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Post by David Sechrest on Mar 13, 2005 23:53:31 GMT -5
Considering I was born in 1952, there's not alot I remember about Columbus in the 1950's. Really, to be quite honest here, I was too young to really pay much attention to anything other than the downtown area, and our Center Street neighborhood in East Columbus.
I began school in 1958. This was before preschools and kindergartens and such. I guess the world of education wasn't as complicated to us all then, so first grade was it.
My first grade teacher was Miss Kangas. Orris Manley was the Principal. There were "patrol boys" in this day and age, and it was quite the honor to get picked as a patrol boy.
I walked to school. It wasn't that far from the house, but I remember that very first day of school...leaving the house early in the morning...mom stood at the gate and watched me walk down Center Street until I reached Southeastern and turned the corner.
We didn't have flourescent lights inside the school (since I was in the first grade, I my classroom was in the building on the left, if facing. The one that still stands today). The lights were nothing more than big white globes that hung from the ceiling. WhyI remember that, I don't know.
Since this was the age of the "H-Bomb" and the Cold War, I don't ever recall any "duck and cover" drills, but that's not saying we didn't have them.
Besides our studies, we had music, choirs, and plays. Quite a few as I recall.
The property was surrounded by a chain link fence and there was a basketball court on the playground in the back of the school.
A friend of mine who attended the old Garfield School at this time told me there wasn't a lunchroom in the school, and they were bussed over to State Street for lunch.
We lived next door to Russell's Grocery. They were open, I think, until around 5 or 6 six days a week, and closed on Sundays. In fact, not too many places were open on Sundays back in these days.
About a block and a half on south, the railroad tracks separated our suburban area from farmland. Cornfields ran as far as the eye could see, and there was a small hill on the other side of the cornfield where we went sledding on those snowy days when school was cancelled.
The big thing to have at the age of 9 or 10 or 12 was a bike. A bike was something special to me, as my parents couldn't afford to buy one for me. But I remember all the neighborhood kids decorating our bikes with paper mache and balloons and parading up and down the neighborhood.
I remember one time the city was repaving Center Street, and I sat up a lemonade stand and sold lemonade one day. I think I made around a dollar and that's not counting what the lemons or sugar cost, but immediately shut the stand down and headed for Russell's Grocery to celebrate with a nickel's worth of Bazooka bubblegum and one of those big strips of taffy they sold back then.
I remember JC. He was a retarded man who lived down from us, and more or less hobbled when he walked. JC was severely handicapped, and slobbered when he tried to talk. He always wore overalls and a dirty white tee shirt. I'd like to say that I was one of the few that didn't make fun of JC, but regretfully, I did.
Center Street was filled with small modest homes in this time, and looks terribly different from today. The house where I grew up still stands, and is some kind of business today. The yard, where I once played kickball, and cowboys and indians and shot marbles is now covered in asphalt. The trees I used to climb are long gone, as well as the fence I'd climb over to go to my friend's house and get yelled at.
There was a vacant lot in back of our house. A lone shed stood there, and that was our clubhouse.
It wasn't unusual to see water pumps sticking up out of front yards on Center Street, and there even remained a few outhouses in back of some of the houses.
Milk trucks made their weekly or daily rounds up and down the street. And remember those little mail carts the mailmen used to drive?
On the corner of Center and State Street was the Jay-C store (where the Salvation Army is, or was).
I read in the obits a couple of weeks past that the owner of Carson's Flower Shop, which sat next to the old Coffman Drug Store passed away. Coffman's was the other place some of my money was spent, as well as the old Army Surplus store.
The times that stick out the most these days are those long ago days when we all played on the railroad tracks. I know I told this to some "Uppity People" in Columbus a few years ago, and they turned their noses up like "how could your parents ever let you play in a place like that?"
The railroad tracks hold many fond memories for me. I'd pack a lunch (usually peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and load them in my trust army backpack, load my canteen with water, and meet my friends at the end of Center Street for a day's excursion down the tracks. Normally, the trip went as far as the old iron bridge, which still stands, in back of the area where Kirby Risk is today.
I remember how the rails glistened and shimmered in the hot summer sun. I had a small transistor radio that was turned to WIFE or WAKY and our trip was made more enjoyable by the "boss" sounds that came from that little orange radio.
Well...these are just a few of my personal memories of growing up in the 1950's.
I know many more of you remember this time and it would be nice to hear your memories of growing up in the 1950's...
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Post by Nancy Stevens on Mar 14, 2005 10:17:42 GMT -5
Hi Dave, and "Oh, goodie!" 1950s! Loved your accounts of your youth. And I remember railroad tracks, and probably I guess you did take your life into your own hands---playing around them!!!! Was fun, tho', wasn't it? ;-)
The RR tracks that I frequented were "somehow" around Cummins and the Golden Foundry area, don't know how they all connected, tho'. For heavens sake, we rode the horses along, and actually right down the middle of the tracks, and it seems to me that there were RR tracks out by the fairgrounds, as well. Can't picture that the horse I own now would much "cabbage" to me taking him there!!!! It would surely be the "Mad Hatter's Wild Ride," and I am too old for that foolishness! ;-)
1950s--Pioneer Days. As I recall, and feel free to correct my "dating" of the event, took place on or near Columbus Day, mid-October. Washington Street was closed and booths set up by civic organizations. Seems the event went on for several days, perhaps a weekend, just guessing on that one.
My dad was responsible for the "game" for one booth, either sponsored by the Lion's Club or the Saddle Club, and I don't remember which. AND am sure that the SPCA would never approve the "game" now, and the protests would have been many. Remember how you could throw ping-pong balls into bowls and win a gold fish? Same idea, except you threw an embrodiery (sp.) hoop to attempt to "ring" a duck, a duck that you could take home for keeps!!!! (Hey, Bob, Barkhimer, that is, is that how you got Rudolph? ;-) This crazy "game" became the hit on the street, and everyone was carrying around a duck they had won. So popular was this booth, that soon they ran out of ducks. My dad was out and about searching the farms for more ducks for the booth. A trek he made numerous times to restock! Think he must have hit every farm around to supply the booth.
The Junior Trail Blazers offered pony rides as our fund-raiser. We set up "shop" west of Washington St. in a parking lot, and led our horses so kids could have a ride. Don't recall how many actual "takers" we had, but know we had a lot of fun waiting for "customers." Think that was where I perfected my ability to jump onto the horse from the back, just like those cowboys in the movies at the Rio did!
Along those same lines, and about within the same time frame, Cummins held a company picnic for employees at the fairgrounds each year. Jr. Trail Blazers were "hired" to provide pony rides. And we each received a paycheck, if you will, and in a handsome sum, as I recall, from Cummins, for providing our horse and our "leading skills" for the day. The rides were free to employees and families, and we never stopped! Pooped at the end of the day, you bet! I always used my wages to purchase school clothes. One time my horse turned up lame on the day, I cried and cried, and begged and begged to make use of my dad's horse, to no avail, Daddy did not think his horse was "bombproof" enough for me to handle. And I cried some more----there went my money for clothes that fall!
Thoughts for the day, and I really do need to do something besides "haunt" this site.
Nanc Stevens
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Margo CHS Class of 55
HCI Forum Board Member
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind; it doesn't matter.
Posts: 376
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Post by Margo CHS Class of 55 on Apr 1, 2005 9:27:13 GMT -5
This is Margo McCalip Hughey who graduated in the CHS Classof '55. We are currently planning our 50th Reunion on Aug26th and 27th of this year. We have several classmates we cannot locate and would appreciate any help you could offer.
