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Last of Stories for Doldrums Days
Posted By: Capt D In Response To: Re: More Stories for Doldrums Days (diver531)
Date: Friday, 2-15-13, at 8:49 p.m.
Since the meteors and asteroids have slowed PC speed, heres a few more recollections.
Milkman and the "paper rags" man had a horse.
Rode streetcar till 2nd grade when they were replaced w/ buses.
Enteprenur before teens. Made and sold plaster statues from latex molds (made the molds too), and sold peanuts in the shell. Both from table next to main road next to parents tavern. After those successes, decided to become a worm salesman. Filled old fashioned Coke cooler (the kind that opened from both sides of the top (you have to be old to remember those:):) It was about 3 ft wide, 3 feet deep and 6 ft. long. w/ soil and sphagnum moss. (Moss from back of discarded cemetary wreaths). Then added apprx. 10 cans of hand picked worms (no dirt - just worms) in 3lb. coffee cans. Maybe 10,000 worms. Was going to sell worms at a lake about 18 miles away. Knew could sell for 1/2 price the boathouse was charging. After few weeks of feeding w/ corn meal and keeping the medium damp, went to begin filling 1/2 pt. containers. Quite a surprise. Only found about 10 worms. No rotting worms. They had consumed each other. Bottom line...not all enterprises succeed.
Then there was the mystery monster that stalked the nite at our cottage at the lake mentioned above. May have told story here once before so won't go into a lot of detail. Spooked us one hot sormy nite. Left footprints. Made casts. Unable to identify at library. Dad took casts to Natural History museum and they threw him out for tryin to perpatrate a hoax. Many years later, dying carny worker told newspaper that a train wreck occurred years before and a freak animal escaped. it was never reported for fear of liability and in the hope it would die when winter came. Year we cast the footprint there were many reports of something in forested area 25 miles north east...something that screamed like a woman being strangled. Part of the carnies story was that the animal they lost screamed like a woman being strangled. Co-incidence?? Same animal movin south thru our property?? Maybe yes, maybe no...but still have the cast.
Had the slickest holster and six shooter in the neighborhood. No one could match this Capt's draw. Bullets carried caps inside.
Had Hopalog Cassidy 78 RPM record albumn set. Wore the groves right off that. Had one of his lucky pieces too. Alloy silver dollar w/ a bullet dent in it. Never missed Roy Rogers on TV. Dale, Clipper, Penny, Bullitt, the Song Bird, the Flying Crown ranch and even remember their car. A Chrysler station wagon.
Then there was the TV series Space Patrol. One year they raffled off a mock up of the ship and pulled it round the country for display. Slept 6. Had all the instuments in the cockpit. Firearms attached to the walls. One of moms friends actually won it. Sold it.
Had all the decoder rings, spaceships etc you could order w/ boxtops.
Lived thru a tornado that ran thru block away one nite, and also a storm known as the "Devil Wind".
Remember 1st time went fishin off a breakwall in lake Erie. Dad said "under no circumstances try to reach or pet the dogs." The rats were size of dogs and even made sort of a bark down between the rocks.
Had an orphanage a few blocks down. Went there couple of times a month to use the playground equipment. Strange thing...we never ever saw a child or an adult there in all those years. Spooky.
On days w/ nothing to do, used to dig same hole at edge of our property next to small office building. Just dig it, and fill it again so no one would fall in overnite. Over the years found a chinese coin and a letter opener from the Chicago Exposition.
Grandfather on moms side was an entrepanur and inventor. Wore spats, was on the bank board of directors etc. never saw him do a lick of work ... ever never had to. Had one of the 1st cars on the "North Coast". Back then they issued just metal numbers for license plates and you had to fasten them to something and attach to the vehicle. He had property in neighboring cities, green bean fields in Fl, but best of all were his inventions...patented too. This Capt's favorite was the "Flipper Gear" for planes. In case of fire in plane, a flipper gear on each seat flipped the passengers outside the plane so the crew could quickly put out the fire, and then flip them back into the plane.
Grandfather on dads side came from Europe as an adult. He never learned to speak English. All we ever gave him for Christmas was a carton of Pall Mall. He was a carpenter w/o power tools. All was fashioned by hand in his unheated or cooled shop behind their house. Could never describe style of his work till a few years ago. His furniture was what today is called "Mission" design. And the amazing thig was that he was too poor to buy lumber or stain. He made his own finishes and best of all made all his furniture from "dunnage" from docks and rail stations!!
Grandmother dads side also came ovr from Europe as an adult. Also never learned English. We helped her make sausage every Easter, as well as pierogis, noodles, chicken soup, and pazki (pronounced poonski). Made weekly trip w/ her to slaughterhouse for pork and beef and the chicken house. (You pick um,they wring the neck, and you take em home.) She saved all the feathers for pillows and comforters. She was also the expert at mushroom pickin. How she never killed herself (or us) a miracle. Remember on time pickin what looked like white sphagnum moss - that glowed in the dark. She fryed em, dryed em and canned em. Always played bunko when I'd bike over and always had a cold pop for me.
Obviously could go on and on here. Hope none of this bored you, and that some of this "stuff" tweaked some your memories from the good old days, the best of times when livin it, we never knew it!!
Now......we gotta get back to purpose of this site...fishin the Outer Banks.
Spring is about sprung Tadpoles!!
King...apology... if used too much thread on this old timer stuff.
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