THAT BELOVED...... PEPSI COLA!

by Art Snipes, CHS class of '51

Mil, your Coca Cola story brought back memories of

our boyhood in Clovis...however, mine are about

PEPSI COLA!

There was at our house---once a week---a day when

Mother did the ironing. We had no air conditioning

in those days and it got very hot in the house.

Mother seldom had pocket change so she would

sometimes find coins that had fallen into the couch.

She would say to us boys (me and my brother, 

Bobby Joe) "Why don't you boys go to the store

and get us a cold Pepsi?" (In those days a Pepsi

Cola was a better buy than a Coca Cola because

it was "twelve full ounces--that's a lot!")

So we would head out to Murphy's Grocery---a

block north of our house. Sometimes we had

enough money to also buy a bag of Planter's 

Salted Peanuts!

Peanuts and Pepsis---ah, nothing better--

on a hot summer day!

This is a Tribute to my MOM, Melba Snipes.

*************************

MIL'S REPLY: During our boyhood years in

Clovis, (1940--49) ART and BOBBY JOE 

lived exactly one block east of us--we on Reid

Street...and they on Thornton.

It was during the momentous WWII times.

How oft have I seen his hard-working mother,

Melba, laboring in her kitchen...many times

cooking or canning in her pressure cooker.

We little barefoot boys, in the summers, and 

sometimes a little bored, would  hang around

her kitchen, hoping for some Koolade or maybe 

a cookie. 

She was pleasant and talked to us about things.

One day she said something I have never

forgotten...and here it is, almost verbatim---

"One of these days, you boys will be twenty-

one---and all grown up."

Time was going so slowly in our lives---

a summer was like an eternity...and I thought---

"it's impossible."

**************

There was a jingle, advertising Pepsi Cola,

which must have played on KICA  Radio a

thousand times:

"Pepsi Cola hits the spot

Twelve full ounces, that's a lot

Twice as much for a nickel too

Pepsi Cola is the drink for you...

Nickel, nickel, nickel 

Rubi-dah-daht-tah....

Nickel, nickel, nickel..." fades...out...

********************

BY ART and MIL

7/27/16

THE BELOVED OLD COCA-COLA

"COKES, CHOO-CHOO TRAINS, BLACK COWS,

     SANDSTORMS and POTATO CHIPS"
**************************************************

There was once a time in the good old USA, (about 1939)

when little kids of five or six years, could buy a "soda pop"

for a BIG FIVE CENT BUFFALO NICKEL!

(Dimes were okay to us little guys, but nickels were bigger---

and thus better!)

We bought the Magic Steam Laundry in Clovis, N.M in the

summer of 1938. It was located at 417 West Grand, just

four-plus blocks west of big, busy, bustling Main Street!

  

We left W.Texas and journeyed to our new town, pulling

a cotton trailer with all our wordily goods in it, covered

with a tarp.

A good many people in those tough times were barely 

surviving The Great Depression, which was still going on.

Thus we moved into a drafty old house behind and

connected to the laundry.

Grand Avenue was actually Third Street---three blocks north,

parallel to the railroad tracks. The Round House where railroad

locomotives were taken apart and repaired, and there were all

manner of side-tracks, and switching, joining and unjoining cars,

went on all day.

Oh, the blissful nights I grew up with---sleeping to all 

those interesting  railroad sounds. . plus the SPEWING 

STEAM being released from engines.

And sometimes...the sound of a whistle...cutting through

the air...I grew up loving Choo-Choo Trains!

What did that vignette have to do with five cent soda 

pops? You young 'uns have to understand the times,

and visualize the scenes...

A dollar was a dollar in those days. A nickel was a nickel

and quite a bit of money. Ladies worked all day pressing

pants or shirts or feeding sheets through the mangle, for

twenty cents an hour---good pay at the time---and never

blamed anything on the government.

People worked...or they starved. About as simple as that.

So to hot little bitty kids like me, hanging out in a steamy,

summer-time laundry, with only a giant fan blowing---

(AC was unheard of), when Mama said "Here's some

change---go get us some "cokes" and candy bars, I was

off in a flash a block west, to 521 West Grand, to Tom

Phelp's RED and WHITE STORE, on the corner, facing

north.

