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Paging through memories

Our State Magazine's 75 years of stories and photo

The Raleigh News and Observer

By Debra Boyette

Published: August 19, 2008

You've probably picked up and thumbed through a copy at the doctor's office or the barbershop. Our State magazine, which got its start as The State, has been around for 75 years now. The magazine was founded by New Yorker Carl Goerch, who moved here and grew to love the state.

When we asked readers to share their memories of the magazine, many of you responded. It turns out many of you had connections to founder Goerch. He must have made lots of connections in his travels across the state.

Some readers have used the magazine as a travel planner, and some of you have taken Our State with you when you've moved away and it has served to soothe homesick hearts.

But we'll let you tell those stories.

The founder

When I read the section in The N&O asking what role Our State Magazine has played in my life it sure brought back memories. I remember the magazine as being the most important magazine in our house because Carl Goerch, the founder of the magazine, was my grandfather. My whole life, I heard the story of how Papa brought his family during the Depression from Little Washington to Raleigh. My mom was 12 years old and I think it was a very traumatic move. However, he thought it was important enough to start the magazine. My mom went on to write for the magazine after she graduated from UNC and also in limited capacity after she was married.

My grandfather was a remarkable man of German descent from New York who truly loved the state of North Carolina and her people. I don't think he was highly educated, but he knew facts about the state I still don't know, having spent my whole life here. He challenged the grandkids (there were six of us) to learn the facts of North Carolina -- many times there was a silver dollar at stake if we learned specific facts like all 100 counties.

He never met a stranger. He loved to fly his two-seater Cessna, long after he should have quit, and enjoyed playing practical jokes. He and my grandmother roamed the world after his retirement and passed on to me his love of travel. Seemed, though, he was happiest back home in Raleigh. The State Magazine provided me with much enjoyment in my life by providing me with the founder as a role model.

The conductor

My grandfather was a retired conductor with Southern Railroad in Spencer. He would tell me stories of places he had visited in our state ... places I had never heard of before, like Buzzard's Roost, Linville caves, Indian caves along the Yadkin River, Maco Lights and the Brown Mountain Lights. I was thrilled hearing about the different customs and people he met from the mountains to the sea ... like the pottery craftsmen in the Piedmont, carving experts in the mountains, and boat builders on the Outer Banks

My first magazine subscription from him was Wildlife in North Carolina, and then a subscription to The State in 1951. He knew personally some of the original contributors to The State. I was fascinated reading the stories; during summers we would go fishing and also visit some places written about in The State (in his Nash Rambler!) All of my issues were highlighted and saved in a box in Mom's attic. In 1961 I went off to college in Chapel Hill. Many years later, I learned that my "box of memories" had been thrown out, along with my comic book collection! "Well, I didn't think you wanted them anymore," she said. I still love you Mom.

A family story

I grew up in the '40s and '50s in Boone. The State Magazine was a monthly fixture in our home. My father, Boone attorney Wade E. Brown, and Carl Goerch were friends, and Dad was known to suggest a story idea to Mr. Goerch from time to time. When each issue came, Dad would point out interesting stories and often added his own insight to the story, especially if the article was about his beloved mountain region.

Sometime about 1950, Carl wrote the story of my parents' somewhat unusual wedding in his monthly column, Funny Experiences. I can remember being very excited that it was there and taking the magazine to my grade school class for show and tell. I doubt my classmates had much interest in the story of how my parents built their home before their marriage and were married in the unfinished living room with the carpenters as witnesses. Still, it was a moment I have never forgotten.
A gift for mother

For more than 40 years, there was an envelope tucked among the branches of our Christmas tree -- Mother's yearly subscription to "Our State" magazine -- a gift from Dad. It was her personal respite from the busy life of a farmer's wife, mother of six and public school teacher. She would read special articles of interest to us kids, plan trips for the family to see special attractions, and use the quizzes to grow us in the knowledge of our great state! We are all very patriotic about North Carolina!

For the past eight years Mother has been in a nursing home recovering from a stroke. Dad kept up the subscriptions, and the family reads to her. She enjoys those big beautiful pictures! We were recently in the waiting room of the dentist's office, waiting, and there was a copy of Our State -- Mother and I had fun going through the whole magazine!

The pseudonyms

Our mother and grandmother, Lou Cashwell, wrote a biweekly column called At Our House for The State magazine from the late 1950s through the mid-1970s. She moaned at deadline times, but it was an experience she thoroughly enjoyed. Anything that took place around the home -- a messy visit from the grandkids, an argument over what to buy at the store, or misbehavior by the family poodle -- could turn up in the next issue's column, and we took great delight in seeing her versions of our experiences in print.

Though she exaggerated our antics to make the stories better, she explained our lives very well, and she left a writing legacy in our family that is carried on by Peter (first grandchild) and his wife. We remember each family member's alias, too: "the blond husband," "the Marine son," and "the career daughter." Each column was written by hand, then carefully retyped on a manual typewriter. We still have the original copies of her columns and hope someday to publish them in a collection. She was Erma Bombeck before Erma.

Susan (the career daughter) Cashwell, Raleigh

Peter (the first grandchild) Cashwell and Kelly Dalton, Woodberry Forest, Virginia

David (the second grandchild) and Pam Cashwell, Raleigh

Guide and companion

When I moved to North Carolina for graduate school in 1961, I was eager to learn about my new home state, even if it were going to be for only three years. I happened to pick up a copy of Our State in a barbershop. I was already subscribing to Arizona Highways, a full color collage of beautiful scenes of desert flowers and mountain scenes. The skimpy, old-fashioned black-and-white Our State struck me as rather quaint. Nevertheless it was so inexpensive that I decided to subscribe. Lo and behold, it became my guide and companion for day trips and vacations all over this fascinating state for the next 47 years, and counting. Our State is not the reason I decided to stay here, but it is proof that I had good judgment.

Past and present

Our State magazine appeals to our childhood memories and reminds us of the changes that have occurred in North Carolina. We returned to North Carolina after living in other states over a span of 30 years. Our State helps us to reminisce. We are reminded of our past and the changes that we live with today.