Wood Stove Heating
In contrast to my post of yesterday I will write about the opposite problem of temperatures. When I was a kid many years ago we didn't have central heating in our home. Most people didn't in the South. We had a wood stove that was in one room and that is where we spent most of our time during the day. Of course at night we would let the fire go out because we were in bed and the covers kept us warm.Whoever was up first in the morning built the fire in the stove to get the house warmed up, or at least the room the stove was in. There was also a wood burning stove in the kitchen to cook on and it helped to warm the rest of the house.Most of the time my Dad would be the one who made the fire in the morning and he would make it and then get back in bed for a few minutes until the room warmed up. I remember one time, to make it easier in the morning my Dad put all of the kindling and wood to make the fire in the stove that night before he went to bed. Apparently he did not notice a small ember of fire in the bottom of the stove. Sometime during the night that ember caught fire and all the kindling and wood burned up and when he got up in the morning all that was left in the stove were the ashes from the fire he had laid! What a bummer!I remember hating it if I had to get up before the house was warmed up. Sometimes I would read the Sunday newspaper in bed and my arms would freeze holding the paper. I often thought that if I could I would have the whole house warm all the time.My Mom lived to 101 years old and until the day she left her own home and entered a nursing home, at 93, she would let the fire die out-- or turn her heat off when she later got a gas heating stove --at night and sleep in a cold house. She liked that!Now most people down South do have central heating. But I am sure there are a few who may still use wood heating and do not heat the house at night-- mainly to save money. I hated the cold back then and I still do. We arranged to do our visiting to my Mother's place during the summer or at least when it was not extremely cold because we did not like sleeping in a cold place..Not only did my parents have to contend with a cold house much of the time, they also had to make sure they had wood on hand all the time for burning in the wood stove. I say contend, but I don't think they considered it contending with a problem, they liked it that way. I also must add that the winters are not as long or as cold as they are here in Indiana. But it was cold and uncomfortable to sleep in an unheated house even in the south!
Now, my furnace keeps my whole house the same temperature 24 hours a day and I really appreciate my comfortable, warm home. I often remember those cold nights I spent when I was a child.
It Was Hot!
Can you imagine taking a 1,000 mile trip in the hottest months of the summer and through the hottest part of the country without air conditioning in your car? We did that many times back in the olden days before air conditioning became available.We made the trip from Indiana to Texas many times before we had an air conditioned car. Some of that time we had children traveling with us. Most of the time we went when the children were out of school, usually in July or August, when it was extremely hot in Texas and in the several other southern states between Indiana and Texas. Traveling at night would have made more sense because it would have been cooler then. But we did it during the day because that was when the children were used to being awake. We would get windburn from the wind blowing into the car with the windows open. It was impossible to ride with windows closed because of the heat. Many times we would stop for a bag of ice and use it to rub on our faces and arms. We always had a gallon thermos of water in the car and we would drink all of it before the trip was over and sometimes even stopped for refills.
Somewhere around 1960, or near then, we finally had an air conditioner installed in our car. It was a huge monstrosity which took up most of the foot room in the front seat of the car, but it was a good cooling system. We managed with that until about the late 60's when we splurged and bought a car with the already installed air conditioner. What a joy!
Our trips became luxurious after that. We never knew what we were missing until we moved on up!
These days we all take cool air for granted when we get into our cars and go somewhere. But let me tell you, it has not always been so. I really appreciate my air now when I go somewhere in the hot summer time, and then I remember those long hot trips we used to make without it!
Ideal Bread
Years ago when I was a kid living in Paris, Texas, I can remember the delightful smell coming from the Ideal Bakery. If you were within a few blocks area of the bakery you could smell that yeasty, delicious odor of the baking bread. You could buy a package of the dough and take it home and bake it yourself. It would smell good but not like the smell you got from the bakery itself. I can remember that the freshest loaf of bread that was just taken from the oven and barely allowed to cool would be so soft and was the best bread I have ever eaten. I never get bread that fresh anymore. Even if you get the latest delivery of bread it is never as soft and good as I can remember Ideal Bread being. I keep going back to the change of taste theory, but maybe that is applicable here also. The price difference is a big one. I think bread used to be probably about 10 cents a loaf and now it is close to $2.00. So we are paying $2.00 for what we used to get for 10 cents and it isn't as fresh or as good smelling as it was then. Bummer!
All Alone in a corner!
