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MARGIE ISRAEL
My stories:
CHILDHOOD FUN DURING THE DEPRESSION
CHILDHOOD FUN DURING THE DEPRESSION
When I was a youngster I was a tomboy. I used to climb a walnut tree that grew next to our home. These I would pick and there was a reason: green walnuts were moist and edible if you knew what to do with them. And, of course, they were free. Honeysuckle vines grew close by and their liquid was quite tasty. These were some of the treats of Depression children. That, along with tar and ice off trucks. We could go to the pharmacy for our chewing gum (tree sap). Five cents could actually buy some types of candy for children.
My dad gave me five cents a day, which I didn't spend. I saved the nickels and bought a pair of skates. These skates were different. They were made to wear with your own shoes. I didn't worry about my balance. I loved them. I would skate around the block as fast as I could. Our world was mostly in a radius of just a few blocks.
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One must get used to disappointment and rejection. The first male I was attracted to was Leon Benveniste. Leon was one of the neighbor's children. He went after me with a hammer. In the second grade Clinton Miller had some of that magic for me. His reaction: He said, "God gave you your face but you picked your nose." Life goes on.
One of the great occupations in grammer school was the library class. I would take my little bag of potato chips and munch while I read, a great way to pass the time, until one day, they didn't let me attend. It seems that someone mentioned my little habit.
Then there was the time I visited the Vermont Square Library. I was roaming around and I went down stairs. There were all these little girls dressed in brown. It looked interesting. An adult said, "You're not allowed in here, you're not a Brownie." That was true. Oh, well. I could still check out books.
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