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VOLUME 16
NEW BERN, N. C. 28560, FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1973
NUMBER 17
Yesterday was when a kid
could buy a piece of mar
shmallow candy with a marble
inside for a penny. Speaking of
marbles, Jack Lee was the
town’s champ when we came
along. Years later, LeRoy F^ce
took over. Both could clean your
pockets of agates in a hurry.
Yesterday was when yeast
cakes were considered Just the
thing to clear up a bad com
plexion, and Just about every
local medicine cabinet con
tained a bottle of Fletcher’s
Castoria and a Jar of Vicks
Vaporub. For indigestion you
simply took Arm & Hammer
Baking Soda;
Yesterday was when the two
one-legged guys, one white and
one Uack, met on crutches on
Middle Street. Discovering that
their shoe sizes were identical
they went in Hill’s, bought a
single pair, and divided the
purchase.
Yesterday was when
Katherine Kinsey Whitford was
right in the midst of whooping
cough when her' birthday
arrived. It didn’t stop her from
having a party. She invited
other kids who were also suf
fering from the ailment, and
they whooped it up. The story
we did on it made front page in
the New York Times, and was
printed in papers around the
world.
Yesterday was when you
could get a good lunch for 35
cents at several downtown
eateries, and an EngliShtown
outfit at Howards, complete
with coat, pants, and vest, sold
for $12.50. Ck>me to think of it,
maybe you got two pairs of
pants.
Yesterday was when boys in
Riverside were known as
Dunn’s Fielders, and as rough
and as tough as a wounded
wildcat. If you hailed from
Down Town of Ghent, you
crossed the boundary at your
own risk, and probably
regretted it.
Yesterday was when New
Bern’s earliest movie idols were
Francis X. Bushman and
Maurice Costello, and John
Bunny was the pioneer screen
comedian. He was even ahead
of Roscoe (Fatfy) Arbuckle.
Our good friend John
Beaman, who prides himself on
remembering dd-time flicker
favorites, is, we feel sure, too
young to recall anyone but
Arbuckle among the
aforementioned, if indeed he
remembers him.
Hollywood in the early years
produced many great
comedians. Inclu^ in the
stellar group were Ben Turpin,
Chester Conkling, in
comparable Charlie Chaplin,
Ben Blue, Lloyd Hamilton,
Harold Lloyd, and Laurel and
Hardy.
And of course there was W. C.
Fidds, who thanks to imitation
on television long after his
death, is familiar to millions.
None of the others were
destined for this immortality.
Everybody in show business
strives to be original to be one of
a kind. Fields, as much as
anyone who ever stepped before
a rolling camera, succeed. The
character portrayed by him
(Continued on page 8)
-f ''
[yn. .
SKYLAB PROGRAM OFFICIAL EMBLEM
—•Photo by NASA.