What goes around , comes around. We’ve all heard that, but do we believe ?
So, here we go. See if you agree that history actually does repeat itself.
Whenever you turn your television on or fire up your computer, within a few minutes you’ll see/hear an ad for ” having groceries delivered to your doorstep”. In Lavonia ( in the 40s and 50s ) there were two locally owned and operated grocery stores : Brock’s Grocery and Cawthon Brothers, both well-stocked and much appreciated.
My mother ( and other ladies in town ) would call Abner Brock at his store and place an order that went something like this : ” Abner, George and I are having six people over for dinner tomorrow night. Would you send me a prime rib, fresh green beans, makings for a fruit salad and whatever Sarah Lou ( our cook and housekeeper ) needs to make a coconut cake ? Just have Hubert ( delivery man ) put the cold stuff in the refrigerator and the rest on the counter in the kitchen. Thank you so much ! ” And Abner did—–and Hubert did.
Not exactly the same, but more alike than different, for sure.
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And then there’s the driving around. For those of us who remain sheltered ( or at the very least, cautious ) entertainment is limited. So we ride the countryside, ” cruise ” , to be specific. Breaks the monotony and allows us to observe things we never noticed before.
In small Southern towns in the 50s, cruising was a favorite pastime. A bunch of teen -age girls would get a family car on a Sunday afternoon and head to Royston, Carnesville, or Hartwell, looking for the boys from those towns. Once the connections were made, girls and boys were out of cars, into other cars——just a “go-for-broke , fruit -basket turnover ” and , oh, so much fun ! And, of course, the Lavonia boys were doing the same thing . Now I’m not stretching this point to imply that old folks ‘ cruising during the pandemic and the cruising of a bunch of giddy teens are the same. But the end purpose of both was, and is, a little change of pace and entertainment.
Not exactly the same, but more alike than different, for sure.
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And on a sadder note : the comparison of the current pandemic and the polio scare back in the day. Memories of sick and dying children, iron lungs for so many, pools and libraries and schools and stores closed for safety purposes, social gatherings cancelled, frightened parents, befuddled scientists, misinformation by radio or newspaper, and on and on are still fresh. On a personal note, at about age 12, I spent most of the summer in bed , listening to Jenny’s Platters on WKLY, the Hartwell radio station. And although it was never definitively diagnosed, it was believed that I had polio. I was weak and lethargic———and lucky !
And then there were shots and sugar cubes. And now there are COVID vaccinations.
Not exactly the same, but more alike than different, for sure.
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So, what goes around, comes around ? You betcha………..
You always touch my heart because of the memories we share. We loved our Sunday afternoons riding around, and George always said “looking for the boys”
You may not remember this, and Bob was horrified when I told him. When we lived on Hartwell Street, Mother let us call Brock’s grocery to order cokes and peanuts. In about 15 minutes, Bill came in with our snack!
So true. I love your writings—especially the ones about “back in the day” in Lavonia…♥️
A small family grocery in Commerce was Beard’s who offered local deliveries by bicycle. The store’s interior was very narrow with shelves reaching the high ceiling. Mr. Charlie Beard would push the item from the upper shelves with a long pole after the customer made his or her selection. I never saw him drop an item as it fell into his arms. We delivered homemade cow butter and fresh hen eggs to Beard’s Grocery every Saturday morning in exchange for whatever we needed. The store had two large ceiling fans that were fascinating in the memory of this country kid.
My mother was a polio survivor.
Let me rephrase. My mother is a polio survivor.
At Morgan’s Grocery Store delivering was as routine as day to night or Lavonia girls sneaking out of town.Prefer no further comment on cruising past or present.
What fun to read those memories from the 50’s.
I remember the groceries being delivered to our house, and cruising around
In the car.
I especially remember the Polio scare. I was with my friend the day before she
came down with Polio, and I had to get a shot and quarantine for three days.
WKLY was the local radio station and on AM.
The Brock Grocery Store, and the Brock Family in general were an institution in Lavonia during our youth.
Ab was one of the most generous and pleasant people I remember from that period. I was told once that his early attempt in the grocery business failed, because he was so sympathetic with extending credit to his depression era customers that he ultimately went bankrupt because those recipients could not repay. He later opened another grocery effort which was very sucessful and over time he employed scores of family members, local teenage boys and girls, and others in the community who needed a job. He also provided, in addition to his immediate family, lodging and support to his niece (Linda Brock), his brother in law (Dickie Vickery), and his mother in law ( Maw-Maw Vickery). That is another story to be told later. I worked in the store during my senior year in high school, along with my younger brother James, who later married Linda Brock. Byron Toney also worked there at one time. It was actually a wonderful training ground in customer service and personal responsibility, and in employee teamwork. James actually became a professional meat cutter there. i even learned to cut up a chicken within 60 seconds flat. Ab’s wife, Margaret was essentially the floor boss and was a no nonsense taskmaster. She made sure that no clerks were standing around with nothing to do, and she closely managed the check out process for purchases. You mentioned Hubert Massey, who worked part time and had an old pickup truck. He was basically the delivery man and I rode with him on numerous occasions to delivery groceries. He was a real character, chewed tobacco constantly, sipped moon shine, and told unbelievable stories about his experiences with the ladies. In those days no one locked their doors and we would carry the groceries in and put the cold items in the refrigerator, and leave without seeing anyone. The absolutely worse job in the store for us young guys was cleaning out the fish box each Saturday night at the close of business. One almost needed to be “sheep dipped” after that experience in order to get rid of the smell. That was almost a fatal sentence for those us us who planned to attend the Saturday Night Square Dance at the American Legion Hall. There are a lot of fun stories about the customers and the interesting experiences that we all had there over the years. I could go on and on, but probably should stop at this point.
David, please add more stories!
I agree, David! Keep writing!
Polio? My goodness…I never would have thought you ever suffered from that, not the way you weave through this world in one speed: fast! Glad you recovered from whatever you had to impact this world as you have, and still do. You make me tired!