Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

We Now Conclude...

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

Do you think that kids today would ever believe that back when we were growing up, not only did we only have three TV stations (if we were lucky) but that those three stations signed off each night about midnight and did not resume broadcasting until early the next morning? In our early days in Huntsville, we did not even have a local station. We had to watch the shows and news from Nashville and Birmingham. The TVs required tall aerials to be able to drag in those signals, and then did not do that very well. Just like I remember going from a telephone operation to a dial-it-yourself system, I remember the day cable TV came to Huntsville for the first time. Wow! What technology.

Last week's mystery photo of the telephone reminded me of the television technology with which we also lived. I certainly remember that many nights I watched a late black and white old movie and then was entertained by an announcement that the station was concluding their daily broadcast and listed the particulars of the station, and was then allowed to watch a rendition of the National Anthem. I also remember that many times I was given the opportunity of watching a short inspirational show of an Air Force jet flying through the skies accompanied by a rendition of "High Flight." I never understood why they showed that particular clip, but I was fascinated with the jet flying through the skies and the idea of "slipping the surly bonds of earth." We then were presented a TV test pattern for a short time, followed by both audio and video static. If I was not ready to go to bed, I'd get up and walk across the living room to switch channels on the only TV set (a 21" black and white set) to see if any other station was still broadcasting and, if so, watch the rest of their show until they performed the same closing ritual. Then I had to get up and walk across the room and manually turn off the TV. What a pain!

I know as a kid I saw the stations end their sessions many more times that I really should have. I admit - I stayed up late most of my high school days. I know some of you have been more involved in TV history than me and you might want to add something to these memories.

For now, I want to take all of you back to the days before we worried about being political correct. Remember back to our high school days when it was not only okay to play the National Anthem each night on TV, but also show a clip that not only honors our military but also fosters the idea that it is okay to believe in God. Click on the clip below to see an F-104 Starfighter and listen to "High Flight."

Subject:Ice Rink

Barbara Seely Cooper

Class of '64

Hi Tommy

You are amazing. Who else could turn an old telephone into a great quiz? Doesn't seem like you are having any Senior Moments like some of us....

Jim Beck wanted to know the name of the ice skating rink in Huntsville. My sister Donna (a Johnson High graduate) checks out your newsletter also, and she recalled the name: The Ice Palace. I didn't remember the name, but I do have a short story about it.

You may recall all three of the Seely sisters went to Carter's Skateland several times a week. At one point I became curious about ice skating and asked if we could try it, so off we went. First off, I do not like to be cold, and having to wear warm clothing to skate was the first strike against ice skating. For a little while I was cautious, so at first I did ok. Then I decided to try some of my roller skating moves, such as turning and skating backwards. Splat! Another attempt. Splat!!

The problem was simple: on the tip of a roller skate, there is a device called a toe stop. It's tilted downwards, but it allows room for the skater to do turns and other moves. To jump or turn, you tilt forward until the rear wheels on the skate are off the ground, then you complete the move. On ice skates, there is a jagged device that stops you cold if you tilt forward. Hence my splat. I never was able to overcome the roller skate habit of tilting forward, unfortunately. By the time we left the ice rink, I was cold and my slacks were wet from falling on the ice. Fortunately my sisters felt the same way. Carter's Skateland was dry, warm, and familiar, so there was no question any longer where we wanted to skate.

Good luck on your retirement, Tommy.

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Subject:Ice Rink

Tim Lull

Class of ‘67

The ice rink spoken of in the October 13 issue of the Traveller was the “Ice Palace” and was located off Governor’s Drive near “Council Court”.

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Subject:Duck and Cover for Tornados

Sarajane Steigerwald Tarter

Class of '65

I remember seeing the turtle but not the video. Did they use Bert on TV to show parents how to prepare. It's interesting that the same procedure was being used in Huntsville for tornado drills when I was teaching years ago.

