Manchester: Nothing to Fear…Except…
Everything from the kid’s point of view that I have written about Manchester has probably seemed pretty idyllic so far. It was. But…all great stories have another side, lest there be no dimension, no depth. And, that all-important dimension for Manchester, Kansas in the 1950’s was…DANGER!!
And, what exactly did a kid need to watch out for and what was the kid’s take on it?
Tornados
There was a reason that they put the Wizard of Oz in Kansas. Tornados were everywhere! Fortunately, if you ever have the joy of flying over Kansas, you will notice that there is a whole lot of open space out there. Sometimes, though, they came a little close – and I will let Mom tell you about the time she was driving on Interstate 70 and she had a tornado in front, a tornado in back, a tornado on the left and a tornado on the right.
Most tornados wandered around in pastures and very few were huge. And, a tornado is a hit-or-miss affair, unlike a hurricane. You pretty much either get hit or you are totally fine. Just in case we got hit, we had drills at school. Every place had a siren, even Manchester. And, if you ever fly to the Kansas City airport, you will notice signs to the tornado shelter. Otherwise, if you get hit, you often only get hit once…
Atomic Bombs
The cold war with the Soviets threatened to heat up at any time. Again, there were the drills at school where you went to the center of the school, ducked and covered. If there was no time, you went under the desk. Now, that leaves an imprint on a kid and came back to haunt me some after we moved to Abilene. I can remember being around 12 or 13 and lying awake at night thinking about it. It was a pretty terrifying thought.
The storm shelters served double duty. They were supposed to be bomb shelters, too. Remember the movies of the kids walking home from school when there would be a flash and they would hurry to crouch down behind a concrete wall? Even the President of the United States coming from just down the road wasn’t very reassuring when you thought about that.
So, we didn’t.
Snakes
There are four kinds of poisonous snakes in America: rattlesnake, copperhead, cottonmouth moccasins and coral snakes. The only one of these we didn’t have was the coral snake.
To make matters worse, it was the King Snakes or the Bull Snakes – it’s been awhile – that looked just about like a rattlesnake. Outside of that, we had something called a blue racer – and it wasn’t a sports car. I swear I can remember one chasing me on my bike. I know one got after Mom.
We town people were more scared than the farm people. I’m telling you, those folks were tough. You remember GL telling us about his dad getting out of the car every so often to go kill a rattler. He was a farm guy.
Spiders
At most houses, people did not have an indoor privy. Wild creatures sometimes take up residence in your outhouse and one of the least desirable is a Black Widow spider. Gives a new meaning to kiss your butt goodbye.
I think Mom caught a couple in a jar while we lived up there.
The Frankenstein Monster
I kind of had an active imagination. Well, one night I watched the original Frankenstein movie with Boris Karloff. Oddly enough, he visited me during the night for awhile after that. About until I got married, I think.
Lockjaw
One of our kids stepped on a rusty nail. Why, we would step on most anything around there and the souls of our feet got about 2 inches thick during the summer. But, a rusty nail could find its way through.
So, they told us he might get lockjaw! Lockjaw! Bad as tetanus is, it turns into something else once a kid hears the term lockjaw. We would discuss it amongst ourselves:
Kid 1: They say he could die from it.
Kid 2: How do you die?
Kid 3: Well, it’s lockjaw. That means you can’t eat. You starve to death! Real slow…
Outside of social ostracism – which was worse than all the above stuff – what were you afraid of as a kid? What was it that could do you in?
All pictures public domain or clip art. No animals harmed in the writing of this post.
Only a few kids injured.
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Tags: Danger, Frankenstein Monster, Lockjaw, Manchester, Nuclear War, Outhouses, Snakes, Spiders, tornadoes
This has just been posted & I”m the 1st, but I have nothing to say.
My childhood was very serene. Of course I was afraid of copperheads (West Virginia) but I’ve never seen one. World War II was going on, but Daddy would protect us from that. (I actually believed this.)
Now I have lots of fears: Dislocating my new shoulder replacement by falling on it, terrorism, old age pains, dying etc. Sorry to bring this up. Childhood fears are past but there is lots to fear today.
Forget that. Have fun. Think of only the moment. Lets party!
bikehikebabe, just having you back is a party!!! How was the trip?
