Muscatine

Yessir, Captain Vern and Captain Ernie.  Big controversy at the time because of the "violent" nature of the Three Stooges. 

Anybody remember the competition for Captain Ernie?  Channel 8 aired "Jungle Jay" at the same time of day, showing old Clyde Beatty jungle movies.  Jay had other characters visit, including  fellow named Maupessant Ferrari, a supposed race car driver who was actually a relative of mine.  The same guy who played Jungle Jay also was "Doctor Igor" on Chiller Theatre, another Channel 8 offering that aired on Saturday nights after the late news.  Great stuff.

Ah! Bill Gress And his program "Comment"  His daughter introduced me to my x.  KSTT window on river drive.  Elvis at the Iowa state fair.  I Grew up in Bettendorf.  Fun how much we all had in common.  Swam every day in the mighty Miss.  Camped out on the big island across from Buffalo.  Yes cards on my bike.  Swinging roap over the river.  Catching tree toads and putting  them in my sisters bed.  Baby snapping turtles too!

I haven't lived in Muscatine for many years, but I do get home to visit family now and then.  How about Weed Park?  When I  was a kid in the 40s and  50s, you couldn't find a parking spot in Weed Park on the weekend.  Family picnics, kids playing, band concerts, etc.  The last time I went thru Weed Park, about five years ago,, it was deserted.  Also, there used to be a bandstand or somethingg similar right across the road from the swimming pool.  I remember there was a concrete slab  adjacent to that old bandstand that held the shell of the atom bomb dropped on Japan.  The bomb was the size and shape of a 500 gallon propane tank and had fins on one end.  I suppose it was removed when the world became politically correct.

Do you remember a character around town who we called "cowboy"?  I don't know what it was about this guy, but he was well known in town.  He rode a bicycle with a rifle scabbard on it and as I recall, he wore an empty holster on  his hip, a holster for an old six shooter.  He was always dressed in khaki pants and shirt and when he walked, he carried one hand over the empty holster as if he was getting ready to draw.  He did a lot of clean up work at the Uptown Theater.  What a strange guy.

After reading all these childhood memories, I am  beginning to think there ought to be a gathering at Weed Park this summer for people who lived in Muscatine during the 40s and 50s.  to have a beer and share more memories.  Of course, we would probably all try to talk at the same time and none of us would learn anything!!!  Those times are special to me and I can tell they are for others too.  You have to ask yourself if the world we live in today is truly progress.  I have talked to adults who don't even know what a "front porch" or "screened porch" means and I thinik  that's sad.