When I was in the first grade I remember that one kid in my class was a retarded boy (he should have been in a special school). I don't remember his real name but his nickname was Dub. The teacher had him in a seat that was placed in one corner of the room all by himself. I think all he ever did was copy things from books or papers. I don't remember him participating in the regular class with the rest of us. I am sure he had been in school a couple of years but was repeating the first grade. I think he must have been a couple of years older than the regular first grade student. I can remember how sorry I felt for him because he was up in this corner all by himself. As I think back on it I think he should have been in the rows with all of the other children. I don't see the point of placing him away from the other children (maybe the teacher had a point that I didn't see).He wore a policeman's uniform (a smaller child's size) for what ever reason. Maybe his Dad was a cop. He was a quiet kid and never interrupted the class. To this day I don't know what happened to Dub. I never saw him after I left that grade in school. I hope he had a good life!
Ultra Fancy!
Once, years ago, my sister and her family and my family were traveling together--either to Indiana from Texas or from Texas to Indiana, I forget which. Anyway, we stopped at a motel for the night. It was just a plain non fancy looking motel. We registered our rooms, which were very plain but clean, and were going to eat. The motel had a restaurant attached to it so we decided to eat there.
When we entered the restaurant, which was not anything out of the ordinary, we were seated at a table. There were about six of us. Then this waiter came to our table to take our order. He came around the table with a large napkin and proceeded to place it around my neck and straighten it out. I was shocked but I allowed him to place the napkin on me. Then he went to the rest of the table and did that for each one of us. My brother-in-law started laughing and it was obvious why he was laughing. I guess the waiter caught on to the laugh and he did not place a napkin on him. It was such an unlikely place to expect that kind of treatment that we all were amazed. The motel was so common and so ordinary looking that we never in a million years would have expected such a fancy restaurant to be connected to it. Actually, the restaurant was not really that fancy just by looking at it but the actions of the waiter made it seem so super fancy. I have never had a waiter put my napkin on me at any restaurant, plain or fancy!My brother-in-law could not stifle his laugh and the rest of us also were amused. I think the waiter knew we were laughing at him so he kind of steered clear of us except to do the minimum things to serve us.I guess the old saying, You can't judge a book by its cover held true for that motel and restaurant!
I'm Lost!
When I was about 4 or 5 my Dad and my Grandmother took me to town one Saturday night. They had some shopping to do and for some reason my Mother did not go with us that night. So my Grandmother and Dad were busy looking for whatever items that were on their list. We were in the Kress five and dime store, which was on a corner and had two entrances--one on each side of the store. Somehow with my Dad and Grandmother busy shopping and me being interested in everything around me, we got separated from each other. Soon I realized that I was not with them anymore and I got very excited. I began to run around looking for them and went out the one entrance and around the outside of the store to the other entrance. I was screaming, crying and running--out one entrance and in the other. Soon some people who knew me and my family saw me and took my hand and tried to calm me down. They assured me that I would be fine and they would find my Dad and Grandmother.In a couple of minutes they did find my Dad and Grandmother and I was rejoined with them. For a few minutes there I was terrified and thought it was the end of the world. If my Mother had been along with us she probably would have kept a closer eye on me. My Dad and Grandmother felt terribly bad about the whole thing and were as relieved as I was to be reunited with me. As young as I was I very vividly remember how frightened I was. The whole thing probably lasted only about 5 minutes but it was a horrible 5 minutes for me!
My Pet Peeve with Newspapers
I am annoyed to no end when I get my Sunday newspaper. I spend ten minutes getting it reorganized so I can read it in an orderly fashion. The weekday papers are not as aggravating as the Sunday Paper. I am sure they must have reasons for the way they put the paper together but I cannot fathom what they are!They--whoever puts the papers together--put all kinds of little half pages, on the sections, fold tiny inserts into the sections, fold tiny borders on the edges of the pages and pull certain pages up about two inches or so above the tops of the other pages , and sometimes even staple them that way so you can't put them down even with the other pages. It's as if they think you are not going to see those pages if they don't put them up higher above the other pages!Another annoying thing they do is put the center folds so far off center that the pages are not even. That makes it hard to hold the paper without the pages falling apart. Our TV section is folded so much off center that I can hardly use it. Why can't they just lay the pages together and center fold them and leave off all of the uneven edges, the extra folds, and dog ears? I like my papers with even edges, perfect centerfolds and without all of the small inserts that fall out when you open the paper up.If books were put together the way newspapers are I doubt many people would read them! I would like to pay them with a check that is mutilated, folded off center or maybe diagonal and has dog ears the way they do their newspapers! Do you think they would get the point? I doubt it!
