Showing posts with label Miami airlines history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miami airlines history. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Arthur Burns "Pappy" Chalk and Chalk's Flying Service, once oldest in the world

Chalk's seaplane landing 1974
 State of Florida Archives/Florida Memory
 







By Jane Feehan

The history of his eponymous airline is better known than the personal story of Arthur Burns “Pappy” Chalk. A look back at decades of articles, want ads and his obituary fills in some of the gaps in his background while raising contradictions. His choppy personal and career history suits a timeline presentation rather than a narrative format. The A.B. Chalk story—gaps and all—remains an interesting one.

1889 – Arthur Burns Chalk was born in Illinois. One Miami obituary claims wanderlust prompted him at 11-years old to move to Paducah, Kentucky. Wanderlust probably didn’t claim him. There were a few people named Chalk in Paducah at that time; some were elected officials. Someone he knew lived there, father or other relative maybe?

1911 – Chalk reportedly operated an automobile garage service in Paducah. He learned to fly after Tony Janus, a “dare devil” pilot, gave Chalk a flying lesson in return for a plane repair. Chalk “flew as an amateur” for five years.

1916 – Chalk moved to Miami – probably with his mother, “Mrs. E.J. Chalk,” and two sisters. They lived on NE 23rd Street. Nothing was in the news about Chalk that year. Some accounts say he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War I but returned after a short stint because of a “disability.” Wikipedia reports he flew for the Army Air Service.

1917 – A.B. Chalk’s name begins appearing in Miami newspapers. He informally launched his flying service in July that year at the end of Flagler Street “under an umbrella.” Columbian airline Avancia once claimed it was the oldest airline in the world, also established in 1917. Chalk’s by some accounts, began a few months earlier. (Some say KLM is now the oldest existing airline.)

1918 - Chalk had also been operating a garage for car repair as he launched flying service. A classified ad introduces his shop, a “first class auto repairing” service at 1508 Avenue D in Miami. It read:

Attention – Arthur B. Chalk, formerly foreman of the mechanical department of Dixie Highway Garage has bought the Seminole Garage at 1508 Avenue D. We announce a policy of efficient, careful attention to all makes of automobiles … free air and water can be obtained in front of the garage – no inconvenience of driving inside.

1918 – Another classified ad by Chalk offers a Cole 7-passenger (car), a bargain, phone 643

1919 – Chalk’s Flying Service begins “boat plane” flights between Miami and Bimini

1920 – Chalk moves his flying operation to Watson Island (near MacArthur Causeway) where his company remained until after his death. In the early days, he offered sightseeing flights for $5 and flying lessons for $15 an hour.

Chalk's Flying Service Watson Island circa 1920
State of Florida Archives/Florida Memory


1920 – Automobiles became ubiquitous and provided Chalk a steady income through repairs and sales. He advertises cars and planes for sale at his now-named Royal Palm Garage on Avenue D:

One Curtis F Flying boat for $1,500. Includes flying instructions

One 1920 5-passenger Maxwell for $1,000

One 7-passenger Hudson with wire wheels for $2,000

1923, February – Chalk aborts his flying boat takeoff with two passengers after hitting a “porpoise” in Biscayne Bay. He delayed the flight to repair holes left in the pontoons after the incident.

1923, August – Chalk and a mechanic announce a plan via Miami news outlets to fly across the country to Seattle. On the itinerary is a stop in St. Louis to enter an international air race representing Miami. They discuss plans to remove pontoons from their flying boat and install landing gear. There is no other information on this trip or race in either Miami or St. Louis newspapers. Perhaps they had problems installing landing gear?

1924 – Chalk's Flying Service picks up movie director Alan Crosland in Nassau for a flight to Miami. His company gains notice. The airline grows its business by flying big game anglers to Bimini.

1928 – A piece appears in the Miami Herald about Chalk and “aviation enthusiast” J.R. Lilly of Chicago discovering a toothpick in the engine of a plane that crashed and killed its pilot off Melbourne Beach. They thought the toothpick was used to determine fuel flow and was mistakenly left in the engine. The news is noteworthy for two reasons: One that Chalk was known to the press (as referred to then) as an aviation expert and two, that he operated a school, Chalk’s School of Aviation off County Causeway (MacArthur Causeway).

