Nature Songs ~~~~
JULY, 2002 ~
to respect its flag
and to defend it against its enemies.”
~ William Tyler Page
July 1, 2002 ~ Bear-In-Mind Treasures ~~ Tiny tidbits come to view at times which bring to mind the way things used to be. Inevitably I will allow them to drift off into one of the dark corners of the gray matter and be forgotten. Ergo, it’s time to jot down some of the keepers that were a part of my growing up days of yore. I know not what may have come from whom. Some were sent to me by email by friends remembering back when ... Some were clipped from newspapers or magazines. I have to admit I am one of the world’s worse keeper-of-clippings of favorite tidbits and end up loosing many of them. Now these will be neatly collected, making them harder to loose and forget.
Giggles and I watched cartoons last evening together. When she is visiting with me the best part of being here for her is to have me beside her as she watches cartoons or one of her videos. This time we got to watch the cartoons that were first shone in movie theaters way before the era of television. Merrie Melodies Tunes were the very first and the first feature cartoon was one about the infamous black and white cat as it attempted to capture mice as they danced and made merry. Of course, even back then, the mice outwitted the cat and sent him off running in defeat. It was interesting to note that those early cartoon characters were all based on real movie idols. I’ll take more notice of these early renditions and see how many of the real life actors and actresses can be named. (Movies at theaters always began with a Newsreel of events we would not heard of until much later. We kept up with WWII by watching Newsreels each Saturday morning when we joined other kids for the Saturday Morning Cartoons Show.)
When I walked home from school in the afternoons, many times my brother and I would stop at the little store on the corner to buy some of the sweets on display in little wooden kegs or boxes. Very little candy was ever behind glass and out of reach. A whole little bag of candy could be bought for only a few pennies. Choices for me were often the wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside. Once the little bit of water was out, the wax became chewing gum for a while. BJ liked to get a box of the candy cigarettes sold in little boxes to resemble the real thing. Another favorite was the long strips of coconut candy with white coconut flavor, pink strawberry flavor, and brown chocolate flavor all in one strip. Those short little pieces in packages today is no comparison in flavor, size or cost. Christmas time always brought the rock candy which I often would pretend were diamonds. In reality, it was pure sugar and water boiled down to crystals.
Oh, how I loved Teaberry chewing gum. When I would get a pack I would only chew a half piece at a time so it would last longer. Sometimes a small piece was wrapped in the cloth handkerchief I carried since the paper tissues of today were unheard of. I could carry that tiny bit for the day tied in a knot on one corner of the hanky to smell off and on. Clove was another favorite - a close second to the Teaberry. Another of the early chewing gums was Blackjack which was well-liked by many.
Soda pops were dispensed in glass bottles from a machine. On the machine there was an opener to pry off the bottle cap. When dining in coffee shops and cafes, the sodas were served in glasses. Music was provided by jukeboxes which also had little individual boxes at each table making it easier to choose and pay for the music chosen. For a quarter you could listen to several different songs playing while you ate.
Evenings before the day for milk deliveries, the empty glass milk bottles for the number of bottles needed were placed out on the porch. If there were not enough bottles or the wrong size, a note was written on paper and stuck in the top of a bottle. Way before any of us were up the next morning the milkman left the milk with cardboard stoppers closing the milk bottles on the porch, replacing the empty bottles. Ice was delivered much the same way. A cardboard square was hung on a nail out-front with the amount of ice needed always on the top. Each corner of the square was a different color and amount sporting a hole for hanging. Electric refrigerators were few and far between in the general public. In fact, many houses had no electricity.
When telephones were introduced, they were strange looking wooden boxes that hung on the wall. A handle on the side of the box had to be turned to alert the operator you wanted to make a call. A bell was also on the side of the box to let you know when you had a call. It also allowed many other families know as well. Only party lines were available with the first phones and each family had its own special ring. Everyone got the ringing of the bell for every call that came in on the line. Often there were plenty of listeners online as well as the family that got the call. The receiver hung on a hook on the side when not in use while you spoke into a horn shaped metal piece on the front. The first telephone numbers began with a word followed by numbers. That was still true even when I began teaching. My number even when I married began with “Plaza.”
Boys’ hair was tamed by using Butch Wax. It coated the hair and if very much was used, the hair looked like it was oiled down. When Butch Wax was used, the hair stayed where it was placed whether it be straight up, or combed and plastered to the head with a neat part to boot.
Wow! I’m so long winded, this will have to be continued inasmuch it is 2:30 am and I should try to sleep a spell.
July 4, 2002 ~ Bear-In-Minds Galore! ~~ On the present end of the spectrum, I must note: Temperatures this week have ranged up in the nineties while the heat index each day pushes upward the actual heat we feel into or near one hundred degrees. The earth’s crust becomes that - a crust that has been way over baked by the rays of steamy heat beaming down from the sun, and only turning browner and more withered each day. The drought tightens it tenacious grasp, absorbing more ground waters with each passing day. Thunderstorms rage all around us daily, caused by the extreme heat but alas, only the prelude of lightening, thunder, and wicked winds are yielded to the majority while a minute few feel any rain that hits and runs away.