How Clean is That Buffet?
I love to eat at buffets but I do have second thoughts about how clean they are. Once when we were in Las Vegas we went to a buffet at one of the nicer casinos, I think the name of it was The Mint--it was downtown, not on the Strip.The food there was really good and the price was fantastic. That was about ten or eleven years ago. I am sure the prices are much higher now. Back then if you ate before four o'clock in the afternoon it was around $2.99 for your dinner. After that it was still only about $4.99.We had filled our plates with our food and were sitting near one of the salad bars eating. A lady--I use that word loosely--was filling her plate from the bar very near us. I saw this with my own eyes--she took a hot pepper and stuck it to her tongue to see if it was hot. It was hot so she put it right back in the salad bowl with the other peppers! Can you believe that? I should have reported it to the manager but I didn't! I am sure that not many people would do a thing like that but there are some PIGS around us.So any time I eat at a buffet I think of that incident and I wonder how many tongues or fingers have touched the food I am putting on my plate. I try to eat and not think about how clean the place is or how clean the patrons are!Another thing that happened once in a restaurant we were eating in was one of the waitresses was cleaning off tables and filling salt shakers. She was wiping off a salt shaker with a dish cloth and she was working on a spot vigorously and then suddenly she stuck her tongue out and wet her finger and rubbed on the spot then polished it off with her cloth! I couldn't believe my eyes! That also should have been reported but again I failed to do the right thing. However, we did not go there again to eat. Incidents like that do more to ruin a business than any other thing. I know that a manager can't possibly see everything his workers, and patrons, do and things like that happen but the stupid people like me should report what we see to them!
Opposites Attract
There is the old saying that opposites attract. That was certainly true of my mother and daddy. My Dad was a man of very few words and my Mother was a woman of many words!My Dad talked very little--just enough to say what had to be said. My Mother was sort of a motormouth! In fact she said a lot of things for my Dad.When my mother was young she didn't talk until she was about three or four. Her tongue was tied and it hindered her being able to speak. A doctor who was checking her out told her mother that he could clip her tongue and it would solve her speech problem So he clipped her tongue and she never stopped talking after that!She was taking a pan of hot biscuits out of the oven one morning and my Dad was sitting at the table waiting for breakfast. She dropped the pan and it landed on my Dad's foot. My sister was there at the time and she said, "Oh, Daddy, did that hurt?" My Mother quickly spoke up and said. "Nah, that didn't hurt!" My sister then said, " Did it hurt, Daddy?" My Dad said, "Well, I guess it didn't, she said it didn't." Actually, it didn't really hurt him except for a minor feeling of heat at the time.My Mother often spoke up and answered a question before my Dad could even get his mouth open. My Mother never did it in an overbearing way. She just knew how my Dad was so closed mouthed and she did it to help him out.My Mother actually got my Dad a job during the depression. She went to a local judge that she knew and asked if he could get a job for my Dad. She cried a little and it worked. The judge got my Dad a job with the Texas State Highway Department and he worked there for many years after that.My Dad was a great man and he managed very well through life with his minimum talk. The world would be much better off with men like him rather than with men who can never shut up.
Car Games
When we used to take our trips when our children were small we did all we could to entertain them while traveling. We started a game, I don't know the name of it-- but I am sure it had one-- which really got us all involved.In this game a person on one side of the car kept track of his points and the person on the opposite side of the car kept track of his points. You got points for things you saw on your side of the road and lost points for certain other things on your side of the road. For instance: if you saw a black horse on your side of the road you got so many points; if you saw a church on your side of the road you got points for that; You could make up whatever things you wanted to use for points. Then you lost all of your points if you saw a cemetery on your side of the road. The things you got points for and the things you lost points for could be whatever you agreed on at the start of the game. The game could go on for the whole trip or you could make the end of a game when you got to a certain city.We made a rule that if a person missed seeing something on his side of the road that was worth points you could get the points for yourself if you saw it and declared it before he did. It was very discouraging when you built up a good point score and then saw a cemetery on your side of the road and lost all of your points.It was a very entertaining game and it kept our children, as well as us, involved and it made the travel time go much more quickly.