1920-1933 – Prohibition years. Some sources report Chalk made money smuggling large hauls of alcohol to the U.S. from the Bahamas. This is not verified. His obituary reported long-time business partner Dean Franklin said Chalk made money during Prohibition, but it was from flying bootleggers to the Bahamas and at times, revenue agents on the hunt for bootleggers. (No comment.)

1932 – Chalk married Georgia native, Lillie Mae, who ran his business with an iron hand until her death in 1964. Her maiden name did not appear in local obituaries. She was known as “the energetic figure who ran the world’s smallest international air depot.”

1936 – Chalk and Lillie Mae built the airline’s office by hand with coral rock at Watson Island.

1966 – Chalk “sold the airline to a friend” but remained active in operations until 1975. He claimed his airfield was the smallest port of entry in the United States.

1977 – Arthur Burns “Pappy” Chalk fell out of a tree while attempting to trim branches. He died May 26 at age 88 of complications (broken hip) from the fall. He and Lillie Mae did not have children together but she had a son from an earlier marriage. They also helped raise two of Chalk’s nephews.

Chalk owned and operated his airline without fatalities for 50 years. Chalk’s was later bought by Resorts International who flew passengers to its hotel in the Bahamas. The airline was moved to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport for security reasons after September 11, 2001. A fatal accident occurred in 2005 and its license was revoked in 2007.

Note: Yes, that was a Chalk's seaplane in the opening scenes of the 1970s TV series, Miami Vice.


Sources:

Miami Herald, Sept. 6, 1918

Miami News, Oct. 7, 1918

Miami Herald, Oct. 29, 1918

Miami Herald, July 8, 1920

Miami News Feb. 9, 1923

Miami News, Aug. 23, 1923

Miami Daily News and Metropolis, May 24, 1924

Miami Herald, March 1, 1928

Miami News, June v10, 1964

Miami Herald, May 27, 1977

Miami News, May 26, 1977

Florida State Archives

Wikipedia


Tags: Miami airlines history, Chalk's Flying Service, Aviation history, Arthur Burns "Pappy" Chalk, Miami history

Sunday, November 17, 2013

From food stand to drive-in and up in the sky: Hot Shoppes, Big Boy and ...


By Jane Feehan 

In 1963, airline caterer Hot Shoppes employed 550 in Miami. From their operations center at 4101 NW 25 Street, the company made soups, gravies, pastries, butchered meats, and purchased supplies. Hot Shoppes produced 5,000-6,000 meals a day during winter in the Magic City.

Its founder, J. Willard Marriott, opened his first food stand in 1927 in Washington, D.C. The small company, Hot Shoppes, was soon an icon in the capitol area, serving meals in a casual setting. Within a decade, Hot Shoppes entered the national market. 

The company pioneered the airline in-flight catering industry. They provided meals to Eastern, Pan American, TWA, Avianca and delivered to airline hubs from their facilities across the nation The company operated 100 plants throughout Florida in 1963 and had plans to open “in quick succession” seven more, according to Calvin Wienges, then southern regional manager.  

Its development of in-flight food service proved to be a boon, elevating its profile and expanding its business across the nation. The company was renamed Marriott Corporation in 1967. The year it became Marriott Corporation, the company purchased Big Boy, the following year, Roy Rogers restaurants. There were other chain restaurants—and soon a string of hotels. Hot Shoppes closed in 1999. Today, in the Anthem restaurant at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C., a lunch counter modeled after the original Hot Shoppes restaurants serves Hot Shoppes classic favorites.

So many in South Florida and throughout the nation have been touched in one way or another by what came to be emblematic of world-wide hospitality. And it all started with a food stand.Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.
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Sources:
Miami News, April 7, 1963
Washington Post, Dec. 20, 2011
Marriott Corp.


Tags: Miami history, South Florida history, food history, film researcher, Jane Feehan Fort Lauderdale historian, Miami historian