Griff Williams

@UnionStationKC Ho boy, Railway Express! There's a grand old name from the past that's now totally forgotten. But from around the time the Station was built until the 1960s, they were UPS, DHL, and FedEx combined! Makes sense that they'd be very busy in Kansas City.

From 1930, trucks lined up at Union Station's Railway Express Agency facility. The facility extended to the west of Union Station for 1/5 mile, mostly underground, and handled everything from frozen steaks to zoo animals and bags of coins going to and from the KC Federal Reserve

@Crutchfield The current car cartridge holds: 3 CDs of Griff Williams & His Society Orchestra (big band), a James Bond music compilation, Viennese operetta waltzes, and a 1980s synth pop mix.... Ya gotta keep it eclectic because you're limited to those 6 CDs when you're driving!🤣

@Crutchfield Yep, a very well-thought-out design. I have a coupla Pioneer home CD changers that use the same cartridges, so you can swap them between the car and the main home rig. (Radio Shack also sold as part of their "Optimus" line.) There's still life in CDs!

What '90s car feature do you miss the most? jalopnik.com/i-miss-the-lit…

@LeonardSlatkin That cover's probably 50-60 years old.... and still totally relevant today!

More album-cover gold from the Westminster series of the 1970s:

@UnionStationKC Ha, streetcars! A curiosity that totally disappeared from the streets of American cities by the 1960s. My mom has stories about taking the streetcar in Chicago in the 1940s and '50s. She DID NOT like them! But the one in this foto looks cool.... or it it the background?

PCC streetcar 525 passing by Union Station in August 1949

@UnionStationKC As always, I love these historic photos, which really show off the beauty of the Station AND all the hard work that's been done to restore it. A Kansas City trip this spring is sounding really, really good! {:-)

A striking contrast in these two Roy Inman photos of Grand Hall's ceiling. First, shown in the early 1990s as the Station sat empty and in disrepair, under threat of demolition. Then, as you see it today following the Station's renovation and November 1999 reopening.

@briannalyman2 Erica is, as always, totally adorable! And her response to the gentleman's assessment of the crime wave situation is perfectly spot on. "Oh." Yep, that's what we call "cause and effect."

WATCH: CNN's Erica Hill quite literally stunned speechless after CNN's John Miller said migrants steal in NY, spend in FL, but return to NY because they'll actually be held accountable in the sunshine state: "So what the detectives are telling me is, they have crews here that operate in New York, do all their stealing, then go to Florida to spend the money and come back. I’m like, ‘Why don’t they just stay and steal in Florida?’ They said, ‘Because there you go to jail,'" Miller said. @DailyCaller

@UnionStationKC Yes, there are quite a few historic train stations still around, but as far as I'm concerned, the one in KC is THE Station.😉👍🚉🚉🚂

@UnionStationKC I'm away from Twitter ("X"?) for long stretches, but when I come back, I always enjoy these historic views of The Station! A photo archive is a compendium of MANY lifetimes of experience trapped in file drawers. Great that social media lets it to be shared with new generations!

Now home to Parisi Coffee, originally site of a Fruit and Candy booth selling fresh fruit and sweet treats to Union Station guests and rail passengers. The Station's retail district also included a cigar shop, barber shop, shoeshine stand, soda fountain, book shop and drug store

@LeonardSlatkin Sigh.... Art Dept. run amok! But yes, an interesting program, which has nothing to do with the odd artwork.

Many of you have asked for another month of oddball classical music album covers. Just when I think they are running out, a new batch appears. 24: Great recording, but I think I will forgo the side dish.

@andrewlitton_ @nycballet I remember a couple of very enjoyable visits to Saratoga in the late 1990s - wonderful setting to enjoy great music AND dance! Wish I could've been there for your performances. (Road trip in 2024?)

Such a memorable week at SPAC! The photo shows happy, relieved faces at the end of 7 performances in 6 days of 4 different programs! "Summertime, and the living is easy..." when you have such amazing colleagues!! 📸: Jacqueline Reid @nycballet & Musicians of NYC Ballet

@czusafirearms Common, well-known model: my CZ-75 DA/SA, purchased early in the CZ-USA Era (glad to see you're thriving, guys!). Slight rarity: my CZ-40, just because not a lot of 'em were made. Looks like a 1911, handles like a CZ.

What's your favorite hammer-fired CZ?

@UnionStationKC Same impression I got walking into the old C&NW Station in downtown Chicago as a kid: These train stations really were the *original* indoor shopping malls! You have to think local residents periodically popped into the Station just to buy something because it was convenient.

A throwback to Union Station in 1938. In the background you can see the Station's book store, which also sold gifts and toys. Union Station's original retail district included a cigar shop, barber shop, fruit and candy booth, a shoeshine stand, soda fountain, and drug store.

@UnionStationKC @BankofAmerica @kcsymphony Ah, the telecasts of this concert on @IowaPBS were what encouraged me to go down to KC to check out the KCSO in person - and I've been going back ever since. Won't be at this concert, tho' - Memorial Day weekend with the family, etc.

The @BankofAmerica Celebration at the Station returns to Union Station on Sun, May 28. Don't miss this Memorial Weekend tradition featuring a free patriotic concert by @kcsymphony followed by spectacular fireworks bit.ly/3HMNcIS 📷 Chuck Williams Photography, 2022

@BrucemoreSite John Culshaw (Decca record producer & Wagner expert) said the most devoted Wagner fans tended to be either very young or very old. I started out as the former, and I'm becoming the latter!!😉

@GriffAMDM Good eye! We love the mural, too, and the entrance to Valhalla is one of our favorite sections.

Did you know that May 5 is #MuseumLoversDay? ❤️ We think there are a lot of things to love at Brucemore! What are some of your favorites? #brucemoremansion #cultureguaranteed #thisisiowa #trustsites #museumvisit

@Crutchfield *Powering a pair of "vintage" (i.e., old) Realistic Minimus-77 speakers. P.S. I do have a lot of newer gear, too - some of it from Crutchfield, of course!

@Crutchfield It was good stuff for a poor college kid. Nowhere near TOTL tho! The original STA-450* still lives - 40 years old and it still gets daily use in my office at work. I have a pair of Nova-15s but not the originals. And the SCT-29 met its demise in 1988 - my fault, alas.

#TBT to our product research team testing gear in 1984! What consumer electronics did you use that year?

@BrownellsInc @AguilaAmmo I kinda feel sorry for the little piñata......

We joined forces with @AguilaAmmo to celebrate "Plinko De Mayo" & YOU should hit the range to celebrate too! Shop Aguila now: rb.gy/ku6fp #brownells #guns #ammo

@BrucemoreSite ..... on a rainbow bridge struck by the junior gods Donner and Froh. Or it depicts something else, and I'm totally wrong!😉 (But there *is* a rainbow bridge here....) Note to Self: MUST visit Brucemore again, soon.

@BrucemoreSite Actually, one of the things I love about Brucemore (ONE of them!) is the murals with the scenes from Wagner operas. Right here looks like the entrance of the gods into Valhalla from the end of Das Rheingold.....