Bertie Alexander’s memories from Spring City

I remember when I first started to school at Spring City Elementary there were no indoor bathrooms. Our town did not have running water, so we got a drink at recess from a pump out beside the school.

The outside toilet was long and wide with a partition. One side was for boys and one was for girls. There must have been 12 or 14 seats. Of course, we lined up outside and waited our turn.

I remember the first radio that came to town, as far as I know. They had a meeting one night for everyone to come hear it. It squeaked and there was so much static that you could not understand what the voice was saying.

I remember the first airplane I saw on the ground. It came over the school one day while the children were out for recess. We watched it come down and land in Kemmer field. A group of us ran from school to see it and were late getting back. For punishment we had to write “airplane” 100 times.

When I was in high school in the 1930’s, I played on the basketball team. When we had a game out of town with another school we were not allowed to eat until after we played ball. Then we stopped at a restaurant on the way home.

I had 25 cents to buy my supper. I got a big hamburger for 10 cents, a coke for 5 cents and pie for 10 cents.

After I was married in 1933, we bought groceries at Odom and Ferguson’s grocery. If the grocery bill was over $6 or $8 dollars per month it was too much. A loaf of bread was 5 cents, a pound of sausage was 25 cents and a good-sized square of fat back for beans was 5 cents.

We bought round steak at Manning Meat Market for 25 cents per pound. When we got our first car, gas was 25 cents per gallon.

We had a Victrola, our only source of music. The old telephone on the wall had to be cranked to get central for the number I wanted to call. We were on a party line. Our number was 721.

Posted with permission from the publisher of the Herald News in Dayton. Original publish date was Wednesday, October 23, 1994 in the “Good Old Days” section.