Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

Yesterday's Foods

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

Today I made myself a bologna sandwich for lunch. It’s the first one I have had in over a year and even so, it is not the kind of bologna sandwich I used as a staple during my childhood. I bet I ate two or three a week back then. Today’s sandwich was Oscar Mayer’s Fat Free bologna, a product that did not exist during those early days, and probably wouldn’t have been eaten then even if it did. It started me to thinking about my eating habits today, compared to those blissful, unaware, and unconcerned years of youth.

When I put my mind to it, I can come up with several food staples of my youth that are now no longer on my menu. The first one that comes to mind is “potted meat.” Oh yes, the tiny can that became a meal when accompanied by a stack of saltine crackers. Rich folks ate “deviled ham” but us poor folks had to settle for potted meat. Even then I knew that it was left over meat – you know, byproducts – but I loved it. In actual terms and by the label, potted meat contains “Beef Tripe, Beef Hearts, Chicken, Partially Defatted Cooked Pork Fatty Tissue, Water, Salt, Less than 2 percent: Natural Flavorings, Vinegar, Dextrose, Sodium, Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrate.” Besides containing a list of ingredients that sound similar to all the things that little boys are made of, (like in the poem - Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails, etc.) there are eight grams of fat in the tiny one serving can. I have to admit that I quit eating it because of the fat and not because of the other ingredients.

Next on my list of foods that I have given up is Vienna Sausages (Chicken & Pork in Meat Stock: Mechanically Separated Chicken, Pork, Water, Salt, Corn Syrup, Spices, Flavoring, Garlic, Sodium Nitrite), abandoned again for grams of fat inside and not taste or content. I don’t think I am alone when I state that the most disgusting thing about that tiny can of food was the gelatin like substance in the can. How did they pack them so tight? Boy I went through a lot of those, even the ones that were destroyed when trying to get the first one out of the can. Was that slippery stuff they put it is supposed to act as a lubricant to allow you to slide the tiny nubs of meat out of the can? Don’t let your thoughts get dirty here! I used to eat them with crackers too, but also liked to split them down the center and make a sandwich. A little mayonnaise and it was a feast. Well, actually back then it was “Salad Dressing” because we couldn’t afford mayonnaise.

But this was not started to talk about what was inside the food I ate, only to remember the things that I survived on back then and don’t get to enjoy today. Other things are Corned Beef Hash, loved it then, but don’t eat it now. My favorite sandwich was peanut butter and apple jelly. When I got into college I realized that I did not like apple jelly anymore, and switched to grape jelly. Today I still have an occasional peanut butter (low fat) with grape jelly sandwich, but not the one or two a week that I ate in Huntsville. I also still enjoy an occasional peanut butter and banana sandwich and still love it. I don’t eat them fried like they serve for Elvis lovers here in Memphis.

I don’t know why I ever did eat ketchup or mayonnaise sandwiches, but I did. I guess they were easy to fix, since I fixed a lot of my own food. I can’t say when I last ate a ketchup or mayonnaise sandwich.

We’ve all grown to hate e-mail spam, but I loved the meat Spam when I went camping with folks like Bobby Cochran, Don Cornelius, and Bob and Jim Ramsey. It was good fried or cold, and was easy to make a sandwich from. It also packed nice for taking into the woods. I haven’t had Spam in a few years. I was in awe of the little can opener attached to the bottom of the can that you had to insert the little metal strip into and twist around the can to open. A little internet search informed me that the process was called "keywind", which was also used on coffee cans and tennis balls. I will venture to bet that more than one of you cut a finger when using that primitive method of opening a can. A similiar key was used on sardines, and although I never ate sardines, not even as a kid, many others took them for camp food as well.

While on the subject of camping, there was another meat that I used to eat a lot of and have not tasted in probably 20 years. It is steak. No, not real steak, but some formation of meat that was pressed together and called Minute Steaks, or cubed steaks maybe. I really think it was Minute Steak, but it took more than a minute to cook. I think I shared this meal with Ronnie Hornbuckle at least once. In the Boy Scouts we would take a piece of aluminum foil and lay it flat. We’d slice thin slices of potatoes, carrots, and some used onions, but not me. We’d stack layers of these three things, then lay a Minute Steak on top, then build more layers of potatoes, carrots, and onions. Add a little salt and pepper, wrap up the stack and toss it on the coals of the fire. Wait a little while, turn it over, wait a little longer and remove to eat. Great food in the woods! Ate a lot of those little steaks back then, but I guess when I found out that there were real steaks to be had, the desire for Minute Steaks went away.

There is another lunch meat that I remember from my past. I don’t know what it was made of, but I remember the name being “Spiced Luncheon Meat.” It and bologna were sometimes supplemented with “ham” when we could afford it, but that was rare.

As an adult, I don’t eat fried eggs, saturated in fat, with runny yellows the way I did as a kid. I also do not use raw eggs to make a milk shake with ice cream and milk. Nor do I drink the half-gallon of milk a day that I did, or even eat the ice cream. Now it is fat free frozen yogurt. I didn’t even know what yogurt was back then. Today it is an occasional cup of fat-free milk over some cereal. I rarely eat hamburgers and I never soak the top of the buns in the grease like my grandmother did for me at Rebel Inn. Bob Walker called them “grease-burgers” when he was a car hop at Mullins. We also don’t have the pot of bacon grease on the stove anymore to aid in cooking.

I seldom indulge in a whole candy bar, or buttered popcorn at the movies. I remember the promise I made myself back then…”When I grow up I’m going to have the money to buy all the Cokes, candy bars, and popcorn I want when I go to the movies.” Well, I have the money, but not the “heart” to keep that promise.

