Like lots of kids, I managed to get into all kinds of mischief when I was a teen. My brother, Gary, who was only eleven months younger than me, was involved in most of these as well. In almost every case, there were others involved as well who shall remain nameless. They may not feel the need to repent of their sins!
I can't begin to get these in chronological order since they all happened in a two to three year period when I was between 15 and 18 years of age. After that, I began to settle down and grow up a bit. Fortunately, none of these pranks involved any serious physical harm although they certainly could have.
I'll start with the worst, at least from a financial point. It was Halloween in either 1961 or 1962. The new bridge over Salt Creek had been completed but the highway was not yet paved. A bunch of us young bucks were out prowling and looking for ways to cause havoc. After tipping over a few outhouses (yes, we really did that), we decided to build a bonfire on the new bridge. We rounded up a few old tires and carried them out to the middle of the bridge where we lit them on fire. It was a spectacular sight! What we didn't consider was that the tire fire would burn so hot that would actually damage the concrete on the new bridge. The next day, Mother asked if we were involved in building the fire. Although we assured her that we weren't, I'm sure she knew the truth. We heard later that the cost of repairs was substantial.
There was a railroad underpass on the east side of Mannford, just east of Glen Tate's Phillips station. It was a perfect place for kids to get into trouble and we did. Our favorite occupation here was to drop water balloons off the railroad tracks onto cars passing underneath. One night we were engaged in this pastime when a convertible approached! This was beyond our wildest dreams so we let a balloon go just as he went under the bridge. It was a direct hit! The only problem was that, even though the driver was soaked, he was mad enough that he stopped the car and started chasing us through the woods. If it hadn't been dark, he could have easily run this short fat kid down. As it was, we got away.
As we got older, Gary and I became less concerned about what time we got home after going out to town. One early morning as we were attempting to sneak in the back door at home, we met Dad coming out on his way to milk the cow. He gave us a disgusting look and, in his most stern voice, told us to get our clothes changed because we were going to the hay field in an hour. I know that he worked us harder that day than he ever had before.
Then there was the time we were practicing our fast draws. I know its hard to believe today, but we all had firearms as teenagers back then. On the other hand, there weren't any school shootings or other tragic events back then. At any rate, two of us had revolvers (good to practice fast draw with) and one had a semi-auto pistol (NOT good to practice fast draw with). The guy with the semi-auto made a mistake and pulled the trigger before the pistol had cleared the holster. The bullet traveled down the leg just under the skin and lodged just above the knee. It didn't even bleed, although when his mother found out, she was panic stricken!
My initiation into the FFA (Future Farmers of America) was interesting, to say the least. We all met up at the school and the new kids were given their assignments. Mine was to steal the hubcaps off the local Marshall's 1957 Chevy. The Marshall was Lee White and back then, he was the perfect man for that job. The kids all respected him and he didn't try to scare them to death. I didn't relish my assignment but I left the school and walked the two blocks to his house. I was kneeling down trying to get the first hubcap off when a deep, loud voice behind me asked what I thought I was doing! Yep, it was Lee White. Come to find out, the FFA officers had called him and warned him that I was coming. Apparently, this was an annual prank.
OK, now the truth is out. Please remember that this was 50 years ago and I don't do things like that today! Fortunately, I think most kids today are better behaved than I was!
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Old Town Grocery Stores
In the 1950's and early 1960's, Mannford (the old town) had at least three grocery stores. Convenience stores had been created by that time but Mannford wasn't ready for them. In fact, the first convenience store in the United States was opened in Dallas, Texas, by the Southland Ice Company in the 1950's. It later grew into what is today 7 Eleven stores.
The grocery stores I remember were Varnell's Grocery, Mannford Trading Company, and Vaught's Grocery. Varnell's was located on South Main Street on the east side of the street. Earl Varnell ran the grocery store and my most vivid memory of that store was that he had a cream station. Did Earl's wife work there as well? I don't remember.
In the early 1960's, we had a milk cow who could out-produce what our family could consume so we would run the excess milk through a cream separator and sell it in town at Varnell's Grocery. Running the separator was hard work and you had to crank like mad to keep the speed up. The cream was hauled into Varnell's and, as I recall, they measured the butterfat somehow to determine how much to pay you.
Hugh and Ethel Vaught's grocery store was across the street and west of the Bank. I don't remember a lot about it except that it was relatively new and always appeared to be extremely clean. Mr. and Mrs. Vaught, like most of the people in Mannford at that time, were wonderful people and really contributed to the community. Mr. Vaught had run a grocery store just west of the drug store but sold it to a Mr. Willetts when he built his new store in the 1950's. Mr. Willetts later sold that grocery store to Alfred Hughes who turned in into a feed store.