Classmates are as follows: Peter Anderson, Kenyon Clark, Barbara Combs Moulson,Lloyd Ford, AShirley Gugel Boyes, Margaret Hite Morgan, Phyllis Holland Gartrell, Stuart Jones, Beberly Montgomery, Llyod Nichols, Charles Oakley, Donald Oldham, Glenna Scroghins, Larry Scutt, Barbara Skinner Frank, Doris Sullivan Monroe, Mary Lou Albright Taylor, and Richard D. White
Please contact me at mar_hughey@hotmail.com if you have information on any of these. Since this is our 50th Reunion we would like to include everyone in our CHS Class Directory. Blessings, Margo
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Post by EC on Apr 3, 2005 12:54:31 GMT -5
The Looking Back column in today’s Columbus Paper has the following from today in 1955.
The Columbus High School track team lost a meet to Indianapolis Washington but Naverne Wille of Columbus posted the fastest mile recorded in Indiana to date. He posted a time of 4:28.6!
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Post by EC on Apr 5, 2005 20:27:50 GMT -5
Hello to all who are contributing to this board. I’ve really enjoyed your posts. I check the board almost every time I log on. If these notes are half as interesting as what I’ve been reading, I’ll be pleased. Perhaps the following will remind you of something more you can write.
I REMEMBER:
The Second Street bridge over the White River. The steel Tenth Street bridge over Haw Creek. Steam engines on the railroads and the water tower near the depot. The first time I saw a diesel engine on the railroad. The round house and turntable at the west end of Fourth Street. The railroad track crossing Washington Street between the Coca Cola plant and Fifteenth Street. Two railroad tracks crossing Pearl Street, Sycamore Street, Chestnut Street, California Street, Union Street, Grand Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Sixteenth Street, Seventeenth Street, Nineteenth Street, Cottage Avenue, Twenty-Second Street, Central Avenue, Twenty-Fifth Street and US 31. The Pennsylvania tracks went to Shelbyville and the New York tracks went to Greensburg. The railroad tracks crossing Second Street west of Sycamore. The railroad running to Madison. Westermeier’s Hardware at 1015 Third Street at California Street. During the Christmas season, you could operate the train display from the outside, by touching a card that was inside the window glass. The Schaefer Milling Co.’s flour mill at 1014 Third Street. The Farmers Marketing Plant between Second and Third Streets at the intersection with State Street, and the milk trucks unloading the cans of milk. Was the Valley Lee brand butter in the yellow cartons was produced at that plant? The Farmers Marketing lockers on the north side of Third Street across from the Vollmer Avenue intersection. You could rent freezer space and it was accessible 24 hours a day. The crowds at the Eighth Street Ball Park with its concrete grandstand. Wilbur Pancake kicking the light pole as he performed his first bast coaching duties. The Pearl Street gym. The old iron bridge crossing the Flat Rock on US 31A north. What I think was the first drive-up at Carmel L. Carmichael’s Restaurant at 544 Jackson Street and the fish sandwiches they served. The Red Barn on Twenty-Fifth Street which I think was the first fast food restaurant in Columbus. The gas pumps with the glass top at Anthony’s Grocery and Filling Station at 2032 Indiana Avenue. The glass top was marked and the operator used a hand lever to pump the gas up to the mark for the number of gallons the customer wanted. Then gravity would move the gas into the tank or can. The Thomas Frances Comfort Children’s Home at Illinois and Cherry Streets. They farmed land along the south side of Illinois west of Gladstone Avenue and east of Gladstone at the current location of Fodrea School. The county highway garage and the new county home were built on land that was farmed by the Children’s Home. The Farmall Cub the Children’s Home used to take the corn and tomatoes to Morgan’s Packing Plant. The County Home when it was located on US 31A South. A. Tross Department Store. Penny’s downtown and the little metal boxes that ran on tracks so the clerk could send the customer’s money up to the cashier on the second floor, who would then make the change and send it back down to the clerk. The public restrooms in the basement of the Courthouse and City Hall. Three theaters downtown. The Crump, The Mode and The Rio. The Drive-In on US 31-A north and the train in the playground. The White House. Goodman & Jester Department Store. Simmen Hardware Store. The scales outside F. J. Meyer and Son at 435 Washington Street. The red fire boxes on street corners. Sears having only a catalog store. The shoe shine parlor and hat cleaning store at 419 Fourth Street. Mrs. Fisher’s Restaurant and her fish sandwiches and Mr. Fisher’s Bakery at 317 & 319 Fourth Street. Around 1953 or 1954 my allowance was $.50 a day and I went there for lunch and got, I think two but it may have been one, fish sandwich and red pop in a glass bottle and stopped in the bakery for a sweet roll to eat on the way back to school, and I had change left! Montgomery Ward & Company at 538-540 Washington Street. Kroger’s at Sixth and Washington and the smell around the coffee grinders. Bond’s DX Service Station on the west side of Washington at Sixth. The A & P at 620 Washington with parking at 626. The Standard Food Market at 930 Washington Street. Thompson Dairy at 1120 Washington Street. Franke & Son Dairy at 2241 State Street. Franke & Son Dairy Bar at 2241 State Street. The dairy bar was a restaurant and was located in the front of the building. Purity Milk Company on McKinley Avenue. Zaharako Dairy at 718 Pearl Street with the restaurant which was frequented by the school kids at lunch as well as before and after school. Milk delivered to your door in a glass bottle with the cream on top. Ice delivered to your home and the four color cards. The card was hung in the window and the color at the top told the route man how many pounds of ice you needed that day. My Grandparents had and used an Icebox in those days. The Dairy Way (soft ice cream) between Columbus Motors and Franke’s at 2211 State Street.
