Those of us who lived through it know how difficult it was
just to survive. I remember an old lady who lived in a house behind us where
Fred Seals later lived who didn’t have enough to eat and my mother and
Laurie Henson would take turns carrying her supper to her. Granted that it
was usually corn bread and beans but that was the staple back then. Funny
thing, I still like it today.
Who can remember the coal oil lamps that provided light for us. If you went
into another room you took the lamp with you. My grandpa never believed in
locating the out house too close to the living quarters so if you had to
make a trip at night you took along a lantern and hoped the wind did not put
out the fire. A big old pot belly stove was the source of heat for the
parlor and a wood stove was used in the kitchen. Later on we got a coal oil
stove for the kitchen.
The trouble on a cold night was positioning yourself so that you didn’t
roast on the front side and freeze on your back side. I never did master
that. For us poor folk a washing machine was out of the question. Instead
you built a fire under a big wash tub and used a wash board to scrub the
clothes. Another wash tub was used for rinsing. After the water was rung out
of the clothes they were hung out on a clothes line to dry. If grandma got
started early enough she would be done in time to get lunch ready, we called
it dinner back then.
We never heard of a dishwasher so ours were done by hand. There was no
refrigeration, later on we got an ice box but of course no air conditioner;
I can still recall the hot nights back then, sometimes Don and I would make
a pallet and sleep on the front porch. After each meal a big table cloth was
spread over all the food. It’s a wonder we survived.
The out door “johns” were too gross to talk about. I took many a bath in a
big wash tub. When I was about fifteen my uncle Raymond installed a toilet
stool, a bath tub and a sink. There was no hot water, just cold. Television
of course was unheard of. We got our first radio when I was fifteen years
old. We would just sit around staring into space while listening to a
program. Sunday evening was the prime time for the radio shows such as, Jack
Benny, Fred Allen, Red Skeleton, George Burns and
Gracie Allen, and others. Southern Indiana was represented in this group.
Phil Harris, Jack Benny’s musical director was from Linton and Red was from
Vincennes. Red’s father was with the Hagen-Bach and Wallace circus when Ed
Ballard owned it and Red himself was with the circus for a brief stint.
We never had a car until I was fifteen years old. It was a used Model A
Ford, I forget the year but about a year later we got a used 35 Ford V8.
Prior to getting the cars we walked wherever we wanted to go.
No, there is no way I would like to return to those days. They are just good
to reminisce about.
When I was about 19 years old, I took a job at the Dream
Theater, which was managed by Till Luckett. I worked seven days per week and
I received eight dollars for my efforts. Every morning I had to spend two or
three hours cleaning up the place and we opened at seven PM and ran until
about eleven. On Saturdays and Sundays, we also ran a matinee that started
at three o'clock. On top of all this, I had to take a couple of young boys
and hand out handbills on Saturday morning. Also in the wintertime I had to
keep the furnace running. I didn't make much money but I had a good title,
assistant manager!!. In addition to all this, I was expected to drive Till
and his wife all over the country once or twice a week in their big DeSoto.
He always paid me extra for this though.
Till always closed the ticket booth at nine o'clock, count the money then go
home. After he left, Scotty Eastridge, the projectionist, and I, were the
only ones there. If some of my friends were hanging around I would let them
in for nothing after Till left or if someone wanted to see the rest of the
movie I would charge them fifteen cents. You can bet Till never saw any of
that money! I had to be careful though because sometimes he would double
back and walk down the aisle to see if any strangers were in the house.
I was