Baum, Jim 2012-06-13
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General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: Jim Baum
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: June 13, 2012
Location: Colorado City, Texas
Interviewer: Robert Weaver
Length: 01:36:41
Abstract
PT I, Took over radio station, Had a show called community close up, Came and interviewed a lot of people to actually learn about them, Knew a lot about the area because he interviewed a lot of people, Have oral history from people one generation removed of people that settled area, Had an all black school, Named after D.W Wallace a rich black rancher, Donated land to build school, School was an all black school that won state 3 years in a row in basketball, Integrated with the white school, The basketball coach was known as the Professor, Talked to the Professors daughter, Iatan flats was a cattle shipping center, Town was called Satan Flats but when applied to government for post office changed, Found an arrow head, Run out of people that are older than him, PT II, Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Father, Father worked for a bakery, Moved to Clovis, New Mexico, Ran a wholesale mercantile house, Moved to Abilene, Texas and managed another mercantile house, Became ticket agent for old American bus lines, Life, Moved to Abilene and was old enough to work, Was a shoe shine boy and made some money, Sold tickets and routed people, Got room and board for it, Started doing it after school when he was about 14, Had about 6 buses a day, Would unload luggage from bus, Graduated in 1954, Played baseball, Played football till senior year so he wouldn’t get hurt, Went to Sol Ross on a baseball scholarship, Won district Junior and senior year, Wanted to play football his last year of school to get more play time, Moved to Abilene in 1946, Moved to Clovis in 1943- 1946, Dad would get morning paper, Went to movies that were really war based, Business was beginning to boom, Senior year in high school (1954), Dias Air force base located right there, Increased enrollment at the colleges there, Two airmen had thanksgiving dinner with them since they couldn’t go home, Heard from them for many years afterwards, Thought about the service a lot but wanted to play baseball, One year at Sol Ross but came back to Hardin Simmons next year, Joined National Guard when he was in midland, Moved to Midland in 1968, Joined for 6 months and had to go to meetings after that, Every year went to south Texas and had two weeks of summer drills, Had to interview troops, Summer going down to alpine parents didn’t have money, Never finished college, Never had anything to do in Alpine, Baseball Career, Played for Pittsburg Pirates in 1960-1961, Went to Huntsville for the spring training camp, Went to Brunswick, Georgia for more advanced training, Selected to go to Clinton, Iowa, Could not receive more than $4000 w/o being on the roster, Being a walk on received $1000, Too worried about getting cut, Played outfield and Catcher, In Lafayette, Iowa when the manager OK’d $1000 for him to play, Never seen that much in his life, Sent it all back to his parents, Room and board paid on the road but not back at home, Played with a couple of Cubans and only 1 made it to the league, His friend was a relief pitcher for the Cardinals, In different classes, Able to help at catcher to help pitcher do better, When he was in Clinton playing in Cocamo winning 10-0, Umpires called game and Pete Reeser was so mad he rushed the umpires, Reeser helped defend the umpires, Umpires got the air let out their tires, Guy waiting with gun for the umpires at their hotel, Managers get to choose the players, Taken to Jamestown to learn how to best play catcher, Opened season a dropped first fly ball but caught 13 straight after, Had 10 triples in one season, He was the league leader for triples, Owners of Jamestown franchise couldn’t meet payroll, Jamestown dropped out of league, Start to Broadcasting, Got back to Abilene and was called by a radio station, Was paid to broadcast for teenage games for play offs, Station manager asked him to broadcast the football games in fall, Have to have social programs, Larry Gatlin done extremely well in country music and played QB for Odessa, Baseball, Played baseball in Texas to Midwest to New York, Have pretty girls everywhere, Talked to teammates that went to school together that went professional, Legend in Clinton, Iowa, Didn’t go back the next year because of broadcasting, Wished he had