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Show Do You Remember? . . . hum-bug; It will cure your aches and pains; Just bring us back your empty bottles; And we'll fill them up again!" Remember what a crowd these medicine men shows drew? And Ringling Bros. Circus, Bar-num Bar-num & Bailley, and Sells-Floto, that pitched their huge tents on what is now the Jefferson school ground? The long parades in mid-morning mid-morning of a stiflingly hot July or August day; the spangled trappings trap-pings of the huge lumbering elephants, ele-phants, and the glitter of the clothes worn by the riders, soiled and weary looking men and women, wo-men, too utterly tired to smile, just sitting there as if in an endurance endur-ance contest? Lemonade was sold by the glass. It was made in large barrels pink lemonade, yellow lemonade, and green lemonade! The crier shouted his wares, to draw the crowds,, same as they do today! But one circus day the crowd had not been so large as anticipated, antici-pated, so much of their lemonade remained unsold. To get it off their hands, at the end of the last performance the crier was selling it cheap. He shouted: "Three glass-ses for a nick-kle! Three glasses for a nick-kle! John made a little too much! John made a little too much!" Do you remember? remem-ber? (To be continued) . J By MAUDE BENEDICT DO YOU KKMEMB10R . . . When the old white meeting house on North Main street was used for special programs, concerts, con-certs, and for conjoint meetings of all the four wards; for Fourth of July and pioneer day programs; the balcony decorated for the patriotic pat-riotic programs, with flags and bunting; Hannah Condie singing "The Flag1 Without a Stain," and Willis K. Johnson "The Sword of Bunker Hill"; the "Declaration of Independence" read or recited with patriotic zeal and beauty by one of the higher grade students? When one Fourth of July we came out of the meeting house, after the program, to find four inches of new snow on the ground, the fruit trees and shade trees bent to the ground with the weight of the new snow? The sun shining so brightly it was almost blinding reflected on the snow? How the snow melted in. the afternoon af-ternoon and, save for the resultant result-ant muddy streets and sidewalks, the celebration was resumed? Foot races, tug-of-war, fat man's race, women's races, potato race, and even climbing a greased pole, H were some of the stellar amusements. amuse-ments. Firecrackers were set off on the city hall park. For several years Jim Oakey, th blind man, brought his phonograph with the earphones attached, customers paid a nickle to listen in to a selection. se-lection. The phonograph was then in its experimental stages the cylinderical records placed on an arm of the machine. The day ended as it does even in these days, with a fireworks display that left us children breathless with the thrill of the explosions. Pioneer day always began with a parade depicting the pioneer hardships. Remember the wagons, some of which had actually made the long trek across the plains? The carts the oxen used to draw? Often an old dairy cow would be used in place of oxen driven along by a woman in faded calico dress and slotted sunbonnet. The streets, freshly sprinkled that morning;, carried that deliciously sweet and soothing odor of wet earth that always to this day brings back memories. Do you remember when Elfie Huntington was Goddess of Liberty Li-berty in an Independence day parade, par-ade, and how regally beautiful she wrist!" But was that any worse or better than the present "Oh, yeah!" "I'll say!" "Oh boy, oh boy!" "Keen!" "Definitely!" and "Is my face red!" Huh? And do you remember the band concerts of those days? How every Sunday afternoon and evening eve-ning the band played on city hall park in the lovely summertime, and they sometimes played the then popular tunes that were being be-ing hummed and sung by all the young folks, such as "In the cents!" The Kickapoo Indian show that sold Kickapoo Indian Sagwaw. This troupe was dressed as Indians, In-dians, all paint and feather bedecked. be-decked. They had several real Indians In-dians with them; one a little Indian In-dian who entertained charmingly with his Indian dances. Another medicine man outfit sold a medicine called "Vigor of Life," and they sang their advertisements. adver-tisements. One song, to the tune of "Just Before the Battle, Mother," was: " 'Vigor of Life' is not a was? I still can see her crown of lovely golden hair shining in the hot July sun. Remember Eva Clark on another such occasion? Her auburn hair shone like burnished copper and she was so lovely! Remember the contests held to choose these Goddesses of Liberty? All the ice cream and lemonade for these celebrations was homemade, home-made, or park-made, for there was, all day long, someone turning an ice cream freezer behind the improvised counter where these refreshments were sold. Remember Remem-ber the delicious- quality of the ice cream, full of tiny particles of ice, and, being free of any kind of starch or junket, melted immediately? imme-diately? But, it was undoubtedly the best ice cream any of us will ever eat! The large swings put up in the city hall park for our pleasure, and how difficult it was ever to get a chance to swing in one of them? Some of us would wait around hours only to he disappointed. disap-pointed. There have never, in this world, been enough swings provided pro-vided for children! Remember how the girls used to walk up and down the park lanes, showing off their new dresses and hats, and all the while being conscious that they were watched and admired by the young men who sauntered up and down by twos and fours, equally intent on being noticed? When the slang of the day was anything but elegant, such as "Hold your breath 'till I do!" "Oh, 23! I sure got a mash on him!" "I should worry!" "Be on to it!" "Skidoo!" "I'll slap your Shade of the Old Apple Tree," and songs of the Spanish-American war, "Just Break the News to Mother," "If Mother Were Only Here,," and many others, both sentimental and comic. Do you remember how Sage Creek had the reputation of being the windiest part of town, and many of the jokes in those days were built around "How the wind blows on Sage Creek"? We remember re-member that the wind seemed to start at the Peterson corner on 4th East and blow in gales up to the Barlow hill. Why it isn't windy out that way now is one of the mysteries. We recall an escort who started complaining about the wind out that way one night coming from a party, and we told him he needn't come any further if he was afraid he'd be blown away. And do you know what? He politely tipped his hat, said goodnight, and left us! So we walked on home alone, thinking think-ing he needn't have taken the remark so literally! I hope you read this, E. H. Remember in the early 1878 period, the Martial Band, with its flutes, piccolos, and drums? The uniforms worn were navy blue, trimmed in gold braid and buttons. but-tons. What a military atmosphere their appearance gave to the streets of Springville! Remember the medicine man show wagons that used to travel all around the country, selling "cure-all'' medicines? Their advertisers adver-tisers stood on the wagons and proclaimed the virtues of their tonics in some such jargon as this: "Try our new medicine! Cures corns, bunions, toothache, headache, head-ache, earache, backache, removes whiskers and grows hair on a bald head!. All for only forty - five |