Tom was a tall, slender, older fellow---and having a nice

white little meat counter in the back, he thus wore a white

apron and clothes --plus a ten-inch butcher's  hat, with a 

"puff" at the top!

Anyway, I'd always take empty pop bottles or there was a 

two-cent deposit to pay. My little brother would tag along 

to help carry the drinks...and CANDY BARS!

Generally we would get Barq's Big Orange drinks, maybe

eight or nine ounces...or big NEHI grapes; Hires' Root Beers 

helped break the monotony. Flavor drinks were popular

with little kids.

Mama and Dad were fond of the thick little green coke 

bottles full of six-and-a-half ounces of the strongest

Coca Cola you could ever imagine.

Once or twice I bought me a Coke. in the fascinating 

little thick green bottle. They were eye-watering-strong 

to a relatively new-being-on-the-planet!

Recently B.E. spotted some old-fashioned green cokes

in a carton and brought a six-pack home. Just for old-

time's-sake, I drank one. The bottles are thinner- made 

with less "green glass." And they have added a RED 

LOGO which was not there in 1939.

Ah, but the kick was still there, even to an old timer. No

canned cokes ever had that MAGNIFICENT strong 

flavor!

Mama's favorite candy bar was (a rare ten cent bar)--

a Best Pal. Dad was so busy working that he paid little 

attention to snacks, and we always got him a Hershey.

We kids bought something different every time---Baby 

Ruths, Butterfingers, Milky Ways, Snickers, O Henrys, 

Bit-O- Honeys, or even a Black Cow caramel sucker,

now and then.

There was an old fridge in the corner in the Magic Steam

Laundry, and it was full of brown bags as the ladies 

brought their daily lunches.

I'll never forget it---a "snack vendor" came by one afternoon

and talked Dad into putting one of those five cent Potato 

Chip racks on top of the ancient laboring fridge. It held on

chip-clips about twelve nice little bags of potato chips---six  

to a side. A little dish was there under it for the nickels.

Being about five, and always hungry, I watched it constantly.

No worker ever bought a single bag of chips. A NICKEL

WAS A NICKEL in those hard times. Why nine cents would 

buy a loaf of bread! Or almost a whole 5 lb. bag of potatoes.

We were never allowed to eat those...until one fall afternoon

late...the laundry run was done for the day---and that

incomparable smell lingered in the air---of clean, starched,

ironed, pressed clothes---

No customers were dropping by---for a massive sandstorm 

was coming in down West Grand, from west of town..

Mama said: "Why don't we open a coupla' bags of potato

chips...it seems like a good time!"

I will tell you; "Those were the best potato chips I have ever

eaten...and to this day, I can still taste 'em, seventy-seven

years later." And you got twice as much for a nickel--then!

*****************

BY MIL

7/26/16

THE GREAT MONTANA ROUND STEAK SHORTAGE.....SUMMER 2014

    Connor and Kindell cooking at Grandma's

A TALE TOLD  UNDER THE PINE TREE

*******************************************

Pull up your lawn chairs boys...I'm fixing to tell you a

true story that you won't hardly believe, but it will

drive your taste buds crazy! (Get yourself a Pepsi

outta the chest, there.)

Like---does "crispy steak fingers, mashed potatoes,

covered with cream gravy" get your attention?

Well hang on for a trip up north to Old Montana where

an interesting tale unfolded, a couple of summers ago.

My grandson Connor, ALL-STATE 2009 TEXAS QB (HM),

comes to see us often and he became over time, quite 

fond of Grandma's marvelous brown and crispy chicken-fried 

round steak, mashed potatoes, and cream gravy dinners.

One day Mil had a brilliant idea---why not take one of

those tenderized "natural beef"---size-of-your-hand-round-

steak-patties from Keller's, slice it into five or six slender 

strips...and thus have yourself some CRISPY BROWN 

STEAK FINGERS!?

MIL'S inspired idea caught on and became a family

tradition!  One which grandson Connor was extremely

fond of. 

