Greene County Arkansas
Paragould, Arkansas
Centennial Edition Section 5
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| I remember: A Red Wagon for Peddling Vegetables |
| The old brick yard on West Court Street
was a magnet for kids with clod battles, sledding in the winter and persimmons to be
harvested after the first heavy frost in autumn. I can still hear the brick yard
mules braying after release from a day's toil of digging and hauling clay. Popular swimming holes were Peachy and Silver in the Eight-Mile Creek area northwest of town, and a popular winter sport was catching rabbits in box traps in the wooded area northwest of town. We kids cleaned and dressed our catches and sold 'em for a dime a rabbit! |
I peddled vegetables from a family
garden, hauling the produce in a small, red wagon. Among other items peddled: hair
receivers crocheted by my mother and homemade hominy made of corn purchased for 50 cents a
bushel at House & Meiser's mill. Paragould kids in the early years parodied an extra stanza or two for the ballad classic about Casey Jones. The lyrics went something like this:
|
| "Casey Jones was a rounder's name, On a six-eight wheeler he won his fame, Now Casey said before he died, There was two more trains he'd like to ride, The Cotton Belt and the P.S.E." |
Kendall D. Whte~Elgin, IL
Transcribed by: PR Massey
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