At 75 years of age, in retirement from my career for some eighteen years, I'll reflect way back as far as I remember and work up the line. I hope I keep your attention.
Kids don't remember much of their life happenings before they're about 5, but one of the few things I remember from age 4, was playing in an open abandoned Model T Ford behind our house. In mid winter, covered with snow, an open topped Model T Ford was my play room for hours on end. I pretended to crank the engine, then jump in the drivers seat and work the spark and throttle levers, work the steering wheel back and forth - all the time making car engine sounds. I must have thought the car had hundreds of gears because I'd accelerate the motor, pause for shifts, re-accelerate, and repeat the whole thing hundreds of times. I played that game over & over for months until one day I tried to turn the crank and it wouldn't budge. I was sure I broke the car so I instantly quit playing in it. Of course later I realized that the crank simply engaged with the engine. That's the last I remember about that car until years later, when the chassis was converted into a 'buzz saw'. Then I was the "governer" of the engine power & speed. I was taught to sit on the front wheel and just before my uncle sawed each log, I had to open the throttle at the carburetor. So, I was a 'Governor' at a very early age.
All kids love toys, and I was no different, but as a kid on a small farm in the mountains, most of our entertainment and learning was from helping either with the farm chores, or helping my Grandma in the house. We had a dog and a cat, a garden, some cows, chickens and a couple of ducks. My jobs were to get the cows from the pasture, milk a couple by hand, feed the chickens & ducks, feed the calves and help Grandma with the garden. I called our cat 'mine'. It would follow me after the cows until it got tired, then 'Meow' until I carried it the rest of the way. As toys, I remember a wooden toy truck and not much else until one Birthday my Mom gave me a Red Fire engine pedal car. When I got it I was pretty excited until I turned it over and found it just had pedals and "no motor!". What a let down!My Grandpa was already old when I was just a little kid, probably in his seventies, walked with a cane, had poor eyesight, and had no teeth, but because my Dad had died when I was three I lived with my grandparents and Grandpa was my teacher. He taught me how to make knots, tie shoe laces, and, as he was very religious, he taught me how to read from the Bible. He also taught me how to sharpen knives, and farm sythes, mowing machine blades, etc., and basically; how things work. On the farm we had no electricity and no power driven machinery, but we had two good work horses, Harry and Mollie. The only motorized stuff we had was the Buzz saw, and my Uncle Charlie's '32 Chevy' car, and I loved anything with motors or complicated mechanisms.
My Grandma Davis (Nellie), was also pretty old but at least ten years younger than Grandpa Davis, and she was a really handy lady, a great cook, and made the best homemade bread and pies ever. I helped her by carrying in firewood, filling the tea kettle (our only hot water), and especially canning vegetables in the summer. I had to shell the peas, pull up the carrots from the garden, wash them and cut them into slices, etc. I loved the garden and would sample the vegetables in the garden, some with dirt and all.Perhaps by now, you're wondering; where was my Mom. Well, when Dad died she had to find work and moved to NYC. I had a younger sister who was placed with her maternal grand parents while I was with Dad's parents
The two most mechanical things in the house were some pocket watches, guns, a hand lever powered washing machine that no one used, and a peddle powered Singer sewing machine. The washer had a lever that turned a wheel. Then with gears the wheel motion made a plunger go up and down. I guess Grandma decided hand washing was easier but she used the sewing machine a lot, making dresses from flowered feed sacks for animal grains, and fixing all the guys 'overalls' and work shirts. Then of course there was the darning and her crochet work. Now, where I came into the picture was to figure out exactly how each of those things worked. I took a few pocket watches apart, never to run again, and Grandma caught me with the sewing machine head upside down one time, checking out all the parts to see how it worked. That was never allowed again - but my Grandparents gave me a clock and another pocket watch to take apart if I wanted to. I did, but the watches never worked again.
My grade school was 'one room' with an attached wood shed and a couple of attached 'outhouses'. Grades one through six were taught by our one teacher, Mrs Lacy.
I remember my first day of school, walking up the big hill to the top where there was an intersection and a church, then past the church was the school. A bunch of the older kids had congregated at the church yard and when I walked up they proceeded to initiate me by wrestling me down and pulling my pants down in front of the girls. I guess I took it in stride and didn't think too much about it and no one else did either - but I never forgot it.
Since Grandpa had taught me how to read and count and do some simple arithmatic, I was the only first grader and I paid attention to what Mrs Lacy had to teach the other older kids. I also got myself in trouble because of what I knew. One of the second or third graders who didn't know how to spell, wanted to send a dirty note to a girl across the room and had me write it. It was pretty raunchy, and Mrs Lacy intercepted it. For punishment I had to go cut a green switch and got a few pretty smart whacks across my rear, then was placed under her desk for the rest of the day. The originator got away Scott free. (Boys don't tattle!)
