It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity . . .
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
Those lines echo most of my first two decades of life.
Having been born during the depression and living through the Second world War, I saw the worst of times.
The wars end and the memorial fifties stand out in my mind as the best of times.
Every once in a while something triggers my memory of those years and it's as if they weren't that far in the past.
That trigger went off yesterday as I was exploring a link from a blog, (Wandering The Web) see link on left
It was about Birmingham's past called Birmingham Rebound.
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
Those lines echo most of my first two decades of life.
Having been born during the depression and living through the Second world War, I saw the worst of times.
The wars end and the memorial fifties stand out in my mind as the best of times.
Every once in a while something triggers my memory of those years and it's as if they weren't that far in the past.
That trigger went off yesterday as I was exploring a link from a blog, (Wandering The Web) see link on left
It was about Birmingham's past called Birmingham Rebound.
I suppose you would have had to live in those days to truly appreciate the life we experienced.
Who could forget the Polar Bear Spinning Wheel in Wahouma? (See Picture above)
I remember the Theaters in downtown Birmingham as if it was still yesterday. We had the Capitol, Galax, Strand, Melba, Empire, Lyric, Ritz, and the greatest of all, the Alabama.
The kids had their choice for the huge sum of ten cents. The adults, over twelve, had to fork over 25 cents. Some of us stretched another year before we were forced to pay that extra 15 cents. Heck, that cost us a coke, popcorn, and a candy bar.
Every neighborhood and small town had their own theater and most of us went every Saturday and maybe one other day.
When we started dating, the theater was usually the choice of destination. They had ushers back then who watched out for any "hanky panky". No "smooching" was allowed or you would get the flashlight on you. Oh, those were the days.
Some of the old pictures on that site brought back vivid memories of what Birmingham used to be like. I remember the 5 & dime stores clustered around 19th street North. There were Newberrys. Silvers, Grants, Woolworth and Kress. You could Christmas shop for your entire family for a dollar or two.
It cost 7 cents to ride the streetcar to town and most transfers were free if you wanted to go to other places. I could ride the streetcar both ways, go in the Downtowner Restaurant and eat 2 hot dogs and a chocolate drink, go to a movie and buy a coke and pop corn all for 49 cents.
Where did the years go?...Karl...
1 comment:
This is very good Karl. I like the way it is written and the things that it says. I might not personally remember all of it, but the best portion of it I do. The Polar Bear was, and still should be, an institution! All of those other things really take me back too. Where did it go?
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