WICHITA FALLS MAN
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Parachutes, Transistor Radios, Marbles, and a Yo-Yo
Today, school kids show off their new cell phones. When I was a school kid, the thing to show off was an AM pocket transistor radio emitting "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. The fact that a telescoping antenna was not needed to receive local AM broadcasts added to their stylish appearance. A leather case, made just for that model, added to the appeal. I never saw a kid in class listening to their radio with an earphone. We knew the rules.
Also, during my elementary school years, there was a TV series about parachuting called Ripcord that featured Ken Curtis (Festus from Gunsmoke) and Larry Pennel (Dash Riprock in the Beverly Hillbillies). This spawned a rage at school, with the boys bringing homemade parachutes - a handkerchief with a small weight at the end of the four lines. We'd fold the hanky, wrap the lines around it, toss it as high as possible, and watch it unfurl and snap open.
If we weren't "parachuting" at recess we were playing marbles. We marble-shooting studs had our marble sacks tucked under our belts. We drew a ring in the dirt and each player put some marbles inside the ring. The object of the game was to knock marbles out of the ring, using your "shooter" marble from outside the ring. You kept the marbles you knocked out of the ring. You could actually "lose your marbles" at recess!
A few years later, it was the Yo-Yo! Everybody had a Yo-Yo. If it wasn't a Duncan Yo-Yo, you were a second-class citizen. We learned and performed tricks like Sleeping, Rock the Baby, and Walk the Dog. Those were the days.
Wichita Falls Man