Of course we had required reading in school, which didn't excite me much, but I remember a few books that I really enjoyed. One was "T Model Tommy", a story about an entreprenerial teen who mowed lots of lawns, bought a rickety Model T truck, then started a trucking business on what shoe string money he earned and with his Model T Ford truck he hauled wood and coal and more. Eventually his business grew into a fleet of trucks.
A series of books I loved were "Tom Swift" books. They were very much science fiction but much of it is now fact. Then there were two forbidden adult books that some 5th grader sneaked in, quite risque' for the time, "Gods Little Acre", and "Tobacco Road", both by Irskine Caldwell 'definitely adult books'.
We had lots of snow in the hills of the Catskill Mountains and as kids, during recesses and at lunch time we made snow forts and had opposing team snow ball fights. Sometimes the snow forts were huge and like igloos. Oh, and we also sneaked some cigarette smokes inside the forts.
After heavy snowfalls, and we had plenty, our local snow plows (we had two) were a Lynn Tractor with a huge Vee plow in front and two huge wing plows, and for heaviest snow we had a Cletrak track type tractor with even bigger Vee and wing plows. After plowing the snow, the machines were left parked near our school, probably not a good idea, and a couple of us kids would get up into or onto them and make believe drive them. They were tough. I don't think we ever hurt anything. When the Cletrak was used we could hear it coming and going for hours, working on roads all over those hills all days long.
When I was about 10 years old my uncle Charlie bought a very nice Model T Ford pickup truck with a 2 speed rear end (Ruxtel) that I really loved. I never got to drive it.
Time for another break: I'll continue soon.
With my grand parents getting older and my uncle Charlie married and wanting to get off the farm, they decided to sell off and get out of farming. My Mom got a job in Scintilla in Sidney, NY where aircraft magnetos and others were made. It was close to her parents who lived in East Masonville, and when school got out in June 1943 I was moved back with Mom into an apartment in Sidney.
We lived next to the Sidney Airport, a place where I loved to spend time in the hanger watching the mechanics work on rebuilding and repairing the planes.
During the summer my grandparents farm and home stuff in Ashland was auctioned off, including that nice Modet T pickup. Mom went to the auction and I pleaded with her to bid on and get that Model T pickup for me and I'd pay her for it. She returned from the auction without having even bid on it, and it went to a $7 bidder. I held a grudge for the rest of her life! And, I still do.
When school started, I walked either on the streets or along the railroad tracks for about a mile to school. This new school was a great thing for me. With different teachers for the various subjects I soon had favorites and a few 'didn't likes'. I found I wasn't very good at social studies except for 'current events', nor English, and my favorite subjects were math and science. The other thing I liked about this new school was "girls" - but I was shy, and didn't mix with them much at all. But I really liked the Jr. High Principal's daughter, Nancy, and don't think I ever talked to her during Junior High (now called 'middle school) or high school.
I had a good friend, Dave Campbell, who usually walked to school with me who shared a passion for airplanes and models. The school had a Model Airplane Club which we joined along with a couple of other good friends, Roger Lewis and Bill Rasback. We made models at each of our houses. We also often spent time together at the Sidney Airport.
Break time again: Will continue sometime later.
Memory of my years in Sidney High School aren't vivid enough to differentiate one year from another but I'll try to point out some highlights. A couple of my favorite lady teachers were Miss Mary Quinn (just out of college)-homeroom, and Miss Erma Turner (good lookin!). My favorite male teachers were George Diehl (metal and machine shop), and Ray Sheldon (wood shop, auto mechanics, & mechanical drawing-my best subjects too).
I wasn't the best athlete and to make things worse, when I tried to go out for football I had no ride home and hitch hiked one time only to walk about five of the ten miles - so I quit before I hardly got started. Thus I never had a sport in school. But I had hobbies and living on a farm I had lots of farm stuff to tinker with and farm kids to do stuff and get in trouble with. The farmhouse originally was built and wired for 32 volt dc electricity but received R.E.A. 110 volt ac electricity before mom and I moved in. However the Delco generator and set of batteries were still intact in the barn. Needless to say I had to start up the generator although the batteries had frozen and broken. To do so I used an electric train transformer for energy to the coil. It ran good on kerosene. With that generator I had lots of fun using the 32 volt dc electricity for many experiments.
School subjects I didn't do well with were grammar, and history, while my best subjects were drafting, shop and especially auto mechanics for which I obtained a first prize and money. Second prize was for physics, also with money. I fared pretty well in math, taking algebra and trigonometry. It seems that if I didn't like a certain teacher, I didn't like the subject (or was it the other way around?) I guess I was not a good student - never getting over the poor study habits of my one room grade school.
