I was reading the story that former Wallins resident Dorcas Jane Ward wrote recently for the Wallins website. It was very nostalgic to take a stroll down memory lane while thinking back on some of the things she mentioned. I had completely forgotten some of them, but had an instant recall when prodded by her remembrances. I want to touch on some of the things that she mentioned with my own memories of them.
Brown bags- These were given to the children in Sunday school at the Baptist Church at Christmas. I remember these. This was one of the simple pleasures taken for granted, but looked forward to. It was like receiving a grab bag. I would dig in immediately to find out what I had gotten in the bag. Nothing was wasted. The contents consisting of fruit, nuts and candy was entirely consumed. There were other items such as small games included. Do you remember one type of small games such as a face with 2 small beads for eyes. It took skill and steadiness to tilt the game to get the eyes in position. The first eye was easier. The second required more patience and delicate manuvering so as not to dislodge the first bead.
Halloween Carnivals- I remember these and looked forward to them with much anticipation. It was a town event. I remember all the fun things to do. The gym was decorated. There were all kinds of booths set up for games and other things. The boy's locker room was set up to be a "House of Horrors". You went in on one side and exited out the other. In between there was a gauntlet of ghosts and monsters. There was bobbing for apples. I almost drowned while trying to bite onto an apple. Just kidding. Actually this was almost impossible to do without dipping your head under the water and pinning the apple to the bottom or side of the container.
Classrooms where also set up for other activities. You could go fishing. After paying the fishing fee, you would hang your fishing pole over the sheet, which blocked your view of what gifts were stored behind. Someone behind the sheet would attach a gift to your pole.
There were all kinds of good things to eat. There were all kinds of cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and homemade chocolate and peanut butter fudge candies. My personal favorite was the peanut butter roll candy. Does anyone still make that? I would love to have some of this today. Not that I need it, goodness knows. But it would be sure to bring back some memories.
People would also dress in costumes. There were some very good ones. The night would end with the announcement of the winner of the King and Queen. I'm sure that there was a monumental cleanup job the next day because of all the confetti and trash on the floor. This was a total town event with a very large crowd in attendance.
Show music- I spoke about this before in a previous chapter. But let me add that most of the music was "Country". At that time I didn't have a true appreciation for Country Music. This was something that I took for granted, but came to realize that it was part of my heritage. Today, I like traditional "Country and Bluegrass". This was music that had a message. It was everyday life for us. We lived it every day. I don't particularly like today's watered down music developed to appeal to mass audiences. Not pure enough for me.
Dorcas had a good point about theatre owner, Juanita Saylor, knowing when to increase the price of admission to the theatre. I remember when she first asked me about turning 13. She told me that she would have to start charging me 40 cents. This was a blow to me, as I already had trouble enough locating 20 cents. She was definitely in control of the business. The theatre, that is.
James L. Howard's store- You talked about running over to get candy at recess. I also remember going there before school. I was trying to remember some of the candy that we bought. Do you remember the orange colored wax French harp or whistle? You could blow different notes by running your mouth over the different openings, while blowing air through the thing. If you did this really quick and blew really hard, you could make quite a racket. After tiring of playing with it, you could chew on it until the flavor was gone. You would then just get rid of what was left without swallowing it. Hopefully, I didn't gross anyone out.
Then there was the wax lips. You wore these until you got tired. These also could be chewed to extract the flavor.
How about the little wax bottles of flavored drink. You bit the top off, then poured the liquid into your mouth. You didn't chew the bottles, however. These had no flavor.
Gold and silver candy coins. You peeled off the aluminum foil, which looked like a coin. You then ate the chocolate candy inside. I always felt like a Pirate who had found buried treasure when I had several of these coins in my hands. These came in a little string sack. You opened the sack to get the coins out, then pulled the strings to close the top of the sack.
I also liked the candy wafer rolls. This was thin wafer like candy of different colors and tastes. My favorite ones were the brown ones. My least favorite was the black ones that tasted like licorice. I never was a big fan of licorice. I tried to like it, but couldn't quite handle the taste. I would occasionally chew it, while pretending to be chewing tobacco. It would turn your teeth and gums really black. How weird is that? No wonder I had trouble with the girls.
Jelly beans- I liked these with exception of the licorice ones.
Candy cigarettes- I also thought it was cool to puff on these. After smoking them, you could eat them. What's not to like? As you can see, I must have been influenced by smokers and chewers. I think this is further proof that, as children, we act out adult behavior. I went on to develop both habits. I thank God that He set me free from bondage to the fragrant weed. I have been free for almost 30 years from smoking. I hung on to smokeless tobacco much longer. I have been free from that bondage, which in many ways was stronger than smoking, for a few years.
There were the little rolls of candy. These were different colored wafers that looked almost like a small button, which were sweet and also tart. And how about the packages, and what looked like soda straws that were filled with different colored sweet and tart powdered sugar.
Lastly, there were the different candies associated with certain holidays. Halloween was a good example. There were a lot of different candies, which you only saw during the holiday season. They would be pumpkin color or orange and black. They might have to do with witches or other Halloween characters. After Halloween was over, they were gone until next year.
I have one other observation about James L. Howard's store. Do you remember the two deer heads he had mounted on the wall? One was a spike buck, the other had a bigger rack. James L. killed these deer while hunting in Harlan County. This was when deer were first re-introduced to Kentucky. They were probably two of the first deer killed in Harlan County. Deer had become almost, if not totally extinct, before being re-introduced. I was fascinated by these heads. I would stare at them, while letting my imagination run wild. I had read a lot of books about how it was when the first settlers came to Harlan County. Deer and other game were very plentiful. They later became almost extinct through non-management and overkill.
One last thing; Do any of you remember the plum tree that was just across the street in front of the school. The tree was always loaded. When the plums were ripe you could just reach up a pick one off. I can't remember the last time I saw a plum tree, can you?
Thank you Dorcas for letting me embellish some of the things that you wrote about in your story. They brought back a lot of special memories. And as you are probably well aware, when something moves me, I just have to write about it.