You are welcome to email a post on your trip any time you want!
We stayed in 5 star hotels that were spectacular, with huge shining inlay marble floors, large bouquets of flowers, heavy huge glass doors with doormen opening them for you. Large expanses of lawns, gardens, pools, fountains. The air conditioning was cold.
Then we went outside. Stinking filth, hot, unbelievable poverty, & nowhere do you see so many people. All the women wear sarees. The most beautiful cloth wound around the body from toes, around body, over shoulder & then head. Thousands of those, no two the same. Every woman stood straight as a pole. Otherwise the saree would fall off because no Velcro or pins were used to hold them together.
The new national highway was only one lane. So bumpy you couldn’t stay on your seat.There are no traffic rules. Coming at you are other buses- you have to leave the road to pass. But mostly in front of the bus are camels, cows & wild dogs galore, tons of pedestrians & bicycles. All of these weave around each other; nobody gets hurt because they are all skilled at this.
Remember we laughed at the pictures of a truck being needed, but it’s all on a bicycle. Or a whole family on a bicycle or small old motorcycle? That’s everywhere.
I like the cobras coming up from small baskets while the Indians played on homemade gourd thingys, the camel ride, the cremation of dead people in fire, boat ride with large amount of lights, crazy rituals, throngs of people swimming, city long blocks of steps going down to the water, rickshaw rides.
There’s no way I can say it all & I’m suffering from jet lag after 6 airplane flights to get home. Maybe I’ll send some pics later. I saw a tiger in the woods. There’s lots of decorated elephants.
What I didn’t like so much was the endless blah, blah of our Indian tour guide while standing in the hot sun. Being me I avoided that unless it was on the bus. He was riveting though, eye contact with each person. Very personable sometimes funny. I liked him.
I forgot to say. That was India. (Hi, Ramana)
I come for a short visit and get a world tour. It all seems very exciting. In Ireland we have rain, rain, rain and even more rain. I forgot, we have another liquid it is black and would you believe it…. people drink it! They call it Guinness.
Grannymar’s last blog post..Which are you?
@bikehikebabe,
Did you try a Sari? They make dressing easy and are very comfortable. They also suit all figure types.
Grannymar’s last blog post..Which are you?
I like Guinness, bring it on! Grannymar send everyone a case! As a kid you were told that beer would kill you if it just touched your lips and the same with cigarettes. So today I use a straw to drink my beer and a cigarette holder to smoke my cigs, Smart!?
Mystery Solved. Looks like you are right Conrad. Both bikehikebabe and gail are back and at the same time.
Hi bikehikebabe. If you are an Indian, what you saw is just normal day to day life. I used to wonder where the people were whenever I went Westward! The sad part of tourists visiting India is that they never get to see rural India. That is where the real India is.
Back to the topic at hand. As a young lad, where we were living, anti Brahminism was at its peak and Brahmins were the target for ridicule, assaults mostly vertabal but physical as well, and ragging. Till I could form a gang of my own, all Brahmins, the nightmare was with all of us that every time we went out, we would have to face that horrendous treatment. After the gang was formed, it eased off, at least in the neighbourhood, but the fear of being caught alone out of my turf never left me till I left that town. In retrospect, it all seems so silly. There are still friends who remember those days and how they passed through those difficult days.
rummuser’s last blog post..Friendship And Growing Old.
Gail, one of my favourite songs was Lily The Pink by the Scaffold. I am sure that Grannymar will vouch for that particular song for being the favourite of a whole generation. You should get the lyrics and listen to it too. You may just decide to become a Liverpoolian!
rummuser’s last blog post..Friendship And Growing Old.
—”medicinal compound”– I drank it( Guiness), now I’m 2 people instead of one. It touched my lips and I’m still alive! Praise be to Lily the Pink!! Love the stuff, keep it coming. Thanks Ramana for the idea!!!
The myth of the bogey man, fed by none other than my dad. This creature, had no shape or form, yet had the power to haunt me.
Not funny, Dad!
Marianna’s last blog post..Earth Anagram
Marianna,
Your comment about your dad scaring you with the bogey man reminds me of my uncle and my niece. He had a number of stuffed animals and when she did something he didn’t like he said the weasel would get her. She was terrified until one evening he did it once to often. She went in the other room, got the weasel and came back holding it by the tail. After she she stuck it under his nose he never tried that again.
