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In this issue:

• The Car That Dennis Built
• Facing Jail Time for Thievery to See “The Thief”
• Big Snow of 1936 Was Exciting...and a Little Scary
• Poem: Now and Then
• Over the Back Fence
• Time Capsule Trivia
• A Thought to Remember

The Car that Dennis Built

By Ga Neille Posey Hostvedt
Bremerton, Washington

My husband, Dennis Dale Hostvedt, got his first car when he was just 8 years old. Made of recycled material, it had no brakes. And he built it himself—a soap box derby car, that is.

When Dennis was 13 years old, Don Miller, his schoolteacher, inspired him to enter the Greater Seattle Soap Box Derby competition in 1955.

He first shaped several small, prototype vehicles from clay and tested them inside a wind tunnel made from a long cardboard tube and a carved propeller, which was attached to a 1/4-horsepower electric motor. He chose the design with the lowest friction.

The derby kit provided only wheels, axles and a helmet. Since derby cars are gravity run, Dennis worked long, hard hours shaping an aerodynamic car body that met rules requiring certain design and safety specifications. He placed removable oak blocks inside his car to add or subtract weight.

Dennis placed second and took the Best Constructed Car award, a prize of Stanley woodworking tools and $100—a lot of money for a 15-year-old back then.

Determined to take first place the next year, he designed a new, larger car with a rounded nose. Again, he finished second.

Somewhat discouraged, yet all the more determined, Dennis went back to his original car to redesign it. After applying six undercoats of paint, he brushed on several coats of blue, high-gloss, enamel paint. Each was smoothly sanded before finish coats were applied. The final coat was hand-rubbed and waxed. He added a “Chevy stripe” to honor his sponsor.

Winner Dennis Hostvedt (left) shook hands with the runner-up driver at the 1957 Greater Seattle Soap Box Derby. Click for larger image

Whenever they had time, Dennis’ dad, Larry, pulled the car, with Dennis in it, behind his ’52 Buick station wagon to wear in and polish the wheel bearings—a total of 50 hours!

In the 1957 Greater Seattle Soap Box Derby Dennis at the Woodland Park Permanent Track, Dennis finally claimed his victory. He won an all-expense-paid trip to Akron, Ohio (founding place of soap box derby racing) for him to compete with champions from all over the nation. A solid-silver, engraved bracelet was given to Dennis by Max Baer, the world heavyweight boxing champion.

Among the race spectators at the 1957 All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio were Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (in white cowboy hats), Dinah Shore (next to Dale), George Montgomery (in black cowboy hat) and Jimmy Stewart (in white cap) Photo Courtesy of All-American Soap Box Derby Click for larger image

Dennis says, “I believe that one of the reasons I won first place was my use of heavy oil in the wheel bearings while I ran my car behind Dad’s. Then I cleaned the bearings and used a light oil during competition.”

In Akron, Dennis was thrilled to rub shoulders with some of his favorite celebrities, such as Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Jimmy Stewart and Dinah Shore.

Dennis went on to earn a 4-year mechanical engineering scholarship to the University of Washington and says his career was probably inspired by his teacher’s mentoring and belief in him. He became a Bremerton Puget Sound Naval Shipyard engineer manager for 31 years.

Dennis Hostvedt’s banquet ticket from the national races in Akron, Ohio. Click for larger image

Now, in his retirement, the Stanley woodworking tools he won so long ago are still being put to good use. He now runs Denny’s Fine Woodworking, where he designs and builds custom furniture.

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Facing Jail Time for Thievery to See “The Thief”

By Stan Drescher
Suffern, New York

In 1941, when I was 10 years old, movies played a large part in our lives.

Whoever we saw in the weekly movie was emulated by us until we saw the next one. Imitations of James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and George Raft echoed through the neighborhood. When we viewed flicks like Gunga Din, Beau Geste or Jesse James, we lived the part of the hero by memorizing most of the lines.

Mine was a very loving family, but not well off financially. The apartment we called home had three bedrooms—Mom and Pop in one, two sisters in another and my three brothers and I sharing the third. Money for movies was at a premium.

