Growing Up In Louisa — Andy York
Weekly Feature …by Michael Coburn
When we were visiting Louisa a couple of weeks ago I took my wife on a guided tour that she’d had to endure several times over the years. Who doesn’t like to go back and relive those magic days spent as a kid? Suzie was nice enough to humor this old codger as we drove our SUV down this street and then another. I continually told her what I remembered about the person, or family that once lived there, or someone who had a well-known business on this street or that. After filling up on gasoline just down from Best Western, I turned onto the old road that used to be the mail highway into town. I passed several places I had seen on prior trips and made the turn beside what used to be the Hinkle Motel. Actually, that was built and opened just a couple of years before I left town, so it was one of the sites that barely made it into my old memories.
We crossed the tracks and I pointed out Teenie’s old house just before following the highway to the right at the locks. The next place I pointed out was the little white building that was coming into view on the left. I had fond memories of this small building that had once been ‘Andy’s Grocery.’ I remember Andy York as a neat little fellow (I was tall; he wasn’t) and friend.
I enjoyed visiting him in his store whenever I had a nickel or two to spend on some sliced bologna. You see, in those days five cents would buy several slices of that wonderful meat that was so tasty to this underfed, and under nourished young fellow. I can still see Andy when he stepped back into the meat section of the store and sliced the big roll of processed sandwich meat. Constantly talking, Andy would tell me a story about what this person ordered, or maybe something about another’s recent dealings. Now, before you think I’m accusing him of being a gossip let me assure you what he had to say could have been published without fear of insulting anyone. For example, he’d see a customer coming toward the store and whisper to me what they would likely buy. He was usually right. What it really proved, I suspect, is that we mortals are creatures of habit. Many of the things he told me about were not especially of interest to me. After all, I was just a kid. They did give me some insight on how society works and it kept me entertained while I ate my bologna. He liked to talk and enjoyed giving his opinion on the news of the day. I think he liked the company, rather than being left alone in an empty store.
His wife and her family were close to the adults in my family, so they would visit at the home just behind the store from time to time. I wouldn’t say that Andy was ‘hen-pecked,’ but he was always ready to drop what he was doing at the store to run home and help his wife when she called. I stayed and watched the store for him a couple of times. He was very good-humored and quick to give her compliments. At least it seemed so to me when I compared him to other husbands I knew. I respected him because, I guess, he treated me more like a friend than just some kid off the street.
I remember once I asked Andy if he could order me a whole box of Topp’s baseball cards. It took him a couple of days to get them from his supplier, but when they came in he called me. I rushed across town to see if I would be lucky and get some good cards with important players. I sat down and unwrapped each set of five or ten cards, thumbing through and taking out some of my favorites. The gum that came with the cards was brittle and not very tasty so I threw those away. I think they stopped putting gum in the packs some years later. Andy told me he was cutting me a real deal and was charging me only a few cents above wholesale for that box. That was nice of him because my funds were really limited. I’d saved up enough to buy this set at retail, so as it happened, I had enough money left to get a few slices of bologna and to hear some more tales Andy would spin.
He worked the little store alone, having to clerk for people, cut their meat, and keep inventory of stock on hand. He explained that having records of sales would help him to reorder and not run out of stock, and it also helped him keep up with any trends in sales that might alert him that some products were losing or gaining in popularity. Louisa was, after all, full of grocery stores all around. I’m sure Bernard or others could tell us how many, but expect that Andy’s little store was hard-pressed to make any money. It was also around the time that the IGA was built next to Keeton’s Ford. I expect that Andy’s Grocery was not what we call in business, a ‘going concern,’ because he later turned it into a laundromat. I think the vision was that all he’d have to do was empty the coin reservoirs but I believe that was a bit understated. I think I remember him saying once that it turned out to be more work than he thought.
The day that Suzie and I drove by everything looked vacant at Andy’s. I’m also guessing that Andy likely passed sometime back, but I have no real idea if, when or how. If he still lives, someone give him my regards and kind mention. To me, he was a neat fellow. I had known only one other laundromat in town and it was along the railroad near the high school. I think it was the first one to come to town. I may have written about it before, but if I have it was several years ago, and I can’t remember.
I don’t remember who owned this first laundromat, but I do remember the celebrations of the opening day. There had been a good bit of advertising posted around town and put in the newspaper. Folks all around had marked the day and were getting excited. There was a good crowd, mostly made up of ladies, each with big baskets of dirty laundry. Management had put up signs explaining all the ‘rules,’ about what customers could or could not do. I think a double row of washing machines went down the middle and driers were lined against the outside walls. The building was painted a bright white inside and out. I remember tables were inside to fold the dry laundry once it was done. It was like they’d thought of everything.
