Page:Brunswick 100 Years of Memories.pdf/186

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railroad track and a parallel highway with the Pageant of the Iron Horse made up the railroad's celebration of its first 100 years. Two trains to Halethorpe a1_1d two back each day carried people from

Brunswick to the Fair of the Iron Horse, as this celebration was also called.

kind you can pry off and replace, then punch a little hole in the bottom of the can. You would put in eight or ten stones of carbide, holding a finger over the hole. Next, you'd add a little water in the can, or you could spit on the carbide. The water on the carbide forms gas, so you would put the lid on the can very quickly and lay the can sideways on the ground, keeping the foot on the can and the finger over the hole. Allowing time for the gas to generate, you would soon strike a match, then remove your finger from the hole, so the gas could escape, quickly place the flame at the escaping gas, and watch the lid blow off with a big bang. If the carbide caught on fire, you'd have a little fire to put out. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

S - Dutch Bums W-MMM

SUBSCRIPTION DANCES A gang of young men would be sitting in the Candy Kitchen (high school kids' hangout) and someone would say, "Let's have a big dance!" This was in the Depressed Thirties. Joseph Knode, Kenneth Barnard, Bill Deener, Ike F1ynn, Eddie Miller, Mehrle Ahalt, Charlie Porter, Frank Kelley, Charlie Shewbridge, Alvin Donovan, Bets and Ernie Mills, were some of the organizers. Money would be collected before an orchestra was hired, and the amount collected determined who played. Some of their bands became famous later: Blue Diamonds, Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, and Red Nickels and His Five Pennies would play. There was generally a full house, but for the most part, only those who paid at the beginning came with their girls. Townspeople would come down to observe and listen to the music.

HOT BUTTER BEANS! COME TO SUPPER!

With a group of any manageable size, one person is "It." He leaves the room while the remaining people hide an item already examined by "It." He searches for item (thimble, bottle, bottle top, etc.) as remaining players encourage him by saying "Warm,." Warmer," or "Cold," "Hot," whichever clue is honest and appropriate. When "It" finally locates the hidden object, someone else becomes "It." There will probably be many volunteers for the challenge of being "It." HORNY BUCK

S - Dutch Burns W-MMM

In this game, someone leans over, hugs the telephone pole; the next one holds on to first person's waist, with head down. Last one would start from up the street a way, begin to run then jump and land on someone's back - hopefully to stay on. Last one down would let go and do same thing until someone fell off. The process would be repeated for as long as the participants cared to continue.

GROUP ENTERTAINMENT "CAR POKER" or"AUTOMOBILE POKER"

Youth loafing along the front street, sitting on front steps or porches of the downtown business would take turns reading the license numbers on autombiles passing by. They might have made a bet of 25 cents to a dollar - real or imaginary. Whichever boy had the higher license number won the stakes - real or imaginary.

W-MMM

CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT OF EARLIER DAYS

CARBIDE CRACKERS

What's a guy to do when the FourthofJulyrolls around, but he has no money for firecrackers? If you were in Brunswick before 1930, you would swipe some carbide from the brakeman's lanterns and make your own crackers. First you'd find a molasses can with lid - the

1. Kite flying: Beyond Stanley Virts' home on North Dayton Ave., the kids flew their kites. This is north of West C Street and was known as Kite Hill. 2. Rolling the Hoop: At the dump or elsewhere, youth would find a baby carriage or other vehicle · from which they could salvage a wheel. A stick was easily fashioned into a "T" by having a shorter

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