The waymark coordinates will lead you to a bronze bust of Will Rogers in the Art-Deco masterpiece bearing his name. Rogers' nose is polished to a bright shine by generations of visitors who believe it is good luck to rub his nose on the way in.
The bust sits on a pedestal of pink granite with a small plaque. The plaque reads as follows:
WILL ROGERS
(1890-1935)
Presented to
the City of Fort Worth
By
E. E. Bewley
Marvin Leonard
John W. Herbert
W. M. McFadden
Charles Roeser
Lew Wentz
A. J. Duncan
Will Stripling
Amon G. Carter
Rilesha Bowles was kind enough to take part of her lunch hour to get a better picture of the plaque than I took, and email it to me for this waymark.
The plaque might not mean much to non-Fort Worthers, but for those of us who are from around there (Mama Blaster was born and raised in FW), we recognize many of the names on the plaque, and that adds to the Rogers tribute for us. We recall Marvin Leonard (owner of Leonard's department store downtown where EVERYBODY shopped), Will Stripling, (owner of Stripling's department store), W. M. McFadden (prominent oil baron), and especially Amon G. Carter, the publisher of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and owner of radio station WBAP and WBAP-TV Channel 5. WBAP-AM was the first radio station in the country to have an audible call sign (a cowbell). WBAP-TV was the first TV station west of the Mississippi, and one of the first to broadcast local programming in color.
Back to the subject of the waymark: Blasterz have always been especially fond of Will Rogers, whose humor is as funny and relevant today as it was when he was on stage in the 19-teens or writing his popular "Daily Telegram" newspaper columns, which appeared in 500 newspapers all over the US from 1926 until Rogers died in 1935.
Some of our favorite Will Rogers political quotes:
"I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat."
"The 1928 Republican Convention opened with a prayer. If the Lord can see His way clear to bless the Republican Party the way it's been carrying on, then the rest of us ought to get it without even asking."
"Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke."
"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."
"This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer."
"Be thankful we are not getting all the government we are paying for."
"Alexander Hamilton started the US Treasury with nothing, and that is the closest this country has ever been to being even."
Rogers was equally as wise and funny in his life commentary:
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement."
"It isn't what we know that gives us trouble. It's what we know that ain't so."
"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
"If you want to be successful, it's just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing."
Will Rogers famously said he "never met a man he didn't like." That is apparent from his observations on the human condition:
"There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The one that learned from observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."
"So let's be honest with ourselves and not take ourselves too serious, and never condemn the other fellow for doing what we are doing every day, only in a different way."
"We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others."
Will was especially funny wheh he was talking about himself:
"My ancestors didn't come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat."
"I'm not a real movie star. I've still got the same wife I started out with twenty-eight years ago."
"I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they now do."
"All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance"
Find more great Will Rogers wit and wisdom here (
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