http://www.memphisflyer.com/AskVanceBlog/archives/2009/05/31/charles-bowman-the-legless-key-tag-maker Comments On: Charles Bowman — The Legless Key Tag Maker by Vance Lauderdale en-us Copyright 2009 Memphis Flyer. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Memphis Flyer readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Memphis Flyer. wil@desert.net (Memphis Flyer Webmaster) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0600 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:45:00 -0600 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/s/Stroman,J…

..."a letter, 1917, from Chas. R. Bowman offering to sell a silver key tag with name and address made by Bowman, who was disabled; and other items."

so that was the first thing i found placing him, time-wise...

i also found these
A 1910 ad for a Chas. R. Bowman who is an artificial limb manufacturer (!) in Jacksonville, FL in 1910 (and a corresponding census record that lists a wife and a son)

http://brokert10.fcla.edu/DLData/SF/SF0000…

http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/hqowe…

This is to the SC 1920 census with presumably the same Chas. from the Jacksonville census, since the ages match...however, this time he's listed as a farmer of special livestock (what are special livestock, anyway?)

http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/hqowe…

AND THEN (I hope this link works) Charles and Thelma in Sharp County, Ark. with his occupation listed as Key Tag maker!

http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/view.as…

Despite all evidence to the contrary, I want to assure you that I do have a life outside of reading your blog and trying to figure out the "mysteries" posts! I've just been doing a lot of Memphis history research and genealogy research lately so I've been having fun trying out all the newly discovered resources...
Posted by Phoebe]]> Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:45:13 -0500 Memphis Flyer Posted by Vance Lauderdale]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:16:32 -0500 Memphis Flyer He was quite a gentleman and everyone employed in the building kept an eye out for him (no pun intended!)
He sold a variety of sandwiches, snacks, soft drinks, and coffee. He depended on his customers (the honor system) to present the correct amount of dollars/coins for purchases and could make change if needed.
Wonder what ever happened to him?
Posted by mikehill1957]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:30:11 -0500 Memphis Flyer