Born To Be a Newspaper Man

by Martin J. McGowan Jr.

Odds and Ends from a Long life

The Candy Lady

It is strange how some things your children do never become known until much later in life. One of those situations in our life was The Candy Lady.

Her real name was Mrs. Kenneth Kivley. She did not have a family of her own but she must have taken a liking to the children who passed her home on their way to and from school just a block away. At some point she must have decided t o keep a supply of candy on hand for children who might stop for a visit.

We lived next door to Kivleys when our first three children were infants. At any rate, word must have spread among the small fry that if they stopped at that certain house The Candy Lady would have a treat for them. We never heard that story until we were quite old and the children were grown up.

A Lifetime Puzzle

Something that has puzzled me all my life is why I am still here at this writing while so many others of my age are gone. My Class of 1938 at Appleton high school suffered many causalities in World War II.

They joined Company M of the Minnesota National Guard for the money in a depressed time. They had no desire to be war heroes, but when World War II began they were called up. One of my classmates, Bob Rooney, was leading a group in North Africa. He poked his head above the protection and was drilled in the head. He died in the arms of his brother, Dick. Another classmate, Burt Werring, was disemboweled by mortar fire in the American landing at Anzio, Italy. Another, Reuben Thielke, was decapitated by a shell. And so it went with others of my class in that company.

And where was I? Home running a Linotype machine on my father's newspaper. Two branches of service in this country rejected me for physical conditions. The Canadians didn't want me either.

So why did fate deal me this hand? Was I supposed to stay home and raise a large family which could make a contribution to the betterment of society? Was I supposed to take over my father's newspaper and then move on to other papers which could provide the income for this family? Did my editorial and news policy on those papers provide something good and meaningful? Was I supposed to serve in the Minnesota legislature and make a contribution there?

When I was young reaching age 80 and the 2000 millennium seemed to be an unreachable dream. But here I am at those marks and wondering why? God alone knows the answers.

The Candy Kitchen

The hangout for teenagers in my day was the Candy Kitchen. It was more formally known as Doege's Cafe. It was run by three brothers, George, Everett and Vernon. They filled many needs in the community.

George was the candy maker. At Christmas time he made the most wonderful candies, usually toffee in various colors pulled out in long strands.

Everett was in charge of the dairy side of the business operating a milk route daily and also in charge of the soda fountain and meals. After home basketball and football games the place was full of loud students. It was also the eating place for single teachers.

Vernon had the unenviable job of working all night baking bread and other such items. It came out of the ovens fresh and ready for breakfast. I can recall buying a loaf of bread for either 16 or 19 cents and carrying it home after work.

Perhaps the most memorable item there was having a Coke. The cafe had a marble counter with stools. The person serving the refreshment took up one of the monogrammed small glasses with Coca-Cola etched in the glass with the wider top. The glass was put under a tap and with a couple of pushes of the pump the flavored syrup was put in the glass. Then it went under another faucet and the fizz water was splashed into the glass to make the individual final product. This is quite a far cry from the canned Cokes in variations of formulation and the large jugs now available.

In a later era, the cafe moved north down the main street. There it had only counters and a display case to sell baked goods. There was also a large display of comic books. It was our regular routine to go there after Sunday Mass for a Coke and a cookie or roll.

On one occasion we ushered everyone out and into the car. At least I thought we did. With so many children I should have had a roll call. Kevin was so engrossed in one of the comic books he was reading that he didn't notice we had gone.

We drove on home and soon there was a telephone call. George Doege was on the phone asking if we were missing one member of the family. Now I took that roll call and discovered we were indeed one short. So a return trip had to be made to the cafe to pick up the one we left behind.

Why?

There is an advertisement on TV showing a farther shaving and his daughter bouncing on a bed observing her father. She asks, "Dad, why do you shave?" He says, "To get rid of my whiskers."

Recently my granddaughter Katelyn saw me watching TV and she came up to me and asked, "Grandpa, why do you watch so much TV?" The only answer I could come up with was, "Because I like it."

The fellow who wrote the TV ad must have had the same experience I did.

The Updike Book

It is interesting to see the things some people remember vividly and yet other people involved in the same incident don't remember the situation at all.