Strangely, Fourth of July of the past does not bring forth images of parades, large gatherings, or lots of fireworks. The fireworks I remember most were those shows provided by the County Fairs. There were as many or maybe more fireworks performing on the ground as there were in the sky. Gismos that spun around as the fireworks spewed their designs, special outlines of various things, and the infamous battles of ships shooting back and forth were only a few of the attractions which always preceded the aerial, thunderous thrust of upward displays which would make the earth vibrate with each explosion.
Fourth of July was time for the family to spend the day together. This was the day for picnics, swimming, watermelon cooled by the cold creek water, pitching horseshoes, playing ball, or just lazing around. On rare occasions we would head up the mountain to a creek or state park. It was always a thrill to get to load up in a car and go somewhere together on the Fourth. Sometimes the church would get together at Camp for fun activities such as the wheelbarrow row, carrying an egg on a spoon race, relays, three-legged race, and more. Eating contests were a big hit as everyone got together to egg on the competitions of pie, hot dogs, eggs or watermelon eating and awarding of some small medal or prize.
My uncle would always bring a pickup truck heavily loaded with the Royal Crown Cola boxes filled to the brim with ice and bottled colas. Each time we drank one of the sodas, we would have to first pop off the metal cap, often letting the icy droplets of water drip on our head (or the back of another) to cool off a bit. The traditional row of tables lined up end to end would first offer foods brought and shared by all and then later be filled with the cooled watermelons carried up from the creek and cut in smaller sections waiting to be devoured. None of the fancy trapping of containers or utensils were put to use. It was all the pure pleasure of digging in while holding the melon out away from the body and taking a big mouthful. When all the juicy red had disappeared, the rind was tossed into the creek, and several splashes of the creek water would wash away any sticky residue remaining on face and hands.
Piedmont Wagon Company was close to where Dad’s family lived. We would walk past it all the time as we walked back and forth to town, a movie, or the library. This was the home of the very first wooden red wagons with the removable sides. It was not only a wagon for playing and pulling around filled with an array of objects and pets, but with the sides removed, it became a ride. One knee bent and placed in the bed of the wagon, grasping the handle folded back to guide the direction, the other leg was used to push off with the foot and get the wagon moving. When a good speed was pumped up, both legs were in the wagon and the ride was on. This was the most fun going down hills. In later years, the old brick building where the first wagons were made was designated an historic site.
Peashooters were popular items to own. They were sold for very little money, easy to use and hid so the person being shot could not pinpoint the guilty shooter. Actual peas were used and the smaller the pea, the better. Many a gleeful boy would get in trouble at school for shooting peas during class around the room. Even the teacher would be the target sometimes. Other playthings were roller skates which had metal wheels and used a skate key to adjust the skate to fit the shoe and adjust the wheels. No skating rinks around, so we took to the concrete sidewalks for racing, doing different skills, or playing games. Cork pop guns were the rage. Indoors we turned to puzzles, Tinker toys, Erector sets and Lincoln logs. Us girls had paper dolls which usually had to be cut out before we could play dress up with them. They were generally stored in a cardboard box or shoebox. Boys went for the 5 cent packs of baseball cards found in packages of pink bubblegum. It took little time for them to have shoeboxes full of memorized cards to swap and keep on collecting. A poke full of penny candy and we were ready to play all day.
Other games were hot potato, choosing sides or friends by using “eeny-meeny-miney-mo ...”, “Oly-oly-oxen-free” made perfect sense for playing hide and seek, spinning around and around, getting dizzy enough to fall down caused giggles of delight. Red Rover was a popular game at home and school as was hopscotch, Mother May I, water balloons were an ultimate weapon of choice, and those extra baseball cards made wonderful sounds stuck in the spokes of the tires on bicycles. What better motorcycle would one want? Ending the day would be the catching of fireflies and filling a mason jar (Holes in the lid, of course.) to carry inside at day’s end to watch in the dark bedroom, cooled by windows propped open with a stick since there were no fans yet, much less air conditioners!
I still have a Victrola and the heavy twelve inch records used. The handle on the side of the box which sits atop its own base has to be turned to crank up enough speed for the record to play. As the crank slows down, so does the music. Needing a needle for it and not knowing any place that would have one this day and age, Hubby and I discovered that a simple straight pin inserted into the heavy arm worked like a charm for playing our records. The records are stored in a round tin box made just for the purpose of keeping them.
As the records became less heavy and the equipment became more usable and electricity provided power for playing on and on, so also came the introduction of the 45 RPM records. Soon all the jukeboxes were using the 45’s and most of the children’s records were 45 sized. Then the first hi-fi sounds were heard in the movie theaters which soon became household items of choice. First tape recorders were cumbersome reel-to-reel machines requiring the user to thread the tape onto the top of the machine before the tricky task of recording by pushing two levers simultaneously - voila! It worked.
Yikes! I’m beginning to feel a tad ancient ... and there is even more to add ...
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Lenoir,NC 28645
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©2002 by Stormy Jeanne
