Charlie’s Thoughts… (from a conversation on May 18, 2007)

I don't have a particular reason to post this blog right now, but I just started looking through old files and decided to share the wealth. My family has such a rich heritage, and I have always known that. Hearing my dad tell his stories...well, that can't be replaced, but it can be remembered.  Here are just a few of those fabulous stories that I wrote down after visiting with him one day. I added pictures, of course. My dad was born in 1919 and lived to be 90 years old. Life changed considerably in those 90 years. I truly enjoyed hearing about those simpler, but harder, days.

Do you know any stories about when your parents were young?

I remember this from when I was just a little guy. Dad was down to the neighbor’s and our dog (brown and white collie mix named Shep) was down there. He wanted to teach him to stay home, so he caught the dog and put rocks in a can, tied it on his tail, shot the shotgun. The dog ran all the way home and through the screen door. Mom said “somebody really did old Shep.” He didn’t dare tell her it was him!

Florence and Ray, with one of their dogs

Charles and Juanita - winter wear
was a bit different in those days!

           

What were you like when you were little? Tell me about the other children in your family and how you got along with them.

I was always in trouble – I remember that – and I always liked horses. When we came home from the field, we always rode down the road. I was right out in the way. One hired man snapped me on the butt with the line. Juanita tied into him like a banty hen.

Victor was a little stubborn. We had to walk down the hill by the school house to get water. One day, some other boy and I were told to get water. Victor wanted to go too and didn’t want to take no for an answer. He ended up getting a spanking from the teacher. He says Juanita and I couldn’t wait to get home and tell Dad so he’d get another spanking. That was the rule – if you got a spanking at school, you got one at home too.

Victor and Charles in the seat, Ray holding the bars,
Esther watching

Just after Esther was born, I was down talking to the mailman. The mailman asked, “Got a new little sister?” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “What would you take for her?” I said, “A nickel.” A nickel was a lot back then!

   

Rollie and Thomas

                 

What did your family like to do together?

We went to Uncle Thomas’s - always had fun with that family. I always liked when Walter (Knudson) was down from Austin. We got in a lot of trouble, though – luckily, it was always his fault. Maybe that’s why I liked him! Uncle Rollie and Dad didn’t like his dad at all (married their sister), so they kind of took it out on Walter. For him, getting sent to the farm was like going to Siberia. He always had to help Uncle Rollie, who didn’t like him that much and worked him pretty hard. Uncle Rollie worked me pretty hard too – it was kind of like having two fathers.

Share a wedding day memory.

I went down the street with the back door open on the car. Maybe my mind was elsewhere. When I think about those days….You know, we didn’t have money – I had just barely enough to get back to camp, and none in the bank. I don’t think anybody could have started with less than we had. I hadn’t laid up any money before I went in to the service, and in the army you pretty much spent everything from month to month. I started out making $30/ month, then $66, but was making $75 by the time we got married. Mother started teaching school for about the same ($75/month) and had to pay board and room ($2-$3/week) out of that.

Audrey & Charlie's wedding day, with Marj and Victor

           

Just tell me how you could resist those four cuties?!

What stories do you remember from when the boys were little? 

I remember the time that Don fell out of the car. I had lost a couple of pigs out in the field and was going to get them. I had all the boys in the backseat of a two door car. I was in a hurry.  I saw the boys were all looking out the back window, and I said “What you lookin’ at?” They said, “Don fell out.” I guess they wanted to see how far he rolled.

It's parade time in Fountain!

Bim got lost once, and we even had the fire department looking for him. The dog, Old Joe, found him in the corn field.

Mostly for real excitement we went on trail rides. Horses were always a big part of our entertainment for the boys. I went to a lot of wrestling matches. Got pretty wrapped up in that. Things were so hectic you don’t remember a lot of what went on.

All five Arnold boys, on a horse, of course!

One time the boys took the old pony in the house – led old Dolly right into the kitchen. Mom shooed them out.

Another time the boys picked up eggs for Mom and put them in the egg container. They must have been last year’s eggs; when she cracked one for supper it went all over the ceiling – big mess. We had two hired men there to eat with us and were going to have eggs for supper. We didn’t have eggs for supper, and we ate at the picnic table. Mother was horrified.

The boys, at the farm

Just the other day, Bimmy got a butcher knife from the drawer to cut the rhubarb. I said I didn’t know where that had come from, and said he said he did. It came from Berg Hardware. The boys were there, shopping for their mother, and they thought that knife looked like something she could use. They asked Shorty Berg how much it cost, and he asked them how much they had. They said, “$1.67” and he said, “That’s just what it costs.” He was a good friend.

I remember having to paddle all four of them and being kind of tired when I was done. Maybe weren’t all to blame, but you couldn’t play favorites. One thing I never would tolerate was any talking back to their mother. No kid should ever do that.

Arnolds and Littles, on vacation together

What are your early memories about going on vacation?

I remember going to a place called Smokey Bill. We didn’t stay a whole week for quite a while. We’d stay about three days. We’d drive up early in the morning – get up by Milacs to have breakfast. In later years it didn’t seem like so much of a trip, but in those days it did. I always got a those sick headaches driving up. Thank goodness they have medicine for migraines now.

Tell me about your favorite horse of all time.

Old Banner would have to be. I didn’t ride him a lot of his life, but he was just a good horse. Course, I could have shot him a lot of days, too. I broke old Roy when he was a colt. He was mostly a workhorse, but he was a good horse to ride too. Dad kept Roy all his life.

Jessica, on old Banner