160919 September 19, 2016

Can You Remember This

Tommy Towery

LHS'64

 I can’t believe nobody emailed me to remind me of another overlooked “collectable” container which has been repurposed for years. How about the mighty coffee can. There was a time when no tool shed existed without at least one rusty coffee can sitting on a shelf filled with nails, screws and bolts and nuts. Some contained old spark plugs, which were good for nothing, but too valuable to throw away. It was almost a necessity for any paint job involving a brush and a large can of paint. Fill the can with paint remover and soak the brush in it until it was either clean, or it was forgotten and sat there until the paint remover became a gummy mess and the brush became useless.

One other tin of the past was the one in which Sucrets throat lozenges were sold. This was almost identical to today’s tins holding those famous “curiously strong peppermints” known as Altoids. Sucrets were first marketed in 1931 and quickly became a favorite storage container for thousands. Today’s Altoids are housed in almost the same sized tin and the world of Pinterest is filled with projects to utilize the empty cans. I first became aware of them when I was started going on temporary duty to England in the late Seventies and soon my bedside drawer was filled with the empty peppermint smelling boxes.

My brother Don (back), my mother, and me and our TV on East Clinton Street.

The Vintage Television

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

New Shows for1955

Intros for 21 of the 34 Shows Permiering That Year

        My personal TV memories don't go much farther back than1955, so it is with that year I am going to try to show you some of the new shows that were introduced that year. Most of them I do remember, but some failed to make it to my memory bank. I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane.

From Our Mailbox 

Subject:    Last Week's Issue

Chip Smoak

LHS 66

        My brother and I used most if not all of the storage containers adapted from their original purpose which you mentioned in your article.  My father used a cigar box to store small bottles of India ink, mechanical pencils, and other small items he used in college and his profession as an engineer.  My brother and I used cigar tins to hold marbles.  Crown Royal bags held all sorts of odds and ends.  Shoe boxes also held various odds and ends.

        When children came along their baby food jars were drafted to store nuts, screws, washers, and other assorted small items until they were needed.

        Now they are nostalgic memories and perhaps still utilized as storage containers because they are handy and save the expense of purchasing items designed for that purpose.  They also stimulate nostalgic memories.

        I also enjoyed your article about Keith Larsen and Jeremy Slate, having tried to remember for some time their television series The Aquanauts which I tried to watch every week.

Thank you again for all you do by putting out the Lee's Traveller to keep the famiLEE in touch with each other and it's roots.

Subject:     September 12th Lee's Traveller

Polly Gurley Redd

LHS '66

        Loved the article about containers. Cigar boxes were the best and still are if you can get one. They were the best money boxes at craft fairs and bazaars when we were younger. 

        Later we had the Altoid tins. They were like your aspirin holder, but a little larger and I have several of them holding things in my dresser now.

        Thanks for this great reminder.

Subject:    Mike Crowl's Story

John Torzillo 

        Had to smile about your experience circumnavigating Houston, I had a similar experience, trying to exit the Atlanta airport..