Monday, August 15, 2011

This is installment no -16 - Augist- 15th 2011



This is installment no –16 – to Jeff




Telephone


We had our own private phone line in to Hillwood, and I do not know where we connected on to the public company line, even thou I helped to work on the line several times, but I never remember going any further then Weogufka to work on it. When we had bad weather we all had to run the line and get the limbs and trees from the line. Most of the time we were not paid for that chore son Ralph or store manger Walter Lee would pick two or three of us boys and say come on go with him to check out the phone line. We were always ready and willing just to have something to do. There were only two phones in the town in the town one in the office and one in Mr. Rich’s room in the boarding house. These two phones were the old models that hung on the wall and had to crank the operator. The phones were so nosey and stasis that you had to be pretty experienced with them to carry on a conversation. No one would use the phones except the office personal or Mr. Guy or Mr. Rich, unless an emergency it would be a death message.



Recreation, entertainment and games played


We did have a battery radio o course the batteries cost so much we had to select the programs that we could listen to; our parents would usually decide what programs we could listen to. The radio was about the extent of the entertainment for our parents or the adults. Some of the family programs that we listened to were Fiber McGee and molly, The Goldberg’s, Rudy Valley, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Lum and Abner, Fred Allen, Town Hall Tonight, Mary Pickford, Major Bowes Amateur, Guy Lombardo and others and most of performers went on in to television. My Father created a battery charger for his radio. He took his car battery and he welded a fan belt pulley on the end of a shaft under the sawmill and connected a belt from the pulley and connected a car generator and he would have a fresh battery, the only problem with that he would load that heavy car battery on his shoulder and carry that about one-half mile and that would get pretty heavy. When Joe Louis would have a champion fight we would sort make a party about it gather at some place or some ones house and listen to the fight. I remember that 7th. Day of December of the year 1941, my Dad came to the window and told us that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. I distinctly remember that moment there were several boys were preparing to go to town and go to a movie. We were preparing to fix a couple tires in the event had a flat tire. By that time our tires had worn pretty thin and it was not uncommon to have a couple flats on going to town. I remember that put us down, it made us mad and sad, we could not understand how they could do that to us. We did go on to a movie but it was not an enjoyable afternoon, I do not remember what the movie was showing. I was thanking about going into the service, my older brother had already volunteered in to the army about eight mints prior before. I was remembering how badly my Mother hated seeing my brother volunteering and I knew she was going to try to persuade me from going, and I tried very hard to please my mothers wishes and desires. Families played games such as horseshoes, we did not use store bought horseshoes, and we would pick some large shoes that was being dislodged from the company horses. We played a game like horseshoe but use large washers and pitch them in to a 2-inch round hole. We played checkers and usually played on a homemade board with soda bottle caps for checkers.

Children created and played various games



The children created many other forms of entertainment and games. The children would have parties at some ones home and the parents would serve refreshments sometime and some times we would have a winner roast in a large bun fire. We would have a water Mellon cutting for refreshment, sometime we would splurge and have an ice cream party. When we had our parties we never sent out invitations to certain few, when we had a party everyone was considered to be invited. Invitations were sent by word of mouth by each of us. Sometimes we would make peanut brittle candy at our get together.

We would play various games at our parties, we would spin the bottle, and I cannot remember the rules and how these games were played. As I can recall the spinner could impose a penalty on to the person that the bottle was pointed to.

One of our favorite events that we enjoyed was swimming and fishing and boating as we grew in to older teenagers. Us boys used to walk the mile to weogufka creek to swim most of us learn how to swim in weogufka creek. My mother always told us boys to stay out of the water until you learn how to swim. One day I went in and told my
This is end installment no –16 –

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