SWEET WILD STRAWBERRIES

TO PAULA IN THE GOOGLE BLOGSPOT
WILD STRAWBERRIES
PAULA, SO MANY VARIETIES OF STRAWBERRIES.
THE SUPER DELICIOUS, THE WILD ONES OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA. SOUTH SLOPING HILLSIDES COVERED WITH SMALL FLINTROCKS, BERRY VINES GROWING UP THROUGH THE ROCKS. LAST DAYS OF APRIL THE PLANTS BLOOM AND AS BERRIES DEVELOP THE SUNSHINE REFLECTS FROM THE FLINTROCKS AND BERRIES TURN RED AND RIPEN.
SMALL SASSAFRASS TREES HERE AND THERE AFFORD SOME SHADE OVER THE BERRIES. SMALL BERRIES, NEVER LARGER THAN A CONCORD GRAPE. SOFT SWEET STRAWBERRIES. THESE CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND ALSO IN ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS AREA.
I HAVE ENJOYED THE PLEASURE OF LIVING IN ALL THREE STATES IN WHICH CULTIVATED STRAWBEYRRY FIELDS ARE COMMON, STILLWELL OKLAHOMA CLAIMING TO BE STRAWBERRY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.
WE OKIES SORT OF CHUCKLE TO OURSELVES WHEN SEEING ON DISPLAY IN STORES THE BIG ROUGH LOOKING STRAWBERRIES THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS, LIGHT COLORED SEEDS PROTRUDING AND IF BRAVE ENOUGH TO BUY AND TAKE HOME THOSE MONSTER BERRIES, NOT A SPECIAL TREAT THOUGH PERHAPS IS BETTER THAN NOTHING.
OH HOW I REMEMBER THOSE LITTLE SWEET SOFT WILD STRAWBERRIES. sam

GOLD

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
GOLD
THE WORDS 'FORT KNOX' CAUSES ME TO THINK OF GOLD. WAY BACK 'THEN' WHEN EVERY DOLLAR WAS BACKED BY GOLD, PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT BY EXECUTIVE ORDER HAD ALL GOLD COINS TURNED IN AND RECEIVED PAPER IN RETURN, ENDING 'GOLD STANDARD'.
PAPER MONEY COULD RECEIVE SILVER IN EXCHANGE. IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OUR FAMILY LIVED IN, EASTERN OKLAHOMA FLINTROCK HILLS, VERY LITTLE NOTICEABLE CHANGEB IN EVERYDAY LIVELIHOOD. THE COINS WE SAW WERE ONES HANDED US AT THE 'CREAMERY' AT THE SMALL TOWN OF LOCUST GROVE IN RETURN FOR THE CREAM BROUGHT IN A HALF GALLON SYRUP PAIL. EGGS TOO, AFTER BEING 'CANDLED' BROUGHT 12 CENTS PER DOZEN.
YEARS LATER WHILE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT WAS SERVING FOURTH CONSECUTIVE TERM AS PRESIDENT OF THESE UNITED STATES, WE COUNTRY BOYS FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL (NOT MODERN YET EXCEPT FOR ELECTRICITY).
WAR CLOUDS DRIFTED ALL THE WAY FROM EUROPE AS PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT DECLARED, 'NO AMERICAN MOTHER WILL SEE HER SON FIGHTING ON FOREIGN SOIL'. SENSIBLE PEOPLE KNEW THAT HITLER MUST BE DEFEATED.
SO INTO THE MILITARY SERVICE WE YOUNG ONES WENT, EUROPE OR THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, ALSO THE AREA WHERE SARAH PALIN CAN SEE RUSSIA FROM ALASKA.
AFTER MY COUPLE OF YEARS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC DURING THE WAR, RETURNED AS MOST GOOD 'OKIES' DID AT THAT TIME, RETURNED TO OKLAHOMA. THAT IN 1945. MR. ROOSEVELT DIED WHILE IN OFFICE. HIS LEGACY IS INTERESTING AND HAS MUCH CRITICISM. (CHECK HIM OUT ON KEYWORD).
BACK TO GOLD. FOLLOWING WORLD WAR 2, MANY AMERICANS WERE VERY CONCERNED OF THE TACTICS THAT FRANCE WAS USING TO DRAW FROM OUR GOLD SUPPLY IN FORT KNOX. THE SITTING PRESIDENT WAS ALLOWING IT TO HAPPEN. GOLD IS MUCH IN THE NEWS NOW. HOPEFULLY WE WILL NOT DISCOVER THAT DURING THE PAST 50 YEARS THAT WE HAVE BEEN SLEEPING WHILE ON GUARD DUTY AT ENTRANCES TO THE FORT KNOX GOLD STORAGE.
IF ANY OF OUR CONGRESS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN 'SERGEANT OF GUARD' CONCERNING FORT KNOX, IT COULD BE A CAUSE FOR WORRY. sam
http://sayit-baldy.blogspot.com
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PLATTER RECORDS

