#157: Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center

Located in 'The Ville' neighborhood in St. Louis, the Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center serves as an orphanage.

Annie Malone, born in 1869, was one of the first African-American female entrepreneurs. She rose from poverty in Southern Illinois (she grew up in Metropolis, IL) to building an empire for her hair-care products. The business proved to be revolutionary, with sales of her products as well as Malone's marketing techniques. Malone was a multi-millionaire by the 1920s, but by that time she was donating her wealth to different African-American organizations and programs that helped people of that race.

It was in 1922 that she helped the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home build a facility which stands in the Ville, which also carries her name (along with the street it is on). In 1888 the St. Louis COH was first organized, as a non-profit organization. It was and still is a way for neglected, abused and street-wise kids to be provided with education and certain programs. Malone later had to deal with personal and business issues the last 30 years of her life, while moving to Chicago's south side. She passed away in 1957 at age 87.

The place is also known as 'The Annie Malone Mansion'.

Left side of the cake

An episode of KETC Channel 9's 'Living St. Louis' devoted to Annie Malone

Annie Malone (person) Wikipedia link
Official website

2612 Annie Malone Drive, ST. LOUIS, MO, 63113
Cake artist: Theresa Hopkins

UPDATE (8/24/2016): The cake is still there.

#156: Fountain Park/Martin Luther King, Jr. Statue

• The Fountain Park neighborhood was first plotted by John Lay in 1857.
• Boundary lines for the neighborhood: Delmar Blvd. on South, Kingshighway on West, Page Blvd. on North, and to the East is Taylor Avenue. 
• The oval-shaped park was donated by Lay in 1889.
• The only statue of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in St. Louis is placed by the fountains at Fountain Park. 
• The MLK statue was placed there in 1978.

The Martin Luther King statue

A closer look at the statue

4900 Fountain Park, ST. LOUIS, MO, 63113
Cake artist: Screwed Arts Collective

The cake was sold on 1/1/2015 for $418 in the biddingforgood auction.

#155: Taille de Noyer

I used to work for the City of Florissant as an intern for their television station back in 2007. I didn't know or have heard of a house called 'Taille de Noyer'. So, I went over to the house, which was closed, since it was on a holiday. Again, I turned to Google for information. There's a lot of hidden history about this less-talked about place. It's hard to imagine the area that is currently surrounding this house was once considered rural, especially when you glance over at St. Louis' largest Nascar track, or I-270. The house was (and still is) to serve as a reminder of country life in Florissant.

• The house dates back to the 1790s. 
• The house was actually moved from 200 yards away in the early 1960s, as it now sits on the property of McCluer High School.
• Noted by paranormal enthusiasts as being one of the most haunted places in the St. Louis area. 
• One of the first owners of the house was St. Louis's first millionaire, John Mullanphy, whose heirs occupied the house for 160 years.
• It has been referred to as 'Walnut Grove' by some of Mullanphy's children, due to all of the oak and walnut trees that once surrounded it. 
• Mullanphy, by the way, contributed a lot to St. Louis, including the first hospital of the West.

Left side of the cake

Back side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Taille de Noyer on Florissant's city website

1896 S. Florissant Rd., FLORISSANT, MO, 63031
Cake artist: Courtney Veszi

#154: Skyview Drive In

After reaching a milestone 150 cakes, I took a week off. On Thursday, July 3rd, I was back in action. I was going to Fair St. Louis that night, but I wanted to kill two birds with one stone by getting some faraway cakes. So I decided to get more Illinois ones. There was 3 Belleville ones that I missed from May, plus the Catsup Bottle in Collinsville.

Several of my friends have been to this iconic place in Belleville, but yours truly, on the other hand, has not! The Skyview Drive-In is the only remaining drive-in movie theater in the St. Louis area. (This does not count the one in Litchfield, IL)  It usually shows double features on select summer nights, and they are first-run movies. From what I hear, people just get in line (by car), park, get their grub on (or drink on), and when the sun has officially set....the show starts. You hear the movie through a radio station that is only accessed in your car. 

The Skyview Drive-In is open from April to October (obviously when warm weather occurs), and it is considered a great family outing. With their double-features they try to put the same genre together. The drive-in opened in 1949, and a second screen was added in 1982. In the 65 years it has been in operation, it has suffered a couple times with hazardous weather damage (tornado and wind storm).

The cake, decorated by Ray Harvey, seems to focus into 1950's pop culture, and rightfully so. In this case, we're talking about classic cars. I'm no car enthusiast (hey, a car is a car...), but nostalgia lovers will definitely get a kick out of the designs on this. I'm wondering if the top is supposed to resemble a Nascar checkered flag. Who knows.

And yes, I do plan to go here sometime in the future....

Right side of the screen

Back side of the cake

Left side of the cake

Behind one of the screens

Skyview Drive In on FB
Official website

5700 North Belt West, BELLEVILLE, IL, 62223
Cake artist: Ray Harvey

The cake is now on private property. 

