Childhood Outings, Popcorn, and Sunday Sandwiches

(Some stuck, some didn’t.)

Ikey Bernie Pee Wee Carol Mae and Carol Barrel Pudgie Daddy called Diana “Dolly.” Baby or Barbie Daddy was sometimes called “Casey” and I heard Mom was called “Brownie” in her youth. I was told that one time, when I was quite small, I got lost at Starved Rock Park. We use to walk a lot of places. We’d often walk up to 41st Street and take the bus downtown or to the library. We also used to walk to “the show” in Highland. The first show I remember going to see was The Wizard of Oz. I started to cry when the wicked witch and her monkeys came out. I’m told Virginia had to carry me out. On the movie theme, we loved to pop a huge pan of popcorn and pile into the car and go to the drive-in in Milan. Every Sunday night, religiously, Diana and I would make fried-egg sandwiches with ketchup and pickles and watch Lassie. We would take trips to Geneseo Illinois to visit Gramma Hobson,who was Billy Johnson’s grandmother. She was a tall and very charming woman, We loved to hear her stories about when Diana was in Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Bernie and Bob had ringworm. I can still remember how they looked with nylon hose knotted on their heads. Mom would make us rest in the afternoon during August. These were called the “Dog Days of August.” I think it had something to do with Polio. When I was in about the third grade, nurses came to school and gave us Polio vaccine, which was experimental at that time.