Hoo-Hoo Tablet and Monument, (sculpture).

Hoo-Hoo Tablet and Monument, (sculpture).

Zolnay, George Julian, 1863-1949, sculptor.

Hoo-Hoo Tablet and Monument, (sculpture).

Tablet: Sept. 9, 1909. Tablet and marker: April 13, 1927. Flanking markers: Oct. 1991.

Bronze and granite.

Tablet and marker: approx. 116 x 107 x 44 in.

(On tablet, west side of sculpture, raised lettering:) IN THE HOTEL HALL WHICH FORMERLY STOOD/ON THE SITE OF THIS BUILDING WAS ORGANIZED/ON JANUARY 21st 1892 THE CONCATENATED/ORDER OF HOO-HOO A SOCIETY/COMPOSED OF LUMBER/MEN AND THOSE IN ALLIED INDUSTRIES AND/HAVING FOR ITS OBJECT THE PROMOTION OF/THE HEALTH HAPPINESS AND/LONG LIFE OF ITS MEMBERS/WHERE WERE PRESENT ON THAT OCCASION (list of names)/THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED IN GURDEN ARKANSAS/BY THE CONCATENATED ORDER OF THE HOO-HOO/SEPTEMBER 9, 1909 (On east side of sculpture, incised lettering:) HOUSE OF ANCIENTS (names of Hoo-Hoo Snarks in four columns) (On flanking granite markers, one side: names of Hoo-Hoo Snarks) unsigned

A bronze tablet is set into the west side of a large marker of rough-hewn Barre granite with a wide, short base. Two cats with teeth bared, backs arched, and tails raised and curled in the air, are atop opposite ends of the marker, facing out. One cat faces north and the other south. The tablet bears an inscription that is surrounded by an elaborate, Egyptian-inspired border in low relief. Across the top of the tablet is a pair of outspread wings. Directly below, in the center, may be a depiction of Hotel Hall, flanked on each side by a seated pharaoh figure, shown in profile wearing a tall headdress. Each figure faces out over a row of plants. Below this, flanking the inscription, are two standing nude males. Each male wears a tall, urn-shaped hat and holds an implement in his hands, crossed at his chest. A sword or post extends from each flanking figure's chest down the center of his body to his feet. Below each male is another set of outspread wings. In small circles on each side of the inscription, at the bottom, are black cats. The east side of the sculpture contains an inscription and columns of names.

Occupation -- Industry -- Lumber

Mythology -- Egyptian

Figure male -- Full length

Figure male -- Nude

Architecture -- Commercial -- Hotel Hall

Outdoor Sculpture -- Arkansas -- Gurdon

Architectural component

Administered by International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, P. O. Box 118, Gurdon, Arkansas 71743

Located North First & Main Street opposite 107 Main Street, next to Union Pacific railroad tracks, Gurdon, Arkansas

Formerly located On building occupying site of Hotel Hall, Main Street, Gurdon, Arkansas before April 1927.

The bronze tablet cost $1,800 and was cast from pennies donated by Hoo-Hoo members. The tablet commemorates the 1892 birth of the Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo, a fraternal and fellowship organization for lumbermen. The idea for the Hoo-Hoo Order was conceived by lumber journalist Bolling Arthur Johnson, who believed the lumber industry should have a national organization. In 1892, Johnson met with lumber industry associates, William Eddy Barnes, George Washington Schwartz, William Starr Mitchell and Ludolph A. Strauss, at Hotel Hall in Gurdon, Arkansas, and together they organized the Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo. The rituals, customs and titles used by the group are taken from Egyptian lore. The Egyptian black cat, with its tail curled as the figure 9, was chosen as the emblem for the Order. The basis for the organization became the mythical nine lives of the cat, therefore the Order has traditionally met at nine minutes past nine o'clock on the ninth day of the ninth month of the year.

The bronze tablet, which was installed and dedicated on September 9, 1909, was originally affixed to a building in Gurdon which occupied the site of the Hotel Hall where Hoo-Hoo was founded. The tablet was removed when the building was torn down in 1927 and inset into the west side of a granite marker that was placed adjacent to the Missouri Pacific depot (now called the Union Pacific railroad) just across Main Street from where the tablet had initially rested. At this time, the east side of the sculpture was engraved with the names of all past Snarks, or Presidents, of the Hoo-Hoo. SOS! survey reports April 27, 1927 as relocation date; but according to an official Hoo-Hoo publication, the relocation and rededication occurred on April 13, 1927. In 1988, two new markers were purchased by the Hoo-Hoo, when no more room was available for names on the original marker. The markers, which were completed in 1991, flank the original sculpture and are engraved on one side with the Hoo-Hoo logo (the black cat) and a forest motif, and the other side with Snarks' names. IAS files contain a full transcription of names on east side of sculpture. IAS files contain related excerpts from a reprint of "Arkansas Regional Review," International Paper Company, May 1981; and the "Log & Tally," Centennial Edition (USPS 317-570), 1992, International Order of Hoo-Hoo, pg. 28-29.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Arkansas survey, 1992.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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