Cardboarding

Summer fun is in the air, it’s 1949, and as far as Big Bottom goes, all is well. I woke up this morning wondering just what us kids on Liberty Street could get into. Most of us were sleeping late but soon the coffee was biling (boiling), smoke was rising from the chimneys up and down the holler, and it was time to PLAY.

I thought to myself, “I know what I am going to do and if the rest want to join in they can, but if not, oh well.”

Gotta look around behind the Bakery, the Double Cola Plant, and through the alley to see if any cardboard boxes were set out during the night. I glanced down through Maple Street to see if by chance Gene Baker’s boys had set out anything, but saw nothing. I went behind the Bakery and lo and behold there was the box of my dreams. “Gotta have this one, it’ll be perfect!”

Here I go dragging that big cardboard box through the alley and over to 109 Liberty Street. Iona Baugh was watching from her kitchen wondering what in the world Idy was up to so early in the morning. Pretty soon she would know.

With all the pains in the world, making sure I didn’t tear it needlessly, I sat out to make me a cardboard slide. Now, if’n you ain’t never had a cardboard slide, you missed a whole lot of fun, fun, fun. I got it fixed just right, and up Liberty Street I took. I sure was proud of myself, hee hee hee. I was going to be the envy of them all today for I had the biggest box I could find and by ransacking I knew there wasn’t much left to choose from.

Now, Liberty Street had some hills and the one that we used the most sat right across from Goble McDaniel’s house and standing looking from the telephone pole up, your eyes were right in the back yard of Pat Moran. I started the climb up the hill dragging my prize cardboard box, and I found the grassiest place on the little hill. I took my cardboard box, sat down on it, and lifted part of it upwards, placing my feet carefully so as not to drag; I was ready now to take the hill. I guess you might call this “card boarding” and I gave myself a big shove and down the hill I went, whooping and a-hollering, and the grass was wet from the dew that fell in the early morning and I had the ride of my life, making sure that my ride didn’t end straddling that telephone pole. It didn’t and I rolled off my “cardboard slide”, give the hill another glance, thought about it, and off I took back up that hill with all the gusto I could muster. By that time I got company and they each had their cardboards. By the time we got ready to quit that poor hillside was bare, not a blade of grass could be seen.

Such a simple life in the 40’s and 50’s. I wonder if someday in the future if there will be “card boarding” or maybe they will find a new name for it, reckon????