S. P. Stevens — Face of San Antonio portrait profile, wife Elizabeth named — SA Express-News, Aug 1969

A 1969 San Antonio Express-News “Face of San Antonio” profile by Bob Dale, with a portrait photograph of S. P. Stevens, again confirms him as “owner of Stevens Outdoor Advertising Company.” The article also names his wife as Mrs. Elizabeth Stevens — the first time her given name appears in the press record. (From the 1955 Paul Poppe obituary we know she is Paul Poppe’s granddaughter, with Mrs. I. H. Flores as her mother.) The profile appears to reference and expand on the 1966 Sylvia Springer feature, treating Stevens’s antique collection and outdoor-advertising career as a known San Antonio story.

See also: 1966 full feature, S. P. Stevens KB page.

Transcription

Column: Face of San Antonio
By Bob Dale

A city has many faces, the faces of its people, and behind each face is a story. Here is one story, a telling one, worth knowing, and worth remembering. The faces, make up the face of San Antonio.

S.P. Stevens, owner of Stevens Outdoor Advertising Company, has been called, in his own time, [text partially cut at margin — refers to his antique collection]

The bullet head allowed five seconds to catch a profile of the gentleman, who described himself as having the largest private collection of early Americana [of any man in San Antonio]

[Article continues with details of his gun collection, references to specific historical firearms, and quotes from Stevens about collecting.]

Mrs. Elizabeth Stevens [named in connection with the collection or household]

[Note: left-margin text partially cut in scan; some passages reconstructed from visible fragments. Full transcription requires Newspapers.com access or microfilm.]

Photo caption: S.P. STEVENS, owner of Stevens Outdoor Advertising Company.

Source

• San Antonio Express-News (San Antonio, Tex.), 24 August 1969 (Sunday), p. 86.
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• Accessed: 2026-05-21