PLATTER RECORDS AND RECORD PLAYERS, IMPORTANT TO
POPULAR SINGERS DURING MID CENTURY, MOST RECENT CENTURY OF COURSE, A NOTICABLE EXCITEMENT COULD BE OBSERVED IN DEPARTMENT STORES NEAR THE ENTRANCE.
LIVING IN TULSA AT THAT TIME, I ENJOYED VISITING THE J.C.PENNY STORE ON MAIN STREET NOT FAR FROM THE GREYHOUND BUS STATION.
THIS PARTICULAR STORE WAS THE FIRST OF THE LARGER STORES HAVING BEEN BUILT BY MR.PENNY, AND OFTEN THERE WOULD BE MR.J.C. PENNY STANDING BY THE STAIRWAY LEADING TO THE SECOND FLOOR.
A VERY NEAT MAN HE WAS AND A GENEROUS HEAD OF WHITE HAIR, GREETED CUSTOMERS AND FRIENDS SUCH AS I.
NOW THE EXCITEMENT NEAR THE ENTRANCE WOULD BE ON THE DAY OF A PLATTER RECORD BEING RELEASED FOR SALE.
ASSIGNED THE JOB OF DEMONSTRATING THE NEWLY RELEASED PLATTER WOULD BE A PRETTY YOUNG LADY OF COURSE WEARING THE ADVERTISED ATTIRE OF THE DAY. J.C. PENNY KNEW ALL THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE.
YES, YOUNG FOLKS, THATS THE WAY IT WAS AS T.V. EVOLVED FROM THE SNOWY SCREEN AND MANY DIALS AND RABBIT EARS DRAPED WITH FOIL RE-ARRANGED BY ONES WITH MORE EXPERIENCE OF GETTING A MORE CLEAR PICTURE.
GRANDMA COULD TELL MORE OF HOW THE DISPLAYS WERE IN THE PENNY STORES AT THAT TIME .A LARGE COUNTER FOR DISPLAYING PATTERNS. MOST FAMILIES USED A SEWING MACHINE.
AS TIME SEEMS TO PASS SO FAST, TWAS NOT SO LONG AGO.
sam

SIGNS OF TIMES

SIGNS OF TIMES


BURMA SHAVE
HOW LONG SINCE YOU HAVE SEEN A BURMA SHAVE SIGN ATTACHED TO THE TOP OF A FENCE POST ?
A GOOD BET THAT MANY YOUNG FOLKS HAVE NEVER SEEN A BURMA SHAVE SIGN ALONG AN OLD TWO LANE ROAD.
REMEMBERING BURMA SHAVE SIGNS THE MOST FOR ME WAS ALONG OLD HIGHWAY 66 BETWEEN BRISTOW OKLAHOMA AND ARCADIA OKLAHOMA. IN THE ERA OF THE 20s, 30s AND 40s THE AVERAGE WIDTH OF A STATE HIGHWAY RIGHT OF WAY WAS ABOUT 50 FEET. THE SLAB WHERE PAVED OR BLACK TOPPED WAS ABOUT 17 FEET WIDE TO ACCOMODATE TWO WAY TRAFFIC , OF COURSE THAT MEANT MEETING ONCOMING CARS, TRUCKS AND BUSES WITH ONLY INCHES BETWEEN VEHICLES WHEN MEETING AND PASSING.
DROPPING OFF THE SLAB COULD MEAN A ROUGH RIDE UNTIL RECOVERING. TALL WEEDS COULD BE GROWING RIGHT UP NEXT TO THE SLAB. 'FREE RANGE' ANIMALS STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE SLAB. THIS GROWTH SELDOM MOWED BY THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT. MAINTAINANCE WAS REGULATED BY LOCAL POLITICS. THE UNKEMPT AREAS HAD TRASH FROM YEARS BACK, UNLIKE TODAY'S TRASH, NO PLASTIC BAGS AND SUCH FROM FAST FOOD PLACES.
THE MOM AND POP STATIONS WHICH WERE THEN FREQUENT HAD FOR SALE TIRE AND TUBE PATCHING KITS, CRACKERS AND SARDINES, SODA POP IN THE LARGE GLASS BOTTLES WITH THE OLD ROUGH CAPS THAT REQUIRED AN OPENER AND ALSO FOR SALE WAS WATER BAGS OF CANVAS MATERIAL AND COULD BE FILLED FREE IF YOU DREW WATER FROM THE WATER WELL OUT BACK.
THE REST ROOM WAS FARTHER ON BACK AT THE END OF A WELL WORN PATH.
NOW I AM NOT HAVING YOU BELIEVE THAT ALL OF OKLAHOMA WAS LIKE THIS DURING THESE TIMES. SOME PARTS WERE SLOW TO CATCH UP.
AGAIN, POLITICS MADE THE DIFFERENCE. LOOKING BACK NOW, THE GREAT DEPRESSION DURING MOST OF THE 1930s, WAS A SLOW TIME, HOPING FOR THINGS TO GET BETTER AND MAKING DO WITH WHAT WE HAD, EXCEPTIONS BEING AS IN THESE MODERN TIMES, GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES WERE NOT LIVING IN FEAR OF BEING 'LAID OFF'. ONE OF THE MOST SECURE WAS A POSTAL JOB. A NEIGHBOR WAS A RURAL DELIVERY EMPLOYEE WHOM DELIVERED MAIL AROUND OUR COUNTRY SIDE USING A BIG BEAUTIFUL BUGGY HORSE AND FANCY BUGGY. BAD WEATHER NEVER STOPPED HIM.
IF MEMORY IS CORRECT, A FIRST CLASS STAMP WAS TWO CENTS IN 1930. PENNY POST CARD ONE CENT. OATS FOR THE BUGGY HORSE FOR A BUSHEL WAS TWELVE CENTS. CORN ON THE COBB ABOUT THE SAME.
SO IS IT NOT UNDERSTANDABLE MY 'MULLING OVER',HOW MUCH IS A TRILLION DOLLARS ?
BURMA SHAVE MAN, TELL US. sam shafer