Children's Sunday School Songs: The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock , The B-I-B-L-E
"That's cuter than a little red wagon" was a phrase I heard my Grandma (Mary) Jonas use a lot. Little red wagons were common in the world of children and they did look cute. Their history via the Radio Flyer Wagon manufacturer is here.
One of my childhood photos is four boys in a wooden wagon with the slats removed in front of Grandma Jonas house. In back is Mike, then Bobby Whitaker, Bobby Ogle and me (about 18-24 months old) in the front. It's not a red wagon, so maybe not so cute, but we guys were cute. (OK, I'll start scanning in some of these photos in a few weeks).
Church softball games were special treats as a boy. Our church had a few families with lots of athletic men (the Schencks had 9 or so and the Whitakers had several, the Wolfs and Weavers had so many relatives they aren't countable- I go to the Wolf reunion now having married a Michael). The dads would play and we kids could run around and get soft drinks such as Nehi Orange Soda or Cream Soda and Dreamsicles, Creamsicles, fudgesicles or popsicles. There were also chewable or lickable items such as Double Bubble Gum, Tootsie Roll Pops and gummy things. They played at Farmersville, I remember slow pitch softball there and fast pitch at New Lebanon, each one with a unique concession stand and play areas around and under the bleachers. Once we got ball gloves with S & H Green Stamps, Mike and I could throw the ball around behind the bleachers.
It might have been church league softball but there were some intense disagreements at times caused by the Liberty players. We apparently had some young men who had extra intensity and a low threshold to disagree with umpires or members of the other team. I don't think trash talking was included, since that would have been un-Christian. But "an eye for an eye" was more important than "turning the other cheek". I don't know if we also pressed for "a tooth for a tooth", but older Liberty Church members and former members could tell the stories. The important part was that all the players had to attend church to be able to play. I wonder if any sermons focused on love and forgiveness in athletic endeavors.
My dad, "Scud" Jonas (see photo at left) was a unique player since he had no left hand. He played right field and had a fast movement to catch a ball in the glove on his right hand, quickly trap the glove -which now includes the ball in its pocket- in the crook of his left arm, take the ball in right hand and throw it. He batted left handed and was a "slap" hitter. I don't remember him ever being in the fights mentioned above. He also played for the Monarch Tags softball team through his work at the Monarch Marking System Company.
Many of you have similar memories about life in Liberty and thereafter. Feel free to comment.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Dogs, Cowboys and Ice Cream
Childhood at Liberty Church- More Sunday School songs: Let the Son Shine In
Rise Shine- Children of the Lord
Play: Many of us had a dog to play with. Bobby Ogle's dog was Chi Chi, a brown mutt. Bobby Whitaker had a small collie named Skippy . Ours was Blackie, sister of Grandma Clayton's dog, Dixie, part Fox Terrier and part mutt. Later dad got us a Pure Bred Boxer which was named Peanuts. She had "papers". She drooled a lot and occasionally blessed our home with aromatically unpleasant flatus. But she was a good dog for kids who needed to wrestle and play "fetch" with the dog.
Mike and I played special rules football in the house at night when Mom and Dad were at the neighbors for a card game or whatever. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but I do remember a broken lamp that got us into trouble. On occasion, Mike, being the older brother by 2 years, would hold me down until I said uncle or gave him a toy or let him play with my six guns or toy rifle. Outdoor football consisted of one kicking off and the other running back trying to score. This was full tackle, no pads football.
Since cowboys were so important in those days, we both had a double holster for our six guns that shot caps if we had any. We got the toy rifles one year for Christmas, complete with rifle holster suitable for tying on our bikes just like Roy Rogers, Gene Autrey and Hopalong Cassidy did on their horses. I remember playing on a dirt pile where Aunt Joy (Jonas Hoffman) and Uncle Jerry (Hoffman) were building their house, through our yard and Grandpa/ma Jonas back yard, still on Back Street. One day, Mike and Bobby Whitaker were there and we had our toy rifles ( I loved mine) but somehow got into an altercation with Bobby as we threw dirt clods at each other. I was excessively angry about the results of the dirt clod throwing and losing "King of the dirt pile" repeatedly and suddenly broke the stock of my toy rifle over Bobby's head. I then began crying because I broke my rifle (no remorse apparently at trying to harm a friend). I never got another toy rifle (consequences).