Poordo
Back in the olden days my mother used to make what she called "Poordo." It was made from leftover biscuits. She would crumble up the biscuits and then pour milk over them and mix it until it was a mushy texture. Then she heated it in a skillet until it was hot through.Believe it or not, I googled poordo and came up with a recipe for poordo. However, this recipe was made with cornbread instead of biscuits. The recipe also called for sausage gravy to pour over the poordo.One google item said the name for poordo came from the fact that rich people have a choice for what they eat and the poor do not--thus Poordo.Poordo was a good way to use leftover biscuits. I remember that I was not overly fond of Poordo, but my grandpa loved it. Also, the name Poordo somehow became "pourdo" in my family. I remember Poordo was a sort of a sunday night leftover item. My mother made it when nothing much else was around for eating. I think the name, Poordo, is a fitting one because it was indeed a POORDO!
Window Decorating Contest
We never declared it a contest but it actually was. The neighbor who lived right across the street from us always decorated her windows with symbols of whatever holiday was approaching. Sometimes with bought decorations, sometimes with things her children made in school. I always did the same. Soon it became apparent that she would try to beat me with getting her decorations up before I did. So the next holiday I would try to get mine up first. Our neighborhood was getting its decorations up earlier and earlier every year. And they were getting more elaborate as time went by. This went on for quite a few years until we moved away from that neighborhood. By that time my kids were not at home anymore so I dropped my decorating habit. I am sure she did also. However, our little corner of the world was quite colorful and beautiful for a period of a few years. Now, I am lucky to get my windows washed before a holiday much less do any fancy decorating on them!
I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
Do you remember this old song? It was written in 1927--lyrics by Mort Dixon, music by Harry Woods. It was popularized by Art Mooney in 1948.I have looked over many, many four leaf clovers back in my younger days. On many hot summer days my friends and I would find a grassy lawn with a shade tree and plop ourselves down on a spot that had a lot of clover. We searched for four leaf clovers and we found a lot of them. I don't know why we did it, except that maybe we thought it would bring us some good luck-- which is what four leaf clovers are supposed to do. I never saw any results of that saying working. But we did spend a lot of time doing it anyway.I would place my clovers in a book between the pages and let them dry. Sometimes we found clovers with five leaves. We hoped they would bring double good luck. I really don't know whatever happened to my collection over the years. But I do remember having a ball looking for them with my friends. Maybe my long and healthy life is the good luck they brought me!I see a little bit of clover in my lawn sometimes and I don't really look for any four leafed ones but it does takes me back to those good old days so long ago.
Vinegar Plant in Paris, Texas
I can still smell the pungent, sharp odor of the vinegar which permeated the whole south end of town on most days. You could smell it before you even knew it was there.Speas Vinegar plant was once one of the largest, if not the largest, vinegar plant in the world. It started about in 1932 when O. L. Gregory opened a vinegar plant in Paris, Texas. This interests me because my mother's initials were O. L. and her maiden name was Gregory-- no relation at all. His name was Oscar Lee Gregory--my mother's name was Ollie Lorene Gregory.My memory is the smell of the vinegar which is implanted in my mind so strongly. My whole childhood life was dotted with trips past the plant and that strong odor of vinegar. Mr Gregory died in May 1940 and the company operated until 1945, at which time The Speas bought out the remaining stock thus ending the era of Gregory, Robinson and Speas. Speas then operated 23 plants supplying practically all the states and the West Indies and other parts of the Pacific.John Speas died in 1909 and his son Victor took over the company. He ran it until his death in 1971. The company was sold to Pillsbury in 1978. So, now, when I go past the location where the vinegar plant used to be all I have are my memories because the smell is long gone!
The Mean Brats!
My cousin and I were really not all that bad but we did get mean streaks sometimes!Our grandpa, who lived with my family, liked to sleep out in the back yard on a cot during the summer when it was very hot. He would take naps during the day and place his hat over his face.One summer day he was out in the yard taking one of his naps. My cousin and I were searching for something funny and unusual to do (that was not very hard for us!).We saw our grandpa was sound asleep on his cot. We went into the kitchen and got some cornbread and crumbled it up into small pieces. We went out and sprinkled the crumbs all around and on our grandpa. He was a little hard of hearing and with his hat on his face he had no inkling that we were there.We had free range chickens in our yard. Soon the chickens were edging up to my grandpa and getting the cornbread crumbs, then they were hopping up onto the cot and eating the crumbs that were on my grandpa. Of course the chickens woke up grandpa and he was furiously fighting them off. He was really angry with my cousin and me for that little trick. We stayed shy of him the rest of the day. Another trick we once did on him was kind of mean also. We had a large fake spider. We tied a string onto a stick and put the spider on the end of the string. Then we sneaked up behind him and dangled the spider in front of his face. He was reading a newspaper and he really swatted that spider with his paper. Then he saw us and realized he had been tricked again. Now that I look back I can see that we should have been swatted for our mean tricks--but we had our fun for the day!