One Saturday, Mama and Papa were out with our baby brother, David. My brother Jack spotted a dollar on the table meant for our iceman and completely ignored the note that said, “Paying 80¢, please leave 20¢ change.” Jack and I grabbed the dollar and said, “Let’s go to the movies!”

The Commodore, our nearby movie house, was one of the largest in the Loews’ chain. It had a 700-seat-plus orchestra section and a huge balcony. We liked the balcony because it was never crowded—less chance of anyone obstructing our view.

It was not unusual to get to a movie at 10 a.m. and stay all day. The program consisted of coming attractions, a weekly serial, several cartoons, The Three Stooges, an Our Gang short, two full-length features and a drawing for prizes. You really got your money’s worth.

Click for larger image

This particular day, the theater was showing The Thief of Baghdad. The stolen dollar was used to gain admission with 70¢ left over. After buying “tons” of candy, we still had 30¢ left. Candy usually cost 2¢ a piece.

We watched the movie three times, and returned home around 7 p.m. It was already dark, which was not a good omen.

We were stuffed and exhilarated when we got home, and Mama and Papa were waiting. Papa told us to sit down and Mama knew what was coming, leaving the room with our baby brother in tow.

For about an hour, Papa explained that what we did was steal, depriving an honest man from receiving payment. We tried to explain how great the movie was, but he was upset and wanted us to know the seriousness of our actions.

I remember Papa uttering something like “You’re going to prison…” and then he grabbed our little hands and headed us for the door.

We had certainly seen enough gangster movies to know that crime did not pay. Reform-school movies had been etched in our brains. These films always starred the Dead End Kids, showing horrible conditions in institutions that were always run by a cruel warden.

We begged and pleaded with Papa. Just then, Mama hurried into the room wondering what all the commotion was. She said to Papa, “Surely there’s another way to punish them…prison life is so harsh!”

I’ll always remember Papa relenting and Mama giving that knowing smile. She saved us that time…but we surely never took the iceman’s money again.

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Big Snow of 1936 Was Exciting...and Somewhat Scary

By Louise Nelson
Waynesville, North Carolina

Louise Nelson (left) with Susan Allen, editor of Louise’s book on historic Waynesville, North Carolina.

The wind was blowing and the snow was falling heavy and fast. No one expected the snowfall to amount to anything due to the time of year. It was March 17, after all, but the snow was accumulating fast.

A couple of my cousins, Johnny and Glenn, each had a battery radio and listened to the weather warnings. They decided they had better come to saw and chop wood for our family because my daddy was sick. When they had all the limbs cut, we younger children helped carry it and stack it on the porch.

Johnny and Glenn headed home in the blizzard, the snow already deep. We wondered and worried if they would get home safely.

Our teacher, Mrs. Bessie McClure Evans, closed school at 10 a.m. She walked through the snowstorm to the main highway to meet her ride. Another teacher, Carroll Morrow, had borrowed Mrs. Evans’ car to drive to the Crabtree school about 4 miles from where she taught.

Mr. Morrow had trouble with the chains on the car, and he picked up Mrs. Evans much later than expected. By then, her coat was completely covered with snow and frozen stiff. The windshield wipers wouldn’t work, so Mr. Morrow rode with his head out the window so he could guide the car safely home.

After Daddy finished feeding the hogs and the milking was done, we all settled in to watch the blizzard from inside.

Soon the dog was barking because the snow had covered the door to his house. Daddy moved the dog and his house to the porch.

All night, we could hear the wind blowing hard and we wondered how deep the snow was. Before dawn arrived, Daddy was up and looked out the door. He got the shock of his life. There was not a bush or fence post in sight and no way to get to the spring. Fence posts were 3 feet tall and the snow was deeper than that.

Daddy started digging his way to the barn to feed the animals and milk the cows. By 4 p.m., he finally got to the barn! Daddy was 6 feet tall and we could barely see the top of his head out there. After feeding was done, he started to melt the snow for the livestock to drink.

It was exciting and scary at the same time, knowing that we were completely closed in. We were afraid to take a few steps from the house because we might get lost in the snow. We couldn’t even see our neighbor’s house.

Daddy kept listening to the weather news on the radio. The snowdrifts were 10 to 15 feet deep elsewhere on the mountains nearby. Before the snow melted, the wood ran out and we began to use planks off the barn.

