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The NEW BERN
7a
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
’ASTERN NORTH
Ol/
7'
VOLUME 16
NEW BERN, N. C. 28560, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1973
NUMBER 32
Yesterday was when Jake
Long began his long career as a
general hanc^an and Jack of
all, trades for Sudan Shrine
Temple here. Thousands of
Nobles and their ladies are
familiar with his broad smile
and happy saluatation.
Long retired a few years ago,
about as young in apperance as
he was almost a half century
earlier. Last weekend he in
formed the Mirror’s editor he
had just observed another
birthcby, but refused to reveal
his age.
No amount of coaxing could
extract the information from
him, in a confrontation that
occurred on the steps of New
Bern’s main Post Office. . "If I
told you,’’ Jake explained, "it
might hurt my chances of
getting married."
Yesterday was when New
Bern kids placed crossed
straight pins on Callie Mc
Carthy’s street car tracks, so
that the trolley would mash
them together and make them
look like a tiny pair of scissors.
Yesterday was when you
could buy a hot dog, complete
with mustard and a slice of
pickle for a nickel. Shop the
meat countei's, and it’s easy to
see why munching on franks, at
home or elsewhere, ain’t cheap
today.
Yesterday was when, in the
midst of World War Two, the
town had an elderly black
peanut vendor who made his
rounds in the business district
chanting, "We’ve got to do all
we can, to keep Hitler from this
land.”
Yesterday was when the
letter X was used to indicate
kisses in a love letter, not to
assure movie goers that they
could count on four-letter words
and lewd scenes in a fUm thus
marked.
Yesterday was when New
Bern youngsters seldom
sported store4iought costumes
on Halloween. You got a dime
for a scareface, and then rigged
up in‘something contrived from
somebody’s clothes at your
house.
Yesterday was when Log
Cabin syrup came in a can
shi^ied and painted like a cabin,
instead of in a bottle. And
nobody considered it crude and
uncultured if the can stayed on
the table while you ate your hot
cakes.
Yesterday was when Graham
McNamee, broadcasting World
Series games on radio, made
pop flies sound like long drives,
and easy bounders sound like
hard smashes. The truth on
television is less exciting.
Yesterday was when a gal
who sunned on the beach,.ln-
stead of venturing into the surf,
. didn’t get much of her surface
tanned. Staying on shore was a
matter of smf preservation.
Who could stay afloat in a skirt,
bloomers,' rib stockings, and
canvas shoes?
Yesterday was when Granny
Whit^urst, one of the dearest
souls we ever knew, saw
another lady’s hat tumble to the
floor, as she bowed in prayer at
(Continued on page 8)
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IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO—The title of one of the
songs In George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess can be
applied to these drawings by a Yankee artist of the
Battle of New Bern. Did he rely on memory or let
his imagination run wild from a safe distance?