Wanted: Holiday Stories!

OK, people, time to rally with those Christmas and Hanukkah stories!! 

Christmas - Santa Reading Mail by Norman Rockwell

What's your best holiday memory??

-did you sleep in the living room to try and catch Santa red-handed?

-melt the menorah?

-run over the Nativity scene with the Vista Cruiser?

-hide an engagement ring in the pudding?

We can't wait to hear all of your best festive tales!

from Richard Codor's Little Blog of Jewish Humor

The winner of our Thanksgiving Contest is Trudy Schuett! Thanks, Trudy for your story about your dad's favorite dessert recipe, Cherry Crap! 

Enjoy your Amazon gift card!

Keep those stories coming!

“Shay Ajeeb!” or, Bobby, our intelligent dog

by Lois Dickason 

Lois writes about the unusual experience of having a pet dog in a foreign country. Her parents were Reformed Church in America missionaries in Muscat, Oman:

Bobby was a birthday gift to our brother Norman in 1940 - one of a litter of thirteen pups born to a dog owned by Major A. O. C. Pettyfer (mentioned in Oman In the Twentieth Century, pgs. 93 and 107), the British Military Advisor to Sultan Sa’id bin Taymor in Muscat, Oman that year.  Another one of the same litter, subsequently named Susan, somehow made the long ship’s journey from one end of the Persian Gulf to the other as a gift for our little cousins, Marilyn and Lewis, toddler daughter and baby son of Dr. Lewis and Dorothy Scudder, Mom’s brother and his wife.  Bobby was a mix of Red Setter and Golden Retriever, a beautiful shiny gold, who came to our family in time to make a little boy very happy on his November 5^th birthday.  

Bobby was much loved by the family and partial to Norm and Dad.  He loved to accompany the family to the beach and would run ahead of the ’36 Ford touring car (named “Zem Zem”), which could not go very fast on the rutted bumpy roads.  Dad taught him the usual tricks, such as “roll over”, “sit”, “lie down” and “shake hands”.  Sometimes he would give the commands in English and sometimes in Arabic using the appropriate gestures for each command.

Bobby may have looked like this "Irish-Golden"
(photo via Retriverman.wordpress.com)

One day Sheikh Hamed Bin Haamed, a thin and relatively tall and dignified man from the inland area of Samayl came to visit Dad.  He would often stay in our home when he came to Muttrah and we in turn  would stay in his guest quarters when visiting Jenaa, whered he lived.  As he was being served coffee and dates in our parlor, our dog, Bobby came into the room.  The sheikh recoiled in horror since dogs are considered unclean.  (The worst insult to an Arab is to be called a “kelb”, meaning “dog”.)  He said to Dad, “You have a kelb!!?”  Dad said, “Don’t worry.  He is not a ‘kelb’.  He is a  ‘dog’ – a very intelligent animal.  In fact he understands commands in Arabic and English.”  Dad then put Bobby through all his tricks, both in Arabic and English and Bobby went through all the paces without a hitch.  The Sheikh was most impressed and said, “Shay ajeeb!” (“This is amazing!”)

Several weeks later, another man came to the hospital from Jenaa.  He came to the house and asked if he could see the dog that “T’kelam Arabiya wa Englaisie:” speaks Arabic and English. The story had gotten around and Bobby’s reputation became slightly exaggerated.

Unfortunately Bobby only lived a few years.  He developed a skin disease related to the extreme heat in Oman (there was no air conditioning in those days and his fairly long coat of hair added to the discomfort).  We children stayed in India during WW II from 1942 – 1945, and Bobby stayed in Mutrah, Oman, so we did not have a chance to enjoy our pet for long.  However, his fond memory lives on.

Thanks for this unique take on pet ownership, Lois! 

This story came to us from Lois in Michigan, to her Hope College roommate, Una in New Jersey, who is the mother of one of my writing buddies! Wow, talk about a traveling tale! Thanks to all of you for keeping in touch, and sending in your story. Keep those stories coming! There are still 5 days left in our contest!!

