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From: "Jim Giddens" <>
Subject: [TXREDRIV-L] 1945 or 46
Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 23:23:55 -0600


I was born July 41 and know nothing about the snow of 42. However I remember when I was probably about 4 (not in school yet), we live on the English road about 1 maybe 1.5 miles from 82 in a big house on the south side of the English road we called the "Black Place", about 1/2 mile before the Witmer place. It must have got very cold because I rememer my dad taking us kids down to the pool and letting us skate on it (regular shoes of course). I remember falling and the back of my head hitting the ice. Later the ice got a crack in it and dad made us get off. I remember dad heating brick in front of the fireplace, wrapping them in towels and bringing them into our cold bedroom and putting the bricks in the bed with us for us to put our feet on. That was great, I bet the Hilton never did that.
I guess all us poor folks lived on a "place" because later were live on the "Lewis" place on Madras road were Garland Hines later built a nice brick home. By the time I was in the first grade, we moved to College Ave in Clarksville, I guess that became the Giddens Place. Still no indoor plumbing for another 4 or 5 years. I remember putting a sign in the window to signal the "ice man" how many pounds of ice we needed for the "ice box".
There there was the #3 tube in the kitchen for the Saturday bath after mom heated some water on the stove. Then there was the black man named "Shorty" that came in his wagon and picked up our slop for his pigs. The slop bucket was always hanging on a nail in our small barn. My dog would alway lay real quite while Shorty walked by him, then when Shorty would take his eyes off Skipper, Skipper would go after him. Then there was the black man George that graded our rock street with the maintainer for the city. He would always beep his horn for us kids then give us the thumbs up sign. Well enought rambling for now, got to go to work in morning.

Jim Giddens,
Paris/Clarksville, Tx

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