Movies and admission

It says on the news this morning that tickets have gone up $4:00. When I was growing up that was a high price. Maybe it was because they were still silent. In Topeka we had many theaters. I use to baby sit so I could go to the movies. You got thirty five cents unless you sat until midnight and then it was fifty cents. The Grand and Jayhawk were our first run movies., The Gem was twenty cents and you could go to the Crystal or the Cozy for a nickel. At the Gem they gave a dish away on certain nights. Who cared what the movie was. My best friend, Martha, had a grandmother who loved to get a free dish. She would take Martha and I out to eat at the "Chocolate Shop" and then to the movie. We had a local theater calleds the "Coed" that was about twenty cents. We had the "orpheum" which was right by the Topeka Daily Capital and there was another theater down on Quincy and 8th Street. Black people had their own two theaters which were on 4th and Kansas Ave and they could sit in the balacony at both the Jayhawk and the Grand. When Shirley Temple movies came to town there was a ticket line that went clear around the block. Just before school started they had a movie you could get in free if you brought a school book. They had that every fall they had a schoolbook movie you could get in free if you brought a used schoolbook. They discontinued that after they had a movie that scared all us kids. It was a doctor that every moonlight night went out and strangled someone."Gone With the Wind" cost more. My father always set in the back row. I remember the first talkie. I saw it at the Jayhawk. The Newsreel was good.
When they used our car for the pallbearers at vice-president's Curtis funeral we went to the movie so we could see it.

Haircuts

When I was growing up girls always wore bangs at least us beauties did. We had our hair trimmed every two weeks at a barber shop located on 5th Street in Topeka a shop under a bank and across the street from another bank. I read all the signs from "Lucky Tiger" while I was waiting. Later when Ray was in College the football team did not like one of his editorials in the school paper and cut off his hair. He soon was in the army and they cut it off again, Then when our first son, Steve, was born I took him to barbershop in College Hill near my parents house and they used bad combs and his hair fell out. I went to the doctor and they suggested I change barbers as the barbers evidently had bad combs. His hair grew back very fast. After I was married and went to a great hairdresseer he cut Ray's hair every six months whether it needed it or not. It was a great occasion every time. He just never liked having haircuts after the barbers he had in college. He wrote an article called "Haircuts are Free".

Ray and being president of an organzation

Ray loved joining groups and eventually he always became president. One of his first was when we were first married and he joined the Junior Chamber of Commerce. He loved the orgazation and when he became president at his first meeting he started it out by pulling a cap pistol and shooting it off and stated "My administratiion may go out on its back but we are coming in with a bang. He eventually became a member of the Board of Directors and we attended many conventions. Evey PTA he was a president except I'm not sure about Shawnee Mission North or Shawnee Mission West but he was the first president of Shawnee Mission Northwest. After he started writing a daily column he would end up joining the groups he wrote about so we became Japanese, Welch, Sister Cities to name a few. The Chinese Society they made him tresurer. He never knew how to balance a bank statement so I became the unofficial treasurer. He never understood money or where it came from so ended up having to take bankruptcy. I think he liked to sit at the speakers table as the service is always good there. Some organizations he would remain as president for three years I went along to everything and took notes as he seldom trusted the groups secretary. Consequently when he died I attended many things in his honor. The Rotary planted a tree in his honor at their camp and I made the mistake of asking what kind was it and found they really did not know. I have maany plaques he received and some pictures. He was a fun person to be married to. He was on the board of the theater leaque so we got to meet lots of stars who appeared in plays. He was crazy about fireworks and made friends with the wholesaler so we always had a family fireworks display. He would get a permit from the city so it was legal but they would never give me one. I have just been thinking about him today and remembering all the things he liked to get envoolved with so a blog lets me share and you are not required to read this it was just fun to write.

ST Patrick's Day

This is a day that I made sure I wore green so I would not be pinched. My sister Helen, taught first grade and always had her pupils make green shamrocks to wear on St Patrick's Day so they would not get pinched. My husband, Ray, loved the day since he had an Irish mother. On the Sunday before he volunteered to do the children's conversation at church and rented an Irish outfit. I don't remember what he spoke about but he had great fun doing it and we have pictures of him in his outfit. I'm wearing my green blouse tomorrow so I will be ready and to you all Irish and non Irish "Happy St Patrick's Day".

A light for the front room

I love the house I live in and like adding things to it to make it nicer. At a church rummage sale a few years back I got a great light for my front room. I had it on a timer and set for after I went to bed so it turned itself off. It finally wore out and one of my granddaughters, Stacy, gave me another. The first one had a fancy bulb but this one just had a light bulb. It has finally burnt out and I can not find a bulb that wants to work in it that is strong enough to read by. I have a bulb in it but it could do with a little more power. I have tried to fix it, my friend Ann has tried and my next door neighbor Richard have all tried. I have a light but it could use a little more strength. I'm sure some great person with knowledge will turn up and my dog Buster and I will relax until then I may spend time in the kitrchen watching TV. At least I will be able to the Basketbasll tournament.

Coky Pa

The year before Ray and were married Ray gave me a blonde cocker spaniel to replace the black on I missed so much and we named him after a cartoon character--Cokey. When we were married my dad had gotten attached to the dog and said Ray could havwe me but not my dog. After we moved to Kansas City my father became ill and my sister, Helen, moved to my parents house to help my mother take care of my dad. Chris was not very old and had two grandfathers so he called my dad Cokey Pa. My dad really enjoyed having my sister and her family there. In the mornings when Chris would come down my dad would ask him. "Are you up for all day?" and Chris would answer. "If I don't fall down." It might life pleasant for my dad to have them there and much easier for my mother. When we visited he would ask Sally and Sue. "How are you boys doing?" and they would giggle and respond with "We are not boys we are girls".

Rodeo animals

Topeka had a "Free Fair" every September and they had many things to attend. At night they had the "Night Shoe" but in the afternoon they had the rodeo. The same yar our daughter, Susan, was born, we were invited by the owner that furnished the brahama bulls to visit his ranch in Seneca, Nebraska. We were accompaniwed by the female photograher from the Topeka Daily Capital, Saralena Sherman. I was very impressed by Saralena because she had been the Drum Major when I was in high school. I don't know exactaly why I was included but Ray took me along a lot so he would have someone who liked him. We drove to Seneca and stayed all night as the ranch did not have roads you just drove across prairie. Soon after we were there the owner was killed in a car accident when he drove into a gulch but we did not have any trouble in our Lincoln in daylight. They had a huge herd of brahama bulls and while the rest of them did not seem to mind standing out there with them I was sort of scared. I always stood near the car so I could jump back in. The rancher had four children but they lived in Seneca so they could go to school. The rancher's wife was also the cook for guests and cowboys who were not married. We had a lot of delicious steaks so some animals did not make it to the rodeo. There was a railroad across the ranch. They loaded the steers right there. They had other cattle so think our steaks were not from the rodeo stock. We went into Seneca for a dance while we were there so it was all a pretty exciting weekend. Susan got along fine while we were gone. She stayed with her grandparents in the daytime and my sister Helen lived in the next apartment so Susan aslept in her own bed at night.