At East Masonville we had an active '4H' Club, Masonville Grange, and the Masonville Church. These were the youth outfits to be into, and most of the girls and boys were. With the small towns it was lots of informal fun, yet real useful and creative too. In 4H we always took craft and garden produce for competition at the Walton and Afton fairs. Our 4H club once had Tractor repair classes at Hiram Howes Farm Equipment business in Trout creek, NY. That was one of the most exciting projects I remember that our club did.
The church had Saturday night Christion Endeavor (youth fellowship) which sponsored lots of youth trips and parties (roller skating, dancing, etc.) I credit these activities with lots of learning and good clean fun. Of course we boys had lots of ways to find fun that wasn't sanctioned. Once we had an all day youth fellowship outing in Binghamton (40 miles from home)and we skipped out to explore Binghamton about noon. Unfortunately we missed the bus back home and ended up hitch hiking and probably walked at least 15 miles, had blisters, and got home in time for the neighbors morning farm chores. (Tried it once, didn't like it.)
When I was about 14 years old I had been working and saving money, and learned about a really nice 1917 Model T Ford touring car in Bert Marble's garage in Sidney. I bought it for $65 (a lot of money at the time). The boys and I towed it home and within a couple of days and a few miles of towing it with a tractor, we got it running. Actually it ran very well once I freed up the stuck valves. I drove it illegally around the back roads and spent lots more money on new tires and all sorts of "upgrades".
I occasionally hunted with a 22 rifle with my buddies. One day while hunting we discovered a very rusted Model T Ford in the woods. I wanted it because it was newer and had lots of added features since 1917. We treked to the owners house and I offered the old man $5 for it. He gruffley said "no way, I've got to have $10". We haggled quite a while and I bought it for $7. My step father towed it home without any tires and drove about 20 MPH. That seemed like 100 MPH as the Model T swerved and skidded all over the road and one couldn't stop if we had to, but somehow we made it home. Soon after, I put the 1921 motor in the 1917 car and added a starter and generator, added a later model Ford push button starter button on the dash with solenoid (the transferred 1921 dashboard). Really had it jazzed up. Of course that ruined any later antique value - but it sure was fun.
I regret to this day that I was such a shy young fellow when it came to "girls". During my highschool years, along with some of the other country adolescent boys, if I liked a girl a lot, I couldn't have a casual conversation with her, or didn't dare ask her to roller skate or dance with me, etc. (Fear of rejection) What a shame.
Somehow I graduated from highschool at the age of 16. Yes, I was the youngest guy in my class (now I know I should have stayed back another year). Nothing outstanding, just kind of average, with no preparation nor plans for college. Only about half of the farm kids from my school years stayed in school long enough to graduate. Of course some of the 'in town' kids didn't either, a few joining the Military. All I wanted to do as a career was be an Auto Mechanic.
So ended highschool.
I've been pretty lucky in life. In the first year out of highschool I had several hands on jobs, beginning fresh out with a few months as a Junior Mechanic at Hotaling's Ford Dealership in Sidney, then worked a few more months at an American Blue Stone stone mill in S. Unadilla, and then into construction work for Lewis Construction in Bainbridge by the next Spring. That first year brought me in contact with the more sophisticated trades and I got a break by getting an Electrician Apprenticeship at Osborne Electric in Norwich. During that time I met a young journeyman who was interested in the new craze; television, who was part of a family who sold them. We,together sold and installed Black & White, Vacuum Tube type televisions to people in the out of town fringe areas. Most of the challenge was to get decent reception and often required long lead in cables from boosted antennaes on hills.
After about 3 years in the Apprenticeship, I was drafted into the Army for a 2 year hitch. I know now how niave I was when I was inducted at Ft. Devans Mass, for I got gyped out of what little cash I had by a Mess Sergeant I was doing K.P. for. He asked to borrow the money for a couple of days until he got paid, and I loaned it. I got shipped out the next day with him no where to be found.
The first year of my hitch in the Army was Basic training followed by more training. During Basic we were given a long questioneer about our interests for an M.O.S. (what we wanted to do), and were warned to select three from the list but if you selected what you were not qualified for, you would be carrying a carbine in the front lines in Korea. I wanted to play it safe so I chose 'Fire Control'. I thought I'd be a fireman. What it really was, was 1. Heavy, 2. Medium, 3. Light Anti Aircraft Artillary Fire control, all sophisticated electronics. Fortunately I was selected and trained in Heavy, and then in the short lived 'Redstone' missile. That kept me in classes for most of the entire first year.