What books, movies, and TV shows do you remember as a child?

Question:
What books, movies, and TV shows do you remember as a child?

Answer:
Books
I remember reading a lot of Richard Scarry when I was young. For some reason I loved the vocabulary words and the simplistic artwork. I also remember reading Go, Dog. Go! and I think some Berenstain Bears books. After that, the only other book I recall was one our teacher read in fourth or fifth grade. I'm pretty sure it was a Beverly Cleary book, but I don't remember which one. And it wasn't until I was in middle school and high school that I really started reading, and that of course started with the Hardy Boys.

Movies
One of my earliest movie memories is watching The Empire Strikes Back in the movie theater with several of my friends. It was a birthday party and that's where the birthday kid wanted to go. I was afraid of Chewbacca and covered my eyes when he roared on screen.

Another early movie memory is watching Back to the Future in my uncle's motor home. The fact that he had a motor home was cool enough but it also had a television in the front (in the top bulkhead area between the driver and passenger). And, even cooler, was he had an 8mm tape deck. So he rented (or bought) Back to the Future on 8mm and we watched it in the motor home. Way cool.

TV Shows
I grew up watching a lot of television, but the one that sticks out the most is M*A*S*H. This is mostly due to how much my father resembled Radar. Other shows that I watched included Three's Company, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Taxi, Woody Woodpecker, I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, I Dream of Jeanie, Bewitched, Popeye, The Three Stooges, The Smurfs, The Gummi Bears, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, and the list goes on.

I do remember watching The Three Stooges on Sunday mornings while dad made pancakes. We had a lot of bonding time while we watched TV. Not a lot of talking, but a lot of vegetation.

Photos:


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Do you know Pauline Morrison?

Question:
Do you know Pauline Morrison?

Answer:
We sure don't. We have her photo in our collection along with what is likely her sister Elda Morrison. And if you saw our post last week, we were able to find some information on Elda, but no indication of a sister (or mother) named Pauline.

So, do you know Pauline Morrison?

Photos:


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Describe a normal day in your childhood

Question:
Describe a normal day in your childhood. When did you get up before school? What did you do when you got home from school? Was there anybody there when you got home? What did you do in the evenings?

Answer:
This is a hard one for me to answer since I don't remember any specifics of a "normal" day. I do remember going to town every weekend with my Dad ("town" was the nearest city that had a mall and various stores to shop at). We would usually shop around, walk the mall, and see a movie.

I'm sure during the week I had a set time to wake-up as well as to go to bed. I know when I was younger my Dad would drop me off at the ABC Preschool (now operating under another name). While there I would play until the bus came. At school it was school work, recess, lunch, and the normal activities you'd go through in school. After school I'd go back to the preschool and wait for my Dad to get off work.

Once at home, Dad would cook dinner (often it was fried food since our oven rarely worked and took too long). During dinner we'd watch television before going to bed. I distinctly remember growing up watching classics like Three's Company, M*A*S*H, Taxi, and others.

Other basic routines I remember are going to the pool in the summer when I was old enough to go by myself. Going to my Mom's house during the summer (usually for most of the summer). Going on trips with my Dad during the summer to visit relatives in Nebraska, Alabama, Illinois, Arizona, and California.

Photos:


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Do you know Elda Morrison?

Question:
Do you know Elda Morrison?

Answer:
Here's what we know. Elda Morrison has her name on the photograph accompanied by the phrase "Year 1930-31." We assume this means the school year and probably the year she graduated.

Here's what we were able to find out. On September 3, 1933, Elda L. Morrison married Everett T. Muhr in Banner County, Nebraska. Based on this we can assume Mrs. Elda Muhr was born in January 29, 1914 and died July 27, 1995. She is buried in the Chalk Creek (Hackberry) Cemetery in Banner County, Nebraska.

Based on these dates, she would have been 16 years old in the photo, younger than a senior would have been. She would have been married at 19 and would have been 81 when she died.

After more searching, I found that she was born in Colorado and died in Riverside, California. Her mother's maiden name was Galbraith.

According to the 1920 Census, she was living in the Steen Precinct of Cherry County, Nebraska (Cherry County is also the home of Valentine). However, the census shows her as being four, nearly five years old. And there is no sister by the name of Pauline living in the household (we're also pretty sure she has a sister or mother named Pauline, more on that in later post). With the age close, the census also shows she was born in Nebraska. The rest of the census for the district (three pages total) lists five teachers. An unusually high number for a rural area that could indicate a large school in the area (like maybe Valentine) but we were unable to find where "Steen" was located.

We also found an Elda Morrison in the 1930 census but that just made things even more confusing so we avoided it.

Which means we are right back where we started. So can you help us figure out who Elda Morrison is? Please?

Photos:






References:
- Banner County Cemeteries. Retrieved on September 18, 2009 from http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nebanner/bannercemeteries.html.
- Banner County Marriage Index. January 23, 1924 to January 31, 1936. Retrieved on September 18, 2009 from http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nebanner/book2bride.html.
- California Death Index. 1940-1997. Retrieved on September 18, 2009 from http://www.ancestry.com/.
- United States Census. 1920. Retrieved on September 18, 2009 from http://www.ancestry.com/.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Did you have any favorite toys or pets as a child?

Question:
Did you have any favorite toys or pets as a child?

Answer:
Toys. I had a lot of toys when I was a kid, but the one that probably sticks out the most was my little bean bag Snoopy. He went with me just about everywhere. He had a little black nose that I vaguely recall falling off once or twice. I think my dad glued it back on. There were other toys I remember, like the BB gun or the sled or the GI Joe Terrordrome.

