Muscatine

I can't tell who actually posted the story...but who was it that lived on Main St?

We lived on Green St., two house south of the 3rd St crossing when I was young. SW side of intersection. Froggy Nolan the barber lived on 3rd on the the curve just before Main. He was a great-uncle. State trooper Bill Shank lived 2nd house from the corner of 3rd and Green too. Hall's lived on the upper corner of Green and 3rd (NW) across from the St. Mary's retaining wall; he was the manager of downtown Montgomery Ward. Schaapveld's lived a few more houses up the hill on Green.

Actually got to ride on the bulldozers and graders when they cut the hill to make 8th Street tie in to Main St. All ya had to do was waive your water jug full of ice water to them guys and they would pick you up and give you a ride for the cold water. That was a fun summer.

The top picture was a real motor bike.  Where did you find these photos?

Well Big Brother, it looks like I grew up in the same neighborhood as you.  We lived across the street from Froggy Nolan next to the ravine/dump at 1109 West 3rd.  We moved away in the early 50's though.  There was some interesting things to find in the dump since no one actually threw garbage there and the ravine/hollow was a great place to hide and play.  There were vines hanging down from some trees that you could swing on.

You would not recognize the house we lived in because it has been remodeled several times and the two houses below that were built after we moved were nothing but trash as far as I am concerned.  I was born in 1937 and lived there until we moved.

Did you ever try to ride your bike up Green Street Hill?

Without giving too much away, I knew Froggy and Theresa Nolan pretty well!  When I was a little shaver in short pants, I and other rug rats would slide down that rock/boulder that sits in front of their old house on 3rd st.  It's still there, but no where near as slick as we kept it in the 40's!  It used to look pretty big to a 3 or 4 yr. old.  Now it looks too small to ever be used as a "slide"!  Didn't live in the neighborhood, Mom just visited them often.

Speaking of the ravines/dumps, do you guys remember the "gold-dust twins"?   They were a couple of old guys with a cart that used to scrounge the dumps and ravines for items they could sell to the junk dealers I guess.  My aunt who lived on 8th st. used to call them "rag-pickers".

We played in those dumps, using all kinds of discarded poisonous items for toys!  Probably radioactive too!  No one ever bothered too much about safety in those days.   Just got chewed out and hosed off when we got home.  Chewed out for getting too dirty or tearing our clothes - not for any "safety violations".  

Speaking of tearing my clothes, Mom used to patch them.  I had a lot of patches on my pants - patches on patches.   When she could afford it, she bought iron-on patches when they came out with them.  I remember her darning socks.   I think one of my sisters has her old darning gourd.   Anyone know what a darning gourd is?