Brendan is a great reader. One day we were discussing books and he mentioned that when our family drove to Pittsburgh for the wedding of Marty III to Patricia Ralicki, Brendan was reading a book by John Updike. Brendan said that at one point I didn't just ask for the book but I took it from him. I don't remember that incident at all. Nor do I now recall why I would have done that. I don't recall what kind of writer Updike is, except that he wrote about the suburban scene. Brendan was a teenager at the time and perhaps either the language or theme struck me as offensive for having read Updike earlier.

At any rate the way I took the book away must have been so startling that Brendan had it indelibly etched in his mind. Sometimes parents don't know what goes on in the minds of their children until years later. Maybe that is a good thing.

Bow Ties

Bow ties always held a fascination for me for several practical reasons as well as for style. I recall as a child sitting in the lap of my uncle godfather, Pat McGowan, and looking at his bow ties. I had to check to see if they were just pre-tied bows connected to a rubber band around the neck or if they were one-piece ties requiring tying by hand. His ties were the genuine article and I admired them.

When I started wearing ties I had to have some. I acquired several in striped and polka dot patterns. They really stood out wherever I wore them.

People asked me why I liked them. I said as a newspaper man they never interfered with my typing. In addition, it was almost impossible to get food spots on them and they never fell into my soup.

I feel I am in good company wearing bow ties because of some notable persons who wear them all the time. Two of them are Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the historian, and Charles Osgood, the moderator for the television show "Sunday Morning." Thanks to my Uncle Pat for getting me started wearing them.

"Talkies"

When sound came to the movies it was first called talking pictures or "Talkies" for short. The first movie with extensive sound was titled "The Jazz singer," starring Al Jolson. The movie was released to the public in 1927 and I must have seen it with my family soon after.

The theater in Appleton was called the Scenic theater. This was the first of three theaters owned by R. G. Risch. After the first fire destroyed the Scenic he changed the name of the theater to the Reno theater. Reno was Mr. Rich's first name.

Before sound came to the theater Mr. Risch's daughter, Marjorie Lembke, played appropriate music in the pit of the theater next to the stage. The music would be soft for a pastoral scene or would increase in tempo if a chase was being shown on the screen.

"The Jazz Singer" did not have sound throughout the movie, just when Al Jolson was singing. To adapt to sound Mr. Risch cut out a portion of the center of the screen and patched it with some cloth sewed to the screen. This was a bit disturbing to the picture but we didn't seem to mind when we knew the sound came from that area.

Since this was a special occasion to have sound with movies, a Sunday afternoon was chosen to demonstrate this new marvel. We dressed up as if we were going to church.

Movies have changed considerably since that first occasion. Now sound is a big part of all movies. Not only do we get loud music but it comes complete with explosions and fires for dramatic effect but we also get sex and violence. I am not certain that these changes over the years have all been for the good.

Bounced

It must have been about 1960. That was an election year and I attended one of the Democratic fund raising dinners. Dick Rooney, my campaign manager for my four legislative campaigns, was with me. We happened to run into Eleanor Nolan, Betty's sister, an ardent Democrat and sharp attorney. Since we were all Irish, the logical thing seemed to be to head for the nearest bar. We chose the Jolly Miller at the Nicollet hotel in Minneapolis.

We ordered our drinks and as we downed them we heard some loud talk coming from the next table. We listened to see what was being said and it turned out to be a diatribe against President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Eleanor didn't let the remarks go unchallenged so she fired back a rebuttal. That resulted in more loud remarks and a table to table confrontation. Before long all were standing and going nose to nose about the former president.

Before long this resulted in some pushing and shoving, at which point the bouncer took notice. I may have been as loud as any of them but I didn't resort to physical involvement. But the bouncer had enough. He did what bouncers do. He told us to leave and ushered us out. We were bounced.

First Car Radio

When I saw my first car radio it was something special. The year was 1934 and it was the banker's son, Bob Krebs, who showed it to me. One day he drove the family 1934 Chevrolet down from his house in the high part of town to my house to put the radio on display.

I got in the car and the first thing I noticed was the speaker above the windshield between the visors. It looked quite impressive. I don't recall where the tuner was mounted but it wasn't built in.

At a time when radios had to be plugged into an electrical outlet for power it was impressive to be sitting outside and getting stations, though this was more like the days when radios had B batteries for power.

This was also a time when radio stations were not plentiful. They didn't exist in every town, large or small. FM radio was not even heard of then. We were lucky if we could bring in WCCO in Minneapolis.

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