Heidi and Eileen

Great Advice from Great-Aunt Violet

by Diane J. Standiford

My great-aunt Violet went to the Dr. to have her ears irrigated. "She kept the waiting room in stitches," my cousin said. She did however call the doctor a son of a b____, and while waiting shouted out (as only someone with stuffed ears can), "Why is the doctor taking so long?! Doesn't he know I am 102 and could go anytime?!"

The Dog-Violet Fairy, by Cicely Mary Barker

Aunt Violet Donna Lucille Boveine was the youngest of  six children. Her mother named her Violet and her two sisters were allowed to choose another name, hence her three names. She never married, but was never, ever, alone. Most of her many nieces and nephews were in some way raised by her. She lived from the age of 17 with her schoolmate, Ivah, until Ivah's death in her 80s. With Aunt Violet driving, they visited many states, worked many jobs, bought their own houses, and were women ahead of their time---never afraid to try new things.

Of our very large family, Aunt Vi lived the longest (so far), to age 103. She was a straight shooter and we all went to her for advice. 

I once asked her what her first memory was. She said it was when she sat on the front steps of the small house her father built and heard a boy shouting while running towards her. He was selling the newspaper and wildly shouting, "The Titanic Sinks!  The Titanic Sinks!" Her father rarely could afford the newspaper, but he bought that copy, so she knew it was something very important. 

I once asked her what her secret was to living so long and she replied, "Damned if I know! Just do what you want, that's what I did."  

Diane J. Standiford 

54 years old

Seattle, Washington

Thanks Diane! 

For more from Diane, please visit her blog: Retired in Seattle Viewpointe

Gordon and the Big, Mean, Turkey

As promised, here is our second helping, from Trudy Schuett, of Yuma, AZ.

Gordon and the Big, Mean, Turkey

by Trudy Schuett

Does your family always have a turkey for Thanksgiving, or do you have a pre-holiday discussion, turkey vs. ham like we do?

I grew up in a family with a ham tradition. Every holiday, my mother would trot out a five or ten-pound (depending on the number of people) canned Rath ham. My husband’s family always had turkey, even on Easter.

We never had turkey or chicken, even on regular days. That’s because my parents and grandparents, with my aunt and uncle had a poultry farm in the Depression era, and so for many years, that was what there was to eat. “Chicken and green beans,” my dad used to say. “If you didn’t want that, you could have green beans and chicken.”

They did experiment with turkeys for a while at the Purlingbrook Poultry Farm. Turkeys however, are a different bag of feathers. While you’ve probably heard the story that they’re so stupid they can drown in the rain by looking up to see what’s coming out of the sky, they’re big critters when they still have all their parts, and territorial. They can be big trouble, especially when you’ve got an inquisitive toddler loose in the yard.

Turkeys aren’t like chickens, which pretty much eat and make a mess, and not much else. They’re not big enough to cause any serious trouble.

One summer afternoon, my grandmother looked up from her work in the house and realized little Gordon had wandered off again. He’s my second-eldest brother. Grandma kept an eye on the kids while my mother was either out back in the garden or tending the chickens. At that time, there were only the two boys, Larry and Gordon. After a brief survey of the house, Grandma went outside in search of the missing little boy, when she heard shrieks coming from the turkey pen.

She ran to investigate, and there was Gordon, in his diaper, cowering against a corner of the fence. Two or three turkeys, as tall or even taller, were approaching him, beaks at the ready, to dispatch this intruder. Grandma called to my aunt who happened by, and leapt into the fray, to save the terrified kid from a certain assault. Auntie Teen soon followed, to run interference. Despite some pecking and plenty of un-Grandma-like language, the two women managed to save my brother, who was retrieved unharmed.

It wasn’t long after that, the dinner menu changed to turkey for a while, and the Purlingbrook Poultry Farm returned to dedicated chicken-and-egg production. In later years, when I was old enough to start asking questions, like why we always had ham, my mother would say it was because Dad preferred ham, and Dad would mutter something about “big, mean birds.” Eventually I did get the whole story, and I could figure out why Dad wouldn’t want one of those things on his table.

Gordon, however, gleefully digs in to his roast turkey on Thanksgiving, as his wife comes from a turkey family, and he probably feels a bit of sweet revenge in any case.

