I like it back here when I was still at home and mom and dad were the adults. Mostly mom. Dad hung out in the pool hall every day. This was a place where the old men stopped in to play dominoes and shoot the breeze. I think they might have sold beer there because us kids were not allowed to go in the place unless it was an emergency and there better be blood involved and it better be squirting. And there must have been a pool table or why else would it be called a "pool hall"?
He was paid a stipend by the man who owned it and he was also allowed to drink coffee or something. Dad had given up drinking by the time we left the Ailmore place. Something about alcohol poisoning, some body's husband and God only knew what else. Oh, he still had the occasional "hot toddy" which was made with corn liquor, sugar and hot water, but that was only for his cold which he had a lot of colds back then.
On one side of the "pool hall" was the city jail. It was a small concrete structure about 10' x 10'. I understand there was a cot in there and bars to keep the miscreant on that side of the room. I am not sure anyone was every put in there, but I heard stories. If you spit on the sidewalk, you would go to jail. If you said a cuss word where a lady could hear you, you went to jail. (Now I do not know just what yard stick was used to decide who was a lady and who wasn't, but I heard plenty of cuss words and no one was ever arrested on my behalf!) If you were falling down drunk and making lots of noise, off to the hoosegow with you! Mostly I just remember the "peace officer" sitting on a chair in front of the jail some times. Not very often and I do not remember his name, but he was skinny.
A side story here and then back to Main Street. Up the street from us lived Jake Smith, who was a retired peace officer. He showed us the badge and it said "Jake Smith, peace officer." He also showed us a gun. It was a pistol and had a very long barrel. I could not sleep for many nights after that because it was very scary to think that a gun with real bullets was on the same street where I lived. Jake Smith liked to sit in his front yard on a wooden chair which was leaned back against a tree. He fell asleep most afternoons and Jake and one of his buddies took a rope and tied him to the tree while he was asleep. He could be heard cussing away when he woke up to his dilemma! He never figured out just who was responsible, but he had a pretty good idea. Back to Main Street.
On the other side of the pool hall was Coringtons Dry Good. Might have been Woringtons, I am no longer sure. One wall was bolts of fabrics and things needed to sew. There were dishes, pots and pans, linens, clothes, coats, tea towels, shoes, tools, nails,and on and on. Mrs. Corington ran the store and she was a buxom lady who never had a hair out of place. She used to watch us with her arms folded across her chest and I always had the feeling that if I touched anything she would rap my knuckles with a steel rod that she had hidden some place on her person. I remember how proud I was when I finally had $4.00 to buy a pair of boots that were in the window for years. They had fur around the top. These were real boots and not galoshes. Galoshes were black and had buckles. These just slid on my feet over my shoes.
The library was on the corner. There were many shelves of books and that was heaven for me. Reading was my escape back then. I remember how proud I was when I found a book titled Bartholomew Cubbins and the 100 Hats. Or something along that line. There were books with pictures albiet black and white mostly, but still pictures! National Geographic had naked women in it sometimes, but we were not allowed to check those out. As I recall, that is where I first found Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House on the Prairie series. I read all the books she wrote and worshipped her, well right up until the series came on tv and for some reason I could not stand the innocent little wretch who played Laura in the series. Forgot her name.
My Antonia by Willa Cather was another, but that was a tad bit racy for my young mind and I am not sure the librarian even let me check that out. Back in those days the librarian was always an old maid and she stayed in the back with a curtain for a door. Not sure she lived there, but if she did I am sure she lived alone. They were also called "spinsters". I did not want to be a spinster, I was sure of that!
On the corner going towards the school was the grocery store and drug store. Drug store had a soda fountain and if we had a few extra cents we could get a cherry coke or a vanilla phosphate, whatever that was. Ingalls candy store and school supplies as on the same side of the street, but a block up. They had a candy counter and a counter where you could get a cold drink or ice cream. The cold drink was always in a bottle and ice cream was in a bowl. Mother always took me there after a trip to the doctor. I was very puny when I was a little girl. Tonsils were my problem.