The Ice Cream Parlor
Back in about 1930, or near then, Paris, Texas, got their first Ice Cream Parlor. It was not actually on the square but was just about a half block off the Square. The square was the center of our downtown business section.On Saturday night people flocked to that place for pleasure and also to see who was about town. Almost everyone who was able to get out was seen at the Ice Cream Parlor. They had business other times too but Saturday night was the prime time for them. They had cones in about three sizes, one dip, two dips and three dips.I think they were 5 cents for single dips, 10 cents for double dips and 15 cents for triple dips. These dips were very generous dips-- unlike today's dips. My Mom always got orange pineapple flavor, I liked chocolate and I can't remember what my sisters liked. My Dad liked any kind but he always got the triple dip. We would stand around on the sidewalks of the square and greet our neighbors and friends as they walked by. It was almost like a reunion every Saturday night. Everyone did their weekly shopping at the stores that lined the four sides of the square. I can remember how much fun it was when we got a bath, got all dressed up and headed for the square on Saturday night each week. Why can't we have that much fun now?Maybe because we got OLD!
The Siamese Twins--Chang and Eng
I had a book about the lives of Chang and Eng, the original Siamese Twins. The title was "The Two." I had read the book a couple of times and was trying to cut down on my large collection of books. I decided to try to sell it on e Bay. I listed it and immediately got a couple of bids on it. As it turned out the bidder who won the right to purchase the book was a grandchild--or great grandchild of the original Siamese twins. He wrote me an e mail and told me who he was and said he was purchasing the book for one of his children. He wanted all of his children to have copies of the book. I wrote him back and said how pleased I was to sell him the book. I felt it was a great priviledge to be in contact with one of the original Siamese twin's decendants. Their life was truly a fascinating study.
A Little Something Extra
This morning I decided to make myself an egg sandwich for my breakfast. I got out my skillet and put in a little bacon grease (the only way to fry eggs!). I went to the fridge and got out an egg. I broke the egg into the skillet and was shocked to see two yellow eyes looking right at me! My egg had a double yolk. The yolks were so firm and fresh and just stood right up there. I can't remember the last time I used an egg that had a double yolk. Somehow, I felt lucky.I felt as if I had been given something extra. Actually, the egg tasted the same as any other egg I have ever eaten but I still felt it was a special egg. Maybe I would have double good luck today. I already had good luck in that I had awakened with my eyesight, my hearing, feeling good and able to walk into the kitchen.I Googled double yolk eggs and I found that they are considered lucky by some and unlucky by others. I also found that about one in one thousand eggs contain double yolks. They usually do not hatch because of the lack of room for two chicks in one shell.Today is about over and I have not had any noticeable good luck outside of being alive and still feeling good--But who knows? Maybe I will wake up in the morning and will be a millionaire.
Flower beds
When we bought our first home back in 1952 the lawn was not in because it was a brand new house and had no lawn. The builder did put in a lawn later but there were no shrubs, trees or any other landscaping plants included.
So I had visions of my beautiful flower beds across the front, sides and back of the house. I had my husband digging up beds all over the place. I bought tulips. irises, and many other kinds of flowers to plant. The first year I had a profusion of color and beauty all around the house.
Then I learned that you are not supposed to cut the tulips off after they are through blooming until they get brown. They didn't get brown for months! I learned that you had to replant them every couple of years for them to stay pretty. I found, also, that weeds are the best growing plant of all! I could not keep up with them.
So about the third year I started doing away with part of the flower beds. First, along the sides of the house and then across the back. The fourth year I had one row of beds across the front of the house and all of the rest were filled in with grass seeds. I discovered that flowers are a lot of work! In the end we had shrubs planted where the flower beds had been. I love flowers but not that much!
