Lakewood Lore

Old, sweet melodies stir memories of days gone by

There is nothing like an old song to incite a pin-prick of nostalgia.

Recently, a singing group of activity-prone senior citizens at Lakewood's Barton Center were asked what tunes brought back warm memories of their treasured past.

Sing "Moonlight and Roses" and Helen Stuart, 72, is a teen-ager again in Berea. It's a melody she played over and over during the years her brothers brought home "Hit of the Week" records, which came in brown cardboard platters for the Victrola.

When "For You" came out in the '20s, Wilburt (Wib) Thauvette, 82, was courting his Josephine and used to sing it to her on the front porch. Those were the days, although now, after 52 years together, things haven't changed that much, according to Wib, who also, as a memory-jerker, elected "Carolina Moon," which he sang in a minstrel show at Lakewood Elks in 1952.

"School Days" revives memories of that early 1930s period in the life of Betty Jacobs, 72, when she attended Lakewood High.

"We had to wear long stockings, and if our skirts were above the knees, we were sent home," she recollected.

When Jeanne Dunn, 66, was a little tyke on her mother's knee, she heard older relatives harmonizing, "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine."

"That was the first time I realized that older folks weren't really square after all," she said.

Alice McNerny, 92, always associates "Always" with her full life with husband Marvin. They were wed in 1927, reared five children and spent nearly 56 years together before Marvin died at age 84 in 1983.

At a dance here in 1925, Isabel Sleno, 80, heard "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" for the first time. Her boy friend Joe whispered the words into her ear. From that day on, they went steady. They were married in 1929. Joe died in Florida 11 years ago.

"It Had To Be You" is a favorite flashback rekindler for octogenarian Dorothy Miller because her late husband Herbert often sang it to her. They were married in 1926.

"Barney Google with the Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes" reawakens childhood days near Reading, Pa., for Helen Bruce, 71. She fondly recalls how grandma, who had 16 children and lived to be 98, loved to hear the piece played on the parlor player piano.

For Christine Vincent, 74, it's "I'll See You in My Dreams." That song was always the last one played at my high school dances in Columbiana County, Ohio," she sighed.

"Together Again," does it for Verna Schultz, 82. "After I had a bad heart attack 20 years ago, that number was the first I got up to dance to with my husband Carl," she said. Carl died in 1974.

Tell Taylor's "Down By the Old Mill Stream" recreates a most pleasant past for Hildegarde Schuster, 91. She and her late husband John always enjoyed singing it together.

Meanwhile, "You Made Me Love You; I Didn't Want To Do It" churns up the memory bank of Rita Eneix, 66.

"It was from a '40s movie with Clark Gable and Judy Garland, two of my favorites, and I loved how it showed the gentle side of a rough-and-tumble guy," she said.

A bygone comic scene unfolds for Helen McMillan, exercise instructor for Barton Center, each time she hears "Tea for Two." It was in a play for kids she once put on, featuring a boy, 6, singing to his tiny girl partner while pouring a cup of tea. The year: 1928.

"I Love You Truly" still titillates 80-year-old Lucille Lock. Husband John used to sing it to her. They were married in 1928 when she was 19.

Marion Marshall, Lakewood High Class of '36 and long-time piano player for Barton Center, learned a lot about manicuring the ivories from Fats Waller. She used to go downtown to the old "Lotus Gardens" to watch him at close range (stubby fingers but a wide span).

"'Ain't Misbehabvin' and 'Honey-suckle Rose' never miss bringing back those great times for me," she mused.

"Tara," theme of the classic movie "Gone With The Wind" quickly starts Lucille Mahoney reminiscing. She was a professional dancer for 30 years and heard the song again and again from the stage wings of Palace Theaters across the country long before she actually saw the film.

Alas, those were the good old days when downtown shows combined movie and vaudeville, and you could see a matinee flicker together with a 45 minute stage performance for 35 cents.

This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post September 13, 1990. Reprinted with permission.

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