August 2005                                                             The Megaphone                                                                Page 3

Food & Drinks

by Estel Harney

 

  We talk about food on the Den site from week to week and sometimes on the weekends also. Food and drink are very much a part of our lives and we might not have a life without them.


  We eat strawberries, tomatoes, peaches, pears, and even rhubarb (for some people) the year round nowadays. Makes one think about what we have that differs from what we had. Sometime you should try to count the number of variety of fresh fruits in the stores at any given time during the year. Times have sure changed from the days of old.
     
  Even the drinks we have today are so varied that it is hard to choose from so many types. Years ago there was pop and cola. The pop consisted of orange, grape, lemon, cream soda, and a few off brand tastes someone thought people would like. There was the Dr. Pepper cherry/medicine like taste and the grapefruit taste of Squirt. Coca-cola had no competition in the cola field for many years. Now the colas include Pepsi, RC and a variety of store brand names like Sam's Club, Kroger's, Marsh's and a few others you find in various parts of the country.
  
  I thought you might like to read an ad from our home town cola distributor of Elwood, Indiana.

- - - - - - - - -
Coca-Cola Bottling Works, 1608-1610 South A Street, Elwood, Indiana
Bottled Coca-Cola --- A Balanced Food

     
  A bottle of Coca-Cola carries in perfect balance the elements that a hot, tired body cries for. It carries the sugar that quickly relieves the tired muscles. It carries the water that dilutes the blood and cleanses the veins and arteries. It carries the fruit acid that soothes the frayed nerves.

             
  It carries the CO2, the gas that forces out trapped gases and hastens the removal of the body waste.

               
  Drink your energy in the form of bottled Coca-Cola. Keep a case in the house. Let all drink freely for every bottle will replace some other food. So it is not an expense at all. Eat sparingly -- drink freely.

- - - - - - - - -                 


  This ad would hardly get by the FDA today. By the way, the first Coca-Cola had a bit of cocaine in them, "keeps them coming back." They say it is only the taste of the cocaine that is retained today. At five cents a bottle back then and with all the promises the ads proclaimed, it is no wonder it became the drink that exists the world over.

  Just remember, we had a big oval window in that building on So. A Street that many of us used to watch through as they sent bottles all over the world. I am sure some of you even had friends and relatives that worked in that very building.

From My Coke Bottle Collection,
Estel Harney '62 

West of Anderson, IN

Class of '55 Reunion

      

Thursday - Sunday

September 29 - October 2, 2005

                

The Class of 1955 will celebrate its 50th reunion the weekend of September 29 - October 2. The Double Nickel will have complete details but here is a brief overview of the planned events.

                    

Thursday, September 29

Pizza Party at the Pizza Shack in Tipton

      

Friday, September 30

Picnic at the Shelter in Callaway Park;

Homecoming football game

      

Saturday, October 1

Golf outing; Breakfast at Jim Dandy; Class picture; Social Hour; Alumni Banquet;

Party at the Elks

    

Sunday, October 2

Breakfast at Lucky Strike Bowling Alley

                

If you have had a change of address or status, let Barbara (Green) Courtney know as soon as possible.

            

barbara.courtney@sbcglobal.net

      

Memories

by Bob "Doggie" Henderson

    

  Some of you may be too young to remember the Cooper canning factory that sat where Kutchie car dealership is now located. 

  

  In back of it is where two creeks came together and there was a fairly deep hole that was deep enough for swimming. When it would be real hot, my brother-in-law would take me swimming there. Back then you didn’t have the pollutants in the water like you do now. 

  

  Then there was Frazier canning company on North 12th Street that employed a lot off people during the tomato season. About 4 or 5 of us boys would wait on the corner of North J and Anderson street and when the tractors pulling the wagon loads of tomatoes to the factory they had to slow down to make the turn and we would get a basket of tomatoes off the wagon, run like the dickens and hide. We always carried a salt shaker with us. Umm, good eating. They made the best catsup. 

  

  Then you had Fettig's canning where Red Gold is now located on South 18th Street. Then there was Brown’s out on 37 north. I worked there one summer and my job was to drop the salt tablet in each can. It was a small operation and set up in his barn. 

    

  There were a lot of canning companies back then and Elwood had a tomato festival for several years. Had a lot of floats and a queen contest. Those were the hey days of the tomato season that I remember.

                     

Bob (Doggie) Henderson '53

Pierceton, IN

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