A 410 Single Barrel Shotgun   The week after Daddy took me squirrel hunting with my newly gifted 12-gauge single barrel shotgun that kicked like a mule on steroids, I set out on my own one afternoon when school let out. I put a handful of 12-gauge, hi-power shells in my pocket and walked to the nearest patch of woods. Suddenlly, I saw a squirrel, and my pulse raced, and my arms … [Read more...]

A 12-gauge Single Barrel Shotgun   Daddy said I could go hunting with him when I was 13 and how I looked forward to that date. For years, I had watched in awe as Daddy came home from his hunts and emptied his coat of quail and rabbits. I sat beside him as he cleaned them and admired his skill in dressing his kill. Then, one day, he said that I may be able to go hunting sooner if I … [Read more...]

A Smith and Wesson 38 Special   I have been around guns – rifles, pistols, and shotguns – all my life and some stand out in my library of memories. The first one was a Smith and Wesson 38 Special. It was Daddy’s FBI pistol, and it was always either in his holster on his hip or on his dresser, and it was always loaded. Daddy always said that more people were killed with “unloaded” … [Read more...]

By the mid-50s, some of the novelty had worn off for televisions, but with rumors of color televisions and vastly improved programming, TVs were still an important part of family life. Gathering around the set for a family meal featuring genuine TV dinners was a highlight. In 1954, the Swanson Food Company changed the way Americans ate their meals. Prior to that date, families ate at the … [Read more...]

It’s “Fair Time” – county fairs, state fairs, any fairs. Fair time was a special time in Lewisburg WV in the 1950’s and 60’s. It didn’t take long after we moved to Lewisburg to discover that a huge event took place just outside of town. In Fairlea, a small burg between Lewisburg and Ronceverte, West Virginia staged their annual state fair in late August, and it was well worth the price of … [Read more...]

I saw a picture of a sandwich wrapped in waxed paper recently that took me back to the 1950’s and brown bag lunches. As an elementary student, sometimes I ate in the cafeteria, assuming someone had an available quarter, but usually Mom would pack my lunch – a cookie, an apple and a sandwich wrapped in waxed paper. I remember watching the early commercials of Reynolds’s Waxed Paper when the … [Read more...]

The hands-down most popular retail establishment in Lewisburg in the 1950’s was Shaver’s Music Shop on Washington Street. Kids made daily or almost daily visits to the small store to see if their favorite record had arrived or if there was a new hit out that they wanted to hear. Burr Shaver, a talented local musician, ran the shop and was one of the best salesmen in the history of Greenbrier … [Read more...]

Unless you were a product of the Fifties, it’s impossible to understand the complete infatuation our generation had with television. We were able to watch technology unfold to the extent that - with the aid of an aerial on the roof, and 21-inch picture box within a huge console - images and sounds actually appeared in our own living rooms. It was television and whatever was on, we watched. On a … [Read more...]

I recently read that with inflation rising like a hot air balloon, many young families are being squeezed tremendously in buying diapers. I did a little research, and a throw-away diaper today costs about 30 cents each – give or take. Babies go through lots of diapers, maybe 8 or 10 a day. That’s $3 per day or $90 a month. Twins would set you back $180 a month. Wow! Boomers, however, didn’t … [Read more...]

  I saw a couple kids in the neighborhood going at it with squirt guns this week. Boy, did that bring back memories. We had genuine marksmen in Lewisburg Junior High in 1956. Sharpshooters, you might say. As I would quickly discover, if you didn’t pack heat in self-defense, you would get squirted. Squirt guns, you see, were the weapons of choice among the young people in the mid-50s. … [Read more...]