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Post by EC on Apr 5, 2005 20:30:07 GMT -5
Part 2
Pete’s big red Ice Cream truck. The narrow tires on wheels with wood spokes and the puddles he left in the street from the melting ice. Columbus was a one Dairy Queen town and it was at 1106 Twenty-Fifth Street. Cushman Motor Sales located at 123 Washington Street. Cushman was a motor scooter that every boy dreamed of having. Neighborhood Grocery Stores, which let customers run a weekly bill. The bill was then paid on payday! They cut and displayed their meat. Lunch meats and cheese were sliced as the customer ordered. The red Eckrich trucks making the deliveries to all of the neighborhood groceries and the white coats the drivers wore. Buying two dollars or less of gasoline and getting the windshield washed and the oil checked. New tires that were guaranteed for 12,000 miles or 12 months. Recapped tires. The O K Tire Co. At 824 Eight Street. They recapped tires at that location. Gasoline at $0.29.9 per gallon. Premium blends, Ethyl, was one or two cents a gallon more, not ten cents. Fender Skirts. Curb Feelers. They were a stainless steel rod about eight inches long and you could hear them scraping the curb before your “whitewall tire” rubbed the curb. Wide whitewall tires Steering knobs. Mine folded over when not needed. Those were our power steering! Continental kits. Four speed transmissions. The first automatic transmissions that had a clutch pedal that you didn’t need to use if you were driving forward. I believe the first automatic transmission I saw was in a De Soto owned by Jim and Joe Miller’s parents. Sun visors mounted outside above the windshield. A dash- mounted compass that was a add-on. Flat head eight cylinder engines. Packard, Willys, Nash, Hudson, Crosley, Studebaker, De Soto, Kaiser-Frazer, Rambler and Edsel. Glass Pack and Porter mufflers. Panel style trucks. Running boards on all vehicles. Early station wagons. Wash bays at gasoline stations. On weekends and nights you could use the bay and their chamois and a hand-operated wringer at a reduced rate as long as a full paying customer wasn’t in line. Service / gasoline stations, doing repairs. Rural routes. The Indiana Transportation Garage on the northeast corner of Twenty-Fifth and Central. The old fairgrounds on Twenty-Fifth at the railroad. The saddle barns at the Twenty-Fifth Street fairgrounds. Two different sized tracks at the Twenty-Fifth Street fairgrounds. The horse trotting races at the Twenty-Fifth Street fairgrounds. The stockcar races at the Twenty-Fifth Street fairgrounds. The grandstands at the Twenty-Fifth Street fairgrounds. The stockcar races at the Clifty Hill Track. Hatcheries and poultry businesses where you could buy live chickens. There were at least four in town! Dad bringing a live chicken home on Saturday for Sunday Dinner. V-Eight engines with three two-barrel or two four-barrel carburetors on them. Police cars that were advertised that they would run 135+ miles per hour. The city police having two Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the middle 50's and early 60's. The two officers riding them were Mr. Bill Hill and Mr. Lyman “Spanky” Ponsler. City speed traps that used two hoses across the street. You could see the hose running to the car down the street but they still wrote a lot of tickets. Chip and seal streets and Tevis C. Harris, the city Street Commissioner, driving his Jeep dragging old tires behind to spread the fine rock. Digging basements and utility lines with a drag line. The dredging of the Haw Creek in the city. The drag line was used on this project as well. The wells being drilled in Lincoln Park, which ended the usage of river water for Columbus’s water supply. The Saddle Club and the shows at the east end of Eighth Street next to the Haw Creek. Pioneer Day parades and the rides on Washington Street. The covered bridge on South Gladstone. The covered bridge on Lowell Road. The covered bridge on Tannehill Road. The stockyards at Stadler Packing Company. The whistle at the Handle Factory. The circus at the Southwest corner of State Street and Gladstone. My buddies and I decided we would work for a ticket and then part of our group was too tired to attend. The people flying model airplanes on the end of two wires at that location. The new Donner pool being built. The old Donner pool being used by the fishing club for casting location practice. The shows at the Donner Park shelter house. Jack “Mr. Bones” Whittington and The Junior City Slickers. The concession stand near the playground. The jail and sheriff’s quarters at Second and Washington. The Lincoln School pool at 430 Second Street. Flanigan-Reed Funeral Home Inc., at 702 Fifth Street, would have been at the intersection with Pearl Street. The fans the local funeral homes provided the churches.
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Post by EC on Apr 5, 2005 20:31:39 GMT -5
Part 3
Starched shirt collars, cuffs and around button holes. The powdered starch was mixed with water and then hot water was added, or it was cooked until it was mixed. The cuffs, collars and the button hole side of the front was then dipped into the starch mixture and dried before being ironed. Sprinkling the clothes before ironing, with a stopper in a soft drink bottle. The early steam irons. The first spray-on starch. The first soft marshmallow in a Jar. Pennant brand syrup. All were produced by Union Starch & Refining Company, a local Company. The early home ironing machines that had a revolving tube that moved your clothes past the heated iron. The early electric frying pans. The early toaster ovens. Hamilton Manufacturing Corporation moving from 1501-1531 Cottage to the current State Street and Gladstone Avenue location. V. E. Sprouse Company and going there with Mrs. Gordon, “the sandwich lady”, at break or lunch time. The building of Grandview Lake. The Post Office at Seventh and Washington. Black Linament, or was it Black Liniment? I think the Diamond Brand was sold by The H. C. Whitmer Company that was on Fifth Street. Columbus Process Company. Columbus Process Company fire. Joseph Kroot Company at First and Jackson Streets. Franklin Ice Cream Store at 302 Washington Street.. Ruby’s Drive In and Restaurant. Fleetwood’s Shell Service Station. Omar Bakeries home delivery and the twin loaf they sold. I loved grandma’s peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with those fold over loaves. Booher’s Pastry Shop at 1453 Washington Street. Newby’s Ice Cream Store. State Street Variety Store at 1952 State Street. Suburban Grill at State Street and Illinois Avenue. Reeves Tractor Sales on State Street east of Gladstone Avenue. The Root Beer stand, and the big barrel, on the Northeast corner of State Street and Gladstone Avenue Sammy’s Root Beer Stand at Ohio and Oak Streets and the frozen mugs they used. Strietelmeire’s DX Service Station on the Southeast corner of State and Gladstone The Hamilton employees that got a ride there and purchased The Evening Republican, that allowed me to collect for 10 or so papers in only one stop. Columbus Roller Rink at 223 Fourth Street. The Roller Rink, in the tent at Illinois and Gladstone Avenue. The Armory at 640 Franklin Street. Hamiliton Ice Rink when the ice was outside. Kirgan Bicycle Shop at 821 Sixteenth Street. Butler Kist Bottling Company at 816 Jackson Street. WCSI Studios on Third Street. When car radios had only AM. Clear Channel Stations. Bouncing Bill Baker on WIBC 1070. How did his ditty go? Something about massaging the modulations? Turn over so you don’t burn, was WIBC’s reminder all summer days. Was it every 10 or 15 minutes? Sock hops. King’s Taxi at 402 Jackson Street. White Star bus running from Madison. Oris E. Stam Concrete Block plant on Twenty-Second Street between Cherry and Elm Streets. The Lindsay Company at 430 Washington Street. Columbus Boy’s Club at 506 Fifth Street. The First Christian reflecting pool at 531 Fifth Street. Butler Confectionery at 702 Chestnut Street. The Bicycle track on South Hinman Street. Columbus Brass & Aluminum Company on Hope Avenue and the fire. The Belvedere Hotel at 428 Third Street. The Columbus Hotel at 621 Jackson Street. The Hotel St. Denis at 432 Washington Street. First National Bank at the Southeast Corner of Fourth and Washington Streets. Irwin-Union Bank at 436 Washington Street. That was the southwest corner of Fifth and Washington Streets. Justices of the Peace offices. The old Columbus-Bartholomew County Library at Fifth and Lafayette. Arvin’s metal outdoor furniture. Como Plastics Inc. At 1703 Keller Avenue and the plastic dishes and glassware they produced. We used them in our picnic basket. The popcorn and nut store at 503 Washington Street. G. C. Murphy Co and the candy counter. They sold those wonderful milk chocolate blocks. Bob-O-Link at Twenty-Fifth and US 31. Gause Café at 426 Third Street. Jiffy Lunch at 292 North Mapleton Street. The Kitchenette at 906 Twenty-Fifth Street. Lib’s Nook at 534 Washington Street. Merlin A. Lucas Sandwiches at 423 Fourth Street. Nicks Dairy Bar at US 31 and Beam Road.