The other grocery store in Mannford at that time was the Mannford Trading Company. It was probably the biggest store in town as well as being the oldest. F.M. Coonrod, who had opened the Mannford State Bank several years earlier, opened the Mannford Trading Company in about 1925. I'm told that he and his wife, Jessa, ran the Trading Company for many years until their daughter, Juanita, and her husband, Les Hinton, took it over.
As a youngster, I found the Trading Company to be a fascinating place. It was "L" shaped with an entrance on the south to Highway 51 and another entrance to the east opening to Main Street. The groceries were all located on the west end of the store and best accessed from the Hwy. 51 entrance while the dry goods were on the north side of the store.
It, by the way, was the ancestor to today's Phelp's Market. When the town moved in the early 1960's, Les and Juanita moved their grocery store to the new town. The store was located across the walkway from the Bank. After a few years, they decided to retire and talked their daughter, Peg, and her husband, Jack McIntire into running the store. Later, in about 1969, the grocery store was sold to Bill and Harriett Phelps.
When my brother, Gary, and I were in our early teens, we made extra money by planting tomatoes and okra and then selling them to Mr. Hinton at the grocery store. I can still visualize him standing behind the counter in that grocery store!
The grocery stores I remember were Varnell's Grocery, Mannford Trading Company, and Vaught's Grocery. Varnell's was located on South Main Street on the east side of the street. Earl Varnell ran the grocery store and my most vivid memory of that store was that he had a cream station. Did Earl's wife work there as well? I don't remember.
In the early 1960's, we had a milk cow who could out-produce what our family could consume so we would run the excess milk through a cream separator and sell it in town at Varnell's Grocery. Running the separator was hard work and you had to crank like mad to keep the speed up. The cream was hauled into Varnell's and, as I recall, they measured the butterfat somehow to determine how much to pay you.
Hugh and Ethel Vaught's grocery store was across the street and west of the Bank. I don't remember a lot about it except that it was relatively new and always appeared to be extremely clean. Mr. and Mrs. Vaught, like most of the people in Mannford at that time, were wonderful people and really contributed to the community. Mr. Vaught had run a grocery store just west of the drug store but sold it to a Mr. Willetts when he built his new store in the 1950's. Mr. Willetts later sold that grocery store to Alfred Hughes who turned in into a feed store.
The other grocery store in Mannford at that time was the Mannford Trading Company. It was probably the biggest store in town as well as being the oldest. F.M. Coonrod, who had opened the Mannford State Bank several years earlier, opened the Mannford Trading Company in about 1925. I'm told that he and his wife, Jessa, ran the Trading Company for many years until their daughter, Juanita, and her husband, Les Hinton, took it over.
As a youngster, I found the Trading Company to be a fascinating place. It was "L" shaped with an entrance on the south to Highway 51 and another entrance to the east opening to Main Street. The groceries were all located on the west end of the store and best accessed from the Hwy. 51 entrance while the dry goods were on the north side of the store.
It, by the way, was the ancestor to today's Phelp's Market. When the town moved in the early 1960's, Les and Juanita moved their grocery store to the new town. The store was located across the walkway from the Bank. After a few years, they decided to retire and talked their daughter, Peg, and her husband, Jack McIntire into running the store. Later, in about 1969, the grocery store was sold to Bill and Harriett Phelps.
When my brother, Gary, and I were in our early teens, we made extra money by planting tomatoes and okra and then selling them to Mr. Hinton at the grocery store. I can still visualize him standing behind the counter in that grocery store!
Your First Job
Do you remember the first real job you ever had? Not doing chores for your parents or grandparents but a real, honest to goodness JOB? My memories of my first job are very vivid, but some of that may come with age. As I get older, some of the stuff that may have happened becomes fact! The good news is that there are few people around to challenge it.
In 1960 our family moved back to Mannford from Pampa, Texas where we had lived for four years. Dad was working in Tulsa and Mom got a job at Mannford State Bank, working for L.R. "Dick" Jones. I was 14 years old and it was time for me to go to work, too. I don't remember how I heard about the job washing dishes at one of the local cafes, but I went up there and applied to the owner, Callie Fields. She was the wife of Gene Fields and was a bit intimidating to a fourteen year old boy. My starting salary was 30 cents per hour. After a few months, Callie sold the cafe to Lilly Hudson. Lilly was just the opposite of Callie, she was one of the nicest, warmest people I've ever met! Life was good; plus, I got a raise to 40 cents.