#153: Emma Kunz House

Hey wait....Emma who? Here is the other of two historic houses in downtown Belleville. I've questioned a lot about this place. Like I've always said during this cakehunt: 'I didn't know this place ever existed!'. In this case, I'm wondering who Emma Kunz was. I'll get to that later. And what is so significant about her house? Do people come from all over the country to visit this place? Maybe, maybe not. I will say this: the house has been refurbished many times and today, visitors get to experience 19th century lifestyles and what was considered technology back then. The way we look at it today is similar to Amish people.

Warning: When searching for these cakes, you will need a great GPS or if you're old-school like me, a zoomed-in print-out version of the cake map. If you don't often go to Belleville, you're probably unfamiliar with the one-way streets and constant four-way stops in the downtown part.

The factoids:

• House was built in 1851 by Conrad Borman, a local brick contractor. (Note: some other sources say 1830)
• It is noted to be the earliest dated Greek Revival house in Belleville and possibly in Illinois.
• The house was originally located on Washington Street in Belleville but in 1972 it was moved to its current location. It did not have a front yard, which was typical European-style at that time.
• Because of its historical significance, it was saved from demolition by the St. Clair Historical Society.
• Emma Kunz' family lived in it for 80 years. Emma lived there for 77 years and was the last resident.
• Tours are usually done by appointment.

602 Fulton St., BELLEVILLE, IL, 62220
Cake artist: David Ottinger

Official website (from the St. Clair Historical Society)

UPDATE (8/24/2016): The cake is still there.

#152: Victorian Home Museum

Belleville, Illinois is the largest Southern Illinois city, surpassing what you'd think would BE the largest: East St. Louis, Effingham and Carbondale. But looking at it from another perspective, I happen to look at Belleville as just another Metro-East city that happens to be near St. Louis. I'm sure many of the locals will argue with me plenty on that one. 'Bellevegas' as it is usually dubbed, is home to the main campus of Southwestern Illinois College, and branches of Lindenwood University and SLU. Famous people include Jeff Tweedy (of the rock band Wilco), numerous athletes and politicians, oh...and this guy named Buddy Ebsen. He played a country-guy named Jed Clampett on TV's Beverly Hillbillies. Yes, the legend about him (the Wizard of Oz one) is true.

Belleville, which translates to 'beautiful city', is also the county seat of the well-populated St. Clair County. So it makes perfect sense for the St. Clair Historical Society to make its home here. The organization bought the Victorian home in 1963, and since 1968 has operated it as a museum. It is mostly decorated with 19th-century artifacts and furnishings. Among one of the things you'll see is a balcony where Abraham Lincoln stood in 1856. This year (2014) is the city's bi-centennial. Plenty of things are going to be celebrated here, and they have been already.

The cake, decorated by Paul LeFlam, I believe is supposed to focus on quilts.

Right side of the cake

St. Clair Historical Society's Official website

701 E. Washington St., BELLEVILLE, IL, 62220
Cake artist: Paul LaFlam

UPDATE (8/24/2016): The cake is still there.

#151: World's Largest Catsup Bottle

Claims to be the 'largest catsup bottle' in the world. Unless there's some little known place in, say, Germany, Russia or some small place in Pennsylvania, then the city of Collinsville can claim the bragging rights.

I'm amazed that not a lot of St. Louisans (well, the Missourians) knew about this gem. Most of you know I have lived in Glen Carbon all my life and for us Glen-Ed people who travel down Hwy. 159 to go to Fairview Heights, this was a no-miss. Over the years it was like the tiles on the wall, it was just there. But the bottle has been getting lots of attention lately. I remember 3 years ago I logged onto MSN to check my e-mail and there was a picture of the catsup bottle on MSN's homepage. I was like, 'Wha....?'. As you are leaving downtown Collinsville on Hwy. 159, you'll see it creeping up in the trees.

• Constructed in 1949 as a water tower for the now-defunct Brooks Catsup Company. Brooks Foods would later re-locate to Mount Summit, Indiana in the late -1970s. 
• As the bottle faded within time, several volunteers gathered to raise money and restore the bottle in 1995. 
• The 'new' bottle is modeled after an original 1949 Brooks Catsup bottle.
• Nearly 170 feet tall; the bottle itself is 70 ft. 
• The city of Collinsville has been hosting its own 'Catsup Bottle Festival' every year since 1997 (first year was known as 'Catsup Bottle Appreciation Day'), at different places.

The cake, which has (sort-of) a Route 66 theme, but the logo is not seen on here. I've heard people say this cake spotlights all the special places and landmarks that once graced that highway:

Back side of the cake

Right side of the cake

Left side of the cake

From the bottom of the tower

*UPDATE*  7/22/2014
-Apparently the Catsup Bottle is up for sale. This happens two weeks after the Catsup Bottle festivities. It's yours for 500 grand. (source: Riverfront Times)

World's Largest Catsup Bottle on FB
Wikipedia link
Official website

800 S. Morrison Ave., COLLINSVILLE, IL, 62234
Cake artist: Julie Krovicka

UPDATE (8/24/2016): The cake is still there.