Elvis Presley
I have always been a fan of Elvis. Not the kind of fan that had to go to all of his concerts, but the kind that really enjoyed his singing.Years ago there was a used record store in Paris, Texas, that I went to every chance I got. They sold used records for, I think, about 15 cents. I bought many records there. I had several of Elvis' records. I listened to them for many years.Not too long ago I started selling items on e Bay and I ran across the Elvis record "Heartbreak Hotel." I decided to try selling it on e Bay. I ended up getting $50.00 for it. I also had one Elvis record that was a misprinted one. The center label was way off center, but the record still played correctly. I got $30.00 for it from someone in Denmark. They knew it was misprinted because I listed it in my description of the record. They collected misprinted records. Not a bad return for my paying price of 15 cents!I now have the songs which were on those records on CDs so I still can listen to them ( and I do a lot!).The used record store in Paris is no longer there (at least I don't think it is) but if it were I would probably go there again every chance I could. I love a bargain! The records they sold were 45 RPMs but I still have my 45 speed player and I use it a lot too.
The Chicken Factory
We had some friends who were friends with a farmer who lived in Ohio. The farmer had some chickens which, for some reason, he wanted to get rid of. Our friends grabbed at the offer. I can't remember if we paid the farmer for them or if he just gave them to us, but at any rate we got them at a greatly reduced price-- if not free.
Our friends said if we would help them butcher the chickens we could split them in half. So it sounded like a very good bargain. I think there were about 15 chickens. So we loaded the chickens up in our vans, about half of them for each of us, and transported them to Fort Wayne (what a mess!).
We went to our friend's garage and put a huge pot of water on an electric stove to boil. Their son, Mark, agreed he would be the murderer of the chickens. When the water was boiling he took the first chicken out and killed it (I don't know how because I didn't want to look). Anyway,we plunged the first chicken into the boiling water and then started defeathering it (plucking it--I think it is called ). It wasn't much fun. Then came the second, third and fourth chicken--remember we have 15 to do!
We slaved until midnight on those birds and finally got them all done. Mark said later he never wanted to even see another chicken, much less eat one! We took our 7 and a half chickens home and put them in the freezer and there they stayed for quite some time before we even thought of eating them. Our friends said their chickens were spurned every meal they were served.
I have great respect for the people who work at the places where they butcher chickens or any other animal. If people depended on me for meat to eat they would become vegetarians. This was a great eye opener for us and our friends also. We now look gift horses in the mouth!
Do You Strain Your Gravy?
Once when I was dating my husband my parents were gone for the day and we were making our own dinner. I didn't know much about cooking and he knew even less. However, we were cooking things for us to eat. We cooked some kind of meat--I have forgotten what kind-- and we made mashed potatoes, a salad and then we attempted to make gravy. I mixed up the flour and milk to make the gravy. I guess I didn't mix it well enough and when I poured it into the meat juices it just went into one big mess of lumps. My husband (then boyfriend) said, "Can't we strain out the lumps"? I said,"Yeah, that's a good idea!" So I dig out the strainer and we try to strain the gravy. It was a total mess. However, we did manage to get enough gravy through the strainer to have a little for our mashed potatoes. Since that has been 65 years ago I have now learned to make lumpless gravy. I think of our gravy straining experience every time I stir gravy these days and I wish he could be here to have a laugh with me about it!
Eddy Arnold--Make the World Go Away!
The news this week of the passing of Eddy Arnold made me very sad. He was one of my favorite country music singers. Instead of making the world go away, he went away (to a better place)!
I loved his song, I'll Hold You in My Heart. It was popular when I was dating my husband back in 1942.
I just read his condolences on Legacy.Com and many people really loved the man.
I am sure he is now in Heaven singing with the angels and my husband is listening to him because Eddy was one of his favorites also.
Rest in Peace, Eddy!
Want some peanuts?
On a flight I took one time from Fort Wayne to Dallas I was seated next to a little Ole lady. She seemed very nice and we talked a little for a while. I noticed that she had a small can of Planter's peanuts in her hand. I assumed they were for a snack later.After we were into the flight for some time and the stewardesses were heading our way with drinks, She took her peanut can and opened it up. Shortly afterward she took a big dip from a snuff can in her purse. The she began using the peanut can to spit her snuff in. My assumption that she was going to snack on the peanuts proved to be wrong! She was using the peanut can for a spittoon! I would have liked to move to another seat but unfortunately, there were no unoccupied seats. So I was stuck there. I tried to turn toward the window away from her view but I could still smell the snuff. Yuck!For a long time after that I thought of that little ole lady every time I saw Planter's peanuts!