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Subject:Duck and Cover

Joy Rubins Morris

Class of 1964

I remember this flm clip very well. We were iving in California at the time and routinly had this drill in our schools. I don't remember being especially frightened about the A-bomb and what it could do. I guess that was because, if my parents were ever worried, they never let us know it. Therefore, it they were okay--then we were okay

I never understand how ducking and covering would save us in the event of such an act as the destructive was so vast and immediate that the survival rate in such an event was questionable at best. Children now use these similar methods for tornado drills and the threat of guns in the schools . The methods are the same only the "why" has been changed. Strange how such a routine drill when we wre growing up has become a posible life saving technique for today's students.

I wish our children and grandchildren could experience the simplier time we had at their ages. It truly was a wonderful era in which to grow up.

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Subject:Duck and Cover

Jim Bannister

Class of '66

I remember the D&C video well. Seems like everytime we got to see it in elementary school the film would break or the projector would breakdown. I was actually the class "Air Raid Warden" in the 3rd grade. My duties were to yell out "Duck & Cover" when we had drills or if it was the real thing. Do you remember the dogtags that we got in school about the same time? I guess those were to help identify all the charred bodies under the desks.

(Editor's Note: Jim...I also remember the dog tags and how neat they were when we played Army. One of the problems that I remember was that many used these as something to exchange with their boyfriend or girlfriend - so the tags were often not worn on the "body" which it was intended to identify.)

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Subject:Church Yard Football.

Jim Bannister

Class of '66

Tommy, this issue of the Traveller has really sparked some memories. C.E. mentioned playing football in the church yard. It was Maysville Road Baptist Church. I attended there along with several of our Fami-Lee. The football games that we played there were at times brutal but lots of fun. In addition to the Wynn brothers, other regular players were Bucky Hoffmeyer, Eddie Sykes, the Klaus brothers, Jed Stephens, Ben Steele, Ken Martz, Danny and Ducky Johnson, and numerous others that I can't recall at the moment. I cannot imagine that type of unsupervised activity happening today. Just think of the liability issues! Anyway, churches today would never let that much open space go unused. It would be turned into a Family Life Center or a parking lot.

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Subject:Zotz Coin (From a Back Issue)

John Racela

Visitor

Tommy, I am curious as to where you founf that Zotz! promo coin. I think they are pretty cool. Any Idea where I might be able to get my hands on one? I always loved that movie.

(Editor's Note: I found the coin on an internet search. Even though I still have mine, it is currently lost somewhere in storage. I found a place that had reproductions but it says they are sold out. You might contact them anyway.)

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9639316

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Linda Beal Walker, Class of '66 - As an "old" telephone company employee, I hope I can answer these questions:

1. This phone was called a rotary telephone.

2. DEF were on the #3

3. The letter Q was not on the rotary dial.

4. I don't remember a # sign on the rotary phone and I checked my rotary phone and there isn't one on it.

5. You moved the dial clockwise to dial the telephone.

This mystery photo brought back many memories of the old days at Southern Bell, later South Central Bell, when operators worked at the switchboard, and we took our fifteen minute breaks in the afternoon at the time to watch "Dark Shadows", calling the customer to give them their "private" telephone number, or denying their service when the bill was not paid, etc.

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Phil Rutledge, Class of '67 - On rotary dial phones, the alphabet began on the number 2, so DEF would be on the 3. Why were there no letters assigned to 1 or 0? There is no Q, which causes problems for us analytical types today when you have to use the touchpad to enter information today. To finish your quiz, there was no octothorpe and you turned the dial clockwise.

As the dial returned to its resting position, you could here a series of clicks. Each click represented a momentary break in the connection, signaling the telephone system the digit you dialed. Some may know that you could use the switch-hook to dial on a telephone without a dialer.

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Jim Bannister, Class of '66 - The mystery photo appears to be a Western Electric Model 300 Handset.

Answers to the Questions:

1. Rotary Dial Phone

2. 3rd hole was the # 3 and letters DEF... The Number 1 was reserved for special signalling (party-line, loop dial testing, etc.) well before 1+ direct dialing.

