Monday, August 15, 2011

This is installment no -15 - to Jeff- Ugust



This is installment no –15 – dent to Jeff



The pet monkeys


Mr. Rich brought two monkeys to Hillwood to live and entertain us. I never did know where he got them and why he had these monkeys, some said that Johnnie was a medical student and he used them in his studies and that sound logical to me. Mr. Rich had a large garden wire cage made for the monkeys to live in for a couple years. This cage was out front of the boarding house, and everybody could view and watch the monkeys and entertain us with their Shenanigans. After a couple years he turned them out in to the back yard of the boarding house and they stayed out in the vicinity area and appeared to be happy there. Everybody watched the monkeys and enjoyed them for several years. Many had their own names for them some called them mutt and Jeff and other different names such as Pa and MA, my special name for them was Adam and Eve because there were a large apple tree in the corner of the boarding house yard and these monkeys spent consider time playing in apple tree and eating the apples. I saw Eve hand Adam a nice red apple and he did eat it. (Not Really) Mr. Rich use to get on us boys for knocking the apples from the apple tree, he told us to leave the apples for the monkeys.


Refrigeration no ice or milk deliveries


In the earliest years we did not have ice or mild delivered to us. If any one wanted to buy ice you would have to go to the icehouse in Sylacauga and bring it back in your car and very few of us could afford to do that. Sometimes a truck driver would bring some back for some one and it would all just be melted by it got delivered. Many people had cows and furnished us milk and we would tie a bucket of milk and lowered down in to the well to keep it from spoiling or some would put bucket in cool spring and weighted it down with rocks to keep it from turning over and spill. In later years in the late thirties and early forties some one had an ice truck and some one had a milk truck delivered ice and milk to us by coming thru the neighbor hood and sell us what amount we wanted or could afford. If my recollection serves me correctly you could buy about a 20 pound for a dime. I remember that our family usually bought a 40-pound chunk, which cost 20 cents. At this time none of us or very few had ice boxes so most of us store our ice in a number-2 tub and cover it with old quilts and news papers we would punch a few nail holes to let the water drain. We considered it to be a special treat to have ice tea instead of muddy water, and I say that because in dry weather the wells would be low in water and when you let the well bucket hit the bottom of the well you would have muddy water. The milkman kept the milk in glass gars with cardboard stoppers to keep the milk contained in the bottles. He transported milk to us in tubs of ice to keep cold. Some time we would splurge and make ice cream.

This is end installment no – 15 – sent to Jeff

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