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Post by EC on Apr 5, 2005 20:33:45 GMT -5
Part 4
Pine Knott Grill at 2531 Ohio Street. It was operated by Dale and Faye Deaver. Sometime in the1950's it was operated by Joe and Helen Vails. Swan Restaurant at 607 Washington Street. Taylor’s Grill at 1202 Washington Street. Wille Food Shop at 419 Fourth Street. Denny’s Drive In at US 31 and US 31A. W. W. Mooney and Sons at the west end of Fifth Street. Death Valley, which was between Mooney Tannery and the White River. The Colonial Guest House at 2117 Twenty-Fifth Street. The Southern Transportation Company Terminal on Seventh west of the railroad tracks. Newsom Trucking Company on US 31. Albert Kirts Trucking at 341 Cleveland Street. Estel F. King Trucking at 91 South Gladstone Avenue. ABC Trucking at 1636 State Street. The Fair Store at 325 Washington Street. Zucky’s Variety Store at 202 North Gladstone Avenue and the soda bar within. This fountain was where I first had a sundae with chocolate ice cream topped with marshmallow cream. Chambers Vending Service at 723 Thirteenth Street. Alva W. Philpot Welding Shop at 271 North Gladstone Avenue. Sharp Treating Company, know as The Creosote Plant, at 20 Lafayette Avenue. A & E Market at 1851 State Street and the two check out stations! Clyde C. Coles Grocery at 201 Washington Street. John Spurgeon Grocery at 291 North Gladstone Avenue. Custer’s Market at 1852 Indiana Avenue. Fruitland Market at 2041 State Street. Harry W. Henry Grocery and Gasoline on Gladstone at Seventh Streets. Roy C. Lambert Grocery at 21 South Hughes Street. Nolting’s Market at 1417 Chestnut Street. William A. Palmer Market at 1625 State Street. He also had used books and magazines. Phillips Grocery at 2052 State Street and the parrots in the back. Ricketts Self Serve at 2440 Cottage Avenue. Snyder’s Food Market at 1831 McKinley Avenue. Wally’s Market on North Mapleton at Five Points. White Star Meat Market at 440 Fourth Street. The IGA store at 1825 Central Avenue Coal yards around town. Flooding along Kerr Avenue, Pleasant Grove Avenue and Fifth Street area where Cummins Technical Center is today. Wint Lane. Lover’s Lane. When Maple Street in East Columbus was named Mapleton Street. Farmland where East High School is and everything east of it to Clifty Creek. Wehmeier Addition was there and the rest was all farmland. The coal bin in our basement. Putting ashes over the fire in the furnace at night and getting up in the morning and shaking it down and adding more coal to warm the house before everyone else got up. The thermostat was actuality a chain that would open and close the damper in the pipe between the furnace and the flue. My cousins home had a stoker and I thought that would be great in our house. Building a fire on Saturday evening so we would have warm water for our weekly Saturday night bath. Mom washing clothes on Monday mornings with a wringer washer and the tubs she used to rinse the clothes. Clothes lines strung in the basement. Changing from school clothes to play clothes every evening after school. A pitcher pump in the basement. An electric pump on the well in the basement. Our outhouse. Our first inside bathroom. The man plowing our garden with a team of horses. The strawberry patch. The glow in the sky from the fire at the storage depot at Reddington in the 1940's. Wearing clodhoppers to elementary school. Wearing black hi-top basketball shoes. Optimists Club Park on Indiana Avenue behind Fire Station Number 3. The park wasn’t locked so we used it and it’s equipment all year long. Playing basketball at the park with the well-worn surface and the thick dust on the court. Having heel plates added to my shoes. The first television show I saw at home was The Howdy Doody Show. Elvis’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Burma Shave signs. Before Interstate 65 was opened. Getting the Sears Catalog which was about one and one half inches thick. Three Pigs Barbeque on the north side of the Twenty-two hundred block of State Street, or was it the Three Little Pigs? Party phone lines before private lines were available. One phone in the house. Four digit phone numbers. Five digit numbers and then adding DR for Drexel. Jell-O molds. Slinkys.
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Post by EC on Apr 5, 2005 20:35:52 GMT -5
Part 5
How bright the stars were in the 40's and 50's. Getting under our school desk and putting our heads down. Our first freezer and the food plan that could be purchased with it. The first TV dinners. 78 records. 45 records and the player that would just play that size. 8 track tapes. Cassette tapes. I was an adult the first time I heard music on a CD. It was a demo and the first song was from Star Wars by The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and it gave me chills down my spine! The small steam train in Mill Race Park. Jon’s Hamburgers at 2222 State Street. Shoppers Fair W. T. Grant Danners The Lunch Counter in Northside Drugs in the Twenty-Fifth Shopping Center. I had lunch there many times during my junior and senior years. My brother had thirty some warts “charmed” and they stayed off. The cafeteria next to the railroad spur that crossed central into Arvins. A power mower, replacing the reel type mower with it being a lot less work. Otto Gatten telling me that when he was young, the streetcar route came out State Street and kids would grease the rails on the grade between Rio and Hinman Streets. The operator would then need to clean the rails before he could complete his route. Flat top and tuck tail haircuts. We paid extra for a flat top style cut. It was a big day when I was old enough for the barber to shave around my ears and neck. S & H Green Stamps Top Value Stamps
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nanc
HCI Forum Board Member
Posts: 73
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Post by nanc on Apr 6, 2005 7:55:01 GMT -5
Oh, my goodness----what memories, EC, and loved every single one!!!!!!!!!! And thank you, as you did answer my prior question about "The Pine Knot." The minute I saw the names----that was it!!!! I could picture it all in my mind, but the names were just not there. And really, I do have a life besides sitting at this computer recalling Columbus memories, but whoa, this is so much fun. You really triggered a ton of other memories for me. And I will have to decide what I want to "tackle" next. Please, please, keep posting, love it!!! Nanc
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Post by David Sechrest on Apr 6, 2005 16:09:25 GMT -5
First of all.. .. EC! Thanks for sharing so much! I'm going to have to take one thing at a time The round house and turntable at the west end of Fourth Street.
I've heard stories about this, but I don't ever recall seeing it. A friend of mine told me he took part in tearing all this stuff out. This is something I sure would like to get a picture of to post to the website. As best to anyone's memories, where on 4th was it located? Was it on past Lindsay? Also, while we're talking about trains: Two things-- 1) I didn't have the opportunity to "remember" seeing a steam locomotive in Columbus. I remember all the diesels with the Pennsylvania Railroad logo on the side. We called them work engines. 2) When I first got off the train at my duty station in Germany, there, billowing away in full glory, was a steam engine. It was quite a rush for this "kid" of 21, and I stood for a half hour, enthralled and amazed by the site.
