In the Beginning: Radio

I was a boy in Wichita Falls, Texas, during the Great Depression Years.   Born in 1925, well-to-do neighbors suddenly became poor in 1929.  It didn't make sense to me, but one learns quickly by just watching how people behave:  Strange men would come to the back door, knock and, when my mother went to answer, the guy would say something like, Lady, could you spare a hungry man a little something to eat?

My mother was a gracious and sensitive woman.  I never heard her turn anyone away.  I recall vividly the "tramp" who, after getting his sandwich, also asked for a glass of vinegar.  It didn't make sense to me; he said it was good for his stomach.  She took a large bottle from the kitchen shelf and poured a glass full.  I winced as he gulped it down.  At that point I was about 10 years old.  Life was just beginning for me.  Stranger things were yet to come.

School Days and Play

Memories of early childhood before starting to school are scattered and hazy.  Memory milestones were made when I started school.  Mother (Nina Barwise Demere) took me to Austin School, about six blocks from our house at 909 11th.  Even now, I hate to admit that I was afraid for her to leave.  Miss Tacker was the first grade teacher.  She was good.  I liked her from the beginning.  She was kind and she impressed me.  To this day I have a picture of her burned in my memory.  She brought her parrot to class and used it as a teaching tool.  She was clever.  The parrot's stand was made of unpainted wood, just a round post about two inches in diameter with cross members for the perch.  She engaged the class members in conversation about the color of it.  We guessed, trying different words.  To each she said, No.  Finally she just stopped, giving no correct answer.  It was many years before I realized her tactic.  She simply exercised our imagination and thought process.  I guess teachers still employ the same technique today. I'll have to ask one someday.

During the depression, at least in my part of Texas, only single women were hired as teachers.  They needed jobs.  Also, there were a good many male teachers, however, women were historically the teachers.  It was not actually considerred a proper profession for men.  I had a couple of men teachers, and we boys tended to make the men our heroes.  There are probably as many other stories as there are people my age who remember those days.  Anyhow, I went on to get a good education. I recall telling my mother I thought after graduation from high school that I would like to take a year off and get a job.  Her reaction to that idea was quick and firm.  I believe her exact words were, "You will not!"  I didn't.