Saturday, August 11, 2007

Father Time







Paul Pagano, who calls himself Father Time, is a St. Louis institution. This eccentric, irrepressible octogenarian shows up at public events in the city, beaming with happiness and dressed to attract attention. He used to drive around downtown in an old bus with loudspeakers blaring God
Bless America. There are a couple of photos of it on his Web site. Click Vintage and scroll across.

As he says on his web site: No one has ever associated the figure "Father Time" with "God Bless America." I'm helping people make memories when I see them. In addition, I play over 50 songs on my harmonica and as long as I stay healthy and able, I will be doing this for a long time.

You can hire him for your party or event! Maybe some day I'll do posts on other famous STL characters like Beatle Bob or Baton Bob. (See also here.) Unfortunately, Baton Bob caught enough crap in this town for his joyful strangeness that he moved to Atlanta. The sight of this bodybuilder marching around the Central West End in a tutu and tiara, doing his drum majorette routine, always brought a big smile to my face. People loved him but the authorities didn't get it and he left us. St. Louis has a wacky side and a straight-laced side.





5 comments:

  1. Ha ha! LOL! Cool shots. I'm half-blood Italian on my father's side.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooooh Beatle Bob. Sometimes I'm just thrilled to death to be a St. Louisan! I've been gone for 14 hours and miss home already (though I'm having tons of fun with y family)!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I think wacky is wonderful! If it weren't for wacky, life would be too serious. He looks and sounds like quite a colorful character.

    ReplyDelete
  4. very funny:) I guess every city has its "institution".

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great shots and a wonderful story, too. In St. Louis he may be considered an oddball or a character, but if he was here he'd fit right in.

    ReplyDelete