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nanc
HCI Forum Board Member
Posts: 73
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Post by nanc on Apr 7, 2005 8:25:32 GMT -5
Well, EC, you gave us so many choices of things to recall. It really is a puzzlement to choose just one. But...... Stadler's meat packing plant and stockyard. The plant was within walking distance of Wilson Jr. High, for and with some Jr. High class, we made a field trip there to be shown the plant. Was a ton of fun, as you had time to chat with friends walking to and fro. Once there------it was a revelation to my eyes and my stomach when I learned about the "skins" on the delicious hot dogs that we roasted over an open fire many times at Saddle Club and Trail Blazer weinie roasts!!!! Yep, they made use of all the body parts, including the intestines! Took me a long time to finally decide to overlook that fact and continue to enjoy the wonderful hot dogs. Now the butchers there must have still had a lot of 'kid' in them yet----these dear souls gave the boys handfuls of eyeballs as "tokens of their visit." And boys being boys-----en route back to school, they would walk in front of the girls, drop an eyeball, and then step on it! Squish!!! And of course, we "entertained" them with lots of shrieks and screams!!! While thinking of Stadlers. Mrs, Stadler approached my dad at O'Bryan's jewelry store and was interested in purchasing a diamond for her husband to be put in a ring. The deal was made and the ring mounted. Remember my dad saying that it was the biggest diamond he had ever sold up to that point. Knowing my dad as well as I did, I can just hear him telling Mrs. Stadler that her husband should just put it on and wear it, and enjoy it. No enjoyment if one put it in a safety deposit box, wearing it just for special occasions. And wear it, Mr. Stadler did. Even out in the stockyards, at the gate where the cows were herded through the mud. Oops! Mr. Stadler lost the diamond out of his ring, right there!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mrs. Stadler took it upon herself to march right out into the mud, and search for the diamond through one handful of mud at a time. And yes, she did find it!!!!! I believe she did encourage Mr. Stadler to leave the ring at home if he was planning to oversee the cattle again. ;D Have thought of that story over and over in my lifetime being brought up in a jewelry store. Many is the time that a small stone "has gotten away" from my dad, and it was my chore to search for it. Down on my hands and knees searching the floor and the nearby trash can. Much as I hated that chore, I could only thank my lucky stars that I wasn't searching in the mud like Mrs. Stadler did! Horses again, and was just recalling this story with a Columbus friend yesterday, as we talked about Brown Co. and the park. The Saddle Club members would rent a stock truck from Stadler's on a weekend. They would load up, perhaps 20 members' horses and head to Brown Co. State Park to ride the trail system there. Ah, truly a great ride, and one I miss here in So. California. The drive, as you know, went over hill and dale. My mom always drove a car behind the truck in case of an emergency, and it seems that several of the men actually rode in the truck, sitting astride the slat sides to watch for possible problems with the horses. Going up one hill, a horse lost its footing and went down. Now that created huge chaos with the other horses. I remember being so scared. For whatever reason, the ponies were loaded last. I was crying and crying for fear that my "Teddy" was going to be hurt through all this commotion. Remember my dad telling me that "Teddy" was a "trooper" and holding up all the rest of the horses while the problem was corrected. Am sure the last thing he needed at that moment was an hysterical daughter! And Brown Co. stories are left for another day!!! Nanc
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Post by EC on Apr 8, 2005 16:13:16 GMT -5
My History Part 1
Hello again. I’ve been working on this for weeks or is it months! You saw my list last week. I wrote that list while thinking about what I could add to this board. Part of that list and what I’ll be posting have already been entered by you. However, my memories of those topics may take us down another path. We’ll see!
I was born during the last quarter of 1941 in East Columbus, Indiana. I spent my early years in East Columbus. The History of Bartholomew County Indiana Volume II states that East Columbus was annexed by the City of Columbus on May 20, 1946. However, it wasn’t until a remonstrance went through the court system and the Indiana Supreme Court ruled for the city in 1949, that five-thousand people were added to the population of Columbus.
Were we poor? I don’t recall thinking in terms of rich or poor. We lived with what we had. I think everyone did back then. Now don’t get me wrong. I knew we didn’t live in a big house, but I don’t recall thinking “I wish I could be rich.” Was it my youth or the times in which I was raised?
Sunday was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy day. Most weeks a live chicken was purchased on Saturday and dressed out by my parents. I can still see the chickens hanging from the clothes line by their feet. I also can smell the feathers after the chicken was dipped in the boiling water. If my brother and I were home, we helped pluck the feathers.
After coming home from Sunday church, my mother began the Sunday dinner. For the rest of us, it was time for the Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye show on the floor model Philco radio. I can still hear the base rattle the speaker on that radio! Was that sound produced by a bass fiddle? I haven’t seen anyone playing a bass fiddle in a long time. My father played the piano and the saxophone. I am told that he played in a band, but I don’t have any recollections of that band. As I recall, we spent a lot of time listening to music on that radio. Your Hit Parade, Fred Warring and the Pennsylvanians and Spike Jones are a few that come to mind.
We attended church and Sunday school every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening and a Sunday school class party once a month. Dress on Sunday for the males was coat, tie and hat. The ladies were also dressed for the occasion and that included stockings with the seam down the back. They were sold two in a package, one for each leg. That seam had to be straight and she most likely wore a girdle. The ladies also wore gloves and a hat with a lot of them including a veil and earrings. In those days we didn’t see many pierced ears. Her purse hung from her arm, not her shoulder. I believe the first time I saw a purse with a shoulder strap was in the mid fifties when a member who was a Navy nurse, was home on leave.
Did we see advertising in church? You bet. Remember the hand fans with the funeral home names on the back. Those fans were certainly needed on those pre air-conditioned summer days! It had to be very HOT, before we were allowed to remove our jacket.
Saturday suppers were sandwiches. By the way, dinner was the middle meal and supper was the evening meal. Hamburgers and made at home fries were served often. Sometimes, it was sweet rolls and lunch meat. Mom would slice the sweet roll and put the meat and cheese on the bottom half of the roll. She would then put the icing side against the cheese which kept the icing off our fingers. I still have this type of sandwich today. With the sour of the meat and the sweet of the roll it’s a sweet & sour meal.
Saturday was also the day we were allowed to drink a soda pop. Most meals we drank milk that was delivered to the door in a glass quart bottle. Do you remember shaking the bottle to mix the cream that had risen to the top? Water or cold sweetened tea was another option. Another treat my mother and her mother served at supper was fresh side with wilted lettuce. As I understand it, fresh side is bacon before the meat is smoked. Another evening meal was bean soup, and the beans came in a bag not a jar. Those beans were always soaked overnight and cooked for hours the next day. Other options were meat loaf, and a lot of fried beef, pork and fish. Mom used a lot of Crisco, but I don’t recall seeing Lard in the house often. We ate pies and cakes that were made from scratch. The extra pie dough was sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar baked and eaten as a snack. That was a special treat! Some pies and cakes were purchased at stores or bakeries. I certainly enjoyed the three layer chocolate pound cakes and the three or three and one half inch Blue Bird pies. The three layer coconut pound size cake wasn’t bad either!
