One of the First IN TOWN TO HAVE…#3

(Continued from #1 & 2)

RENAULT

We were the first that I know of in town to own a foreign car--or at least one of those little foreign cars. At that time there was the competition between the VWs and the Renaults. Our father bought a Renault.

It was dark, I think black.

Every time we would pass another on the road, which was rare, we would all toot and wave at each other. It was very exciting.

I'm not sure but I don’t think this was a second car, I think it was the only car we had at that point, as I don’t remember ever having 2 cars. Perhaps one day my brother can shed more light on this car.

Now when was this? My father died in the late 50’s so it had to be before that.

The VWs came out about the same time, and eventually they seemed to have won out in the market. But they were like the enemy, the competitors, and we didn’t toot at them, no sir. We were loyal to our Renault. We didn’t seem to have it very long though.

Like now with the other males in our family down the generations, new things and the modern world seemed to call out to him. I assume that he would have been into digital gadgets (but not necessarily computers), if he were around today.

One of the First IN TOWN TO HAVE…#2: TV

(continued from One of the First IN TOWN TO HAVE ...#1)


TV

We were, I think, the first in town to have a TV. It was set up in the big room on the side of the house that had its own outdoor entrance (as well as one into the main part of the house). The room had been the doctor’s office for the physician who used to live in our house, and later would revert to being our father’s office.

But in the TV metamorphosis, we had a lot of chairs set up so people from the town could come in to watch our TV. Having the door to the outside made it easy for people from the town to come and go without bothering us. I can remember coming into the main part of the house for dinner, and leaving others sitting in that room watching our TV. Naturally it was black and white.

This was in the early 50’s if my memory serves me right. I was about 12 or 13 yrs old, and the Korean War was on. The shows I remember were Milton Berle with Imogene Coco, an actress called Dagmar (who looked sort of like Dolly Parton), Tom Corbin Space Cadet (a forerunner to Star Trek), and professional wrestling. Later I would watch Jack Paar, a forerunner to the late night talk shows.