Kapinos House in Poplar 1934 - 1935
In 1934 this farm family moved to town! Poplar, that is. I was in the fourth grade.
On the first floor of the Kapinos house was a kitchen, dining room, one bedroom, enclosed front entry room,
a large enclosed back porch, AND electricity, a bathroom with running water, bath tub, and a toilet that flushed!
Wonders of all wonders!
Ted and Ernie stayed with us there, too.
I believe there was either a second story or finished attic for additional sleeping space.
Dad worked at a grain elevator in Poplar.
The Kapinos house is where Doris Rosemary met her demise. (See Appendix, "Donald").
I can remember things about Donald and David at the houses before and after this house,
but other than the Doris Rosemary incident, I don’t seem to have any memories of my two little brothers
at the Kapinos house. So stories here are mostly about me. Sorry.
David, 2 years, 2 months - Donald's 4th birthday
While we lived there, we attended the Presbyterian Church and I got to go to Sunday school and Four-H Club.
I recall giving a demonstration on how to make a pot holder.
I recall giving a demonstration on how to make a pot holder.
I walked the few blocks to school. That was fine except for the time would-be school bully, little Bobby Zimmerman, was in one of his bullying moods. He tagged along beside me, behind me, and in front, just generally being offensive and threatening to beat up on me. Finally he tried. He hit me in the nose which resulted in a bloody gusher. That scared the daylights out of the would-be bully. The rest of the way home it was, "I’m sorry.” “I didn't mean to.” Etc. Most of my life I was a fast walker
(before rust and old age moved in). Thank Dad for that. (the fast stepping, not the rust and old age). One day he and I walked from the house to “city center” and back for some grocery shopping. Dad walked fast and I was determined not to fall behind. When we got home, Dad told Mama, “That kid sure can walk. She kept up with me the whole way.” Dad didn't give many compliments, so that was special and set me on a fast pace from then on. |
The Camel Challenge
It was at this location that I tried the first of the only three cigarettes I ever lit.
The neighbor girls and I were playing in their wood shed. One girl had some cigarettes she’d taken from her mother’s purse.
We all tried one. It seemed just too easy. No challenge.
Another day I went to visit those neighbors.
Just inside their entry door was a trap door in the floor that opened to stairs down to the basement.
Someone called “Come in,” then screamed, “No! Stop!” just as I entered.
I stepped through the open trap door and rolled down the basement steps.
I proved to be tougher than the steps, but the lady who lived there nearly had a heart attack.
Always thought that was a pretty strange place for a trap door.
It was at this location that I tried the first of the only three cigarettes I ever lit.
The neighbor girls and I were playing in their wood shed. One girl had some cigarettes she’d taken from her mother’s purse.
We all tried one. It seemed just too easy. No challenge.
Another day I went to visit those neighbors.
Just inside their entry door was a trap door in the floor that opened to stairs down to the basement.
Someone called “Come in,” then screamed, “No! Stop!” just as I entered.
I stepped through the open trap door and rolled down the basement steps.
I proved to be tougher than the steps, but the lady who lived there nearly had a heart attack.
Always thought that was a pretty strange place for a trap door.
Mama and Dad read about a contest sponsored by Camel cigarettes.
Neither one of them smoked, but our usually sensible parents decided they would enter the contest and strike it rich. They actually spent a small fortune on smokes which, of course, mostly went to waste. Well, let’s face it – they were all waste! One day Mama and Ernie decided to try them out and I asked if I could too. They didn’t know I’d already had practice. I lit up and dragged on that stick like a veteran. They were flabbergasted. That was my second cigarette. The third I tried in high school. Never could figure out what the big deal was and swore off. Mama and Dad never got hooked either. Thank goodness! |
I began having stomach pains, so Mama took me to the doctor who gave us some medicine.
It was a white powder in a little white box. I was to take it with water. It fizzed and tasted awful.
Years later I had occasion to take bicarbonate of soda which was a revelation.
It looked, acted, and tasted just like the “medicine” the doctor had given me.
I've wondered since if Mama was in on that subterfuge or if she was fooled too.
It was a white powder in a little white box. I was to take it with water. It fizzed and tasted awful.
Years later I had occasion to take bicarbonate of soda which was a revelation.
It looked, acted, and tasted just like the “medicine” the doctor had given me.
I've wondered since if Mama was in on that subterfuge or if she was fooled too.
Keep the change
One day Mama gave me some money and asked me to go to town for something she needed.
There was change and I knew I should return it to Mama, but temptation took over.
I spent that change on a huge, sugary, decorated candy Easter egg, and ate the whole thing.
The very thought of it now makes me feel like I could use the aforementioned “medicine.”
Mama never asked me if there was change. But her earlier discipline about my thievery was having an effect.
Finally, I could stand it no longer and confessed to Mama what I’d done.
She agreed it was wrong to do that without permission, but told me she was proud of me for telling the truth.
Another good lesson in effective discipline.
We didn't stay long at the Kapinos house but gave up its modern conveniences to rough it on another farm
at the Hanes house.
I don’t know the origin of the names Kapinos and Hanes, but suspect these were names of the builders, owners,
or previous residents of these houses.
Smokin' supplement
While times were hard and the economy was in a state of collapse,
the outdoor advertising industry was one of the few growth industries of the Depression growing from $20 million in 1932 to $36.37 million in 1939.
Advertising had become an integral part of the American economy.
To stimulate consumption, the "ad-man" was now an essential element
in American life and advertising took many forms and appeared everywhere with the likes of Camel cigarettes and Uneeda Biscuits.
While times were hard and the economy was in a state of collapse,
the outdoor advertising industry was one of the few growth industries of the Depression growing from $20 million in 1932 to $36.37 million in 1939.
Advertising had become an integral part of the American economy.
To stimulate consumption, the "ad-man" was now an essential element
in American life and advertising took many forms and appeared everywhere with the likes of Camel cigarettes and Uneeda Biscuits.
With the prosperous, modern and progressive ways of the Roaring 20s, it had been the golden age of the billboard.
Advertising art reflected a sophisticated and highly stylized or "European Influence" that kept pace with the times.
But the feelings of America changed toward traditional values in the thirties, and the style of the American billboard
had to change with it. Despite the efforts of art directors and artists of the time,
the modern progressive style of the twenties was out of place.
The American public seemed to respond to the comfort of realism.
American manufacturers responded to this and realism became the pervasive advertising style of the thirties.
The Camel board is from the R. J. Reynolds company and reflects this rather traditional style that came in the 1930s.
Camels were introduced in 1913.
When the slogan "I'd walk a mile for a Camel" appeared in 1921,
Camel cigarettes accounted for roughly half of the U. S. cigarette market.
Cigarettes and tobacco were indeed one of the most visible facets of the 1930s - half of the male population
of the United States smoked.
They had indeed become such a fixture in the American mind that during World War One those opposed
to sending cigarettes to the doughboys were accused of being traitors.
According to General John J. Pershing: "You ask me what we need to win this war. I answer tobacco as much as bullets.
Tobacco is as indispensable as the daily ration."
Seen below the Camel board is another form of outdoor advertising that had a long presence in the American landscape -
the brick wall sign.
Uneeda Biscuits became one of the most ubiquitous products often painted high on the side of brick buildings,
these signs were placed anywhere there was a flat surface that offered a good public view to passersby.
Sometimes this was the side of a barn or even a substantial flat rock ledge. A breed of men known as "wall dogs" painted these signs, often hanging precariously from these buildings and rock ledges as they painted their artistic creations.
The Uneeda Biscuit wall signs were seen throughout the country since the late 1800s.
A wonderful source of information about these fading ads is fadingad.com