top of the hub of the wheel. The pets are all fascinated with the jumbo mouse and Abby obligingly looked up at it. The fabric she's lying on is my tweed coat. Cookie dawg, Hannibal pillow, Belgian Huck photo, Mark Twain 1906 The illustrations in the Foreign editions of Tom and Huck are often worthy of art galleries, real Fine Art. Attached photo taken about 6 years ago of Cookie on the sleigh bed with big pillow made from a sham of Hannibal and Clemens that a talented lady at feature animation made for me back in the 1990's. The framed poster was from Belgium for the 1960 MGM version of Huckleberry Finn. The title was translated into both French and Belgian. The framed photo of Mark Twain was an original taken in 1906 one of the prints that was sold to raise funds for disaster relief to assist survivors of the San Francisco earthquake. Clemens had worked in 'Frisco during the 1860's and had many friends there. I have one other photo taken by the same photographer (Bradley) in '06 in a matching frame taken from a different angle that was one in a series of pictures sold for the same disaster relief effort. Steamboat room Christmas card photography by Dave Thomson. He explains: While I was married I'd pose our gang of critters for the Christmas card ever year. The population grew during that 10 years. This was the last one taken at our Sepulveda home. Also attached photo with the names attached for identification. It was nerve wracking trying to keep these characters from running away in the process, especially Babe, the cat at the bottom. The pilot wheel is off the 1929 sternwheel towboat Blue Wing up at Keokuk. The 1905 banjo is the one I use for decor since I never mastered the instrument. The steamboat prints are by illustrator Dean Cornwell. Goldie cat and yours truly under stained glass in transom over pocket door to kitchen, Sam Clemens items: 1907 framed cover of a Philadelphia Press Sunday supplement, a composite of Sam at 70 working in bed and Huck Finn by Iverd, MISSISSIPPI QUEEN brass bell, pilot house telegraph and engine room speaking tube in northwest corner of River Room. Tom Benton's frontispiece for Sam's LIFE on the MISSISSIPPI revealed by the open shirt has been processed in as a bonus. Abandoned steamboat GREAT REPUBLIC serigraph signed by the artist Robert Addison with color that he added by hand. Image area 13 1/4 x 23 1/2 inches. Goldie kindly posed with the heavily framed art. For more artwork by Robert Addison, click here (to be moved to paintings by artist) Another corner of the River Room with Clemens-Mania stuff etc. Cookie dawg Abby Tuxedo cat Female pets sharing the sleigh bed. Abby the tuxedo cat on top of the big Mark Twain/Hannibal pillow that I had made from a sham. Cookie the English Shepherd is drowsing next to Abby and on the wall next to the shuttered window is the framed album cover from the set of 78rpm recordings of Jerome Kern's 1942 orchestral composition MARK TWAIN: Portrait For Orchestra in 4 movements: Hannibal Days The Glorious Pilot House Civil War March Westward Wanderings Mark Twain in Eruption Vigilant Abby on fireplace mantle River Room July 2019 Latest photo of Abby on the fireplace mantle with Blaser's NOCTURNE on wall above plus ship's clock and various Tom 'n Huck nick nacks and mini-steamboat banks near her. My oldest cat Goldie when she was an "adolescent with an attitude" on top of the display case containing Jim Hale's 5 foot model of the generic cotton packet CITY OF MONROE Both Goldie and Abby liked the vintage TOM SAWYER root beer crate as a sleeping hideaway when it was on the top shelf in the office closet. Goldie and the Rob't E. Lee. The steamboat room poem, by W.J. Devine, appeared in the Waterways Journal, May 21, 1955. 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.