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nanc
HCI Forum Board Member
Posts: 73
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Post by nanc on Apr 8, 2005 17:16:29 GMT -5
Hi to all, and EC, not only did you take us "down a path," but gave us the road map! Loved the memories. AND for me, you have clarified a nightly occurance in my life now when you wrote: By the way, dinner was the middle meal and supper was the evening meal. , as every evening I call my mom, now age 93, and in the process ask how her dinner was, and always, ALWAYS, she corrects me, and says, "You mean "supper?" In my head, I thought dinner and supper meant the same!!! I stand corrected by you both. ;D At my church, First Christian, I recall the hand fans AND on some of those back rows, the little long handled gadgets that the hearing impaired used. And the dear lady that always sat in front of us with a fur draped around her shoulders, complete with a head (of a mink?) and its beady, glass brown eyes staring right at me! And to keep a young kid quiet, did your mom ever make "twins in a cradle" out of a hankie, to keep you entertained? Yes, a hankerchief was a must, your mom tied your Sunday School money in the corner. I wish I could be as organized as you, EC, in collecting my thoughts. Mine seem so disjointed in comparison. Your comment about purchased bakery goods sent me down another "path." Often, in my lifetime, people have asked me, "How in the world did your family afford to have horses?" Know my dad responded, "Well, I don't have a boat, and I don't drink." And that was true. But in thinking about it, and knowing what the upkeep to have horses today is, I, as an adult, have to add. We "worked" to have them. During the winter Daddy would buy day old bread at Sap's for a penny a loaf, perhaps filling the whole back seat of the car in one trip. He would toss the bread into the hay mow, and it would freeze, and remain fresh. He used this bread to supplement the horse feed. The "work" part came probably sometime in November, after the corn had been harvested. Daddy had permission, from the Marr family, I'm sure, to "glean" their corn fields. Armed with gunny sacks, and dressed warmly, as "the frost was definitely on the pun-kin," we walked the rows of harvested corn searching for the stray ear that had been missed. Not too bad when you started out, but the bag got really heavy before we got back to the car to start another bag. Know that when I convinced my dad to trailer along my horse, I found the job more bearable, with a bag over each side of my horse, the job became a whole lot easier. ;-) In the summer months the horses grazed in the pasture field and I don't recall that we supplemented their feed much then. Summer was also when Daddy purchased several ton of hay from a local farmer, brought in several loads, and stored in our hay mow. And always, for several days after a delivery, Daddy would check for "heat" within the stacked hay, fortunately only recall once when we were out in the barn, feverishly moving bales of hay to prevent a fire. And do you recall, along those same lines, when a barn out in the country would burn----spontaneous combustion was the demon. That was when I learned the meaning of "bucket brigade" as people, from near and far, would come to form a line passing buckets of water to fight the fire. In my mind, I can still see the line of people on the horizon, silhouetted against the blazing barn. I really must save the rest for another day. ;D Nanc
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Post by EC on Apr 9, 2005 19:25:00 GMT -5
TEXT My History Part 2 Soda Pop came in glass bottles, and the cost was a Nickel. The Coke brand came in six-ounce bottles and had the name of the bottling plant city in raised letters on the bottom of the bottle. Pepsi and most other brands came in twelve-ounce bottles. Big Red was called Cream Soda and was bottled by Barq’s. Barq’s also sold Orange and Grape Soda. Those bottles had a checkered pattern in the glass. Was it Nehi that had the bright yellow slightly sour Lemon drink? What was the name of the Chocolate Soda that you had to shake before opening? I still see RC Cola. It’s been years since I’d seen Double Cola. Last year, I discovered it is being sold in Columbus. Didn’t Double Cola give us an extra kick? Also, I think it came in sixteen-ounce bottles. Did you pour your five-cent bag of Planters Peanuts into your bottle of cola? I did, and the salt changed the taste of the first few drinks. I’d seen the big boys doing that. Some of the nuts always stuck to the bottom of the bottle. The big boys tilted their heads back, held the bottle upright, and knocked those nuts off the bottom of the bottle. The first time I tried doing that, I thought I had loosened my front teeth! If we had the money, we could visit the neighborhood grocery and get a cold bottle of pop from a water filled cooler for a nickel. Before refrigeration the water was chilled with ice. The top of those coolers was hinged in the middle. The customer raised one end of the lid and picked out the brand/flavor they wanted. If they didn’t see the desired brand they moved to the other end and raised that lid. If the machine had been filled recently, you could get a warm drink. An opener was mounted on the front of the machine. A cover was over the opener and had a cup that caught the cap. If that cup was full, the cap rolled across the floor. We hooked the cap in the opener and pushed the bottle downward. Did you ever take a close look at any of those? I don’t think the Health Department ever inspected some of the openers I took a look at! Hostess Twinkies, Cup Cakes, Snow Balls and Banana Flips was a nickel also. With that nickel, we got two Twinkies, Cup Cakes and Snow Balls. Wasn’t one of those Snow Balls white and the other pink? At some point in time, the price per package was raised to six cents and then to seven. Speaking of snacks, do you remember Gordon and Chesty potato chips and pretzels? Refrigeration brought the coin operated machines and that changed the penny price increases. I don’t think the machines were ever designed to accept pennies, just silver. Thus, we came to accept the nickel price increase when making a purchase from a machine! They solved the warm drink problem by building coin operated machines with slots that ran from end to end across the top of the machine. These machines had one slot on one end that ran from the front to the back. This slot was on the end where the coin mechanism was mounted. The customer would lift the lid which was hinged in the back and choose his brand, put his money into the mechanism, slide his choice into the dispensing slot which had a cam style arm. If the correct number of coins was in the coin box, the lock was released. As you pulled the drink up, the bottom of the arm blocked the entrance to keep a second bottle from being pulled from the machine at the same time. The opposite end would open for the store employee to reload the machine. If the employees kept it filled, the theory of last in was the last out, the problem of receiving a warm bottle was solved! Engineering to the rescue again! Remember the Wonder bread ad? These ads said Wonder bread built your body eight ways? The Colonel bread man said if you ate Wonder bread, it built your body eight weird ways! Another bakery brand was Omar. Omar delivered their products door to door. One of my grandmothers used the double loaf Omar bread and she made the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. One slice folded over was just the right snack size. I remember hobo’s knocking on the back door at meal time. If dad was home, he was served food in a tin pie pan. I don’t remember them eating inside, just on the back step. If dad was gone, Mother, my brother and I hid in the pantry! After we installed an inside bathroom, we still had a pantry in the end of the bathroom. Yes, we had an outhouse before we installed the inside bath. During our early years, our bedtime regime was to get our pajamas on and then have a slice of bread that was broken into pieces, placed in a glass and then milk was poured into the glass. We used a spoon to get the bread and drank the remaining milk. My wife says that she and her brother also had a spoonful of sugar with their bread and milk. In the pre air-conditioned warm summer nights we headed to the front porch swing with Dad, and sang after eating/drinking our bread and milk. I never did understand “heat lightening” which we saw while sitting on that swing! When my brother and I were older, nearing our early teen years, we slept in a tent in our back yard most of the summer. The tent was six feet by eight and we used three folding cots. Friends stayed with us often. We had four in the tent if the fourth guy had a cot or some means to sleep on the ground in the center aisle. If it rained, we had damp bedding, however a storm would force us inside. We didn’t sleep-in as the dark brown canvas turned that tent into an oven after the sun came up. The outhouse and a garbage bin were in the back yard next to the alley. The garbage bin was made of cement blocks and was about three feet tall with an opening on the alley side. A metal trash container was inside the bin for garbage from the kitchen. Paper was burned in a burning barrel next to the bin. Coal ashes from the furnace and green garden waste were placed on the floor of the bin. When the truck came, they would shovel the waste from the floor into the truck. In the summer months, someone would spray the bins in an attempt to control the flies and mosquito population. I’m thinking the Health Department must have done the spraying. In the fall the leaves were raked into piles next to the street, and then burned.