Brenda Lodge (Stone) baby sat for Mike and I, maybe to protect the lamps from our football, but certainly for safety and control purposes. She was surprised when we announced that it was time for ice cream and Mike and I both reached in the refrigerator to get our personal pint of ice cream. Yes, we were given too much ice cream, but it was great from the kids perspective. I think it related to my Grandpa Jonas growing up in East Dayton with a very stern German-American father. In their house, if you didn't eat all your food, you got it at the next meal. Since there were 8 children or so, money was tight and food was scarce. So Mike and Pat get some extra food and ice cream in their childhood to make up for Arthur Harry Jonas' life in East Dayton. I can't remember if Brenda got ice cream, too. Certainly we must have shared?
Rise Shine- Children of the Lord
Play: Many of us had a dog to play with. Bobby Ogle's dog was Chi Chi, a brown mutt. Bobby Whitaker had a small collie named Skippy . Ours was Blackie, sister of Grandma Clayton's dog, Dixie, part Fox Terrier and part mutt. Later dad got us a Pure Bred Boxer which was named Peanuts. She had "papers". She drooled a lot and occasionally blessed our home with aromatically unpleasant flatus. But she was a good dog for kids who needed to wrestle and play "fetch" with the dog.
Mike and I played special rules football in the house at night when Mom and Dad were at the neighbors for a card game or whatever. I don't remember exactly how it worked, but I do remember a broken lamp that got us into trouble. On occasion, Mike, being the older brother by 2 years, would hold me down until I said uncle or gave him a toy or let him play with my six guns or toy rifle. Outdoor football consisted of one kicking off and the other running back trying to score. This was full tackle, no pads football.
Since cowboys were so important in those days, we both had a double holster for our six guns that shot caps if we had any. We got the toy rifles one year for Christmas, complete with rifle holster suitable for tying on our bikes just like Roy Rogers, Gene Autrey and Hopalong Cassidy did on their horses. I remember playing on a dirt pile where Aunt Joy (Jonas Hoffman) and Uncle Jerry (Hoffman) were building their house, through our yard and Grandpa/ma Jonas back yard, still on Back Street. One day, Mike and Bobby Whitaker were there and we had our toy rifles ( I loved mine) but somehow got into an altercation with Bobby as we threw dirt clods at each other. I was excessively angry about the results of the dirt clod throwing and losing "King of the dirt pile" repeatedly and suddenly broke the stock of my toy rifle over Bobby's head. I then began crying because I broke my rifle (no remorse apparently at trying to harm a friend). I never got another toy rifle (consequences).
Brenda Lodge (Stone) baby sat for Mike and I, maybe to protect the lamps from our football, but certainly for safety and control purposes. She was surprised when we announced that it was time for ice cream and Mike and I both reached in the refrigerator to get our personal pint of ice cream. Yes, we were given too much ice cream, but it was great from the kids perspective. I think it related to my Grandpa Jonas growing up in East Dayton with a very stern German-American father. In their house, if you didn't eat all your food, you got it at the next meal. Since there were 8 children or so, money was tight and food was scarce. So Mike and Pat get some extra food and ice cream in their childhood to make up for Arthur Harry Jonas' life in East Dayton. I can't remember if Brenda got ice cream, too. Certainly we must have shared?
Monday, March 7, 2011
Jesus, Loss, Death and a Goiter
More classic Sunday School songs from age 3-8: Tell Me the Stories of Jesus Zacchaeus
There was a woman in Liberty church with a huge goiter. I stared at that a couple times, trying to figure out what was wrong with her neck. "Don't stare at people, that's not nice," my Grandma Jonas would say. That became a childhood rule since, "some people aren't as fortunate as we."
We had a parakeet and it flew away (I wasn't so good at closing doors) so we felt bad, getting our introduction to grief. Then the neighbor man, Mr. (Tom) Atkins died and they had his viewing in his living room. I remember walking down the street and into the Atkins home. Suddenly, there he was lying in a casket, very still and peaceful. Someone explained death to me once we got home (about 90 feet from Mr Atkins porch.) I didn't understand the loss and grief part, yet.
I did understand the food part, though, at a young age. "Wow, we're having pecan pie!" I would exclaim as I noticed a pecan pie (usually two) being made in our kitchen. "No, it's not for us, it's for the so and so family, Mrs. so and so's mother suddenly died last weekend." We're making the food to take to the church after the funeral service is over so the women in the family don't have to cook. When someone dies, there is a lot of food.
