THE TRAY

My sister-in-law, Helen and her terrific sister, "Frankie" were raised on a farm near Harper, Kansas by remarkable parents, Lem and Stella Laird.

Although, I only meet them two or three times, I call them remarkable because of their outlook on life and their caring for the environment.   Lem had planted on their farm, every indigenous tree to Kansas and he could tell you everything about each one of them.  He was a fascinating man.


Lem and Stella were also avid collectors of all sorts of things.   They had different types of rocks, stamps from all over, coins, shells and many antiques that suited them.

This gift of collecting was passed down to their daughters and both seemed to concentrate on all things Coca-Cola. (Frankie had a large number of Coke trays.)

And what is all this leading to?  Knowing my love of old movies, I was given a tray (it may have been a duplicate) from Frankie by way of my mother.   It shows Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan (the original Tarzan and Jane) enjoying a coke.   It is one of my "cooler" possessions that I cherish.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BERNADETTE

Image
I first met Bernadette Peters when we were both in a production of "The Boy Friend" (With Yvonne de Carlo) at the Wedgewood Dinner Theater in Glen Cove, Long Island. She had previously been a child performer starting at the age of three on the TV show "Juvenile Jury" and went on to many other venues of the day  (She did "Name that Tune" when she was five.)  And there are many other credits, I could relate. So, she  was a seasoned performer when we met. Almost every night, after the performance of "The Boy Friend," and before we started the trek back into the city, a bunch of us would retire into the bar, where Bernadette would usually sing a number or two with the pianist.   She was remarkable.  She would turn a song like "You made me love you" into a soulful agony with tears streaming down her face as she neared the end.   Just remarkable. Soon after she was doing "George M" on Broadway and "Dames at Sea'  of...
Read more

GRANDMA SMITH

Image
My Grandmother raised nine children, (seven girls and two boys.....my mother being the youngest.) She became a widow in 1935 when my grandfather was killed in an auto accident just north of our small town of Corbin, Kansas.   From then on, she took turns living with her children for about a month at a time.   Eventually, it was decided to build her a small one room house on my parents property where she could have her own space but be close at hand.  (This "house" was constructed when I was thirteen or so.) A few years later, (now, in her eighties) she began receiving mail form an old beau that she had known in her youth and it soon blossomed into a certified romance.  (A long distance one, but a romance nonetheless.) All of her children went into shock when she announced at the age of 89 that she and her reunited beau were going to be married!  (Sadly, I no longer remember his name.... it may have been Leo.) At any rate, "Leo" made the trip from somewher...
Read more

PUZZLES, CONTESTS AND SUCH

Image
I have always been intrigued by puzzles of all sorts starting out with jigsaws in my youth and eventually graduating to Crosswords, Jumbles, Sudokus, Cyphers, Word Searches and a myriad of other types of posers.   And I do my fair share...….the New York Times Sunday Crossword is by far my favorite and I am proud to say that I can now solve it in ink!  (After many years with the no.2 and an eraser) On the contest side, I've entered here and there...……..New York magazine ran a weekly challenge back in the day and had numerous types of things to do.   For instance (and a classic)….Make up a name using other names (the old "if so-and-so married so-and-so" game). If Anna Maria Alberghetti married producer David Merrick, divorced him and married comedian Jackie Cannon, divorced him and married composer Norman Paris, her name would be Anna Merrick Cannon Paris.   You get the picture? Well, after a few honorable mentions in the New York contest, I finally won one. ...
Read more