School was called off for a week, and it was that long before we saw Johnny and Glenn again. We didn’t get mail for a week, either.

We didn’t have electricity back then or oil for heat. We depended on the fireplace and wood cook stove to heat our house.

There were very few cars back then, so we didn’t worry about traveling. We had our own groceries right on our farm—milk, eggs, biscuits, corn bread, canned goods and meat from the smokehouse. We had plenty of potatoes, pumpkins and dried apples to get us through.

Some children who ventured out to school at the start of the storm were stranded for a week at people’s homes along the way.

The sheep had already been turned to the spring grass in the pasture. A neighbor’s flock was caught in the snow on a hilly pasture. After a hard struggle, they made their way to the sheep and started a snowball rolling down the hill. The snowball made a trail to the barn for the sheep! What a huge snowball it was! It was several weeks before it melted.

Despite all the trouble, it was a beautiful snow. We old-timers from the ‘30s remember it well.

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Now and Then

By Evelyn Mitchell
Columbus, Georgia

My daughter has a new grandbaby,
Since that makes him kin to me,
I thought I could give her some advice
On taking care of the newest addition to our family tree.

I soon found out my advice was not needed.
Things are done quite different today.
Everyone knows you can’t stop progress
But who would want to anyway?

I washed, folded and stacked diapers neat.
I rocked and sang my baby to sleep.
Today nappies are made to throw away
And not to keep as in my day.

Music flows softly in the nursery
From CDs all around
And the baby monitor lets Mom know
If the baby makes a sound.

The old-fashioned buggy
Has gone out of style.
The new one rolls merrily along
While Mom walks that extra mile.

I could go on forever
About how things have changed today
But some things never change
So I just have this to say.

2 a.m. feedings are not for me to keep
I'd much rather turn over and go back to sleep!

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Over the Back Fence

Back in the 1940s, even earlier, this story was well known in middle Illinois when the now-defunct Illinois Central Railroad ran from Chicago through Cairo and beyond, touching on Kankakee, Champaign, Effingham, and Mt. Vernon as well as other small towns.

It seems a knowledgeable—but not quite enough—lady from Chicago had traveled south and was returning northward on a “local.” In those days, a local would stop at nearly every town and village on the route.

As they proceeded, the conductor would call out the upcoming towns along the way. At one point, he sang out, "Arcola, next stop; Arcola."The lady looked up a moment, then went back to her magazine.

About 15 minutes later, the conductor called, "Next stop Tuscola."

The lady couldn't resist. Putting her magazine down and stopping the conductor, she queried, “Sir, what’s next, Coca Cola?”

The conductor paused a moment. Then a slow, sneaky smile spread over his face before he replied, “No, lady, Champaign!”

It could be true; check your Illinois map.

-By Mack Dougherty
San Diego, California

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Time Capsule Trivia

This time, we’re giving you 10 historical happenings instead of the usual five to determine this month’s featured year. The answer is given below, but no peeking!

1. CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers is captured by the Soviets after his high-altitude U-2 spy plane is shot down over Soviet territory.
2. The USS Enterprise becomes the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, thus freeing it from the need for frequent refueling.
3. The closest presidential election in modern U.S. history takes place when the winner is elected by a mere 115,000 votes.
4. Cassius Clay, later to become world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, wins the gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy.
5. Among the top records of the year are The Twist by Chubby Checker, Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles, Puppy Love by Paul Anka and Are You Lonesome Tonight? by Elvis Presley.
6. Alfred Hitchcock scares moviegoers by introducing them to Norman Bates in Psycho.
7. New television shows include My Three Sons, The Andy Griffith Show, Route 66 and The Flintstones.
8. Soaring into outer space are Echo I and Tiros I, the first communications and weather satellites, respectively.
9. A new board game has people buying up chunks of real estate as they play “The Game of Life.”
10. New books include To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer and the newest James Bond adventure, For Your Eyes Only, by Ian Fleming.

So, how did you do? The answer is 1960, and the new President was John F. Kennedy, who edged Richard Nixon.

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A Thought to Remember:

Old age is that period of life when actions creak louder than words.

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