We had a few hogs in a crumbling barn just behind our house, until the family had a big butchering session at Grandma Jonas house, next door. I remember blood everywhere in Grandma's kitchen. She had a favorite butcher knife that got a workout on those former hogs. Whenever we had fried chicken, the killing of the chickens happened in Grandma and Grandpa Jonas' yard. Someone like my Uncle Jerry (Hoffman) would tie the chickens on the clothes line, then quickly cut off their heads and get out of the way. Mike and I would each get a chicken's foot to play around with. It was interesting how you could pull on the tendons and see the claws move. I have a vague memory of scaring girls by sitting the claws on their shoulder and pulling the tendon to make the claws contract.
The wishbone was the other prized item with butchering turkeys and chickens on special occasions. Make a wish and pull. It would come true, allegedly, for the person with the longest part of the bone. One thing I prayed for with the wish bone and my birthday cake candles was for my Mom to get better. She suddenly got polio and couldn't walk for a while. She used to go to the hospital for therapy to get her legs strong again. It worked. (The prayer and the therapy). I'll tell you later about Mike hitting me in the head with a baseball bat (accidentally) when Mom couldn't walk.
We'd learn about Jesus and sing about him and pray to his Father in small town Liberty. We felt safe.
We're working on some info about the Liberty town pump for another post on this site. If you have stories about the town pump, get ready to comment, or send me a note about it. Thanks.
There was a woman in Liberty church with a huge goiter. I stared at that a couple times, trying to figure out what was wrong with her neck. "Don't stare at people, that's not nice," my Grandma Jonas would say. That became a childhood rule since, "some people aren't as fortunate as we."
We had a parakeet and it flew away (I wasn't so good at closing doors) so we felt bad, getting our introduction to grief. Then the neighbor man, Mr. (Tom) Atkins died and they had his viewing in his living room. I remember walking down the street and into the Atkins home. Suddenly, there he was lying in a casket, very still and peaceful. Someone explained death to me once we got home (about 90 feet from Mr Atkins porch.) I didn't understand the loss and grief part, yet.
I did understand the food part, though, at a young age. "Wow, we're having pecan pie!" I would exclaim as I noticed a pecan pie (usually two) being made in our kitchen. "No, it's not for us, it's for the so and so family, Mrs. so and so's mother suddenly died last weekend." We're making the food to take to the church after the funeral service is over so the women in the family don't have to cook. When someone dies, there is a lot of food.
We had a few hogs in a crumbling barn just behind our house, until the family had a big butchering session at Grandma Jonas house, next door. I remember blood everywhere in Grandma's kitchen. She had a favorite butcher knife that got a workout on those former hogs. Whenever we had fried chicken, the killing of the chickens happened in Grandma and Grandpa Jonas' yard. Someone like my Uncle Jerry (Hoffman) would tie the chickens on the clothes line, then quickly cut off their heads and get out of the way. Mike and I would each get a chicken's foot to play around with. It was interesting how you could pull on the tendons and see the claws move. I have a vague memory of scaring girls by sitting the claws on their shoulder and pulling the tendon to make the claws contract.
The wishbone was the other prized item with butchering turkeys and chickens on special occasions. Make a wish and pull. It would come true, allegedly, for the person with the longest part of the bone. One thing I prayed for with the wish bone and my birthday cake candles was for my Mom to get better. She suddenly got polio and couldn't walk for a while. She used to go to the hospital for therapy to get her legs strong again. It worked. (The prayer and the therapy). I'll tell you later about Mike hitting me in the head with a baseball bat (accidentally) when Mom couldn't walk.
We'd learn about Jesus and sing about him and pray to his Father in small town Liberty. We felt safe.
We're working on some info about the Liberty town pump for another post on this site. If you have stories about the town pump, get ready to comment, or send me a note about it. Thanks.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Liberty: Filling Stations and Beer Joints
Liberty UM Church service February 27, 2011 was another opportunity for the Pastor, Rev. Glenn Sweigart to lead the flock with prayer, preaching and songs. The service was held in the upstairs gathering room where we used to go before Sunday School in elementary and middle school ages, to save on oil costs. The room wasn't quite full when son PRJ and I entered late into the second row. I was touched by the prayer for those with needs as it included our granddaughter, Natalie Rose, who God has held in His hand since birth. Joy Weaver did a wonderful job at piano and the women's choir quartet blended well on "Love Lifted Me".
