More Memories

Kathey sent me an email yesterday that got me to thinking about some more things. Remember….

… having one phone, which had a rotary dial and a cord? And it wasn’t the spiral cord, it was straight, and it would get kinks in it until after awhile it was like trying to untangle a bale of wire. And you could dial any number in Loudon by dialing 8 and then the last 4 digits. It was referred to as GLendale 8.

… push mowers? I first started earning money when I was about 8. I mowed the old lady’s yard down the street for 50 cents, and I used a push mower. The kind that if you were really leaning into it and had a good rhythm going, a twig would get caught between the blade and the roller and stop the mower immediately, pushing the handle up into your middle.

… TV sets that only got 3 or maybe 4 channels? We hated it when something like a press conference would come on because all three channels carried it. And we were constantly moving the “rabbit ears” to try and get a better picture. Sometimes we were lucky enough to get a channel out of Asheville.

… keeping a bill at the grocery store? My grandmother paid her grocery “bill” something like once a month. Whenever she needed anything she would send us to the store and told us to tell the guy behind the counter to “put it on my bill”, and he would.

… actually “playing” with your friends instead of just sharing a joystick? I had friends all over town, and at one time or another I would go to each neighborhood and play. And when you were at your friend’s house, their parents had jurisdiction over you. My folks weren’t the only people to ever spank my butt.

… going to the lake in Lenior City? A swimming pool is nothing like swimming in the lake, or river, or for that matter Steekee Creek. Just past the high school, Steekee Road used to make a sharp left hand turn, go across a little culvert over the creek and then make a sharp right hand turn. When I was 10 or so, the water at that culvert was waist deep and we could play or catch crawdads. Then a hundred yards or so toward town a spring bubbled up out of the ground and was always ice cold, even in the heat of July and August.

… the old movie house up past the post office? I used to pass out flyers for the guy who owned it and he would let me watch the movie on Saturday free. And I know we’ve talked about the drive-in before, but all the hanky-panky aside, it was the best place to watch a movie. Either sit in the car or get out and sit on the hood when it was hot and muggy. It was always so cool and relaxing.

… Doctor Sam or Doctor Bill? My brother fell out of a tree once and almost bit his tongue completely off. Mom picked him up and ran down the street to the doctor’s office and the doctor actually sewed my brother’s tongue back on. The thing is, they left a pea sized gravel in there, and afterward you could actually see the little bump where the gravel was.


… the Jewel Tea man? Did he ever stop at your house? He stopped by my grandmother’s house maybe once a month. Or how about the insurance man that came to your house and collected the payment? There was a little pouch that hung on the wall that the insurance money was kept in. Or how about the mailman... usually Tater Watts... who would walk his route and stop and talk to almost everybody.

… sitting on the porch? I miss having a porch. As a grown up I’ve only had one house that had a porch of any size.

… the soda fountain at Richeson’s Drug Store? Two scoops of chocolate and a cherry coke. And speaking of Coke, if it came out of a vending machine, it was the little bottle, maybe 8 ounces. Did you ever put peanuts in one?

Thanks for the email Kathey. :)