Paper Dolls
Many Years ago I had a large collection of paper dolls. I had some bought paper dolls but I also had many that were just pictures of ladies, men or children that were cut from magazines or catalogs. I would find a pretty lady, a handsome man or a cute little child in a magazine or catalog and I would cut it out with an extra space around the doll and then paste it onto some cardboard or other heavy paper. Then I would cut carefully around the edge of the doll. That was my paper doll. They were much cheaper than bought paper dolls. My way of storing my paper dolls was to put each doll between the pages of a book. That way they were protected from getting bent or wrinkled. I would also make extra clothes for my home made dolls by tracing around their bodies and coloring the clothes with crayons. The extra clothes were stored between the pages along with each doll.I did have the bought paper dolls of the Dionne Quintuplets, the five babies born in Canada back in 1934. They were the big news of that era. I was so proud of those cute little girls. I think I also had some Shirley Temple paper dolls. But, all in all, the majority of my collection was just home made dolls cut from catalogs and magazines. If some of those old books of my Dad's that I used for storage of my dolls happen to still be around, I am sure you would find some of my jewels of paper dolls in between their pages!
My Grandma and Pecans
When I was just a very little girl, probably about 3 or 4 (I can barely remember this story) my grandma used to come visit us. She would do all sorts of things to entertain me. She would draw birds for me. She wasn't an artist but she did draw a pretty good bird. Another thing we did was make little gift packages of pecans. I think we had a pecan tree or we had access to pecans from somewhere. We would crack the pecans and pick out the meats from them and then wrap the pecans in little packages for gifts. There would be about a tablespoon of pecans in each one. We didn't always have actual gift wrapping paper but we would just use squares of newspaper for wrapping. We also didn't have ribbon all of the time. Then we just used twine string to tie the packages. I would give them to my Dad or anyone else who happened to be lucky enough to be around.My Grandmother has been gone for many years but I will always cherish the memory of our little gift wrapping sessions!
Easy Come--Easy Go
Back in about 1931 or 32, there was a drive going on for people to donate money for the NRA, the National Recovery Act. The NRA was a government agency established to stimulate business recovery after the great depression--a part of FDR's New Deal.I just started school in 1931 and I had to walk about three or four blocks to get to my school. One morning I was on the way to school and just as I stepped off the curb to cross the one busy street that I had to cross, I looked down and there was a bright shiny nickle lying right there! I quickly grabbed it up with all sorts of visions running through my mind as to what I could buy with it. In those days you could do quite a lot with a nickle. When I got to school and was telling my friends about my great find they all started saying that I should donate it to the NRA. I didn't want to hear that but finally, they made me feel that I just had to give that nickle to the NRA. So I reluctantly gave my nickle to the NRA. I had second thoughts about it the rest of the day and sort of wished I could get it back. But, I had already given it and there was no way I could get it back. So all of my visions about what I could buy with my nickle went flying out the proverbial window. They say,"easy come--easy go," and that was certainly true of my nickle!
Records and CDs
I have a terrible time keeping up with electronics--the musical kind. I had a beautiful collection of 78 RPM records back in the 1940s. Then suddenly, I realized that they were becoming obsolete because of the 45 RPM craze. I still hung on to my 78s but I gradually began to collect the 45s. Eventually I had built up my 45 collection and then I saw that it was being outmoded by the LP albums. I could hardly keep up! By the time I managed to get a few LPs together then 8-tracks became the new thing. 8-tracks didn't survive long before Cassettes took over. Finally, CDs are now the thing.So, being one to never throw away things I have a vast array of 78, 45, and LP records , 8-track tapes, cassettes and CDs. I have finally given up on the 78 records because they sound so horrible. I do have a couple of songs that I really hate to give up that are on 78 records. I have searched everywhere for the same songs on other playing sources and cannot find them. I assume that they were never recorded on anything except the 78 records. Now, I think that they must not even make players for 78 records. At least I have not seen them anywhere. I do have an ancient record player that will play at 78 record speed but it is on its last legs and cannot be repaired.I still have all of my records, tapes, cassettes and CDs and I have the players for all of them. I find that CDs are the most enjoyable because I can put on 5 CDs and listen for about two hours without having to get up and change anything. Tapes are better than single records. At one time I had a player that let me put on a stack of 45 or LP records and that was nice. Now, however, the players all will only play one record at a time. So you have to keep busy changing them.I am just waiting for the next thing to pop up that will out date all of my musical library! I am sure it will come--how else can the musicians make money without selling new versions of their songs?