After the service, I discussed bus drivers (and the history of Liberty) with Jim Nye, who corrected me about the driver of bus 4- it wasn't him. Fortunately, PRJ and I lunched at Red Lobster with Mom (Esther) and Petie Longhenry Hammond, who lived up town Liberty and knew everybody. She came up with Webb Marker as the correct driver of bus 4. She also gave some background about two "beer joints" in Liberty, one started by her grandmother, Hattie Fisher. We'll review the other one in a later entry.
We discussed the filling stations of George Heeter, George Wintermute, Rozzell (?1st name). I remember the Pure Oil Station and Texaco but not remembering brand on George Heeter's. I used to enjoy watching the men play cards at the Texaco station. Mike and I had a "charge account" (no kidding) at the Pure station and the grocery for ice cream cones at one time or another.
Petie places the first TV set in Liberty at the Broadbent home (where they had a cleaning business) and she recalls watching Friday night wrestling on that TV, as well as some western shows. She shared some comments about life up town (as the Back Street folks referred to it) in Liberty including the town pump, which will be the focus of another entry. Anyone with town pump or other stories is welcome to chime in or contact me and I'll slide your comments into a blog post.
Who lived where is always fun to hear about. Esther recounted that Ben Ankney and Aunt Mattie apparently built and lived in Pete and Gladys (Donna and Peggy's parents) home. George and Norma (Ankney) Speelman (Sam, Suzie, Elyn, Sally and Mary) were the first to reside in the Bill and Ruth Knoll (Freddie and Billie) house before Jim and Henrietta Whitaker (Jimmy and Danny) who became the Florida vacation hosts for many of us when they ran a Ft Myers, FL motel. Size of family after the twins came along drove the Speelman clan to larger digs where Leslie joined the team.
Lunch with Petie and Esther provided a rich backdrop to life in Liberty before I was around. The people were active in all sorts of community and supportive ways. So there was lots of life before TV and the internet. More later. As all you Liberty people read these, speak up when you see inaccuracies. Our brains may not file as well as we wish. I hope your hearts were set at Liberty, too.
After the service, I discussed bus drivers (and the history of Liberty) with Jim Nye, who corrected me about the driver of bus 4- it wasn't him. Fortunately, PRJ and I lunched at Red Lobster with Mom (Esther) and Petie Longhenry Hammond, who lived up town Liberty and knew everybody. She came up with Webb Marker as the correct driver of bus 4. She also gave some background about two "beer joints" in Liberty, one started by her grandmother, Hattie Fisher. We'll review the other one in a later entry.
We discussed the filling stations of George Heeter, George Wintermute, Rozzell (?1st name). I remember the Pure Oil Station and Texaco but not remembering brand on George Heeter's. I used to enjoy watching the men play cards at the Texaco station. Mike and I had a "charge account" (no kidding) at the Pure station and the grocery for ice cream cones at one time or another.
Petie places the first TV set in Liberty at the Broadbent home (where they had a cleaning business) and she recalls watching Friday night wrestling on that TV, as well as some western shows. She shared some comments about life up town (as the Back Street folks referred to it) in Liberty including the town pump, which will be the focus of another entry. Anyone with town pump or other stories is welcome to chime in or contact me and I'll slide your comments into a blog post.
Who lived where is always fun to hear about. Esther recounted that Ben Ankney and Aunt Mattie apparently built and lived in Pete and Gladys (Donna and Peggy's parents) home. George and Norma (Ankney) Speelman (Sam, Suzie, Elyn, Sally and Mary) were the first to reside in the Bill and Ruth Knoll (Freddie and Billie) house before Jim and Henrietta Whitaker (Jimmy and Danny) who became the Florida vacation hosts for many of us when they ran a Ft Myers, FL motel. Size of family after the twins came along drove the Speelman clan to larger digs where Leslie joined the team.
Lunch with Petie and Esther provided a rich backdrop to life in Liberty before I was around. The people were active in all sorts of community and supportive ways. So there was lots of life before TV and the internet. More later. As all you Liberty people read these, speak up when you see inaccuracies. Our brains may not file as well as we wish. I hope your hearts were set at Liberty, too.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Early Childhood in Liberty: 1946-1952
What about kids ages 2-4 in Liberty in the "old days"?
