Memorabilia: Permanent Exhibit |
Created 5/13/2007 Keepin' Time with The Beach Boys: A Timeline of the Class of '60 Marriages, Births, Jobs, Reunions, Photos |
| 5/2/2007 The Land That Made Me Me A Nostalgic Poem sent in by Cecelia Plus Photos of Old Celebs and a Navel |
| History of Belton Schools Do you know when our old building was built? Good trivia question for our reunion. Link to BISD Photos |
6/8/07 Memories Are Made of This Remember doctors who made house calls? Those funny wall phones with party lines? Being able to identify every car immediately? Dean Martin's creamy voice? (compliments of Dewey) |
| 11/28/07 Updated every time new info comes in, if I remember to do it... |
| Dewey has come up with another jewel: "Time Gets Better With Age," accompanied by guitar version of "Seven Spanish Angels." Tree by Mark C. Phillips. |
| See the first 2 pages of the February 21,1958 edition, compliments of Dewey. |
| Belton Librarian, Lena Armstrong (from The Temple Telegram). Photo made in 1996 when Miss Armstrong was honored for 50 years' service to Belton Library. See Who's This Page 3 for more about Miss Armstrong. |
| Cars of the Fifties and Sixties http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/CarsWeDrove.htm 9/3/07 from Dewey |
| The objects above are a spindle for 45 rpm records and paraffin Coke bottles filled with sweet, colored water. Sent by Mary Ann |
| Overheard in the Fifties "I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20." "Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2000 will only buy a used one." "If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous." "Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?" "If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."? "When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage." "Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls." "I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying 'damn' in 'Gone With The Wind,' it seems every new movie has either "hell" or "damn" in it. "I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas ." "Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president." "I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now." "It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet." "It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work." "Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more; those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat." "I'm just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business." "Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to Congress." "The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on." "There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel." "No one can afford to be sick any more; $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood." "If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it." Thanks to our Laughter Laureate, Dewey |
| Belton Athletic Wall of Honor You'll be proud to be a Belton Tiger! Extensively researched and created by Dr. Billy Wilbanks |
| Caps and Gowns 68 Were Graduated, 7 with Honors on May 22, 1960. Cecelia - Valedictorian Jane - Salutatorian |
Aprons 12/5/07 from Mary Ann The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears. From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner. It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that "old-time apron" that served so many purposes. |
| Jan's barrettes, circa '45, which easily slipped out of her fine hair, to her mother's consternation. |
4/08: Mary Ann sent this link to www.oldfortyfives.com/DYRT.htm, which is a slide show of the Statler Bros singing "Do You Remember These?" and lots of memorabilia. |
| Jan's note: My own poor Grandmother Love, who lived out in the sandy sticks near Abilene when I was a little girl, washed clothes like this. I had the privilege of watching her and Mama make lye soap from bacon grease outdoors in a big black kettle one day. What a hot and stinky job! Thanks, Polly, for sending this: Years ago an Alabama grandmother gave a new bride the following recipe. This is an exact copy as written and found in an old scrapbook - with spelling errors and all.. WARSHING CLOTHES Build fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boilin water. Sort things, make 3 piles: 1 pile white, 1 pile colored, 1 pile work britches and rags. To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water. Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil, then rub colored don't boil just wrench and starch. Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench, and starch. Hang old rags on fence. Spread tea towels on grass. Pore wrench water in flower bed. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. Turn tubs upside down. Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings. |
| Remember when? On the back of this postcard it says that the new restaurant was completed three months after a disastrous July 5 fire destroyed the previous Lakeview Inn. Can anyone tell me about when this picture was taken? Maybe you car buffs can help. |
| I, Jan, thought Frank's had the best fried oysters anywhere! This version of Frank's Lakeview Inn was also destroyed by fire, I think. The Dead Fish Grill is now on this site. |
July 24, 2009 from Morris:
RE: the Frank's pix: the blue and white car in the foreground is a 1963 Buick Electra.