Pets. I often claim that I never had a pet as a child. Most people think that's odd, but in fact it isn't true. I did have pets as a kid, but not in the conventional sense. When I was in sixth grade and living with my mother in Pennsylvania, we somehow acquired two turkeys. We built a little pen for them next to the tree line (we lived on ten acres) and even clipped their wings so they wouldn't fly away. They started as little chicks that went "peep peeeep" all the time and eventually grew fairly large. Along the way, they died and we got two more. I think the second set eventually went to a farmer for butchering. Anyway, the turkeys were dumb as rocks. One time they broke out of their pen while I was waiting for the school bus and tried to follow me. They were much cuter when they would ride on my step-father's shoulder when he cut the grass. I think he even built a little box for them to ride in.

During this same time, we also acquired a shaggy, mangy, stray dog. He was white I think, or at least a light brown. I'm not sure how long we had him, but I think at some point he got sick. Shortly thereafter he took a trip to the woods, was shot, and never seen again.

So now you know why I tell people I never had a pet as a kid. It was traumatic at the time and overall, the pets weren't with me very long.

Photos:
Here I am in 1980 playing with my Navy Rescue helicoptor with Space Capsule. Yes, I still remember playing with this toy too.



References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

A Bill Rector Update

Update:
We previously asked if anyone knew Bill Rector. And thanks to reader Annie for reminding us that the license plates in Nebraska typically have a county prefix on them. And in the case of our Bill Rector, the car behind him as registered in county 93, known to most of the world as Hooker County.

Once I was able to determine this, I did a basic search online and found a "William Rector" living in Hooker County. But he was too old (or at least appeared to be too old). But, the William Rector I found had two children, which means he could have had a son named William.

After more searching in the census records, I was able to find the following:

William A. Rector (born October 1865 in Missouri) married Alice Speck (born around 1883 in Nebraska). They had three children. Myrtle F. Rector (born around 1902 in Nebraska). William H. Rector (born around 1905 in Nebraska). Arthur B. Rector (born around 1912 in Nebraska).

So, if William H. Rector (the son) was born around 1905, that would make him 24 in the photo. Which looks to be about the right age. Hopefully this has helped in identifying our Bill Rector. Please let us know if you know him.

References:
- Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska. 1904. Retrieved on September 8, 2009 from http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/SCHofNE/pages/schn0252.htm.
- United States Federal Census. 1900.
- United States Federal Census. 1920.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

When is a death close enough to hurt?

Question:
When is a death close enough to hurt?

Answer:
I recently learned of a death of the mother to a childhood friend. While I normally may have been stoic in dealing with the news, I was moved by the news and felt it was necessary to do something. For me, a death is close enough to hurt when I feel I need to either go to the services or at least express my sympathy with flowers, a card, or something on that level.

I think part of what moved me to do something, part of why the death hurt was that I had often stayed overnight in her house. She treated me as a son when I was there and her son and myself even started school together. Same day, same school, same bus stop. We're in each other's photos. We're part of each other's history.

As we grew older, we grew apart. We moved on to different cliques in high school and went our separate ways after graduation. As we moved into our adult lives, we crossed paths again when my family moved onto the same street as him and his family as well as his parents. He lives next to his childhood house while I live another mile or so down the road. We never really became friends again, but we randomly heard news about each other through our parents.

And because of those few years together, those nights spent in his room (I still remember the bunk beds and the cool trashcan he had), that first day of school, all of these add up to sadness in learning about his mother's death. I wasn't able to attend the viewing or the funeral, but my father paid his respects. So I did the best I could in expressing my sympathy by sending flowers. That's how I knew the death was close enough to hurt.

References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Do you know Bill Rector?

Question:
Do you know Bill Rector?

Details:
The man in this photo is labeled as Bill Rector. He is sitting on a horse with a car behind him. The license plate of the car behind him reads 93-321. It also appears to have the year 1929. The state is NEBR (Nebraska).







References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Describe your childhood home

Question:
Describe your childhood home. Pretend you are walking in the front door and describe it in as much detail as possible. Did you have a favorite room? What kind of furniture did you have? Was there something special about your house? Did you live in a lot of different houses or towns?

Answer:
This is a fairly easy one for me since my father still lives in the house I grew up in. So for privacy concerns, I'll describe a few other homes I've lived in as a child.

The Apartments in Salt Lake City, Utah
At one point my mother and step-father owned and lived in a set of apartments in Salt Lake. I don't remember how many there were, jut that they had white exterior walls and the one we lived in faced the main road. I also remember cutting the grass with small hand-held trimmers where the grass met the sidewalk or driveway. There was also a tree out front that had fascinating roots. I don't recall much about the interior, but there was a trailer parked out back and a feral cat had kittens under it. And one of our neighbors had a very large neck, I think due to a tumor of some sort. I think his funeral was the first I attended.

The Fifth-Wheel in Madera, California
I remember being slightly older than I was in Utah and my mother and step-father were living in a fifth-wheel while she worked at the local hospital. I remember Madera was awfully hot, which meant I didn't play outside much. The trailer park had a pool but I don't think I was allowed to swim there alone. But I do remember swimming there once shortly after eating and getting sick on the side of the pool. I had french fries.

Being a trailer park there was the stereo-typical group of kids that lived there and were often up to no good. Seeing as I had no friends since I was only there in the summer (I usually spent my summers with my mother and the rest of the year with my father), I did my best to be friends with this group of small time hoodlums. I never remember doing anything terribly bod or even mildly bad, but the leader of the group had a deformed foot and when he pedaled his bike, his one foot was always sideways on the pedal.

I also remember seeing a group of European (German I think) travellers come through on a giant tour bus (there may have been two buses). They had cool stuff that slid out of the bottom of the bus (like a grill) and it was neat to watch them and listen to them talk.

Photos:


References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.