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nanc
HCI Forum Board Member
Posts: 73
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Post by nanc on Apr 10, 2005 7:37:10 GMT -5
Hi to all, and here with another memory. (I see that I made it into two. ;D) Anyone remember the "donkey basketball games" down at the Pearl Street gym? Am fairly certain that these were sponsored by the Lion's Club. A truck load of donkeys were brought in, am assuming they were rented for the evening through some enterprising proprietor. They arrived at the site in a big truck with lots of writing on it, advertising the "contents." Their feet were covered to protect the gym floor. And then the chaotic evening of fun began. Am pretty sure that Lion's Club members composed one team, and played against some other organization in town. Know that Liz Hennessey, my next door neighbor and older than me by several years, and quite an artist, painted shirts for my dad's team. And the design---well, of all things, it was pictures of pin-up girls in various poses! Tickets were sold for this money making event, and the gym was always packed to capacity. It was surely an evening full of hysterical laughter, as the men attempted to score a basket from the back of a stubborn donkey. Remember laughing til my sides hurt at all the 'goings on' on the basketball court. It surely must have been an event fraught with the chance of injuries, but have no recollection of that happening. I recall that this event went on for several years. And much to my surprise, a similar event was sponsored here in So. Cal back in the late 70s at a local high school. And it was, indeed, as much fun then as I had remembered from my youth. Sort of along those same lines, does anyone remember Saddle Club members putting on exhibition games of "broomstick polo" out at the fairgrounds? (Might have had some games at the Saddle Club grounds, as well.) For polo sticks, the men used brooms with the bristles cut down very short. It was not nearly as funny to watch as donkey basketball, and definitely seemed to be more dangerous. Know that my dad had to leave a game in a hurry to go to the hospital, as he got hit in the head with a broomstick and had to have stitches as a result. Nanc
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Post by EC on Apr 11, 2005 18:28:47 GMT -5
My History Part 3
I was in High School when I ate my first baked potato. We left school early for a game at Jeffersonville, and had lunch at The Gause Café which was at 426 Third. We were served a baked potato and I had to watch the guys around me to learn how to eat it! We rode on a Trailways Bus on that trip and coming home the bus was in an accident. None of I-65 was open and we traveled to Jeffersonville on US 31. Around midnight, the driver was passing a slower car and then slowed quickly to stop when he saw the railroad crossing signs for the Madison Branch Tracks. Those tracks crossed the road north of Whipker’s Market. When he moved back into the right lane, he hadn’t cleared the car he passed and it must have been bumper to bumper as I don’t think we waited for the Sheriff or State Police. Needless to say we were a little late returning to the gym that night.
Another late return was when the team traveled in a Lepperd Bus to Rushville and it broke down before we left Rushville for the return trip. They put us in taxies and took us to Greensburg. We ate at a restaurant on the town square while waiting for a bus from Columbus. I think it was where Storey’s is located today. The driver of the cab I was in told us his cab was operated with LP gas. Until then I thought all car engines ran on gasoline. The first time I saw a single dill pickle in a sealed plastic tube was on a road trip. I think it was at the New Castle Gym and I bought one during the Dog’s game.
In 1957 or 1958 the Harlem Magicians or Globetrotters were playing at Memorial Gym. The coaches told us that practice would be shortened that evening. They must have arrived early, because they came in before the coaches were ready to stop practice. After each practice, the forwards and centers had to touch the rim on the four practice goals along the side of the main court a certain number of times before we could go in and shower. As soon as we left the game floor, they started shooting. Some left their coats on and some dropped their coat on top of their gym bag. They took shots from all over the court. Center court, both sides, it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter from where they took the shot, most of the time it was RIP! A few shots were missed, but most went through the net without hitting any rim.
I went home, did my homework, ate supper and returned to the gym for the game. My brother has told me that Goose Tatum and Marcus Haynes were in that game. I don’t think the show today is much different from that game. Mentioning the shower after practice reminds me about the trainer’s Hot Rub. The upperclassmen had an initiation ceremony for the underclassmen that involved “Hot Rub!” If you participated in sports at CHS, you’ll no doubt remember that initiation ritual.
My first bicycle was a used 26 inch and I must have been nine or ten. My brother and I shared that first bicycle. It was a cold Christmas day and I couldn’t wait to ride it. Two blocks from home I turned to the edge of the street to turn around, hit a patch of ice and crashed! I don’t think stores sold 24 inch bikes in those days. I remember the Schwinn brand had one model that had a spring on the gooseneck and it would glide over the bumps. I always wanted one of those, but never did have one. When I was older, one of my bikes had a carrier on the back. I had a lot of fun with that as I could do a wheelie easily and stay up for a long time. My friends and I rode our bikes all over town. We rode around the tracks at the Twenty-Fifth Street fairgrounds. We rode to Donner Pool and down Gladstone Avenue almost to 400 South to work putting up hay. We rode near Mineral Springs to squirrel hunt and south of Elizabethtown to the grandparents of a friend to swim in their farm pond. After riding back to town, we needed another cool down! After the Hell Drivers had made their annual appearance at the fair, we would use our bikes to jump ramps and try to replicate their show. After a week of doing that it was time to get our spoke wrenches out and try to straighten our wheels. In the mid fifties my brother and I got our first thin tired bike with gears. It was English made with three gears and hand brakes.
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Post by EC on Apr 12, 2005 17:19:49 GMT -5
My History Part 4 When I was old enough to have a paper route, my bike had a big basket over the front wheel. I recall riding West bound on State Street on my way downtown to pay my paper bill and then pick up my papers. When I got in front of The Midway Barber Shop, some fellow opened his car door as I was passing. The Midway Barber Shop was on the North side of State Street across from The Coffman Drug Store. That big basket was nearly as wide as my handlebars and State Street was two lanes at that time so there was not any extra room between passing traffic and the parked cars. Talk about a quick stop! I had it that day. I had a cut on my forehead and my chin where I hit the edge of his door. He asked about me and I was OK, but the door on his new Oldsmobile groaned when he tried to shut it.
The Evening Republican was located at 444 Fifth Street. That address was at the Northwest corner of Fifth and Franklin Streets and we picked up our papers there. The paper was printed in the late afternoon Monday thru Saturday. We paid our bills in the newspaper office until they told the carriers to get a savings account at the bank. After that we paid our bills at the bank.
We were told the time to be there for the press run. I can remember “Nick” whose name was Willis Hobard Nichols. He was the supervisor of carriers. He had other work as well. I recall him bringing a thin, stiff cardboard sheet with dents in it into that room. Nick placed it in a hollow cylinder. Well it had to be two cylinders as he then opened a valve and ran lead into the cavity. After it cooled somewhat, he removed this sleeve which had the letters, numbers and pictures on its surface. Nick then slid it onto an arbor and lowered a cutter, and using both hands to operate the cranks, he rotated the cylinder as well as moving it sideways. This action made the lead chips fly as he trimmed the round lead cylinders. His cranking cleared the area that became the newspaper’s margins. When he was finished, he took that cylinder into the press room.
We used the room on the Northeast corner of the building and the press was in a room just West of the room we used. A short time after Nick took his last cylinder to the press room the press started a test run. If Nick didn’t come out to make a new cylinder, we knew we could then start to line up to get our papers when the press started again. Herb Hoeltke worked in the afternoons and he got the first papers that came off the press. Those copies were mailed to customers who lived out of town. He loaded his papers into a trailer the paper had attached to a bicycle and took those to the Post Office which was on Washington at Seventh Streets. As we got to the front of the line, we told the press man how many papers we needed. The press left the corner of every fiftieth paper sticking out so the press man didn’t need to make a complete count, just the odd numbers! We then took our papers to the large tables and got our papers ready for our routes.
Most paperboys blocked their papers. The papers came off the press folded once from top to bottom as they are today when you buy one at a store or one of the paper boxes along a street. To block a paper we did the following. We put the press fold toward us with the top of the front page down, then using both hands we folded both sides in. You then had a paper in front of you that was one third of the width of the front page. We then folded it three times and then we slipped the top part of the paper into the pocket that was formed when we did the last tri-fold. We then had a rectangular block that had a fold on each side and could be thrown from the middle of the street to the porch on both sides of the street! Without the fold on each side, the paper would try to balloon out and fall short when thrown. If the customer wanted his paper in their street side mailbox, you could slow down and ride by with the blocked paper between your little fingers, open the mailbox with your thumb and forefinger, flip the paper into the box and close the door as you rode past. Sometimes if I hadn’t slowed enough I’d need to turn around and pass the mailbox the second time. Most of the time I was successful on the first pass!