3. The letter Z

4. There were NO special characters on a rotary dial phone

5. Clockwise to dial

(Editor's Note: Jim is also correct on the missing alphabet letter. Neither "Q" or "Z" were on the dial phones.)

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Jeff Fussell, Class of '66 - The mystery photo of the old rotary dial phone reminded me of how we'd kill time on the "Beep Line" as we knew it. Most of our readers remember how you could talk with others between the beeps of the busy signal when you dialed your own number.

Before computers and digital switching replaced the mechanical switches of the Bell System Central Office, calls to a line in use were rerouted to a common line which generated the busy signal you heard. That line itself wasn’t really "busy", so many callers were often simultaneously connected.

So, for example, anyone served by the "JE" exchange (534-, 536-, and 539- phone numbers) would all be connected to the same busy signal. With a little practice, we learned to talk in a measured way and carry on intelligible (although not necessarily intelligent) conversations with others on the same line. Some of the beep line mavens learned that there were unpublished numbers that would connect a caller directly to a busy signal generator. By using these numbers, you could connect to people served by another CO, such as those having 851- and 852- numbers.

The grand master of the beep line "chat room" had to be my good friend, the late Doug Cheffer (Class of 67). He was the only guy I knew that had two multiline business phones in his room. He would get on the beep line and give out the number of his second line which we could answer without disconnecting from the beep line. Never a dull moment.

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All I Was Doing

Was Watching Television

by Rainer Klauss

Class of '64

A couple of night ago I was watching the first episode of Heimat III, a German TV series I got through Netflix. It was about 10:30 and I was engrossed in the program, eyes fixed on the screen when something fell through my field of vision. I looked at the carpet about five feet in front of me and almost couldn't believe my eyes. It was a small snake! It had dropped off of the ceiling fan/light. Sort of freaked out, I grabbed one of my mother-in-law's beautifully-knitted comforters off the couch, threw it over the snake, and yelled for Gudrun. She's not used to having me yell late at night, so it took her a few moments to come into the living room.

"There's a small snake under the comforter."

"What!?"

"Honest to God, a small snake. It fell from the fan."

I was watching the comforter to make sure the snake wasn't going to come wriggling out, so I didn't see the look of incredulity that was probably on her face. It was a bizarre situation. Is he for real?

"Watch the comforter; I'm gonna get a broom."

By this time Gudrun's mom had come into the living room, but she didn't quite grasp what the situation was. For some reason her comforter lay on the carpet-- there was supposed to be something under there? A snake?

I brought the broom into the living room, but then thought that might not be the ideal tool to capture the snake with. I went out into the garage and got a leaf rake. Gudrun went after a container.

We convened in the living room, I jerked up the comforter, and the snake snaked in several directions as I tried to pin it down with the rake--also not an ideal took for this job.

Gudrun bravely positioned the plastic container near the snake, and we were able to capture it.

It was about thirteen inches long with gray markings, no rattle and not the kind of head I associate with a poisonous snake (I ain't no expert!).

We put it in the garage and then talked the whole strange event over so that we could come to terms with what had happened. Obviously the snake had been in the attic and was looking for a way out. The interior of the ceiling fan/light offered a possible escape route. Everything was cool until the snake emerged from the fixture and slithered onto the glass light globe. Ooops! Coming down! That's when the evening got really interesting for all of us.

We wondered, of course, if there were more snakes up there, and decided to activate the rest of the ceiling fans in the house, on the theory that the vibrations would foil any more reptile descents. That deterrent apparently worked--no cute little snakes lolling off the fan blades or snoozing on the carpet this morning.

We visited a pet store later this morning and were told that the snake is a gray rat snake (could be a hyrid), is most likely four-months old, and--most importantly--is probably the only snake that was in brief residence in the attic. A couple of months ago we had to have a possum evicted from our crawlspace, and that's probably where this snake started, too.

We freed it in the woods next to our house this afternoon, admonishing it not to come back. It glided slowly into its element, alert for more dangerous encounters.