There was a good, long line of people waiting to use the machines, but because it was a new experience and had promise to save customers a lot of work, they were patient to take their turn. They just used the time to visit and catch up on the news. I listened to the dimes and quarters clanking as they were dropped into the machines. I’m not sure, but I think they had a machine that dispensed soap, too. I know the lids were being lifted and powdered soap was being added right and left. Being curious, I went outside and inspected the vents where air was coming out. It was hot, and contained no small amount of lint. Hmmmm. I supposed the cinder block walls would not ignite and the wind would likely carry away the lint, anyway, so the operation passed my inspection. My Great Aunt Shirley Chapman spent some money there over the next couple of days, but when the excitement wore off, she figured out it took work to haul the dirty laundry over there, and cost money besides. We soon went back to doing most of our laundry at home. I don’t know if that building is still in use, or if it’s still a laundromat. I guess I should have driven down that way the other week to see if it was still there.
Concerning laundry, I remember when I was a young child mom would have a big galvanized tub sitting on a table outside on the back porch that was filled with steamy water, which had been heated on the kitchen stove. She put our washboard into the soapy water. I think the washboard had a copper corrugated surface that she’d use to scrub the wet and soapy clothes. I remember one that had a porcelain scrubbing surface, but I don’t think it was a favorite. The washboard had a place at the top to keep a bar of lye soap that was used to rub on stains or dirt. I remember her hands being red from the hot water and all the abrasion from scrubbing the clothes up and down. I felt sorry for her. I knew that it hurt her hands, but it served to teach me by example that all things in life do not come easily. Our moms did a lot of things for us for which I am grateful.
When we moved from the Louisa Inn to Granny’s house on Clay Street, we bought a brand new ringer-washer. The tub was filled by a hose that was connected to the cold and hot water spigots. Once the water, soap, and clothes were added mom plugged the electric cord in and moved a stick-handle that put it in gear, like you would a car back in those days. Then the agitator began its work swishing the clothes back and forth. The water darkened, I assume with dirt, and finally mom hooked the drain hose over the sink. A built-in pump sucked out all that dirty water. Mom then had to wring out the water and then put the clothes through the wringer, which was swung into position over the sink filled with cold, rinse water. They would fall into the rinse water, be swooshed around by hand and then wrung out again and put back through the ringer. After that, mom shook out the clothing and took the wet garments out to hand on the line.
After I was taller I helped hang the clothes on the clothesline. I remember we had two kinds of wooden clothespins. One was a single piece of wood that looked like a little man with a head and long legs. I remember using this kind to make Christmas tree decorations back when our kids were young. The other kind was made with two pieces of wood and held together with a steel spring. This one could be opened to clamp the wet clothing on the clothesline. Both worked very well.
In the winter we’d still hang out the wash, but everything would soon freeze hard. I remember playing outside and running into some frozen pants once. They spun around on the line but the clothespins kept them from falling. It stung my poor, cold ear so I made sure to avoid hitting them again. One time, mom asked me to go out and bring in the wash. I told her it was frozen. You see, I figured if it was frozen then water was still present so when it warmed up they’d still be wet. She made me go out anyway and I brought in the stiff laundry. When it thawed to my amazement it was perfectly dry. I still don’t see the logic of how that works, because when ice melts it turns back into water. Where did it go?
I remember my Aunt getting her hand stuck in the ringer once. Everyone was running around trying to figure out what to do. The machine pulled her whole hand in and started up her arm, but a safety feature finally popped the two cylinders apart. She was badly bruised and sore for several days. I learned to respect machinery from that event. Oh, and I finally figured out that unplugging it might have helped…whoops!
Washing machines have changed a lot over the years. Some today have a number of features designed to handle different fabrics, and to diagnose when something is wrong. Dryers are now very common in most every home. Those also seem to know when the load is ready to take out and fold, and sends out signals like a microwave so you know it’s time to take it out. They also keep the laundry wrinkle-free by tumbling it regularly for a spell, to give you time to get back and put the clothes on hangers.
Would you believe that today, some neighborhoods will not even allow you to have a clothesline? These fancy homeowner’s associations have nothing to do but take away our freedoms. We must have this kind of roofing, a certain kind of siding, and this kind of windows! Whoever heard of not hanging out your clothes? Many newer homes have the laundry room near to the bedrooms instead of the kitchen or back porch thus allowing laundry to be washed and dried near its point of use.
Back in my day laundry was done in the kitchen or in an outside laundry room. I’m sure that was because that was where the source of water was but also, those wash tubs and wringer washers had the potential to get water everywhere. Dryers are a relatively new invention that many folks could neither afford to purchase or afford the electricity to run when they first came out. Just think how green it was to hang laundry out…and folks think going green is a new thing.
For most of us today, an electric washer and dryer are complete necessities. Today’s lives are far more hectic and fast paced and most folks don’t have the time to hang out laundry. We were blessed in many ways in those days, being green and getting our quota of Vitamin D simply doing what needed to be done…..hanging out and getting in laundry!