I remember vaguely some things about my toddler years. They center on home and family. Kitchen activities were fun. Licking the beaters when Mom made a cake was tasty. "Helping" to make pie crusts with the rolling pin was fun as was making little cinnamon rolls with the leftover dough with the immediate reward of getting to eat them. The pies were mostly for special occasions or church socials, so we had to wait a while to savor them.
Crawling behind the couch to pet our Fox Terrier + (mutt) dog, Blackie, was a meaningful pastime. I would pet her and hug her until she hid behind the couch, but I was small enough to crawl in to hide with her. I felt like she was my friend. She never was irritable or disagreeable and let me play with my toys without interruption.
Toys at this age were cars, trucks, tinker toys, Lincoln Logs and an electric train. The cowboy items seemed to come along at age 6, along with a series of items sold in cereal boxes re-enforcing our commitment to various TV shows (cultural reminder-we didn't have a TV until I was about 6 years old). The Hopalong Cassidy mug and bowl set was a favorite. The Howdy Doody Puppet was an age 7or 8 item received from Santa Claus at Christmas. Boxes were helpful as garages and homes, while we got a plastic item every Christmas to add to the train props. A few examples were a plastic train station, a plastic house, fire station and filling station with lots of cute little plastic evergreen trees.
A milk man delivered milk to the front porch and was neighborly with those who stepped outside. I remember a couple inches of cream at the very top of each bottle of milk. I don't remember how often they delivered. A bread man (they were called "men" in those days of gender specific job titles) delivered bread to the front door in a Sunbeam Bread truck. In later years, I took advantage of the pastries they sold.
The garbage man had a huge truck and was really strong, evidenced by how easily he lifted the garbage cans that he emptied into his truck. He chatted with anyone outside, too. He and the milkman both went out of their way to speak to my Grandma Clayton, who was wheelchair bound with rheumatoid arthritis. The neighborliness of people was a big part of small town life.
Easter was special with Easter egg hunts, new clothes, photos, church with Easter songs and extended family Easter gatherings. Christmas was exciting since our parents did not put up the tree until after we went to sleep Christmas eve. They usually decorated the tree after midnight. Mike and I had quite a sight each Christmas morning when we came down the stairs to see the colorful setting.
Other toddler experiences and childhood up to age 6 in Liberty were unique for many others who will be commenting from time to time, as they feel inspired to reflect in writing.
Pat Jonas
I remember vaguely some things about my toddler years. They center on home and family. Kitchen activities were fun. Licking the beaters when Mom made a cake was tasty. "Helping" to make pie crusts with the rolling pin was fun as was making little cinnamon rolls with the leftover dough with the immediate reward of getting to eat them. The pies were mostly for special occasions or church socials, so we had to wait a while to savor them.
Crawling behind the couch to pet our Fox Terrier + (mutt) dog, Blackie, was a meaningful pastime. I would pet her and hug her until she hid behind the couch, but I was small enough to crawl in to hide with her. I felt like she was my friend. She never was irritable or disagreeable and let me play with my toys without interruption.
Toys at this age were cars, trucks, tinker toys, Lincoln Logs and an electric train. The cowboy items seemed to come along at age 6, along with a series of items sold in cereal boxes re-enforcing our commitment to various TV shows (cultural reminder-we didn't have a TV until I was about 6 years old). The Hopalong Cassidy mug and bowl set was a favorite. The Howdy Doody Puppet was an age 7or 8 item received from Santa Claus at Christmas. Boxes were helpful as garages and homes, while we got a plastic item every Christmas to add to the train props. A few examples were a plastic train station, a plastic house, fire station and filling station with lots of cute little plastic evergreen trees.
A milk man delivered milk to the front porch and was neighborly with those who stepped outside. I remember a couple inches of cream at the very top of each bottle of milk. I don't remember how often they delivered. A bread man (they were called "men" in those days of gender specific job titles) delivered bread to the front door in a Sunbeam Bread truck. In later years, I took advantage of the pastries they sold.
The garbage man had a huge truck and was really strong, evidenced by how easily he lifted the garbage cans that he emptied into his truck. He chatted with anyone outside, too. He and the milkman both went out of their way to speak to my Grandma Clayton, who was wheelchair bound with rheumatoid arthritis. The neighborliness of people was a big part of small town life.