Koolickle--The kool-Aid pickle
I decided to do this post on kool-Aid. I Googled it to find out exactly the year it was invented and I found out a lot more than I had hoped for!Kool-Aid was invented in 1927 by Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. I was one year old at that time. Later when I was about 4 or 5, we lived right across the street from a tiny grocery store. One day a man came to the store and was outside in front of it passing out samples of something. He told me, and my friend, to go home and get a quart of water and bring it to the store. We did so and he put a teaspoon full of some red powder into the water. He said go home and put some sugar in it and drink it. We did and that was my introduction to Kool-Aid. I think the flavor was either cherry, strawberry or raspberry because it was red. It was very good I thought.The original flavors of Kool-Aid were strawberry, cherry, lemon-lime, grape, orange and raspberry. I know that now there are many more flavors but I can't recall all of them.Now that I googled Kool-Aid I found that a new thing has been invented--the Koolickle or the Kool-Aid Pickle. The pickles originated in the Mississippi Delta, and seem to be of fairly recent provenance. Typically, the Kool-Aid pickle fans were born sometime after Bill Clinton moved into the White House.The Kool-Aid pickles are made by using large dill pickles and double strength Kool-Aid. You put a gallon jar of dill pickles, split in half ( the Pickles, not the jar) into the double strength Kool-Aid , add a pound of sugar and let them soak for about a week. The red flavor family is most popular. If you Google Kool-Aid you will find much more information there.Children are the primary consumers of the Koolickle but the market for Kool-Aid pickles is maturing. So far no patent application has been filed. The name Kool-Aid is a trademark owned by Kraft Foods. A senior manager of corporate affairs at Kraft stated that , "We endorse our consumers finding innovative ways to use our products."I am not sure I would like the Koolickle but I am willing to try it just for the kick out of it. But I do drink a lot of Kool-Aid during the summer time--quite refreshing on a hot summer day!
Water drinking contest
My cousin and I one time must have not had much on our list of things to do. We decided that we would have a contest and see who could drink the most water!We were outside at the water spigot--if we had been inside my mother would have intervened-- and we each had a small cup. So we started out; I would drink a cup full and then he would drink a cup full, and back and forth for some time. I do not remember how many cup fulls ( or cups full?) we drank, but it was a lot! Finally, one of us--I don't remember which one--started to get sick and vomited our guts out! Then the other one began. We were so sick we had to go lie down for a while. My mother really got on to us and said we were stupid for doing such a thing. She was right. We also kept the bathroom occupied for some time after that. I guess some people will do anything for fun! Only we found out it wasn't really that much fun. Now that I think back on it I really don't remember which one of us won the contest (if you could call that winning)!
A Lesson Learned!
We have made many trips to Texas over the years I have lived in Indiana-- most of the time twice a year. We usually stayed overnight at a Motel 6 in Joplin, Missouri. The motel was just off the highway we traveled on through Joplin. This particular year we had stopped at Joplin and registered at the Motel 6. After we had refreshed ourselves we walked to the Waffle House restaurant which was just next door to the motel for a late night snack. We ate our meals and then went back to the motel for the night and went to bed.The next morning I awakened and reached for my purse which I usually placed on my bed next to the wall. It was not there! Then, suddenly, it dawned on me that I had left it at the Waffle House. I quickly dressed and walked over to the Waffle House and went in the door. The waitress must have remembered me because she almost met me at the door and as I said, "I left my purse here last night," she said, "Yes, we have it here in the back." She went back and returned momentarily with my purse. It was all intact. I was so relieved. I had my checkbook, credit cards and other important things in the purse and I would have been greatly inconvenienced had I not got them back.I consider what happened was a valuable lesson learned. I have been extremely careful with my purse since that happened. I think things like that sometimes happen to give you a warning to be more cautious in the future. And believe me, I have been!
Deep Purple
Back in the 30's and 40's one of the teachers at my high school in Paris,Texas, was a lady named Miss Katie Feeser. She was a history teacher. I never really had her as my teacher but she was well known all over the school (and in fact all over the city) as the lady who loved purple-- any shade of purple. They played the song "Deep Purple" lots of times at our assemblies in her honor.She wore some shade of purple every day to school. Lavender, orchid, plum, dark purple, grape-- you name it and she wore it if it was any shade of purple. She had red hair so the color was quite a contrast to her red hair. I did not attend her funeral but if I had I am sure I would have seen lots of purple there! And I am just as certain they would have played the song "Deep Purple."I never see purple that I am not reminded of Miss Katie Feeser!