The 2nd car from the right (sign) is a green 1965 Chrysler. The white car you see in
front of the green Ford Ranchero pickup (in front of the Buick listed above) is a 1964
Plymouth Fury. I believe the car facing the tree and to the slight right-front of the
Buick (facing east - the other cars are facing west) is either a 1966 or 1967 Chevrolet
Impala. It is difficult to make out the exact year as the tree trunk obscures some of
the front-end features. Were I to guess, I would say it is a 1966 model. I was in
Germany from March 1967 to March 1969, and home on leave in Belton for Christmas
1966 and before departing for Germany. I do not remember Frank's fire before I left.
Those still living on the area will have a better recall than I do.
RE: the Frank's pix: the blue and white car in the foreground is a 1963 Buick Electra.
The 2nd car from the right (sign) is a green 1965 Chrysler. The white car you see in
front of the green Ford Ranchero pickup (in front of the Buick listed above) is a 1964
Plymouth Fury. I believe the car facing the tree and to the slight right-front of the
Buick (facing east - the other cars are facing west) is either a 1966 or 1967 Chevrolet
Impala. It is difficult to make out the exact year as the tree trunk obscures some of
the front-end features. Were I to guess, I would say it is a 1966 model. I was in
Germany from March 1967 to March 1969, and home on leave in Belton for Christmas
1966 and before departing for Germany. I do not remember Frank's fire before I left.
Those still living on the area will have a better recall than I do.
July 28 from Buster/Bill:
Jan: There should always be a caveat concerning what we remember about things
years ago. That being said, I think that that picture was probably taken in late ’66 or
early ’67 because my folks sent me a couple of pictures of the location after the fire,
when I was in Viet Nam (September 5, 1966 to October 15th, 1967).
Jan: There should always be a caveat concerning what we remember about things
years ago. That being said, I think that that picture was probably taken in late ’66 or
early ’67 because my folks sent me a couple of pictures of the location after the fire,
when I was in Viet Nam (September 5, 1966 to October 15th, 1967).
| Memorabilia from Linda M. Forwarded from the Internet: I came across this phrase yesterday 'FENDER SKIRTS.' A term I haven't heard in a long time, and thinking about 'fender skirts' started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice like 'curb feelers' And 'steering knobs.' (AKA) suicide knob, Neckers Knobs. Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first. Remember 'Continental kits?' They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental. When did we quit calling them 'emergency brakes?' At some point 'parking brake' became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that went with 'emergency brake.' I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the 'foot feed.' Many today do not even know what a clutch is or that the dimmer switch used to be on the floor. Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the 'running board' up to the house? (Jan's note: No, but my granddaddy had a car with a running board.) Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore -'store-bought.' Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy. (Jan's note: Now it's nicer to have food that's homemade. Shows your guests are worth the trouble...) 'Coast to coast' is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term 'worldwide' for granted. This floors me. |
| On a smaller scale, 'wall-to-wall' was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure. When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase 'in a family way?' It's hard to imagine that the word 'pregnant' was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company, so we had all that talk about stork visits and 'being in a family way' or simply 'expecting.' Apparently 'brassiere' is a word no longer in usage. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just 'bra' now. 'Unmentionables' probably wouldn't be understood at all. I always loved going to the 'picture show,' but I considered 'movie' an affectation. Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s word I came across the other day - 'rat fink.' Ooh, what a nasty put-down! Here's a word I miss - 'percolator.' That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? 'Coffee maker.' How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this. I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like 'DynaFlow' and 'Electrolux.' Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with 'SpectraVision!' Food for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening kids with castor oil anymore. Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most, 'supper.' Now everybody says 'dinner.' Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts. |