Easter was special with Easter egg hunts, new clothes, photos, church with Easter songs and extended family Easter gatherings. Christmas was exciting since our parents did not put up the tree until after we went to sleep Christmas eve. They usually decorated the tree after midnight. Mike and I had quite a sight each Christmas morning when we came down the stairs to see the colorful setting.
Other toddler experiences and childhood up to age 6 in Liberty were unique for many others who will be commenting from time to time, as they feel inspired to reflect in writing.
Pat Jonas
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Kids Playing in Liberty: Bikes, Trees, Cowboys, Marbles
As a child, what did kids do in Liberty, a town of 100 or so, counting dogs? I remember riding bikes a lot. From our house to the Whitaker's, just around the corner from us, or down to Bear Creek or over to church. And back again. Since cowboys and Indians were big on the radio (we got a 13 inch black and white TV when I was 6), the boys in the neighborhood often wore a holster with plastic handled guns while playing or riding bikes. I remember Bobby Benson of the B Bar B Ranch on the radio. Roy Rogers and Gene Autrey were on the radio, also, I just can't remember listening to them.
Once we started watching westerns on TV, we had visible role models to imitate with our hats and guns. Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes, Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix were some of our heroes. I seemed to have a beat-up hat for a while so I liked to act like Gabby Hayes.
My brother, Mike, two years older, often tried to ditch me so he could play with Bobby W. They liked to climb trees and I was too little to get very high up, and maybe restricted by my mother according to age from climbing trees. They could ride bikes faster and could take off before I could get started.
Marbles was popular play focus in my Liberty childhood. I played against anyone in the neighborhood who wanted to play. I was afraid to "play for keeps" very often because I didn't want to lose some of my favorite marbles. When we did, we didn't "play for shooters", so we could protect our favorites (not great gamblers in Liberty). We sometimes traded marbles, too, to get ones we really liked that someone else was tired of.
I often played marbles with my Grandma Clayton, who had severe Rheumatoid Arthritis with mobility impairment (wheelchair bound). She lived right across Back Street from us and was a real sport about playing marbles any time I wished (or so it seemed to a young boy) My aunt Crockey had some really cool, ancient looking marbles and shooters that impressed me more than any marbles we kids had.
For play, we kids would each put ten marbles in the ring and shoot at them when our turn came until all the marbles were out of the circle (usually a piece of string). As we got bigger shooters, the games got shorter since we could knock out more marbles per shot with the huge Shooters. I had a favorite medium sized red shooter, then larger cat's eye shooters as my childhood marble career evolved.
Wow, I just found a jar with many of my old marbles and noticed a couple shooters I used to like. I don't see the red one, but if I dump them all out, I might find it, but might make a mess and get in trouble with my wife (who won't let me climb trees, either). Nothing like Liberty nostalgia. What are your play memories from early childhood, especially if it was in or near to Liberty?
Pat Jonas
P.S. My wife showed me the last jar of marbles (and jacks) in the secret stash when I lamented not finding my red shooter (I dumped out all the marbles). Alas, the red shooter is in front of me now, spewing nostalgia. I hope that you all have a favorite marble or shooter that will spew for you. See Facebook comment from P. Cox for a great message from "the girls".
Once we started watching westerns on TV, we had visible role models to imitate with our hats and guns. Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes, Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix were some of our heroes. I seemed to have a beat-up hat for a while so I liked to act like Gabby Hayes.
My brother, Mike, two years older, often tried to ditch me so he could play with Bobby W. They liked to climb trees and I was too little to get very high up, and maybe restricted by my mother according to age from climbing trees. They could ride bikes faster and could take off before I could get started.
Marbles was popular play focus in my Liberty childhood. I played against anyone in the neighborhood who wanted to play. I was afraid to "play for keeps" very often because I didn't want to lose some of my favorite marbles. When we did, we didn't "play for shooters", so we could protect our favorites (not great gamblers in Liberty). We sometimes traded marbles, too, to get ones we really liked that someone else was tired of.
I often played marbles with my Grandma Clayton, who had severe Rheumatoid Arthritis with mobility impairment (wheelchair bound). She lived right across Back Street from us and was a real sport about playing marbles any time I wished (or so it seemed to a young boy) My aunt Crockey had some really cool, ancient looking marbles and shooters that impressed me more than any marbles we kids had.