No list of my favorite missed foods would be complete unless it included that artery clogging delight, the fried pie. It didn’t matter if they were apple, peach, cherry, or pineapple, I loved those things. Homemade or from the store in that little paper wrapper, they were all good. My favorite way to eat them was to put a pat of butter in a skillet and re-fry them one more time myself so that they would be warm. But, just pulling one out of the bag and eating it cold was also hard to beat. Often I had them for breakfast, which leads me to another memory of a favorite breakfast pastry – the Honey Bun. Again, put a little butter in a pan, drop the Honey Bun on it and then heat it for a minute, flip it over and do it again and feast on the result. Just one of those has more fat than I am allowed to eat all day these days.

As I was editing this article, I came up with one more late night treat – cornbread and milk. Many a night that combination kept me from going to bed hungry and carried me over until the next day. My grandmother loved cornbread and buttermilk, but buttermilk is something that I have never acquired a taste for. But cornbread also was great when it was crumbled into a bowl and pinto beans were added to the top of it.

No memories of yesterday’s food would be complete without a mention of my great-grandfather and the way he would pour his coffee into a saucer and sip it from there rather than drinking from a cup. I did not like coffee much as a child, but sometimes I would sip from a saucer as well, but I also remember that I would drink it from a little cup which now I know is a "demitasse cup." I don't think that word was in the official Alabama language. Most often I drank chocolate milk made with Hershey's syrup or from a can of powdered Nestles. When I needed a lid, inside liner, or label to send off and get something free, I drank Ovalatine. I can't remember the last time I poured Hershey's syrup into a glass of milk.

Yes I’ve given up a lot of food for changed taste, more money in my pocket, and most of all a healthier diet. I really miss eating most of those things, but know that by avoiding them, I’ll live a longer and healthier life. Ah, but if I was on death row, what a feast I’d have for my final meal before walking that last mile! Bring on the fried pie as an appetizer.

___________________________________________________

Subject:Thanks and Catching Up

Chip Smoak

Class of '66

I am happy to report that my recovery is going very well in the opinion of the doctor. I am back at work now and just trying to get over the aches, the pains, and the numbness and to get my energy level back. Thanks for all the prayers. They obviously worked very well.

It has been said so much that some us must be concerned about how big your cranium has grown. Thanks again for the wonderful job that allows us to keep up with one another.

I am sure that none of us really anticipate where life would take us and the impact that our lives would have on this old world. It is obvious that the Generals of '64, '65, and '66 and even some of the later classes have left their mark. Some of us have done so without even realizing it. One never knows when someone else is observing us and how the example that we set by the way we live our lives will impact the other person. It is obvious to me that the Generals can and should walk with their heads held high. As a group all of us have had a very positive impact on our communities and our country. I am proud to be associated with people of such high caliber.

Referring back to the April 19th edition's mystery item, I may still have my old "Fanner 50" and possibly one or two of the "Shooting Shell" bullets. The gray tips don't shoot like they should but they bring back memories of a lot of good times playing "Cowboys and Indians" or "Soldiers" or just trying to hit a target. The "bullets" were not very accurate. To actually hit what you were aiming at was pure luck.

___________________________________

Subject:Barbara's Article

Collins (CE) Wynn

Class of '64

Congratulations all around for Barbara for her recent article, ""The Creature from the Black Lagoon" and Friends"". I enjoyed it very much - made me smile and fondly recall Whitaker Lake myself - truly a job well done. A couple of us guys were talking the other day wondering what all you girls were doing while we were out exploring the countryside and establishing our male hierarchy. We were getting a little concerned that our newsletter was coming to dominated by the guys - which was something none of us guys wanted. And then......Barbara comes though for all of us with a great piece of work. I would sure enjoy more articles from the female perspective.

_____________________________

Coach Nunnally Ceremony?

by Collins (CE) Wynn

Class of '64

Does anyone remember the patriotic ceremony we held in the Lee High School Auditorium in September of 1961 for Coach Nunnally? It was a rousing send off on the occasion of his military active duty call-up similar to what is happening throughout America today.

Coach Nunnally was called to active duty with the 279th Signal Battalion (Corps) in Huntsville and served with them at Fort Hood, Texas for a year or so attached to Headquarters III Corps (pronounced 3 or Third Corps). When the crisis defused in the summer of 1962 after the Soviets backed down he and the other Battalion members were released from active duty and returned home without being deployed overseas.

"As the confrontation over Berlin escalated, on 25 July President Kennedy requested an increase in the Army's total authorized strength from 875,000 to approximately 1 million men, along with increase of 29,000 and 63,000 men in the active duty strength of the Navy and the Air Force. Additionally, he ordered that draft calls be doubled, and asked the Congress for authority to order to active duty certain ready reserve units and individual reservists. He also requested new funds to identify and mark space in existing structures that could be used for fall-out shelters in case of attack, to stock those shelters with food, water, first-aid kits and other minimum essentials for survival, and to improve air-raid warning and fallout detection systems.

On 30 August 1961, President John F. Kennedy had ordered 148,000 Guardsmen and Reservists to active duty in response to Soviet moves to cut off allied access to Berlin." (I added underline for emphasis - in many ways, just as today, it was a dangerous time - we were insulated from most of it - CE)

from www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/berlin.htm

The parallel to this story is that right now parts of the 279th Signal Battalion (Army Area) are currently serving under difficult circumstances in Iraq. I was proud of Coach Nunnally at the time and I’m proud of the men and women of the 279th now.

______________________________________