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.