The second route I passed included Elmer Strietelmeier’s DX Service Station at the Southeast corner of State and Gladstone. This was before the newspaper started routes in the country and some of the Hamilton Manufacturing Co. employee’s car pooled. Their rides picked them up at the DX station and some bought a paper while waiting on their ride. Therefore, I had several customers with one stop. We had to collect each week and Mr. Strietelmeier paid me. I loved making one stop to collect several customers. I also knew when he was open and therefore didn’t need to make a second attempt to collect! Yes, I had one of those metal change makers hanging from my belt. I wore it while collecting on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.
The paper office didn’t want the carriers stopping while passing the paper, but that was the only time you could find some customers home. I always had my receipt book and enough change with me so I could collect if I found someone home that had been absent on Friday evening or Saturday morning! When I moved to my second route, I lost a lot of money when I couldn’t get all of the customers collected. The paper wasn’t any help as we were independent business men! The kid that took that route over never did pay me any of the money that the customers owed me. That money was my profit as we had to pay our bill even when our customers had not paid us. I was also the sub on a route and was going to take that route over because he had almost twice the number of customers than my old route. I was looking forward to the extra money and knew what I wanted to buy! Well at that time the paper decided that two hundred and thirty some customers were too large and divided the route; so I didn’t gain many customers and may have lost a few, but it was near home so I no longer had to pedal across town to collect! I did buy, among other things, a cartridge powered b-b pistol, camera, 22 rifle and saved enough’ to buy my first car, a 1950 Ford.
That camera came with a flash attachment. Do you remember flashbulbs and blue tipped flashbulbs? Today, I wish I knew where those pictures are. At that time in my life most likely I didn’t take pictures of buildings, but I may have accidently taken some! I’m sure the Log and Triangle had a photographer on staff and I wonder if any pictures exist that weren’t used in those publications.
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nanc
HCI Forum Board Member
Posts: 73
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Post by nanc on Apr 12, 2005 17:32:54 GMT -5
Hi, and EC, so glad you put in the newspaper memories. I have "attempted" to show my girls, in the past, how the newspapers were folded. I came close. Now they can read an "official" account. Someone out there recall that the newspaper carriers earned a trip to Washington D.C.? I think that was probably in Jr. High, and I know several went on that trip and think their experiences may have been written up in the newspaper. Sure loving your memories. Nanc ;-)
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Margo CHS Class of 55
HCI Forum Board Member
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind; it doesn't matter.
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Post by Margo CHS Class of 55 on Apr 14, 2005 12:56:01 GMT -5
Just some memories from the "Old Days" I enjoy reading from time to time, and thought I would place it here. Margo McCalip Hughey CHS Class of '55 Be honest with whom you are and say what you feel , because those who matter won't mind, and those who mind don't matter. " Hey MOM," one of my kids asked the other day , "what was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?" "We didn't have fast food when I was growing up," I informed him. "All the food was slow." We ate at a place called 'at home,' " I explained. " Your Grandma McCalip cooked every day and when Grandpa got home from work at Moonery Tannery, we sat down together at the kitchen table. If I didn't like what she put on my plate ,I was allowed to sit there until I did like it . That is, if there was any left by then. I had two older brothers and most of the time there was nothing left " I quickly learned to like antyhing and everything! Some parents NEVER owned their own house, NEVER wore Levis, NEVER set foot on a golf course, NEVER traveled out of the country or had a credit card. In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card. The cards were good only at Sears Roebuck, or Montgomery Wards. Or maybe it was Sears AND Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died. No Montgomery Wards ,either. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow). We didn't have a television in our house then, but my girlfriend, Kay Pankow had one. Her father was the manager for the Gamble Store on Washington Street, and tested everything new that came out It was of course, black and white, and they bought a piece of colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue, like the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third was red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding across someone's lawn on a sunny day. I was 18 before I tasted my first pizza, it was called "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had. We didn't have a car until I was 15. Before that, the only car in our family was my Uncle Arthur Ketner's touring car. He lived in Indianapolis and would drive down once a month on the weekends to take us four girls, and the kids from "The Children's Home" for a ride. Ford. He called it a "machine." I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know, weren't already using the line. We had one old lady that loved to listen on other people's conversations. I realize now she was very lonely, and this was her contact with the world outside her home. Pizzas were never delivered to our home on 5th and California Streets, but milk and ice were. All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers, or so it seemd. Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies at the Rio, and that was very seldom. Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing and they didn't do that in COWBOY movies. I don't know what they did in French movies. French movies were dirty and we weren't allowed to see them. If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may wish to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren, they need to be aware of your personal History. Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it? MEMORIES from a friend: My Dad was cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to "sprinkle" clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Myself, I also remember the blue starch MOM used to cook on the stove to dip the clean washed clothes in before hanging out side on the clothesline. All of our "dress clothes" were pressed as this was before the day of "permanent press". Most clothes had to be pressed with an iron that seemed to weigh 2 lbs when you started and 50 lbs before you finished !! I couldn't wait to grow into my teens, but then I was old enough to help with the ironing. YUK !! I had these browsings sent to me, and found I remember thenm all ! MAN, I must be OLD ! How many do you remember? Head lights dimmer switches on the floor. Ignition switches on the dashboard. Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall. Real ice boxes, and the cardboard sign that hung in the window to let the ice man know how much you needed. Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards. Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner. Using hand signals for cars without turn signals !!! Blackjack chewing gum, Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water and candy cigarettes we could get at Nagel's Bookstore on 5th and Washington. Walking to down 5th street to First Baptist Church on Franklin Street, and hoping to step on "the Magic Button " in front of the Chirstian Church to start the bells chiming. Doing all of our shooping at the A&P store, on Washington Street , and remembering that we had to carry it home, afterwards. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles, the Bob-o-link with tableside juke boxes, Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers. Newsreels before the movie at the Rio Theatret. My telephone number " 5646 " through the 40's and 50's. Do you remember yours ? Peashooters that shot dried green peas that stung like the dickens if you were hit ! Also watching "the Ed Sullivan Show" from the floor of the Pankow's living room, the old Victrola that was a treat to crank at my Grandmother's home on 9th and California, S&H Green Stamps kept carefully in a book, trying to crack open a frozen metal ice tray with levers that sometiimes sent ice shattering across the kitchen, Roller skate keys that hung from around your neck with an old shoe lace, and wash tub wringers that you cranked by hand before hanging the wet clothes on the back yard clothesline. Then you hoped they blew dry before any birds pooped on them. I might be old, but those memories are some of the best parts of my life. HOW ABOUT YOU ===== "Senility Prayer"...God grant me... The senility to forget the people I never liked, ( very few) ,the good fortune to run into the ones that I do( in great abundance) And the eyesight to tell the difference." Thank you, Lord, for your many Blessings over the years. It has been good growing up in Columbus,IN Margo McCalip Hughey born in the late 30's and has survived, and thoroughly enjoyed the teenage years with my three sisters, Sheila, Leanna, and Linda,and the" 5th Street Bunch" in Columbus
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