Good Ole Days In My Hometown Of Vicksburg, MS!

 VICKSBURG PEEPS by Don Everett

Memories

Do you remember when?

Every family had a radio, and very few had televisions. You could hear shows like "The Shadow," "Sky King," "The Mercury Theatre," and "Queen For A Day" on the radio. All the stations were on the AM band, and Vicksburg had WQBC (1420) and WVIM (1490). The Birthday Club came on WVIM. WLS in Chicago was a clear channel station featuring Dick Biandi. Listening to KAAY in Little Rock, WRBC "Rebel Radio" in Jackson, WLS Chicago, or WWL in New Orleans. Do you remember when you got your first portable radio for your very own? Remember Jimmy Dennis as the voice of the Greenies and those mystical 8:00 fall nights watching our Greenies and, as the game ended, rushing the field, praying you would get the chin strap from one of your heroes.?

Can you remember when all the bicycles had just one speed and big tires? English Bikes were the only bicycles with narrow tires, gears, and hand brakes. And remember that with some old cards and a couple of clothes pins, you could make them sound like a motorcycle? Remember the Mo-Ped motorbike, Quickleys, and the Vespa and Cushman scooters?

Remember when you had to have a skate key to put your skates on? Remember playing dodgeball, red rover, kick the can, Simon says, ring a round the roses, and mother may I?

Have you ever played Monopoly all afternoon, Canasta, Chinese checkers, Clue, Checkers, or with doll houses?

Have you ever hula hooped, played jacks, or hop scotched?

Do you remember riding the city bus to go downtown for a nickel (ding ding) or to the swimming pool at City Park? When city children rode the city bus to school, and school buses only for county schools?

Do you remember when most cars had manual transmissions and three forward gears on the column? Only the larger cars had automatic transmissions. Only really, really rich folks had electric windows. Remember when a bumper was really a bumper, and we would ease up to the car in front of us and bump them with our bumper? Have you ever used your arm to signal a turn? Did your folks ever have a car without air conditioning or a radio? Remember those air vent windows in vehicles? Or when cars had rubber floor mats and most homes didn't even have carpet?

Have you ever seen a Nash Metropolitan, an Edsel, a Nash Rambler, a Plymouth Valiant, or Studebaker Lark? Remember when more people rode in cars than in pickup trucks? Remember when cars had fins, dual antennas, dual carbs, dual exhausts, four headlights, and all the windows operated with a hand crank? And remember when you first had radios in cars, it took about three or four minutes for the tubes to warm up?

Can you remember going to Michelle's on Washington Street to buy 45 rpm records....for one dollar? Did you ever drink a cherry Coke at the Vicksburg Hotel Soda Fountain or Woolworth's? Remember when Vicksburg had three hotels downtown and no motels? Or you can still remember the Vicksburg Motor Courts on Clay Street, then finally, the Magnolia Motel with Frank Maxwell. Did you ever climb an observation tower in the National Park? Were you wicked enough to climb it a night with a member of the opposite sex?

And remember the memories made at Fort Hill, the Circles off Washington St. There were rules. You had to have your parking lights on and your heads above the seat. And who could ever forget Johnny's Drive-In, batter fries, and Johnny sauce?

Do you remember when the polio vaccine first became available? Did you ever go to Dr. Jarrett or Dr. Horn at the Mercy Hospital on Crawford Street or Dr. Keilly at Vicksburg Hospital? Can you recall those monsters we referred to as iron lungs? Do you remember when the Vicksburg Hospital was on Monroe Street, and the Vicksburg Infirmary was located on Harrison Street?

Remember going to dances at Amanda Swett's School of Dance or the KC Hall on Cherry Street? The BB Club? Or your first dance was in the cafeteria at Carr Central, then Junior. It may be a sock hop after a football game in the Gym at Cooper. Did you ever go to a Sub-Deb Ball at the BB Club? Or it could be a dance at the Teen Center featuring the Red Tops or the Corvettes. Who remembers VPD officers Joe Candliss and Sherman Hull? We loved our cops AND Sheriff Barrett.

And what about prom? Those fabulous evenings we prepared for all year. A wonderfully decorated gym, a band, sparkling classmates in evening gowns and tuxedos, and sophisticated refreshments including finger sandwiches and punch (with a bottle or 2 of you know what hidden in your jacket). Then there was the after-prom at the city auditorium and, usually, a breakfast following at someone's home. And sandwiched between those events, a few of us would go skinny dipping in the city pool.

