Thing that are gone forever.

I wonder how many of these things you remember if you grew up in Wilmington, NC in the 1950s? In fact many of these things probably happened all over the country in the 50s and early 60s.

At the top of my list the Civil Defense siren. Every Saturday at 12 noon it would be tested and you could hear it all over Wilmington. Later in life I would discover that was one of many jobs the fire department was responsible for. In fact in my early career as a fireman on of the department I worked for still had a siren like the old CD siren we tested each Saturday at noon.

Then there was that smell that drifted over from the paper mill in Riegelwood if the wind was just right. Sort of a cross between a skunk and an over turned out house. Not near as bad as the smell we get from the chemical plant on highway 421 these days.

But there was another smell that was much better and that was the candy counter at H L Greens 5 and 10 Cents Store downtown. They kept the maple nut candy hot so that if you were anywhere in that part of the store you had to stop and buy some. Even though they didn't smell near as good the hot nuts they sold can't be matched anywhere today.

Remember the sweet roll at school lunch?

There was the sound of the tug boat horns talking to each other while working on the river.

What about that cloud of white smoke behind the county mosquito sprayer that all of us kids would run behind. Trusting that our government would never hurt us. Many of these same kids got a dose of Agent Orange years later still trusting the government to keep us safe.

Remember when water was free and didn't come in a bottle and soft drinks were all the same price? 5, 6, 8 or 10 cents depending how far back you can remember.

Buy a small Coke with shivers of ice in it (5 cents) pack of Tom's peanuts (5 cents) and a Moon Pie (5 cents). Then put the peanuts in the drink and you were on top of the world for only 15 cents.

Then there was and is the candy called Boston Baked Beans. Not from Boston, not baked, and not beans. So much for truth in advertising. They sure are good though. Then why did the government change the name of picnic ham to picnic shoulder?

I can still taste those S&H Green Stamps, bet I licked a million and put them in books so Mama could cash them in for something. Sometime I got something so it wasn't to bad. Anyone remember Palm Motor Oil at 25 cents a quart. Gulf, Quaker State and other major brand were 65 and 70 cents a quart. Palm was re-manufactured before such things were popular. Used to get it a Miss Daisy's Store after we moved to Masonboro Sound. 

Guess I should say a little about Miss Daisy and I will a little later.