For play, we kids would each put ten marbles in the ring and shoot at them when our turn came until all the marbles were out of the circle (usually a piece of string). As we got bigger shooters, the games got shorter since we could knock out more marbles per shot with the huge Shooters. I had a favorite medium sized red shooter, then larger cat's eye shooters as my childhood marble career evolved.
Wow, I just found a jar with many of my old marbles and noticed a couple shooters I used to like. I don't see the red one, but if I dump them all out, I might find it, but might make a mess and get in trouble with my wife (who won't let me climb trees, either). Nothing like Liberty nostalgia. What are your play memories from early childhood, especially if it was in or near to Liberty?
Pat Jonas
P.S. My wife showed me the last jar of marbles (and jacks) in the secret stash when I lamented not finding my red shooter (I dumped out all the marbles). Alas, the red shooter is in front of me now, spewing nostalgia. I hope that you all have a favorite marble or shooter that will spew for you. See Facebook comment from P. Cox for a great message from "the girls".
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Bus 4 and Bus 3 Through Liberty. Cards and Kids on Back Street
In my photo album from childhood, there is a group of children waiting for the school bus between the Eller and Atkins homes on Back Street (now Longbourne Street). Ten kids form two rows so mothers can get a photo on the first day of school. The kids include Mike, Freddie, Donna, Peggy, Nancy, Judy, Patty A, Mike, Pat and two girls I don't recognize ("maybe from the red farm house or Larry's sister plus someone else?). This was my first day in the first grade. We didn't have kindergarten in those days (1952).
We rode on bus 4, driven by Jim N. Most of the buses were driven by farmers. Bus 3, driven by Orien H., another farmer, also came through Liberty, but not on back street. A few times when I was a bit late, I ran up town to the "corner" and caught bus 3. It seemed that the girls on bus 3 were overall slightly cuter than bus 4. Bus 4 eventually went from Liberty out the Dayton-Liberty Road to the western end of Olt Rd, then backtracking to Union south over to East on Derby, through Carver Village, down Dayton-Farmersville Road to Jefferson ("The school we love, the one among the throng", to quote our alma mater). It was about 35 to 40 minutes long from Liberty to Jefferson, time enough to nap or do some homework.
I guess Liberty never had its own school. We did have a doctor for a while, Doctor Hall who practiced in the Hill home. We had two filling stations for a while, Pure and Texaco. I used to go to the Texaco and watch men play cards and tell stories and jokes. I love to listen to stories. Men playing cards were interesting, too.
Uncle Oscar and Aunt Clara Jonas from East Dayton used to come to Liberty to visit Mary (Grandma) and Art (Grandpa) Jonas, play euchre, eat cashews and tell stories. Uncle Oscar also cut Grandpa Jonas hair and Grandma and Aunt Clara traded hair permanents. The men drank beer from a bottle, very slowly and would occasionally let Mike or I drink the last sip. It didn't taste very good, but it seemed manly to me.
We rode on bus 4, driven by Jim N. Most of the buses were driven by farmers. Bus 3, driven by Orien H., another farmer, also came through Liberty, but not on back street. A few times when I was a bit late, I ran up town to the "corner" and caught bus 3. It seemed that the girls on bus 3 were overall slightly cuter than bus 4. Bus 4 eventually went from Liberty out the Dayton-Liberty Road to the western end of Olt Rd, then backtracking to Union south over to East on Derby, through Carver Village, down Dayton-Farmersville Road to Jefferson ("The school we love, the one among the throng", to quote our alma mater). It was about 35 to 40 minutes long from Liberty to Jefferson, time enough to nap or do some homework.
I guess Liberty never had its own school. We did have a doctor for a while, Doctor Hall who practiced in the Hill home. We had two filling stations for a while, Pure and Texaco. I used to go to the Texaco and watch men play cards and tell stories and jokes. I love to listen to stories. Men playing cards were interesting, too.
Uncle Oscar and Aunt Clara Jonas from East Dayton used to come to Liberty to visit Mary (Grandma) and Art (Grandpa) Jonas, play euchre, eat cashews and tell stories. Uncle Oscar also cut Grandpa Jonas hair and Grandma and Aunt Clara traded hair permanents. The men drank beer from a bottle, very slowly and would occasionally let Mike or I drink the last sip. It didn't taste very good, but it seemed manly to me.
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