- We hope everyone had a nice, warm, belly-filling Thanksgiving dinner−whether you prefer ham or turkey−and that many stories and laughs were shared around the table. 

Don't forget about our contest! (see previous post, or click here.) 

The winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card - hey, one less present to buy, right? So keep those stories coming!

Thanks for reading, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Heidi and Eileen

Thanksgiving PRIZE GIVEAWAY!

Are you up for a challenge? And no, you don't have to eat more pumpkin pie than your brother...

Norman Rockwell's The Four Freedoms: Freedom From Want

The holiday season is here; perfect time to put on those listening ears! As my Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kruger used to say.

This Thursday, many of you will be sitting around the table in a post-turkey food coma, sipping coffee and reminiscing about the Good Ol 'Days.

Don't let those cherished memories drift into the cinnamon-and-nutmeg-scented ether of Grandma's kitchen! Whip out your laptop, or better yet, your video camera* and lock that precious tale into history!! Don't be selfish and hog it all to yourself! You might be sick of Grandpa Fred's retelling of when the Johnson's barn burnt down and all that was left were the bones of a '42 Oldsmobile, but we've never heard that story before, and we would LOVE it! So would your cousin in Cincinnati or your aunt in Omaha, who couldn't make it back home for Thanksgiving.

Our challenge to you, our readers, is TEN new stories over Thanksgiving weekend! That will be enough to post ONE story per day until Sunday, December 4. What do you say? Are you up for it?

To further sweeten the pot, as they say, we'll offer a prize!

On December 5, we will look at our Google Blogger stats page, and the most popular story of the week will receive a $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD!

Yes, that's right, we have resorted to bribery. But hey, whatever works. We are trying to gain readership, and more importantly, we want more stories!!

Are you up for the challenge?

Here are the rules:

• Any story submitted to seniorshareproject@gmail.com between Thanksgiving Day (November 24) and Sunday, December 4 will be eligible.
• We will post one story per day for the full amount of stories we receive. If we go over our goal, we will keep posting stories until we use up all of the submissions received during the the submission window (Nov. 24 - Dec. 4).
• The story does NOT have to be Thanksgiving related! Just any family story will do.
• Once all of the stories have been posted, we will use Blogger Stats to determine the most popular story, and that author will win a gift card for $25 to Amazon.com!

So get those listening ears on, drag your laptop to Granny's, and let 'er rip! And yes, it is perfectly fair to bet you sister that YOUR story will beat HERS. We encourage friendly competition. :)

Don't forget to share www.SeniorShareProject.com with your friends and family, Like us on Facebook, and let the games begin!

We can't wait to hear from you!

Thanks,

Heidi and Eileen

*for video submissions, post the content to youtube, email us the link, and we'll embed it as a post.
We plan on implementing more video footage soon, and will be developing our own youtube channel.

Need a Dessert Recipe? Try Cherry Crap!

This story submission absolutely cracked me up! And hopefully will start a trend of people sending us recipes along with their stories.

This is from Trudy, the reporter at KAWC radio who recorded our interview. We'll have another great story from Trudy later this week, just in time for Thanksgiving, so stay tuned! :)

Cherry Crap

By Trudy Schuett

Through all the 1950s and most of the 1960s, my mother went to her Pinochle Club twice a month. Each lady took a turn hosting, and the dessert during a break in card playing was an important element of the evening. Everybody would exclaim how lovely that night's dessert was, and later on in the car, my mother and my aunt would say what they really thought. (One of the reasons they called it "Cat Club," no doubt.)

One lady frequently served a pumpkin pie with gravy, of all things; something I've never figured out or ever heard of anybody else doing.

A lot of the recipes in that era were based on convenience foods and Jello, and it wasn't too often Ma came home with a recipe. She was great at pies and cakes made from scratch, but every once in a while there would be one of the "Cat Club" desserts showing up at our house.

The following recipe for Cherry Crap is one of those, and nobody remembered how it got its name. I can only imagine the scene the first time Ma presented this, circa 1955:

Ma: (setting a glass cake pan on the dining room table) I got this recipe from Leona at Cat Club.