And such a dinner required sixty or seventy steak

fingers, all sliced properly, and then rolled in flour and 

eggs (beat up) and rolled some more...and it took two

electric or cast iron skillets and a right smart of frying

to bring this meal off.

(A "RARE STEAK FINGER"---that is, half raw, was of 

course, unheard of, and a travesty and insult to the 

recipe.)

Connor began to assist in the total preparation of these

steak fingers, here at our house, frying and all, until he 

got as good as Grandma, almost.

He went off to college at TEXAS A and M and batched and

made his own steak fingers and invited his friends.

So he got his Bachelor's degree and was accepted for 

the Master's program and was asked to teach freshman

geology courses at that prestigious university.

By the summer of 2014, the advanced degree required,

among other heavy-duty requirements--- a summer-

long field trip a thousand miles north to Old Montana.

Pickups were loaded with tents, sleeping bags, Coleman 

stoves, research equipment, cameras, and since the boys 

were to be out in the boonies, they had their ice chests 

and pots, pans and skillets.

Twenty students went accompanied by several A and M

professors.

Connor's culinary skills had preceded him and the boys

were divided into five groups of four as "messmates,"

to purchase their own food of choice and do their own 

cooking. He was elected "COOK," and luckily had brought

his big heavy iron skillet!

Early on in the expedition, out in some cozy valley, with

a brook running through it, up there in the wilds of Old

Montana,  Connor's Coleman was sending out the most

delightful and tantalizing smells, likely never-smelled-

before-since- creation in that little vale! CHICKEN FRIED 

STEAK FINGER smells were permeating the entire valley.

it seemed!

His team had so many "samplers" dropping by, including

the three faculty members, that Connor finally offered

to teach the whole bunch how to purchase the correct

meat, slice it properly, batter the pieces just right (no mean

feat)... get healthful frying oil, and prepare the mashed 

potatoes and gravy. Potatoes in envelopes were suggested.

So the word that comes to me, and can it be true... that

hardly any other food was consumed by those hungry, 

hard-working young geology researchers---that whole 

trip---except the favorite of all---CHICKEN FRIED STEAK 

FINGERS, a'covered with cream gravy, with little pieces 

of brown, floating in it...the scrapings...for flavor!

The story I heard related that that group of young 

geologists, as they passed through towns, purchased

so much round steak, that a round-steak shortage 

occurred that summer...in Old Montana!

***************

BY MIL

14 JULY 2016

(WRITER'S NOTE: There is quite a bit of truth

    in this story, and a modicum of "literary license.")

                                                              Connor in Montana

THE LAST GREEN STAMP GLASS

FROM THE LAST GREEN STAMP STORE
****************************

It's probably not wholly true, but I like to think 

of that neat little Green Stamp Store at the 

corner of Main and Sixth, in Clovis, as "THE

LAST GREEN STAMP STORE."

(It is certainly the last one I  remember,  in

my whole life. Fawnette's mom ran it.)

You know, "the last one"---like "The Last Picture

Show," "The Last Frontier," "The Last Alaskans,"

and "The Last Homestead...."

And it is true, I think, that we own the "last Green

Stamp iced- tea glass."

It is splendidly golden, so apropos, and has handy

"grooves" to keep it from slipping. Things were well

crafted in those days---"Made in the USA."

Ah, you young 'uns out there, under sixty-five---you

are saying: "I don't remember  nuthin' about no

so-called Green Stamp stores. What were they?"

Well sir, you kids pull up some chairs and Ole

avuncular Uncle Mil will tell you a heart-warming,

quaint, and unforgettable story."

Once upon a time, in  good old Clovis, N.M. USA

and many American towns, I suppose, there were

"Green Stamp Stores." It was back in the time

when movies and popcorn were each 10 cents,

a three-dip ice cream cone was 15 cents, and a 

hamburger with a pickle slice, was 20 cents.

Miraculously then, there were grocery stores that gave

out "green stamps" to ladies buying groceries. They

saved them and went to the GS stores and traded

them for I don't know whatall---household-type  stuff.

Just about everyone did it...it was very popular. You

see, money was not quite as plentiful as it is today ---

for a lot of people. You got one green stamp for every

10 cents worth of groceries you bought.