| HEY, WASN'T THIS US ? Sent by Sammie's Fletcher Paul 11/27/10 A little house with three bedrooms, one bathroom, and one car on the street. A mower that you had to push to make the grass look neat. In the kitchen on the wall we only had one phone, And no need for recording things, someone was always home. We only had a living room where we would congregate, unless it was at mealtime in the kitchen where we ate. We had no need for family rooms or extra rooms to dine. When meeting as a family those two rooms would work out fine. We only had one TV set and channels---maybe two, But always there was one of them with something worth the view. For snacks we had potato chips that tasted like a chip. And if you wanted flavor there was Lipton's onion dip. Store-bought snacks were rare because my mother liked to cook and nothing can compare to snacks in Betty Crocker's book. Weekends were for family trips or staying home to play. We all did things together -- even go to church to pray. When we did our weekend trips depending on the weather, no one stayed at home because we liked to be together. Sometimes we would separate to do things on our own, but we knew where the others were without our own cell phone. Then there were the movies with your favorite movie star, and nothing can compare to watching movies in your car. Then there were the picnics at the peak of summer season, pack a lunch and find some trees and never need a reason. Get a baseball game together with all the friends you know, have real action playing ball -- and no game video. Remember when the doctor used to be the family friend, and didn't need insurance or a lawyer to defend? The way that he took care of you or what he had to do, because he took an oath and strived to do the best for you. Remember going to the store and shopping casually, and when you went to pay for it you used your own money? Nothing that you had to swipe or punch in some amount, and remember when the cashier person had to really count? The milkman used to go from door to door, And it was just a few cents more than going to the store. There was a time when mailed letters came right to your door, without a lot of junk mail ads sent out by every store. The mailman knew each house by name and knew where it was sent; there were not loads of mail addressed to "present occupant." There was a time when just one glance was all that it would take, and you would know the kind of car, the model and the make. They didn't look like turtles trying to squeeze out every mile; they were streamlined, white walls, fins and really had some style. One time the music that you played whenever you would jive, was from a vinyl, big-holed record called a forty-five. The record player had a post to keep them all in line and then the records would drop down and play one at a time. Oh sure, we had our problems then, just like we do today and always we were striving, trying for a better way. Oh, the simple life we lived still seems like so much fun, how can you explain a game, just kick the can and run? And why would boys put baseball cards between bicycle spokes and for a nickel, red machines had little bottled Cokes? This life seemed so much easier and slower in some ways. I love the new technology but I sure do miss those days. So time moves on and so do we and nothing stays the same, but I sure love to reminisce and walk down memory lane. |
Remember this? Temple's Dairy Queen on Ave. H,
owned by James Anderson and Frank Zabcik, was one of the
first in Texas. The drive-in's motto was "the cone with the
curl on top." Hamburgers were a quarter and sundaes were
20 cents. The photo is courtesy of Calvin Zabcik, who gave it
to Temple Library, and Gibby Bailey, who copied it from The
Temple Telegram. Thanks to all!
owned by James Anderson and Frank Zabcik, was one of the
first in Texas. The drive-in's motto was "the cone with the
curl on top." Hamburgers were a quarter and sundaes were
20 cents. The photo is courtesy of Calvin Zabcik, who gave it
to Temple Library, and Gibby Bailey, who copied it from The
Temple Telegram. Thanks to all!
Jan. 13, 2011 from Rob:
The historic photo brought back many memories. The
Temple Dairy Queen was my late Father's favorite "high
end" 50's dining spot. We were there almost every Friday
or Saturday night during the spring, summer and fall for
years. The burgers, fries and chocolate malts will always
have a special place in my heart. And I mean that in a
"good" way. This was "BC" before cholesterol!
The historic photo brought back many memories. The
Temple Dairy Queen was my late Father's favorite "high
end" 50's dining spot. We were there almost every Friday
or Saturday night during the spring, summer and fall for
years. The burgers, fries and chocolate malts will always
have a special place in my heart. And I mean that in a
"good" way. This was "BC" before cholesterol!