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TI: So before we go to December 7th, let's go back and still talk about some of your other childhood things. I want to get a picture of your neighborhood and some of the activities, so, like on those days that you could play with people in the neighborhood, describe some of the, the things you would do, some of the activities.

TH: Well, football would be one that we could, traffic wasn't as heavy as we have today so we as kids could then play football in the street, and just occasionally a car would come by, which would then delay the game, but (...) not so much baseball, but we did have open or vacant lots which then, if somebody had a bat and a baseball or a softball, really, we would then form a team and mark off the bases and go ahead and play. And there were, I would say, probably, maybe about twenty-five percent or more of the lots were not occupied by houses, so it's quite open at that time. And I guess the history goes back that there were a few houses in the area, but from my understanding there was a bakery on one corner, but the bakery building caught on fire and it was never replaced. And so there was one section there, a total of six standard lots were just completely open, and we as kids would then go and play in that particular area. And there was one tree, I guess, sort of surviving from some of the other activity prior to it, probably, maybe... well, age of the tree, my guess would be about forty, fifty years prior. And it was an open space there, underneath the tree. And I didn't play much, but my brother used to play marbles, and it was a nice perfect spot so all the kids would gather and play marbles. I remember that.

TI: 'Cause it was a nice, shady place probably.

TH: (Yes), underneath the tree, and the soil was smooth enough, because it was flat, and (...) that was actually a river bottom area, in that case stream had, or... you can see still evidence of the stream that had run through there. And so that was nice soil. The ground was just perfect for playing marbles.

TI: Now, when you guys had all these activities, what kind of adult supervision was there?

TH: Virtually none. Virtually none. And I kind of think back on that and see what the kids are doing today, or what they can do, it's kinda sad because they don't have the activity of playing out, where during late spring we would have the grasses, the oats growing in all the vacant lots. And oh yeah, then we used to have fights where the soil would be just right where you can pull the grass out, get a clump, and you pack the soil and you can then throw it or sling it. And I remember some of the kids used to set up little forts and then we'd just be flinging those things back and forth, and even though it hit you it was such that it wasn't, it wasn't gonna really hurt. So yeah, I remember that.

TI: So in your childhood, no adult supervision. You guys had to kinda make up your own games.

TH: Own games, yeah.

TI: And so I think about parents today, and one of their concerns are, well, for safety. They want to make sure people don't do anything inappropriate. I mean, back in your day, did some of those things happen? When you think back, did you guys get in trouble? I guess maybe that's the question.

TH: No, not in my memory. I think that we had enough, I'd say self motivated or self thought up activities that kept us busy doing things. And then, I remember now that they would, we would (...) get potatoes and build a little fire and then do our attempt to bake the potato, generally came out all burnt (...). [Laughs] But it's activities like that, and this, and I remember in that same area, the kids used to then dig their little forts down, so we made little pits into the soil and then that was where we would then start throwing our little grass, whatever you might want to call it, back and forth.

TI: Good.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.