My dear mama herself collected stamps and had a 

whole kitchen drawer full-to-overflowing, and she often

grabbed me if I was loafing and had me fill up her

stamp books for her, with all those loose stamps.

You didn't lick those things---she gave me a little

white Corning bowl half-full of water and and a ragged

"warsh rag" to do it; then she'd rubber-band the books,

and hide 'em away from any thieves or perps.

Stay with me now, you sixty-five year old "kids," for

my story now gets good. It's about LOVE.  

When BE and I "got married" on that wonderful, happy

day, 59 1/2 tears ago, my generous mama got into her

secret stash of S and H Green Stamp books, and gave 

us a bunch of 'em. I'll swanny, she really helped us out!

We went straight down to the S and H Store, at Sixth and

Main and picked out a hamburger charcoal grill, which

I assembled. It wasn't no Weber, but it must've cooked

a thousand burgers in its life, 'til the bottom fell out.

We also got a cotton Indian-design blanket, kind of

green and red, and really all-colored---which became 

our lifetime "picnic blanket." After years of picnics,

over-turned Coca Colas and Pepsis, and a few squashed

deviled eggs, and many washings, it is faded, has holes,

and is ragged....but it is highly revered at our house.

Then we got a set of golden iced tea glasses (the 

subject of this story) from the Clovis Green Stamp Store!

Oh, the gallons of iced tea that were consumed

from those beloved glasses!

But, as happens to all things of Earth, the years have 

taken their toll---over 59 plus years the six glasses have 

dwindled to ONE--- "The Last Green Stamp Glass!"

Turns out that B.E. is very partial to this glass and uses

it all the time. I find it on the edge of cabinet tops.

precarious-like. One day I said: "I'm afraid you're a'gonna

break it an' we won't have anything left from 59 1/2 years

ago."

And then she totally melted my heart, when she replied:

"Except the greatest love story in the world!" She's right,

the things that really matter are not of this Earth."

Green Stamps are no more now...except a fond memory

for many of us. But they were a small--yet BIG---part of

our lives, in a way.

It does make us feel proud to know---we own what may

well be---The Last Green Stamp Iced Tea Glass!

(Epilogue: In old Clovis, In the 40's and 50's, Wednesday

may have been the most-anticipated day of the week.

Oh yes, it was Prayer Meeting Day in the churches, and 

that was so important....

But maybe the REAL BIGGIE (as most of the women

would tell you)---- IT WAS DOUBLE-GREEN-STAMP-

DAY at the grocery store!

******************

BY MIL

JULY 11. 2016

WYLIE'S LEAVING ....

For today,

     I found out---

a dear friend

      is moving away

One, with whom

     BE and I have had

many nice visits

     over coffee

for four years,

     almost

In the cold Winter

     and the hot

Summer.. he was wont

     to drop by, for

a little while...as he had

     a delivery job

around town

I've known many people

     in my life, mostly

smart ones...and this 

     friend from old Clovis

is one of the 

     best-informed 

of all---on any subject

His older brother Noel

    was in the CHS '51 class,

but I came to know Wylie

     from the CHS '53 class

even better

He wrote on MIL'S PLACE

     about the KD  Ranch

north of Clovis, on the FRIO

     and about his 

marvelous mother who raised

     nine kids out there

She wrote lines 

     that really grabbed me:

"I've always loved...

      a good storm," she 

penned---

     You can't beat that!

I even wrote 

    a couple of pieces

about him for MIL"S:

"WYLIE CAME BY TODAY!"

     we posted.

It's just the way 

    life is

He and his wife are

    moving away

Another hard thing 

     to accept,

on the journey...

Maybe it was 

     last Christmas

that he brought us a

     Star of Bethlehem

gift on a ribbon...

     made by his wife,

a talented artisan

It hangs around the

     neck of my favorite

"MUSING FROG---JEREMIAH"

      statue---there by my 

"writing window...," 

     year-round now

Reckon I won't ever 

    look over at old 

Jeremiah and see THAT STAR

     that I won't feel a pang

of regret and loss,

    and wonder how my 

OLD FRIEND...Wylie is 

     getting along.

*****************

BY SAD MIL,

JULY 7. 2016