The name of the cafe is questionable but I do remember that it was called Gene's Cafe for a while. Other cafes in town were the White Way, the City Cafe and the Coffee Cup cafe.
Judy Shaeffer and I worked there for a year or so, I would guess, and took turns doing dishes, cooking the easier things, and waiting tables. I also got to work with Ollie Farrow there. She was the mother of one of my classmates, Jesse, and was one of the finest women I knew.
To this day, I remember some of the prices of the meals. Hamburgers were a quarter, hamburger steaks and chicken fried steaks were $1.25, "veal cutlets" were $1.35, and T-bone steaks were $2.65. To prepare veal cutlets, we took a tenderized raw chicken fried steak and cut it into two pieces. We may have put it in a different coating, I don't remember.
Judy must have worked the morning shift because she talks about preparing sack lunches for the workers who were building the roads, parks, and bridges in preparation for moving the town. On the other hand, it seemed that I was always working in the evenings. The only lunches I remember packing were for Lilly's husband, Otis. He had a job as a night watchman on some of the construction sites and Lilly would pack a lunch for him in the evening.
About once a month, Dick Jones would bring all the employees of the bank over in the evening for dinner. Everyone ate T-bone steaks and had a good time. That was kind of strange for me because I had to wait on my mother. I couldn't begin to name all the employees at the time but they included Bobby Greenwood, Paul McCrackin, and Hazel Tate.
Just east of the cafe on the corner was a covered triangular area. This obviously had been a gas station years before but was closed when I worked at the Cafe. We used it for storage of soft drinks and other supplies. Lilly used to send me down there to fetch supplies and I would read magazines while I was there. Lilly knew I was goofing off but she was too nice to say much about it!
I think your first job is alway kind of special. At least, mine was. I think I enjoyed it more than my last one but that may just be the years fading my memory!
In 1960 our family moved back to Mannford from Pampa, Texas where we had lived for four years. Dad was working in Tulsa and Mom got a job at Mannford State Bank, working for L.R. "Dick" Jones. I was 14 years old and it was time for me to go to work, too. I don't remember how I heard about the job washing dishes at one of the local cafes, but I went up there and applied to the owner, Callie Fields. She was the wife of Gene Fields and was a bit intimidating to a fourteen year old boy. My starting salary was 30 cents per hour. After a few months, Callie sold the cafe to Lilly Hudson. Lilly was just the opposite of Callie, she was one of the nicest, warmest people I've ever met! Life was good; plus, I got a raise to 40 cents.
The name of the cafe is questionable but I do remember that it was called Gene's Cafe for a while. Other cafes in town were the White Way, the City Cafe and the Coffee Cup cafe.
Judy Shaeffer and I worked there for a year or so, I would guess, and took turns doing dishes, cooking the easier things, and waiting tables. I also got to work with Ollie Farrow there. She was the mother of one of my classmates, Jesse, and was one of the finest women I knew.
To this day, I remember some of the prices of the meals. Hamburgers were a quarter, hamburger steaks and chicken fried steaks were $1.25, "veal cutlets" were $1.35, and T-bone steaks were $2.65. To prepare veal cutlets, we took a tenderized raw chicken fried steak and cut it into two pieces. We may have put it in a different coating, I don't remember.
Judy must have worked the morning shift because she talks about preparing sack lunches for the workers who were building the roads, parks, and bridges in preparation for moving the town. On the other hand, it seemed that I was always working in the evenings. The only lunches I remember packing were for Lilly's husband, Otis. He had a job as a night watchman on some of the construction sites and Lilly would pack a lunch for him in the evening.
About once a month, Dick Jones would bring all the employees of the bank over in the evening for dinner. Everyone ate T-bone steaks and had a good time. That was kind of strange for me because I had to wait on my mother. I couldn't begin to name all the employees at the time but they included Bobby Greenwood, Paul McCrackin, and Hazel Tate.
Just east of the cafe on the corner was a covered triangular area. This obviously had been a gas station years before but was closed when I worked at the Cafe. We used it for storage of soft drinks and other supplies. Lilly used to send me down there to fetch supplies and I would read magazines while I was there. Lilly knew I was goofing off but she was too nice to say much about it!
I think your first job is alway kind of special. At least, mine was. I think I enjoyed it more than my last one but that may just be the years fading my memory!
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