Dad: (viewing the dish with suspicion) What is it?

Ma: It's a Quick Cherry Pie!

Dad: Looks more like Cherry Crap to me.

Anyway, no matter what Dad thought of the looks, we all liked it, and I still make it today. Here's the recipe:

11 graham crackers, crushed, or pre-crushed graham cracker crumbs for two crusts (found in the baking aisle of the store)

1/3 cup sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine

1 can cherry pie filling

Cool-Whip or spray whipped creme

Melt butter in microwave in microwave-safe mixing bowl. Add crumbs and sugar; mix well. 

Layer half the crumb mixture in the bottom of a 9x9 square cake pan, spread pie filling over crumbs. Top with the rest of the crumbs. Refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight.

Serve with your choice of topping.

Note: Back when we lived in Detroit I tried making this once with fresh cherries from our tree, and real whipped creme but it just wasn't the same. You really want that chemical-y goodness for this one!

Thanks, Trudy!

NEWS!!

Click to go to KAWC Radio program

NEWS!! 


Tune in to KAWC Radio Friday, November 18, 9AM or 3PM (mountain time) for "Arizona Editions," to hear an interview with Heidi and Eileen, Senior Share Project creators. 


As always, Thanks for stopping by!!


WHOOPS! Sorry folks! Due to a last-minute schedule change at the station, our story was moved. Look for us on Monday or Tuesday's Morning Edition or All Things Considered. I will post any scheduled air times as I am updated. Thanks!

Welcome New Readers!

Senior Share Project has been seeing some momentum, recently, and we'd like to thank you all for stopping by. We've recently been lucky enough to have received TWO online reviews!

The first review is over at Blog Search Engine. No matter what your interests, you will be sure to find something to read here, and without the hassle of weeding through a general search on Google or Yahoo. Blog Search Engine is a listing site with ratings and reviews on all kinds of blogs. Please click on the picture below to go to our review, and once there, click on the stars to rate it, "like" it on Facebook or Tweet it to your followers - that will help us get ratings and even more exposure:

Our second review is over at BloggyAward.com! BloggyAward.com is a site that visits hundreds of blogs a year, and rates them based on the following criteria: Visual Aesthetics, User Friendliness, Reading Enjoyment and Useful Info. Based on ratings and what you like to read, BloggyAward.com is a great site to sift through, and find more blogs to visit. 

It's also great feedback for us, because with an outside opinion, we are able to make some changes to our blog, like implementing a label navigation bar (coming soon!)

Senior Share Project received a score of 9 out of 10!! Thank You, BloggyAward.com!

Click this picture to go to our review:

We are so thankful to have this coverage and recognition. But, the most important ingredient of Senior Share Project is YOU, our readers. We don't exist without your stories. 

Maybe the first time you visited our site, you had a little story in the back of your mind that you were reminded of when reading what others have written. 

• Did your parent or grandparent emigrate to the United States from a foreign country, like Carla Carozza's dad, Vince? 
• Do you laugh everytime you think of your favorite aunt, or when you remember a lesson your mom taught you, like Jeanette Kahwaji's Aunt, Winnie the Witch or Joe Finnerty's grape jelly fiasco? 
• How about growing up in the country like Lorene Hoover from Iowa, Holly Klapper from Northern Michigan, or Gordon Fredrickson from Minnesota?
• Did you sneak a radio into school so you could listen to the World Series, like Marty Roselius?

You know there's a story inside you. We want to hear it. Send it to us today! We'd love to hear from our international readers, too!

seniorshareproject@gmail.com

Thank you! Heidi and Eileen

P.S. Coming soon to SSP: Video interviews! Check back, or better yet, subscribe! 

Poppies

I remember when I was a kid, and we would drive into town, there would be volunteers from the Lion's Club at the main intersection. When you'd stop at the stop sign and donated some change, the Lions volunteer would give you a hard candy or a poppy to hang on your rearview mirror. My mom would somehow work it into her outfit or if we were on our way to church, and my dad was wearing a suit, he'd place it in his buttonhole.

