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Subject: [NCMECKLE] Mecklenburg Neighbors
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 17:51:44 EDT

THE CHARLOTTE
OBSERVER

1920S CHARLOTTE: TIN LIZZIES,
HOPSCOTCH, HORSESHOES

Wednesday, July 12, 2000
Section: MECKLENBURG NEIGHBORS
Edition: THREE
Page: 15M
OTIS SKIPPER, Special Observer
Column: Your Life

Illustration: Photo

Caption: 1. Otis Skipper and his wife, Jacqueline, now live in
Mint Hill.

Editor's note: The once-familiar landscape in
Charlotte-Mecklenburg is rapidly changing. But memories will
remain, especially if we share them. Mecklenburg Neighbors is
sharing our readers' recollections about growing up here.

Although we lived in tough times without the material things
available today, I have many fond memories of growing up in
Charlotte during the 1920s.

I remember when I was about 5, my dad owned a Model T
Ford that had to be hand-cranked to get the dang thing started.

Extreme caution was a must when cranking it up, or the "tin
lizzie" would kick like a mule. It had no heater or windows. In
inclement weather, isinglass windows were snapped on for
protection.

I'll never forget Miss Ivey, my third-grade teacher at Third
Ward grammar school. She was tiny but dynamite, tough but
fair. Miss Ivey would not tolerate any class disruption without
the guilty paying the price. One trip with Miss Ivey into her
"cloak room" for "one-on-one" consultation was sufficient.

The penalty: Miss Ivey simply grabbed the offender by the seat
of his pants and rammed his head into the wall (a move that
would even impress Bobby Knight). She would finish the
exercise by politely saying, "I hope I don't have to bump you
again."

She never did. Discipline was the word. I think Miss Ivey
invented it.

During the summer, the city recreation department assigned a
supervisor to plan playground activities for each grammar
school.

Walter J. Cartier, the first Third Ward Supervisor, was later to
become director of the entire city. Activities included softball,
riding swings, seesawing, leapfrog, boxing, dodge ball,
hopscotch, jumping rope, puffing tobacco tags, shooting
marbles and pitching horseshoes.

Shoot-outs were held in horseshoes and marble-shooting
(Baltimore) contests to determine who would represent our
playground in the city tournament. Tough competitors were
Sam Howard, Neely Bain and Howard Oates. Horseshoe
toughies included Frank Leonard, Richard Heller, Bob
Madigan, Billy Thomas and many others.

No public swimming pools were available in Charlotte during
the 1920s, but there were in Gastonia and Belmont - imagine
that!

Mrs. Little, our playground supervisor, planned a trip for us to
go swimming and picnicking at Armstrong Park in Gastonia.
We marched to the Piedmont and Northern Electric Train
Station on West Fourth and Mint streets, boarded the train and
had an exciting ride and enjoyable outing at Gastonia's pool.
Later, we also made swimming trips to Belmont, again via the
P&N Electric Train.

One summer Sunday afternoon about 1929, my lifelong friend
Frank Leonard and I strolled down to Erwin Creek to see if
perhaps any baptizing was taking place, as some black
churches often engaged in this practice.

No such activity was going on, so we crossed the creek, which
at that time was the city limits boundary, to roam the
wide-open fields.

Walking toward West Trade Street, we began to observe a golf
ball here and there, so we began picking them up. The further
we advanced, the more plentiful the balls.

Suddenly, we heard a loud roar from a man who was running
toward us waving a club over his head yelling, "What in the
h--- are you all doing? Get off my property or I'll call the
police!"

Frank and I quickly discovered we had invaded a golf driving
range, an operation with which we were totally unfamiliar. We
took off immediately without the balls, leaving our pursuer in
the dust!

In 1928, the safety patrol guards, now crossing guards, were
initiated by the City School System to protect children crossing
streets. Third Ward was one of the first schools to participate
in the program.

The Charlotte News ran a picture of our patrol squad,
depicting the members: Reed Surrat, who became editor of the
Winston-Salem Journal, T. A. Sumney, Duncan Lane and me.

Otis Skipper was born in 1917 on South Cedar Street and
graduated from Central High School. He worked for Southern
Bell 45 years in Charlotte, Charleston and Columbia and spent
the last 26 years as forecast manager in the Winston-Salem
district. He retired in 1982 and returned to Charlotte in 1987.
He lives in Mint Hill with his wife, Jacqueline, and has two
daughters, one stepdaughter, three grandchildren, two
step-grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Thanks, Dad. I hope that you contribute many, many more.

Love to you,
Joy Skipper Cornwell

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