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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Me. The Early years. Part 1


How did I end up being born in New Orleans. My daddy (William Brooks Winter) and mother (Melba Joyce Langston) both are from Calhoun County in North East Mississippi. My brother (Michael Ray Winter) was born with a large percentage hearing lose. I'm not sure if they knew that at the time or found out later that was the reason he was “slow”. Mother's brother (Herbert James Langston) and his wife lived in New Orleans. They suggested that he would do better down there in a special school. That ended up being the Magnolia School. Mother told me after they tested Mike, she was told her son was not retarded. She told them she knew he was not retarded. That was when they realized the Magnolia School was a school for the mentally retarded. So I guess that may be when his hearing lose was found to be causing him to be slow in school. Michael finished 12 years of “schooling” in I think eight years. At LSD (Louisiana School for the Deaf) in Baton Rouge. From there he went to Delgado trade school in New Orleans. My oldest brother (Billy James Winter) stayed in Mississippi with Maw maw (Edna Pearl Langston) and Pawpaw (Gilbert Lee Langston) to finish high school.
Uptown New Orleans.
I'm trying to remember and record real memories and not what I might think are from old photos. One of my earliest memories is me playing under the quilt that Mother was sewing at the time. Also being pulled in a wagon around the uneven terrain in front of the school on Jefferson Ave, McDonogh #14, (now Benjamin Franklin Mathematics and Science School). I'm not sure if it was my brother Billy or Michael doing the pulling. I can remember Michael “playing” dead a lot. I would slap him as hard as I could, and he would not move. He always tried to get me to drink coke with peanuts in the bottle, I never would. Billy used to fold my stroller down and make a car out of it, complete with a steering wheel, and push me around the house. I'm not sure how old I was during these events. I have a photo with me in diapers in the “stroller car”. Bosco chocolate milk drink mix was a favorite beverage. A favorite toy of mine, tricycle with a two wheel trailer comes to mind. Daddy added a motorcycle style windshield. One of the older kids up the street tore the clear plastic screen. Daddy thought I did it. The train set was very popular with Billy, Michael and Daddy. The first wreck (maybe the only one) we had was going to get more train tracks. It was raining, a city bus cut in front of us. We had a storage area under the stairs that I was not allowed to go in. Billy had a rebel soldier hat stored there that I would get out and play with. The stairs were in the 2nd room, then Mother and Daddy's room, after that was the kitchen. The first bad dream I remember was when I saw a large black and white worm with a hat and red bow tie on at the foot of my baby bed, just setting there smiling at me.

The man next door was very strong, lifting weights and such in the back yard. Maybe his name was Mr. Robertson I'm not sure. Back then some radio stations would go off the air at sundown. I always thought you had to turn them off or it would burn up the radio when the tone ended and static would come on. Daddy had to build a picket fence around the TV to keep me from turning the knobs. Mother took a picture of me by-passing the fence to get to those knobs. I guess that may be why we did not have a TV later on. Perhaps I tore it up.
. A girl that lived a house or two away from our house was Yvette. She may have baby sat me. Billy's girlfriend Bonny lived up that way also.

I think “The Major” lived near here. He gave us some old furniture ( a secretary, small wooden “icebox”, Rex statuette and vases to name a few). Mother said he did that cause he knew we would take care of that kind of stuff, and his kids would not.
This house had a sidewalk on the west side that leads to the backyard. The window in the living room was the one I fell out of on to that sidewalk. I would sit on the back of the couch and lean back on the screen. I guess it gave way and out I went. Now that I think of it I remember mother telling this story, and the house painters took the screens off. The back porch “shed” had an old toilet with the tank up high. To flush you would pull a chain, I guess this was the original bathroom for the house or maybe the servant’s bathroom. I had a sandbox. I don't remember any type of swing set. The first dog I remember was a beagle. Tina was her name. I guess we lived here until 1961. I think we had to move because the house was being sold. The new owners didn't want to rent it out. I can't imagine a 4 1/2 year old knowing that.
820 Joseph St
Next place we moved to. 820 Joseph Street. I guess you could call it a split level. Two bedrooms, a balcony and the bathroom were over the garage. Kitchen and living room were down stairs but higher than the ground floor in the retail store in the “front” of the house. I know daddy discovered some food (Donuts?) on the doorstep early one morning. It turned out to be for the corner store that was at the front of the house, they would put deliveries there if Mr. Landry opened a little late. He had a penny gum machine with a few gumballs that were different from all the others. If you got one of those it could be “traded” for a piece of candy from the candy counter. I remember finding a silver dollar outside the store. I gave it to Mr. Landry. He made a big deal about me giving it to him instead of just keeping it. He gave it to me as a reward. I showed it to mother, she took me back to the store to “check out” my story. I know she was proud of me doing that.

Daddy went out and bought a LP record player. It had a speaker in the front, and two that would swing out, or could be detached for enhanced stereo effect. To play 45s you put an adapter, about the size of an empty toilet paper roll on the turntable. I remember daddy buying Camel cigarettes. Due to the way the machine was set-up and taxes, each pack had 4 pennies on the side under the cellophane wrapper. Of course I always got that 4 cents. I remember Mrs Treenola, she gave daddy various tools and stuff, maybe when her husband died.

Across the street from our house is where Toni lived. My first “girlfriend”. Seems like she went to Pyrtania private school. Billy met Ruth while we lived here, I think in a record store. A classmate Darlene and her little brother Chuck lived back the other way on the same side of the street. The elementary school for this part of New Orleans was McDonnogh 14, Another friend John Glenn lived near by (Camp st and Joseph st). I got in trouble the first day of school. Our classroom had a bathroom with special smaller size sink and toilets. I had no ideal one was not to go to the bathroom when a girl was in there. We would stay in school for half a day. Some of my classmates were Norman, Cindy, and Janice. She lived on the street right behind the school. My kindergarten teacher was Mrs Ericson, 1st grade we had 3 or 4 different teachers, so I don't remember their names. Mr. Charlie, and the Skipper were some of the “adults” I knew. Seems like Toni, her mom, and big sister lived alone, I don't remember a father figure over there. We had some friends that lived some distance away. Quentin and Barbara Sandland. They had two kids Steve and Mike. Maybe a girl too. We lived here when Mike got his hearing aids from Beltone. They put plaster in his ear to make a mold for the part that goes in the ear. I came home from school the day they came in. He was amazed that you could hear the airplane overhead that was so high.
Ruth lived with her daddy (Albert Rohr) and his mother. Ruth's mother died when she was young. Billy worked with daddy at Lee Tractor Company. Mike at the School for the Deaf in Baton Rouge. One time Billy and Ruth went to Mississippi, and it came a big snow in New Orleans. The first snow I can remember. They drove back that night going around closed road signs just to be back before it melted. We have pictures of it with Toni and I in them.

I think we moved from here to get away from this area due to people parking here and going to the bar room on Magazine st. and coming back drunk. Daddy had to paint “No Parking! Do Not Block the Driveway!” on the garage door. Billy's car was kind of a hot rod (police interceptor engine). He used it to push a car out of the way of the garage door. I don't remember us using the garage to park the can in, I guess it was for the principal of not blocking the driveway. I remember daddy taking Toni and I to get us Slim Jims (spicy beef jerky) and Chocolate Solders to drink. The “bartender” thought we were daddy's gran kids. He got a big kick out of that. When Billy and Ruth got hitched, I got to move to his bedroom. Before that I was still in my baby bed in mother and daddy's room.

Saturday, February 18, 2012