 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2005-01-01 08:42:00
40s’ winters...
ANSWER: Oh, "The Good Old Days". January always make me remember the freezing winters of the past. Wichita in the 40's was different. Do you remember what the house felt like when you woke on a cold morning? If not, let me remind those of you who lived through the 40's. It was ice cold, even freezing to the point that sometimes the pipes under the house would freeze and burst during the night. You see, we used coal to heat with then. That's right; a coal stove generally occupied a key place right in the center of your home. The coal, which was delivered by a large truck, was dumped into a coal chute that was usually under the house or in your basement. I can remember my dad getting up in the morning and literally running to get the coal to start a fire in the stove, then running back to bed and covering up with so many blankets that the weight was very heavy to sleep under. Eventually, the stove would do its thing and you could get up to a house that wasn't exactly warm, but at least the chill was knocked off! Then throughout the day, you had the privilege of attending the fire and adding coal as needed to keep the fire burning. There was another method that we used to help keep warm, and that was heating a brick over the fire, wrapping it with a piece of flannel, and placing it at your feet. You know thinking back; the house always seemed warm during the day. We had the radio to enjoy: farm news with Bruce Behymer, the Ark Valley Boys, and Bob Gadberry. On network we had Kate Smith, Aunt Jenny, Major Boles Amateur Hour, Inner Sanctum, Boston Blackie, and many more. Can you remember waking up to the sound of car motors running at top speed, tires spinning like crazy to get out of a snow drift, and the streets all jammed with snow? Getting in and out of a drive-way with a slope was always a challenge. You may remember that the snow crew in Wichita during that time consisted of just a few road graders (not snow plows) and too few men clearing away the snow. Thus, everyone had snow tires (which were not totally effective), or chains that snapped-on, only consisting of three areas of your tire being covered, or the full chains that went completely around the tire. Yes, it seemed colder back then, but those truly were "The Good Old Days".
