Simple Things

Telephone

Our phone number was 122. That was it. This was before dial phones and you had to tell the operator what number you wanted. We were the lucky ones to have a single family line. I think the Shadel’s and Davis’ had a "J" or an "R" after it indicating it was a party line. I’ve been there when some friends were listening in on the other party’s conversation. Can you imagine something like that today?

Flag Flyers
I never had Blue Swede shoes but I had my white buck "Flag Flyers" with the tongue that flipped up to open so you could put your foot in and the flip it down to close. Simplicity at it’s best! I remember going to a shoe store on Leigh Avenue down by the Victoria Theater. They had an x-ray machine that you put your foot into so you and your parents could see if the shoe fit properly. Penny loafers were big back then. I think just about everyone had a pair at one time or another.

Frackville train station shortly before being
torn down.

Block Parties
I loved going to the block party at the train station across the street from the Good Will Fire Hose Company on Oak street. Ah, bean soup and bleenies! I may have one of the last series of pictures taken before the train station was torn down and moved. There were plenty of other great block parties at churches and fire houses. And that was just those in our town. They are just as popular today as when I was growing up.

 

American Legion Pool

This was not a pool hall or a swimming pool but rather a daily lottery. People would pay 10 cents to get a circular chip about the size of a half-dollar. They had numbers on each one that corresponded to a numbered line on the sheet where your name and address was written. Then, you put the chip in a big barrel that was spun round and round at 9:00 PM every night. A lucky person got to draw one number and whoever’s name was on the sheet next to that number won a percentage of the pot for the night up to the maximum of $150. The person drawing the number got a buck or two from the winners. Kids used to hang around a after the drawing and race to the house that won to tell them they "won the pool." They would be rewarded with a tip for being the bearer of the news. The next day the winner would go up to collect.

One night, Joe’s Pool Hall was closing a bit early. It was just a few minutes before 9 PM and I was walking home past the American Legion Pool. I had just one dime in my pocket so I decided to "play the pool." I was the last number in that the barrel so I waited for the wining number to be drawn. I couldn’t believe my ears when they called my number. No one else could believe that the last number would win either.

Normally I would have gone back the next day to collect but I couldn’t wait. I took all of the winnings, the full $150 that night, mostly coins, in a brown paper bag and ran home. We had to be home by the time the fire house horn stopped blowing at 9 PM. There were nine blasts, once for each hour. I ran so fast I because I knew I was late. I was so excited, I stumbled and fell in the parlor and the money spilled all over.

I can tell you the exact date I won because I deposited the money the very next day. I still have the savings account book. It was November 4, 1957. I used the money to go to the Bohard’s Store on the corner of Frack Street and Lehigh Avenue to buy a suit for graduation. It was black with a pink flecks pattern and a pink knit tie. That’s what I’m wearing in my graduation picture.

Savings Account?

Just thought I’d mention my savings account story. I opened a savings account at the First National Bank of Frackville and deposited $5 on January 4, 1956. I quickly followed that with a $1 deposit on the 19th. Successive deposits of $6, $5.50, and $5.50 gave me a grand total of $23 by February 28, 1956.

Something must have happened because on March 9, I withdrew $22 leaving me with $1! Then, no more activity for 3 months until I deposited $4. Six months later, I added $4 more and quickly followed with $5 for a total of $14. Guess what, something happened again, and I took out $10, followed quickly by taking out $3, leaving me with, you guessed it, $1 on February 18, 1957.

A pattern was developing which continued for a long time. That $1 sat in the bank until I hit the local lottery six months later in November. I deposited $120 for a grand total of $121! On February 28, 1958 I drew out $120 to buy my graduation suit leaving $1.

There were a few more deposits and withdrawals and when I left for the Navy I took out all that was remaining except for, can you guess, yep, $1. That dollar has been there now for almost 54 years!

Sheeny Man

Do you remember the "sheeny man?" I do and it was kind of interesting to see him. I seem to recall he had a horse-drawn wagon when he went up and down the alley between streets yelling "rags and old iron" over and over again. We would save up a pile and when we heard his bell we would run out to the alley behind our house with our booty. There wasn’t much of a reward but I still found it interesting.

My sister has a different memory. She thinks the term sheeny was derogatory in some way – maybe associated with a particular ethnic group or something. Her recollections are: "Mom told me a young child that if I didn’t listen, she was going to sell me to the sheeny man. That scared the dickens out of me, so it usually worked." She recalls "I remember that the sheeny man had an old truck that came into the alleys and he had all kinds of 'junk.' I remember that he bought things too, like old material (rags) and metal. I remember that his appearance was frightening and I remember 'hiding' whenever he came around our yard. I really was afraid that he would take me away. Does anybody else remember being disciplined with threats of being sold to the 'sheeny man'?"