Jean Browman–Cheerful Monk’s last blog post..One Nice Change
We lived on my grandparent’s farm until old enough for school & our greatest fear was the hobos. There was a small stand of trees down at the end of the section and an area clearly marked with stones for a campfire. My grand parents would tell how hobos would mark a fencepost somehow that they could get a meal at this place and were welcome. I don’t actually ever remember seeing a hobo but we somehow connected them with the bogeyman. My older brother wouldn’t talk about it much but I could tell he was afraid of meeting up with one also!
Grannymar, They didn’t give us enough time for clothes shopping in India, so I didn’t get a saree (The Indians spell it this funny way. ( And I didn’t really see thousands–just about one thousand.)
Remember that song–Where Have All The Hobos Gone?— I don’t either! Nice story Deb!
bikehikebabe, I would have given an arm and a leg to see you in a saree!
rummuser’s last blog post..Politically Correct Humour.
The list is too long: teachers, God, my dad, hard work, pitches in the dirt, beets, roosters and the one I know you forgot—BedBugs.
GL Hoffman’s last blog post..Your Mission Statement: Mostly Hogwash
Grannymar, there is an Irish pub in a part of San Francisco called Noe Valley – and Noe is two syllables, believe it or not – and we would go there and drink Guinness! We loved it. And it really was stout. I think you could stand a knife up in it!
Gail, there is a certain twisted brilliance to that. With that logic in your arsenal, you’ll probably live to be 140!
If she did try on a Sari, Grannymar, I’d love to see a picture!
Ramana, you are correct that the two of them have at least been circumstantially proven as one and the same person. I wonder if Gail wears glasses…
This problem of tourists seeing limited areas are pretty much true of every place. It is like thinking that you have seen San Francisco when you go to Fisherman’s Wharf. Or, to think you know what California looks like once you visit LA. There is always so much more.
I find the story of your youth fascinating! When I kidded you earlier about being in a gang, I had no idea. That must have been frightening indeed!
Gail and Ramana, it is a joy to see my readers helping one another find medicinal cures.
No one ever actually scared me with a bogeyman, Marianna – but they didn’t have to. I would imagine one under my bed most evenings. I would need to screw up my courage, take a deep breath and, like diving into cold water, look under the bed very quickly!
Jean, you obviously come from a good genetic heritage. All the woman seem to be sturdy!!
Deb, I can see how hobo stories out in the country could take traction!
So, bikehikebabe, I guess you have to say, “Sorry, Grannymar, no saree!”
GL, you always handled pitches in the dirt so adeptly, I never thought it was a problem. Wild pitchers never do, of course.
Roosters I left off the list for later work – but you are quite right there! Never had a problem with bedbugs, but I hear they are coming back in epidemic proportions in some places!
Ah, it wasn’t the pitches in the dirt that were the tough ones when you were pitching, Ryne Duren II. It was the one or two per game that you bounced in FRONT of the plate. I always left with s sore hand cuz you threw harder than anyone ever. And bruises on my arms from trying to block them. You were un hittable that year.
GL Hoffman’s last blog post..GraphWiki: 1 to 1
You know, you are probably right. It’s really hard to hit someone bouncing them in front of the plate.
I actually remember one pitch hitting the plate, kicking straight up and bouncing over the backstop.
Man, those are some great memories. Of course, I didn’t have the sore hand…
My wife and I spent several years in Southern Africa and we know about bed bugs. We lived in a grass roof house and they would fall out of the grass, also we would put the bed legs in a bowl of kerosene to catch them before they would crawl in bed. I would try to get romantic and she would say Mil you got to get rid of the bed bugs. I didn’t like the competition.
My bedroom wall, thanks to one particular Twilight Zone episode; anything electrical, thanks to a hell of shock from two poodle lamps; and the imaginary guy chasing me home from my friend’s house only a block away. Paid big time for that last fear when I was running away from that guy at breakneck speed and my dog ran to greet me. Flew through the air and darned near broke my foot
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Vicki, oh my gosh!
I remember those Poodle Lamps!!!