REMEMBER WHEN

Remember When

                      Growing up in a small town

If you grew up in a small town as I did, I am sure the majority of these things will bring back memories---some good and some bad?

Discarded railroad ties were taken to the dump or burned—not used for landscaping.

If you got in a fight at school and you ended up with a black-eye your “nickname” immediately became “Joe Polooka.”

You struck out in a ball game and of course your team LOST because of you.

You had to tip a young boy $.50 to come and tell you that you had a call on the town phone. You then had to go up to the telephone office to call the people back.

You went up at night and drove the company trucks around the parking lot.

Gas was $.25 a gallon. The tank held about 18 to 20 gallons. It took 5 or 6 hours to make the LONG trip into Salt Lake City.

Spring clean-up to me and at least half of the people in town repainted their house GRAY again.

You got a buck every year at deer season and they were always four or six points???

You got kicked off the school bus for acting up and you were afraid to go home because you knew your parents would hear about it BEFORE you got home. (The gossip line always worked faster than a telephone.)

You “borrowed” the “monkey grease” out of the brake boxes on the railroad cars to build a fire while sleigh riding.

You helped tip over outside “crannies” on Halloween night.

You helped barricade the door to the school bus garage so you would not have to go to school the next day. (It never worked!)

You were ASSIGNED a partner for the annual Gold & Green Ball dance.

You got butterflies in your stomach when you took your first trip up the tram to go underground to work in the mine.

When you dried your boots and gloves on the steam heaters in the school house, it made them so stiff you could not get them on when school was over and it was time to go home.

Gas, tires, sugar and coffee were rationed during WW II and you had to have a ration book or stamps to buy them.

We walked anyplace we wanted to go. It could be school, movie, friends, church, post office, hunting or just hiking.

We saved tin foil and string on a big ball and took it to school to help our class win a prize for the War Effort.

You wore overalls and logger boots to school. There was no such thing as Levi’s or Reebok’s.

You helped set up folding chairs in the Amusement Hall before the movie each week, By doing that you could get in free instead of paying $.25.

We sluffed school and went and visited the girls in other towns instead.

We had a coal stove to heat our house, but it also served many other purposes. You cook on the top of it or in the oven. You could warm your feet in the oven in the winter. You could dry your hair in the oven. A coil in the fire box provided hot water. It was versatile – you could keep biscuits warm in the warming over above, while you cooked bacon & eggs, made coffee and cooked “spuds” on the top. Of course the down side was clinkers, ashes, kindling and coal buckets to keep full.

We hurried home from school to lay on the floor and “Watch” the radio while the “serials” were on. They kept our attention from one day to the next----the SHADOW, the GREEN HORNET, SUPERMAN, the INVISIBLE MAN, the CLUTCHING HAND, TARZAN AND THE APES and several others.

I don’t know if it was planned that way but our town was divided up into little sections, East Hiawatha, String Town, Jap Town, Tram Town, Greek Town, and Flat Town, Silk Stocking Row and the Flat Tops (or project.)

We were the Carbon County Boys----Our favorite pace to visit seemed to be The Emery County Swamp Angels.

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If this stirs up some memories of your HOME TOWN, no matter where it is please feel free to add them as a comment.

W.R. Baldwin