Well, I have to go to the Springs today, so I need to get around. Much as I hate to leave Main Street, I must. Rest assured I will be back!
He was paid a stipend by the man who owned it and he was also allowed to drink coffee or something. Dad had given up drinking by the time we left the Ailmore place. Something about alcohol poisoning, some body's husband and God only knew what else. Oh, he still had the occasional "hot toddy" which was made with corn liquor, sugar and hot water, but that was only for his cold which he had a lot of colds back then.
On one side of the "pool hall" was the city jail. It was a small concrete structure about 10' x 10'. I understand there was a cot in there and bars to keep the miscreant on that side of the room. I am not sure anyone was every put in there, but I heard stories. If you spit on the sidewalk, you would go to jail. If you said a cuss word where a lady could hear you, you went to jail. (Now I do not know just what yard stick was used to decide who was a lady and who wasn't, but I heard plenty of cuss words and no one was ever arrested on my behalf!) If you were falling down drunk and making lots of noise, off to the hoosegow with you! Mostly I just remember the "peace officer" sitting on a chair in front of the jail some times. Not very often and I do not remember his name, but he was skinny.
A side story here and then back to Main Street. Up the street from us lived Jake Smith, who was a retired peace officer. He showed us the badge and it said "Jake Smith, peace officer." He also showed us a gun. It was a pistol and had a very long barrel. I could not sleep for many nights after that because it was very scary to think that a gun with real bullets was on the same street where I lived. Jake Smith liked to sit in his front yard on a wooden chair which was leaned back against a tree. He fell asleep most afternoons and Jake and one of his buddies took a rope and tied him to the tree while he was asleep. He could be heard cussing away when he woke up to his dilemma! He never figured out just who was responsible, but he had a pretty good idea. Back to Main Street.
On the other side of the pool hall was Coringtons Dry Good. Might have been Woringtons, I am no longer sure. One wall was bolts of fabrics and things needed to sew. There were dishes, pots and pans, linens, clothes, coats, tea towels, shoes, tools, nails,and on and on. Mrs. Corington ran the store and she was a buxom lady who never had a hair out of place. She used to watch us with her arms folded across her chest and I always had the feeling that if I touched anything she would rap my knuckles with a steel rod that she had hidden some place on her person. I remember how proud I was when I finally had $4.00 to buy a pair of boots that were in the window for years. They had fur around the top. These were real boots and not galoshes. Galoshes were black and had buckles. These just slid on my feet over my shoes.
The library was on the corner. There were many shelves of books and that was heaven for me. Reading was my escape back then. I remember how proud I was when I found a book titled Bartholomew Cubbins and the 100 Hats. Or something along that line. There were books with pictures albiet black and white mostly, but still pictures! National Geographic had naked women in it sometimes, but we were not allowed to check those out. As I recall, that is where I first found Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House on the Prairie series. I read all the books she wrote and worshipped her, well right up until the series came on tv and for some reason I could not stand the innocent little wretch who played Laura in the series. Forgot her name.
My Antonia by Willa Cather was another, but that was a tad bit racy for my young mind and I am not sure the librarian even let me check that out. Back in those days the librarian was always an old maid and she stayed in the back with a curtain for a door. Not sure she lived there, but if she did I am sure she lived alone. They were also called "spinsters". I did not want to be a spinster, I was sure of that!
On the corner going towards the school was the grocery store and drug store. Drug store had a soda fountain and if we had a few extra cents we could get a cherry coke or a vanilla phosphate, whatever that was. Ingalls candy store and school supplies as on the same side of the street, but a block up. They had a candy counter and a counter where you could get a cold drink or ice cream. The cold drink was always in a bottle and ice cream was in a bowl. Mother always took me there after a trip to the doctor. I was very puny when I was a little girl. Tonsils were my problem.
Well, I have to go to the Springs today, so I need to get around. Much as I hate to leave Main Street, I must. Rest assured I will be back!