Do you remember when TV stations used test patterns so we could adjust the horizontal and vertical controls on the TV? When the stations available included WLBT (3), KNOE (8), and WJTV (12), and they all turned off at midnight after playing our national anthem? Have you watched Pinky Lee, Howdy Doody, the Mickey Mouse Club, Sky King, or Fury? Remember when Badge 714 was the name for "Dragnet." Did you ever watch "Amos & Andy," Our Miss Brooks, The Little Rascals, Life With Father, or the "Toast of The Town" hosted by Ed Sullivan? Do you recall when Bonanza was one of the first programs in color, but we had to go to a neighbor's house to marvel at it? Premier Theatre on Sunday nights! Remember Mary Ann and Linda becoming America's Queens 2 years in a row?

Do you remember when we only had one TV, one bathroom without a shower, one phone, and one car? Remember when you picked up the phone and told the operator the number you wanted her to dial? And all the phones were heavy and black? Remember when Vicksburg first got a rotary dial system?

Did you ever go to a movie at the Strand or the Joy, and for 35 cents, you were in and enjoying a box of popcorn and Coke? Who could always remember the drive-in movies, especially if you were on a date? Have you ever seen the Little Rascals, Bud Abbot, and Lou Costello on a movie screen? How about James Dean, Connie Francis, or Sandra Dee? Remember when Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were the new comedians on the screen?

Remember when Cokes were a nickel and went up to six cents? Did you ever drink a Grapette or Creme Soda? Remember the Orange Crush in the brown bottle and Magnolia Ice Cream Bar on Washington Street? How about "Solly's Hot Tamales" carts with coal oil lanterns?

Can you recall that a "church key" was not used to open a church?

And who can ever forget girls wearing two, three, four, or more petticoats under their dresses with white socks and white tennis shoes? Remember when all the tennis shoes were Keds, and our choices were high top, low top, black, or white. And girls wore ponytails, and boys wore ducktails or flat tops. Guys wore blue jeans with rolled-up cuffs and later with no cuffs and belt loops. Girls wore Chanel #5 or White Shoulders, while guys were keen on Old Spice and Aqua Velva. Then we learned about English Leather, Brut, and Canoe. Remember the sack dress and penny loafers with a penny in the slot?

Can you recall when the Hi Fidelity sound preceded Stereo? When manual typewriters had a bell to remind you to push the carriage return lever? Have you ever used carbon paper and typewriter erasers? Do you remember when there were no "Xerox" machines and adding machines had a lever and operated without electricity? And who in their right mind would have ever envisioned homes equipped with computers, fax machines, cell phones, and copiers? Or communicating via cell phone and computer?

Remember going to the Valley to see Santa? Christmas and football homecoming parades downtown? Christmas Tree Lane at Koestler's Bakery on Clay Street? When people dressed up to go downtown? And there were no malls? When were there actually traffic jams on Washington Street? Remember when people actually lived on Clay Street? Who can forget Nick, the barber? Remember the "Civic League" and the "Industrial League" in baseball?

Do you remember when Vicksburgers would catch a motor ferry across the Yazoo Canal to go to the "Showboat" on the Louisiana side to gamble and dance? Remember the houseboat shanty's along the canal north of town and the speed boat races on Sunday afternoons? When Union Avenue wasn't paved, but Confederate Avenue was? When the county had Jett, Redwood, and Culkin high schools? And who can forget PJ's Liquor Store across the river?

Do you recall Burger Chef as the first "fast food" place in town, and 45 cents would get you a burger, fries, and a shake? And Crawford Mim's "Shop-A-Minute" was a new concept that put the little neighborhood stores out of business? So when we're Jitney Jungle, A & P, and Piggly Wiggly, the big grocery stores in town?

Remember the "Living Picture" programs at the schools? When the food at school consisted of real vegetables, real meat, real potatoes, and real milk? And at morning break at Grove Street, they made the best damn peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ever!! And you could go to a neighborhood store and get a huge dill pickle for a nickel or just about any candy bar made at the time. But, of course, bubble gum was a penny.

And then there was Crowley's Pool Hall, where the guys gathered to wage a quarter or two on a game. Ever say, "Rack Lloyd !"?

Senior plays, the "Tattler," Latin classes, the sand bar, Spanish class trips to Mexico, senior portraits, class rings, going steady.....aaahhhhh, the times were good, the living was easy, and the kids were kids.