gone back to baseball, Never went back to baseball, Been in radio since 1958, Never had a bad day in radio, Played heavy on his decision to come back because he was discouraged, Made more in broadcasting than in baseball, Stole the first 10 bases in a row while at Clinton, Worked KRBC for 6 months, Broadcasting, Knew that someone was leaving and knew he would get the job, Didn’t get the job after he brought a new car already, Got offered a new job at KCRS in Midland instead, Manager in Abilene wanted to talk to him and offer him more, Went to Midland and found his wife there, KSRC was more professional than KRBC, Never thought about going back to baseball after that, Mostly disc jockey there, Worked at KSRC for 4 years, Was broadcasting when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Have all the teletype papers from that broadcast, Voted for Nixon, Came to Colorado City in 1980, Was in Big Spring from 1968- 1980, Was in Midland from 1958- 1968, Got to do what he wanted to do in Big Springs, News 3 times a day morning, noon and night, Got so caught up in news, Wife died after being married 30 years with 4 kids, She said he as late maturing, Knew one mayor of Abilene, Got real interested in national affairs, In 1978 he ran for Congressional representative, Felt he was a conservative democrat, Run for congress, Was getting paid while he was running, Got $1000 for filing, Campaign went well because very organized, Went to all 33 counties, Finished 3rd in democratic primary, Got more votes proportionally than them, Had most the votes in Big Spring, Farmers better reputation in West Texas than Lawyers, Held a dinner and asked Dale Hanson to come, Dinner was for 50th anniversary of radio station, Mahan put the station on the air and the guest speaker, Dale Hanson couldn’t come, Bought his own radio station for $20,000, Borrowed the $20,000, KBMC was licensed during the day, Could only broadcast until sunset, Couldn’t even broadcast live football games when he came, KAUM was put on the air, Children, Named after his four children, His children’s names are Jim Bill Doug Laura, Jim is electrician in oil fields, Bill in broadcasting, Doug is fame Texas Camel core, Laura has autistic child and helps with research, Doug was a great musician, Went to school to major in music, Wanted to be a professional musician and was a drummer, Went to Nashville to start career, Got paired with a singer who was good but singer got shot by his wife, Doug made a deal with his wife that would make them move back to Texas, Doug got a part time job at the Nashville zoo, Had to take care of a camel, Became fascinated with the camel, Decided to come home, Flea Market for camels for Cairo, Based around valley mills, Has 3 kids, Would have made a better grade
PT II, Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Father, Father worked for a bakery, Moved to Clovis, New Mexico, Ran a wholesale mercantile house, Moved to Abilene, Texas and managed another mercantile house, Became ticket agent for old American bus lines, Life, Moved to Abilene and was old enough to work, Was a shoe shine boy and made some money, Sold tickets and routed people, Got room and board for it, Started doing it after school when he was about 14, Had about 6 buses a day, Would unload luggage from bus, Graduated in 1954, Played baseball, Played football till senior year so he wouldn’t get hurt, Went to Sul Ross on a baseball scholarship, Won district Junior and senior year, Wanted to play football his last year of school to get more play time, Moved to Abilene in 1946, Moved to Clovis in 1943- 1946, Dad would get morning paper, Went to movies that were really war based, Business was beginning to boom, Senior year in high school (1954), Dias Air force base located right there, Increased enrollment at the colleges there, Two airmen had thanksgiving dinner with them since they couldn’t go home, Heard from them for many years afterwards, Thought about the service a lot but wanted to play baseball, One year at Sol Ross but came back to Hardin Simmons next year, Joined National Guard when he was in midland, Moved to Midland in 1968, Joined for 6 months and had to go to meetings after that, Every year went to south Texas and had two weeks of summer drills, Had to interview troops, Summer going down to alpine parents didn’t have money, Never finished college, Never had anything to do in Alpine, Baseball Career, Played for Pittsburg Pirates in 1960-1961, Went to Huntsville for the spring training camp, Went to Brunswick, Georgia