A Word Edgewise |
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A Word Edgewise |
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Last Updated 01/20/06
For more literature go
to Clendenin Books
Email: mjclen@our-town.com
My Generation Has Lived in Two Worlds
Last Saturday afternoon I drove by the
courthouse and around the square—and it was a completely different world than when I
was a youngster. Then, it was the center of the community, the communication hub for not
only the county, but for the world as we knew it.
Since this is an election year, the contrast of crowds and activity compared to isolation
now was all the more visible. I remember when W. Lee O’Daniel and the Light Crust
Doughboys played and he talked, with the aid
of a bullhorn, from the platform of a flatbed truck, and people flocked to hear what was
going on.
Last Saturday were no politicians circulating around the square handing out cards,
shaking hands with even us kids, and asking us to tell our parents to vote for him. There
were no men sitting in the shade of the courthouse discussing politics, crops, the
livestock auction they had attended that week.
Gone was the ice cream parlor on the corner where you had to stand in line to get
that cone of tutti-fruitti ice cream with the little bites of marshmallow in. No ladies
stood in front of a department store window looking longing at the newest fashions on the
manikins. Where did Novitts, Coxes, Higgenbothams, Perrys, Blue Bonnet Shop, and all the
rest of the department, variety, and dress shops go?
No grocery stores where foodstuff was packed in boxes and set near the door waiting
for homebound shoppers, crowded the off-square streets. Flannerys, Williams, Allens with
owners in white duck aprons ready to pass the time of day and ring up sales, or post them
in little charge books, were only memories.
Ladies had to do their grocery shopping first, essentials only, before they dared
think of any other spending. Then, if they had managed to save 50 cents or a dollar form
their husband’s pay check, they might go to the variety store for a 10 cent bottle of
shampoo, or even a package of bobby pins.
Cars were parked in every available place on the square, because that’s where
the women did their visiting. Those who had no car, or found no parking place walked
around locating friends and a place to “sit for a spell” and exchange news, find
out what new babies had been born, who was “doing poorly” and who was “a
right smart better.”
Doctor’s offices were open on Saturday. In fact, that was probably the busiest
day of the week for them. And their offices, at least some of them, were on the square, up
over other businesses. Maybe the walk up the stairs discouraged the faint-hearted, but I
remember Dr. Craigwall and Dr. Malloy were upstairs, one over the drug store on the
northwest corner. Of course, they didn’t do all their business on Saturday. I
remember being taken to Dr. Craigwall with
tonsillitis, but he couldn’t operate until they were well. Then dad would get scared
until the next spell. He did such operations right there in his office.
Erath, then as now, was dry. But just a few coughs could go a long way in
persuading some doctors to write a prescription for a pint of whiskey. One doctor had his
office in the back of the drug store, really handy for the alcohol prescription. The
druggist could open the cabinet and allow the patient to choose his favorite brand.
Right off the square on Belknap were
the two movie theaters, where many of us who had managed to save a dime during the week,
headed for the afternoon western feature and continued story. The Lone Ranger and Tonto
were bound to catch the outlaw, but not before at least one of the “Hi Ho Silver,
away,” cries sent shivers of excitement through the young audience.
It’s a different world—and the change is not all for the best. Now, many
people looking for the kind of friendship and exchange the square had to offer, join
travel clubs, or support groups of one kind or another. We get news from the T.V., or
radio, or newspaper. Big shopping centers have all of our needs under one roof.
And automobiles have multiplied like rabbits. That little square wouldn’t
begin to hold them all. Probably a big contributor to the change is the fact that one-car
families, or no-car families are almost things of the past. We’ve grown to think that
everyone needs a car—not just one, but a truck, a camper and one with a boat in tow.
So, lawyers predominate on the square now, and they are not there on Saturday.
Parking is no problem for the few business who are still there. It’s almost like
scattered families when children are grown and gone. We are faced with memories, some good
and some best forgotten.