Pandemic
musings … of bygone days
The
pandemic sure has us looking for interesting things to do.
Reminiscences float up!
Recently
I found myself daydreaming and reminiscing about the old days in Los
Angeles and Hollywood-West Hollywood in the 1950's when I was
growing up… I remembered the Helms Bakery Truck that came by .. and
how it was such a big part of our world back then. Everyone loved the
Helms Truck ! Those were the daze - when stuffs came to you !
I got to
remembering some of the old neighborhoods – and recalled the
various other vagabond vendor trucks coming thru with products for
sale .. the odd rag man, or junk man collecting scrap metals and glass
.. a few times, I saw “Tinkers” trucks roll thru …. calling
out products in a sing song chant --selling dry goods
and loaded mostly with cookware and kitchen stuff, but they also sharpened knives while you waited.
In the
early 50's, incinerators were common in our backyards … my morning
chores included going out to burn the trash in the backyard
incinerator before leaving for school on the weekly 'burn days'. LA in the morning in mid 1950's often looked like classic pictures of
steel mills belching and churning out smoke . On those days the LA
basin would fill with soot and smoke from all the incinerators burning. We had that smokey-haze – long before it was
called 'smog' .. but I digress … we had separate metal lidded trash
cans for glass, for metals and cans, and for wet garbage – all
paper and burnables went to the incinerator ! Recycling was standard
operating procedure.
I can
picture old Ford flatbed trucks loaded high with watermelons – or
fruit in season – citrus' ; oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, by the lug avocados, apples, pears, and peaches. The trucks
would go slowly, creeping thru the neighborhoods …usually with
young men trotting along each side of the street to run and pick
the perfect melon, or lug of fruit for anyone who called out from a
porch. A rolling produce stand!
Jingle
playing neighborhood ice cream trucks are still around, but I
vividly recall waiting every day in the summer of 1958 for the 6 pm
(just after dinner) Good Humor truck. I knew that jingle meant I could get a 20
cent caramel sundae, and a 15 cent 'drumstick' cone for sis. 25
cent Eskimo pies were favorites of the adults.
The best
and most regular truck and everyone’s favorite .. (and one we
actually counted on regularly for wonderful breads and baked goods
) – was the Helms Bakery truck and the 'Helmsman' who knew what
everybody liked.
He
brought us special orders and the best pastries and doughnuts .. the
incredible smell when they opened the doors – oh my! I would try to
catch a sniff even when I couldn't get anything that day. The man
would roll out the endlessly deep wooden drawers of gorgeous baked
goods and breads .. always incredible arrays of tempting and inviting
doughnuts and pastries .. the Helms truck always came the same days
and times … and we could hear the unmistakable whistle down the
block. We knew heaven was just rolling up !
I'm
surprised that I've lived long enough to actually recall the old time "Ice Man" bringing blocks of ice to my grandmother's fridge …an
old Ice Box - literally! .. this is one of my first kitchen memories .. I was amazed at he wrangled the big ice tongs -- slinging a huge and heavy crystal clear block
of ice - all the way from the street truck … down the drive, and up the
high back steps to the kitchen.Then he would swap out of the remaining
mostly melted ice and water, and then install the new block.
We also had milk delivery companies over the years – Milk delivery was in glass bottles and more common than getting store milk in cartons!
The
first milkman I recall was grandmothers delivery man – who
wore a crisp white outfit and white, black brimmed, service hat. I
would follow him to and from that wonderful specialized milk truck, just to see what he had inside, or bring back last minute requests from grandma. He always had eggs, a line
of cheeses, hard and soft like cottage cheese large curd, buttermilk and yogurt - cream in every stage; sweet to sour, and a panoply of other specialized dairy goods.Often fresh orange or other juices. He knew our regular order, but we
had little order slips to put in the empty milk bottles to place orders - in case of a substitute driver.
Other home delivery services I
recall using or having … all long gone now -- dead as the dinosaurs.
Tailors
came to the house to fit clothes - over and over till they were fitted!
Dry
Cleaners would pick up / drop off at no extra charge - same day service too.
Diaper and Linen services would bring / exchange diapers and linens.
Butchers delivered meats cut to order.
Water was delivered to homes - every one had a water cooler; Sparkletts, Arrowhead etc.
Pharmacies delivered 'same day' or night.
Neighborhood
Grocery stores had bicycle delivery – bigger
stores delivered with panel trucks – but grocery delivery was
common, easy, and and practical.
Doctors
actually made home visits !My friend has a receipt for birth at
home in 1940 -- The doctors fee was $1.75, and the attending
nurse was $1 more – total bill was exorbitant at $2.75 !
I recall
several times having a doctor visit me at home as a kid .. it was
common and not the least bit expensive or unusual.
Besides
deliveries, neighborhoods were social centers for kids. Scouts and
Grade School Kids went door to door selling and collecting for
various school, church, or charity drives and sales ..
Remember school paper drives ? Or your class selling some cookies, cards, or subscriptions?
I recall how all us
kids went door to door with pillow cases for candy on Halloween ..
and you knew all the folks on your street !.
Didja
ever have a bicycle 'Paper Route', and learn the fine art of folding
and delivering 130 papers … precisely on the porch mat ?
When
your car needed help, mechanics gladly came to you to fix your
car ; flat tires, 6 volt battery boost, charge or jump, maybe a
little fiddle with the carburetor float, or other shade tree
mechanical stuff – often taking pay only for parts -- and refusing pay
for the labor !
The
pandemic may bring some of these kinds of services back again …
home delivering is the wave of the future for the pandemic
quarantined folks .. but now ...
... WE LOVE PIES !!! What to do Percy? ... Pie Delivery ? .. Perhaps that's the answer ?
... WE LOVE PIES !!! What to do Percy? ... Pie Delivery ? .. Perhaps that's the answer ?
I want
to know where home delivered pies fit in ? Everyone loves pie, and
in these troubled times we need truthful comfort food now more than
ever … and as is often said ..
... PIE DON'T LIE !
... PIE DON'T LIE !
Pie
Delivery indeed ! We need the Helms
Truck again !
Is that Pie in the Sky?
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