Page 31 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

only a year or two because a new house was soon built on the lot. After that, we played
war games on an undeveloped lot a block away. Being inspired by war movies and
spies, we dug a trench by the campsite and covered it with boards and dirt to make it
like an underground tunnel. One day, I cleaned up the area by raking the leaves and
pine straw into a small pile. As I lit a fire to burn them, a breeze picked up from the east
and spread the fire into the woods near McGirt’s Creek. Fortunately, there were no
roads, houses, or people in that area in those days.

On Saturdays, we spent a nickel to ride Jacksonville’s Motor Transit Company Naval
Air Station bus to town. The Navy bus station was on the corner of Adams and Clay
Streets. We walked past the Times-Union building on Pearl Street, the George
Washington Hotel on the corner of Julia Street, and Furchgott’s on the Hogan Street
corner. The Barnett Bank had a wire-photo news picture in their display window which
was very interesting because we had no TV then. The only news we saw was either in
the newspaper or in the movie theater with Movietone or Pathe newsreels. We’d select
a movie theater by walking down Forsyth Street looking at the poster and snapshots
displays at four theaters, The Empress, Imperial, Palace and Florida. We usually
wound up at the Imperial that had the good cowboy movies: Gene Autry, Johnny Mack
Brown, or Hop-a-long Cassidy. The Short Subject reels were always funny. I always
looked forward to the Edgar Kennedy and the Three Stooges reels. The movies only
cost 9 cents, and a box of popcorn was 10 cents.

Afterwards, we’d stop at the Krystal for a 5 cent Orange Crush and a 7 cent Krystal
burger. Woolworth’s Five and 10 Cents Store had entrances on Forsyth Street and
Main Street. We usually went in on the Forsyth Street side because it was near the Toy
Department. We’d exit on Main Street because The Kress Store was right next door
with another opportunity to scan the toys. Two blocks away was the Burgess Battery
Store which sold airplane kits and balsa wood. I would assemble an airplane almost
every week and hang them on a string that ran across the top of my bedroom. I even
constructed a model of the Wright Brothers first airplane, copying it from a photo of
that historic flight.

At night following supper and finishing homework, I’d turn on my Silvertone (Sears)
radio on my bedside table and listen to comedy shows like Jack Benny, Fred Allen,
Baby Snooks, and Red Skelton. One of my favorite shows was “Can You Top This?”
where three personalities, Senator Ford, Harry Hershfield, and Joe Laurie, Jr. each had
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