Today on my way into the grocery store where I work, I noticed there was a table set up for the purposes of collecting donations for Veterans. I thanked the gentleman manning the station and dropped some bills into the collection jar for Veteran's Day.  The donations go to help the homeless and disabled Vets.  And, if you ask me, it's a shame that we even need to have such a donation. The country which they served should be better prepared to take care of our Veterans. But after what these fellow Americans have done to help provide me with a safe, strong country in which to live, I'm happy to help.

And proud to wear my Poppy.

Thank you, Veterans.

Calling all Veterans

Hey! Do you know anyone who has served our military? Please have them swing by and drop us a line, or tell us about them yourselves! We'd love to have a story or two (or more!) to celebrate Veteran's Day. Photos welcome, too.

Thank you for your service!

Remember, it doesn't have to be a long story, just a snapshot. Some good questions to ask when getting ready to write a memory are:

When did this happen?

Where did it take place?

How old were we?

Why did this memory stick with me? (was it funny, moving, unbelievable, etc.)

Don't worry about grammar or punctuation. That's what editors are for :) 

We'd love to hear from you!

Super Cool News!

Hi everyone! We've had some great news! Senior Share Project (aka Heidi and Eileen) will be interviewed by KAWC Radio in Yuma, Arizona!! This is excellent news for us, as we are in the "needing-all-the-exposure-we-can-get" phase of this blog.

When I read the email requesting the interview, I was pretty excited, but then, while Eileen and I were on the phone talking about it, and she looked up the station and told me it was Yuma's public radio station−the NPR affiliate station for the Yuma/Colorado River area−I did the Snoopy dance. I'm a huge Public Radio junkie. Eileen, not so much. We are about as opposite as you can get when it comes to news source preferences.

I told Eileen that for her, it would be like if the Fox News affiliate asked us for an interview. Who knows, today Arizona Edition on KAWC, tomorrow Bill O'Reilly? Hey, you never know.

So, I will let you know as soon as we find out our air date. Until then, check out KAWC's website, continue to tell your friends and family about Senior Share Project, and please share your stories with us!!

Thanks,
Heidi

Queen for a Day

by Marty Roselius



Since our family didn’t have a television set, I often listened to radio programs on my transistor radio before bedtime. I could only receive a few stations, those that broadcast a signal strong enough I didn’t have to filter the program from background static. I enjoyed listening to a voice from some distant place, speaking to me, unreeling a tale about poor folks less fortunate than I. Stories that unfolded with a sad beginning—a family stuck in the throes of poverty, down on their luck, the father unemployed, medical problems, disability issues and other depressing situations. While concluding with a happy ending—help received from social services, a church support system, or selected to win a wonderful prize that would help them crawl out of the dark abyss of poverty and climb up one small rung on the social ladder.


The shows to which I am referring are the Salvation Army Show and the ever-popular Queen for a Day. On the Salvation Army Show the family would be rescued and the bread multiplied after receiving support from the Salvation Army and access to necessary social programs, leaving them forever indebted to those kind and dedicated folks. It always made me feel warm inside.


The Queen for a Day show came from a slightly different perspective, a game show format, with three women taking turns divulging tragic tales of poverty and destitution. The audience voted for the woman who had the saddest story. She would be crowned Queen for a Day and receive fabulous prizes guaranteed to pull her and her family up by their boot straps, and given at least a view of the bottom rung. 

Prizes certain to turn their life around, such as a new automatic washing machine and ten years supply of Tide detergent for a mom with a dozen kids, all under the age of eight with nothing but a washtub and scrub board for doing their daily laundry. Or a new wheelchair, complete with a black and white TV and a rabbit ear antenna for the mom who’s taking care of a disabled teenaged son she has to carry everywhere because her husband has a broken back from an industrial accident. Stuff like that.


Like I said, they always had a happy ending and gave me comfort as I contentedly slipped off to sleep even before the announcer signed off the air and the radio signal became an annoying buzz. I must have gone through a few batteries in that transistor radio. But lying in bed, listening to stories made me use my imagination. It allowed me to visualize in my own mind, creating vivid scenarios from the words spoken. Something kids don’t do too often anymore. It made me feel lucky too. Lucky our family had a washing machine, lucky we had a set of bunk beds so I didn’t have to sleep on the floor, and very fortunate I had a small family that included only one bratty little sister.


