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There are things that Ive
thought about that wouldnt happen nowadays.
There are things that Ive
thought about that wouldnt happen nowadays.
The ice man
And one was we all had an ice box.
We didnt have refrigerators. And the ice man came
two or three times a week. Oh, probably twice a week. And
youd get a 25 cent piece and hed chip it down
until he got the right size. Or a 35 cent piece. Or a 50
cent piece. And I dont remember how much ours was.
And then you lifted up the top of the ice box and put the
ice in there. And unfortunately, no matter how you
cleaned it, it had a strange odor to it.
And we used to go out on the street
when the man would go by with the cart. The old horse
would come along and he would seem to know where to stop.
And the man would get out of his wagon and go to the
back. And there would be about a half a dozen kids in the
back there hoping and praying that a big chip fell off.
And sometimes a big chip did fall off. He sort of nudged
them and they fell of onto the ground. He couldnt
give them to us but he could assist us a little bit.
And Id get the biggest piece I
could find to take home. And by the time I got home my
hands were gone. They were frozen. Then Mother would give
me 5 cents and I would go over to the grocery store and
get a lemon and come back. And she had a beautiful cut
glass pitcher. And she would make a big pitcher of
lemonade. Oh, it was so good.
The molasses boat
Then another thing that would never
happen today was the molasses boat. It would come up from
the Islands. And it would come up the Penobscott and it
would dock right down at the foot of Buck Street which
was the next street to our house. We were out on Main
Street. This was a side street.
And then theyd pump the
molasses into containers or something. I didnt know
just what they did. But there was a lot of fuzz. It
created a lot of fuzz. All itty bitty bubbles. I can
still feel the excitement of someone hollerin and
saying "The molasses boat is in" and all the
kids that were playing would take off in different
directions to go home.
And mother saved, oh, gallon jars
and mason jars and everything she could get and she was
busy. Shed grab them and wash them up real quick.
They werent sterilized, or anything, but they were
clean, you know. And Id go down to the end of Buck
Street and down across the railroad tracks which
wasnt a very good thing to do. But I would go out
to the end of the pier. I cant remember what the
boat looked like.
I can remember standing there and
handing them the jug. Waiting for the fuzz to get into
the jug and then taking it. Then Id run home with,
you know, just as much as I could carry, and grab some
more jugs. And when that fuzz all broke up, in the bottom
would be, oh, I dont know, a fourth of a cup, a
fourth of a jar or a third of a jar of molasses. But
youd get several of those and youd wait until
theyd go down and theyd become molasses. And
that kept us in molasses for the whole year. Until the
next time.
And there isnt a better
molasses in the world than Barbados molasses. Its
wonderful and you cant buy it in Maine anymore
The submarine
Oh! And another thing I remember. At
the same pier down at the end of Buck Street. There was a
small submarine that often would come up the river. And
we were allowed to go aboard. Theyd take us through
it. But it was a tiny submarine. Probably a World War I
size. But it had a foul smell. Probably with the engine
and the oil. Diesel or whatever it was they used. And it
smelled. But anyway it was one of the things going on.
Pumping gasoline
And another thing they dont
see nowadays is gasoline pumped up to into the top into
a, I dont know, you know, a glass container of some
kind. And over at Uncle Morriss hardware store he
had a couple of pumps of gasoline. And he had to take, I
dont know, its sort of a lever. And he had to pump
it back and forth and back and forth. And this brought
the gasoline up into this glass dome. And when it gets to
the amount that you wanted then hed stop and then
it would just gravity feed into the car.
High shoes
And I started school in 1924. 1924
in Kindergarten. Because I went two years. First year I
went in the morning so that I could have my nap in the
afternoon. And the second year, because I was grown up, I
could go in the afternoon. And I remember how I HATED
going to school with high shoes. They came way up high
and youd have to lace up part of the way and then
they had those little zoopies. What are they? Hooks, I
think. And, of course if they got wet your feet would get
wet so you had to wear rubbers. And the last time I wore
them was third grade. After that I said "No
more". Id had enough of that.
The circus parade
And another thing was the circus
parade. I dont think they have them now. But we
kids would wait all year. And Mother would always get me
a play suit. A new play suit that I had to save for
circus day.
We lived right across the street
from the fairgrounds where the circus was held. We laid
in bed and watched all the animals come down and turn and
go up Buck Street up onto the fairgrounds. After they got
up there they had to set up the tent.
When I was a little girl they came
from the other town with their wagons with horses. But I
was still very small when they started coming in on the
train.
So they had set up the cook tent
because they had to feed everybody. And theyd set
up the big tent. While the roustabouts were setting up
the big tent they were getting everything ready for the
parade.
And it would go right by the house.
It would come down Buck Street. Did it come down Buck
Street? Emerson Street? Maybe it was Buck Street.
Itd come down Buck Street and turn and go up Main
Street. Oh, I sure hated to hear the calliope because we
knew that was the last thing in the parade. There were
camels and horses and the wagons with the wild animals.
And it was very exciting for a little kid. After the
parade was over they would come back into the
fairgrounds, have their lunch, and then it was time for
the show to go on.
It was during the depression and we
couldnt afford to go. And I dont imagine it
cost an awful lot. But the parade to me was so exciting.
That was fine. I didnt care about the circus
because Id been to the parade.
And, at night, the first thing that
came down was the cook tent. Was it the cook tent or the
side show tents? I think they came down first. Then the
cook tent. And the last thing was the big top because the
people were in there for the evening performance. So
theyd have to wait on that. And then theyd
take that down.
And the next day ALL the kids in the
neighborhood would go up where the tents were, where
theyd made change, and wed hunt all through
the grass to find change. Just wherever people were. We
never found very much. A dime, pennies, a quarter.
And thats all I can think of
right now.
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