In the 'Hood

Our house on Margo St. always seemed to be a vortex of activity (as long as that activity didn't involve watching TV) for the neighborhood kids, of whom there was a bunch! Within a 5 house radius of us there were enough kids to put together a pretty good softball game, hide 'n seek or have a parade for whatever occasion!

When we moved to S.B. we had a household rule that there was no TV before 5pm or Saturday mornings -- this effectively limited our cartoon viewing (unless we went to a neighbor's house) and certainly didn't seem to harm us children. I still watch very little TV.

There was a playhouse type structure that Pop built in the backyard. This structure could instantly change from pirate ship to Swiss Family Tree house to movie set. Movie production was at it's finest on Margo St., with Nancy generally being producer and head costumer! During the filming of the now (in)famous "Truth about Cleopatra", Mrs. Eggers from across the street pitched a conniption because her daughter (about 9 years old), a belly dancer, was to have a jewel in her navel.

Christy Eggers and Roy, in character

The population in our 'hood was pretty stable and constant, a new kid on the block was a rare occasion but we did have some initiation rituals for that new kid. In one of these we would ask if they liked olives (and what child doesn't?) and then proceed to the olive tree in our backyard where "the most delicious olives grew" and treat them to some nice green olives, fresh off the tree! Every one on the street was in on this prank and we would roar with glee as the new inductee to the olive club spit out the bitter green mess.

Most of us neighbor kids went all the way through high school together and we had a pretty tight knit cadre from Margo St.

We (Nancy and I in particular) also had a penchant for trying to separate the local kids from their money, some kids being more susceptible to our endeavors than others. Richard Weddle (an only child from down the street) always had more money that a child that age should have had and he was a frequent dupe of ours! On one occasion we finally convinced him to pony up fifty cents (which was a lot of coin in 1965) to see our "Mexican Hairless Dog" which turned out to be an Oscar Meyer hot dog in a shoe box! Richard needless to say was quite non-plussed and we were tickled to death at our success! Richard also had a great comic book collection some of which I believe are in the Hendrick archives someplace (Nancy???).

I believe that I was in second or third grade when I discovered "invisible ink" which was just lemon juice that you wrote with on paper and let dry. The paper was then put in the oven at low temp for a couple of minutes and the invisible ink would develop. With my great wisdom of 7 or 8 years I produced some secret plans, written with the special ink, and sold them to Kevin Canada who lived next door. When the plans can out of the oven, lo and behold, Kevin had a sheet of obscenities that I had recently learned and must have been quite proud of! There was no doubt whose writing it was (kind of like when Allison wrote her name on the back of the new, 1963 MG) and I had to return his money and write my new words many times over as punishment (which was adequately fitting).

The standard price for things like this seemed to be a dime which was also my price for activities such as looking at a scab or wound (Allison could be counted on for that) or making my bed (I persuaded Joanne to do this on one occasion). Nancy was a bit more miserly (translates as older and wiser) and was harder to part from her coins.

I did share my coins with the sisters occasionally---Joanne liked Milk Duds so one day, I stopped at the store (which we weren't supposed to do) on my trek home from school and bought a five cent box of them. Upon arrival at home, I placed the special treat under her pillow where it would be a surprise, and boy, it was a surprise when Mom found them! Another food treat that I obtained once for Joanne was a box of Wheat Thins (which she also really liked) from the kitchen cabinet. After eating her fill, Joanne developed a rather severe and ugly case of the hives which quite perplexed Mom because, of course, she didn't know about the crackers and it took us quite awhile to 'fess up to our larceny with the Wheat Thins.

Another incident of cookie abuse came one year during the Girl Scout Cookie sales campaign. We had numerous cases of Girl Scout Cookies, of which Thin Mints were my favorite, around the house as we had numerous Girl Scouts in our family. Once again, in my wisdom of the years, I figured that one little box of Thin Mints wouldn't be missed (I had forgotten that the cookies were all pre-ordered and that a pretty good accounting system was used) and somehow that box, opened and partially devoured ended up between my beds. From between the trundle beds to the cabinet above the 'Fridge went the Thin Mints where they remained until I had paid for them with several weeks allowance. I think that they became rather stale but I probably ate them anyway!