Thanks, Marty, for reminding us that some of the best programming is found on the radio!

Guest Post: Gordon W. Fredrickson

To our readers:

I recently came across a blog written by a gentleman named Gordon W. Fredrickson: Telling the Story of Rural America. One of Gordon's main themes is "A story not told is lost forever." I absolutely love this quote as I think it sums up exactly what we are trying to do with Senior Share Project. Gordon shares the same love we do for preserving memories.

Gordon has generously allowed us to re-publish this post that he wrote about growing up in rural Minnesota.

Thank You, Gordon, for sharing this with our readers! 

Countryside 1950

by Gordon W. Fredrickson

The shows I've been doing for kids and adults for 10 years focus on activities and events with a small family farm in 1950. Since people in my audiences range in ages  from 1 to 100, the images they have of what the countryside was like in 1950 vary greatly.

Older folks have specific memories, but since elementary school kids and teens do not, I use some pictures at the beginning of my show to try to characterize the countryside during the 1940's and 1950's.

I cover just 6 categories:

1. HORSES

In 1950, most small farms in this area had at least one team of horses for several reasons:

 a) For one reason or another, they may not have owned a dependable tractor, and even if they were able to afford a good tractor, much of their equipment was set up for horses. To buy all new equipment or convert what you had to be pulled by a tractor took time and money.

b) The roads were so poor that they would easily drift shut in the winter and remain closed for days or weeks. To get to town farmers used a team of horses to pull a sleigh over the snow-covered high ground, not the roads. Also, the milk truck couldn't get to the farms to pick up the milk and the farmer had to use the horses and sleigh to get the milk to a main highway where the hauler could pick it up.
In the spring the roads were even worse and remained too muddy to use for weeks.

c) For some farmers, the horses had become like old friends and they were reluctant to part with them. The picture above is from 1954 when my parents decided to sell Bill and Daisy.  Dad and I posed for a picture before we loaded them on the truck. There were no pictures taken of events like my first day of school or any number of other occasions, but parting with Bill and Daisy warranted a photo.

2.  FARM HOUSES

a) Although some farm houses were quite nice, especially on larger farms where the land had been passed on to the next generation, farm houses on really small farms that had been left to deteriorate through the hard times of the 1920's and 1930's were not in good shape, and these were the only farms new farmers could afford to buy. 

The above picture is the house on my parents' farm when they moved into it in 1940. They fixed it up some in the 1940's but were not able to remodel until 1952. Indoor plumbing came in 1958, though the barn had running water in the mid-1940's.

b) Another thing about housing in the country is that there were no housing developments. The only buildings in the country were buildings connected with a farm. No one would think of living in the country unless they farmed.

3. FARM BUILDINGS

a) Small farms did not usually have a lot of sheds for machinery or tools.

Granaries, hay barns and chicken coops often doubled as tool sheds. Many farms had no garage or shed for a tractor or car.

The above picture is my parents' farm about 1957. Note the house has been remodeled. When my folks moved onto the place in 1940, there was no barn, no silo, no milk house, no chicken coop, no granary and no well.

b) In 1950 there were no pole sheds, or at least very, very few. Note the milk truck box on the cow yard ground on the right side of the photo. I think Dad bought it for about $25 to house young stock.  The pole building boom started a few years later.

c) Sheds made from railroad cars were fairly popular because the well built cars were heavy and great for storing grain.  The picture of the one below was taken recently, but you can imagine when the roof was first erected over the two cars, the structure looked pretty nice.

    

4. COUNTRY STORES

Country stores like this one in St. Patrick dotted the countryside near lakes or crossroads. Note the feed mill nearby where farmers could bring their corn and oats to be ground and mixed.

5. PEDDLERS 

Peddlers were often seen in the countryside.

The peddler's name in the picture above is Jaffe and he traveled the area in the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's.