for more advanced training, Selected to go to Clinton, Iowa, Could not receive more than $4000 w/o being on the roster, Being a walk on received $1000, Too worried about getting cut, Played outfield and Catcher, In Lafayette, Iowa when the manager OK’d $1000 for him to play, Never seen that much in his life, Sent it all back to his parents, Room and board paid on the road but not back at home, Played with a couple of Cubans and only 1 made it to the league, His friend was a relief pitcher for the Cardinals, In different classes, Able to help at catcher to help pitcher do better, When he was in Clinton playing in Cocamo winning 10-0, Umpires called game and Pete Reeser was so mad he rushed the umpires, Reeser helped defend the umpires, Umpires got the air let out their tires, Guy waiting with gun for the umpires at their hotel, Managers get to choose the players, Taken to Jamestown to learn how to best play catcher, Opened season a dropped first fly ball but caught 13 straight after, Had 10 triples in one season, He was the league leader for triples, Owners of Jamestown franchise couldn’t meet payroll, Jamestown dropped out of league, Start to Broadcasting, Got back to Abilene and was called by a radio station, Was paid to broadcast for teenage games for play offs, Station manager asked him to broadcast the football games in fall, Have to have social programs, Larry Gatlin done extremely well in country music and played QB for Odessa, Baseball, Played baseball in Texas to Midwest to New York, Have pretty girls everywhere, Talked to teammates that went to school together that went professional, Legend in Clinton, Iowa, Didn’t go back the next year because of broadcasting, Wished he had gone back to baseball, Never went back to baseball, Been in radio since 1958, Never had a bad day in radio, Played heavy on his decision to come back because he was discouraged, Made more in broadcasting than in baseball, Stole the first 10 bases in a row while at Clinton, Worked KRBC for 6 months, Broadcasting, Knew that someone was leaving and knew he would get the job, Didn’t get the job after he brought a new car already, Got offered a new job at KCRS in Midland instead, Manager in Abilene wanted to talk to him and offer him more, Went to Midland and found his wife there, KSRC was more professional than KRBC, Never thought about going back to baseball after that, Mostly disc jockey there, Worked at KSRC for 4 years, Was broadcasting when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Have all the teletype papers from that broadcast, Voted for Nixon, Came to Colorado City in 1980, Was in Big Spring from 1968- 1980, Was in Midland from 1958- 1968, Got to do what he wanted to do in Big Springs, News 3 times a day morning, noon and night, Got so caught up in news, Wife died after being married 30 years with 4 kids, She said he as late maturing, Knew one mayor of Abilene, Got real interested in national affairs, In 1978 he ran for Congressional representative, Felt he was a conservative democrat, Run for congress, Was getting paid while he was running, Got $1000 for filing, Campaign went well because very organized, Went to all 33 counties, Finished 3rd in democratic primary, Got more votes proportionally than them, Had most the votes in Big Spring, Farmers better reputation in West Texas than Lawyers, Held a dinner and asked Dale Hanson to come, Dinner was for 50th anniversary of radio station, Mahan put the station on the air and the guest speaker, Dale Hanson couldn’t come, Bought his own radio station for $20,000, Borrowed the $20,000, KBMC was licensed during the day, Could only broadcast until sunset, Couldn’t even broadcast live football games when he came, KAUM was put on the air, Children, Named after his four children, His children’s names are Jim Bill Doug Laura, Jim is electrician in oil fields, Bill in broadcasting, Doug is fame Texas Camel core, Laura has autistic child and helps with research, Doug was a great musician, Went to school to major in music, Wanted to be a professional musician and was a drummer, Went to Nashville to start career, Got paired with a singer who was good but singer got shot by his wife, Doug made a deal with his wife that would make them move back to Texas, Doug got a part time job at the Nashville zoo, Had to take care of a camel, Became fascinated with the camel, Decided to come home, Flea Market for camels for Cairo, Based around valley mills, Has 3 kids, Would have made a better grade
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