Note the wagon had steel front wheels and rear rubber tires. I don't know much about what he had in the wagon, but I know he carried socks and other clothes and some kitchen utensils, but no electrical utensils because most weren't invented yet or just not used in a 1950 farm kitchen.  He also sharpened tools and scissors, etc. and would trade his stuff for eggs or chickens if the farmer had no cash.

When I show this picture to audiences at senior centers, many remember Jaffe.

6. CHORES

Farmers did chores by hand. Few farmers had anything automatic. Most dairy farmers in this area milked by hand, too.

I'll just name a few more of the many other differences between 1950 and the present:

• There were no shopping centers or chain stores, but small towns had general stores that carried groceries and clothing. 
• Small towns had movie theaters, shoe stores, car dealers, tractor dealers, and ice cream shops.
• There were no fast food "restaurants", but small towns had soda fountains, cafes, family-owned restaurants, and taverns that sold hamburgers.

Anything else you can think of?

To read more about Gordon, invite him to speak at your event or to order any of his books please visit him here:

http://www.gordonfredrickson.com

Or to read more about rural living, visit his blog:

http://gordonwfredrickson.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Heidi and Eileen

World Series on the Sly

Click for outside article on Herb Score

by Marty Roselius

In America, baseball, football and basketball held the attention of sports fans during the 1950s. These three major sports had highly recognized professional leagues and were the primary activities high schools of the area competed in almost to the exclusion of others. 

I followed the professional teams and their star players through my collection of sports cards. In Key West, being a few states and more than a thousand miles removed from the nearest major league city, there were no radio broadcasts of games, although a few would be telecast nationwide on the weekend by one of the three networks. Without a prized television standing in the corner of our family’s living room, my exposure to professional sports was minimal. Nevertheless, I always found a way to stay on top of who was leading the division, how the hated Yankees were doing (they always won), and how my favorite players were faring. 

In 1948 there were only 190,000 TV sets in all of America, but with sports becoming a major portion of television programming during this period, it quickly grew to 10.5 million sets two years later. Radio broadcasts were quite popular as most families had radios, whereas many could not afford a television in the days before the common use of credit cards.

In the major leagues there were only sixteen teams, all concentrated in cities in the northeast and Midwest. There was no team west of St. Louis until the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, or south of Washington, D.C. until the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966. But there were still two leagues, The American League and The National League. And the World Series pitted the two best teams of the year, the two champions, against each other for the World Championship.

Start times were a little different too. Ballgames were played during the middle of the day, regardless whether the game was the first of the season or the seventh game of the World Series. Television and radio networks broadcast the games live, during daylight hours, as they were traditionally played. 

So for us school kids, this presented a major league dilemma. The World Series is on the radio. And heck, we’re sitting behind a school desk! That left us with only one alternative. Sneak our transistor radios into class, beneath the watchful eyes of our most unsympathetic teachers. However, some genius inventor acknowledged our dour predicament and developed an amazing invention that made this possible—an earpiece that allowed us to listen to the radio without any audible sound that could be detected by a teacher. With great skill we carefully concealed the small earpiece, feeding the thin wire down our shirt collar to the transistor radio hidden in our pockets. Resting our elbow on the desk, we leaned our head against the open palm of our hand to cover it. 

Willie Mays famous over the shoulder

1954 World Series catch

This deception created a difficult challenge: following the action of the game while not making sudden and compromising sounds, gestures or facial expressions during the excitement of play. Our teachers were aware of the conflict their classroom priorities had with the broadcast of the World Series and were ever watchful for the telltale signs of a distracted student. These World Series games were made even more exciting since we had to follow them discreetly, with the threat of a paddling and the loss of our prized electronics in the midst of the most exciting sports event of the year, if we got caught. But, holy sneakers, we just couldn’t miss the game, at any risk.

I didn’t, get caught that is, and enjoyed the excitement of many a Mickey Mantle home run or a famous Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder catch from center field while Mrs. Wagner or Mrs. Haskins dutifully carried on their teaching responsibilities with a history lesson from the front of the class. I don’t remember those history lessons, but I do remember those World Series’, which in fact, are history lessons in themselves, aren’t they?