Photo courtesy of Margaret Farler


MY CLEVER MOM
by Frank Taylor

Lynda, on another "list", rationing, points, stamp books, tokens, etc, from WW II days are a hot topic. I thought this might be of interest to some on your list. From 1943-1945, we lived in Perry County in a large white house on the hill across H'way 15, from Riverside Cemetery. While it's been many years since I've been up there, I imagine the house is still standing. The "Goose", which everyone is familiar with, was visible from our porch and it contained at that time a large store. If you'll recall, nearly everything necessary or desirable was rationed during those years and was very rarely available even though you had the points and the cash. On the few times they were available, it was on a first -come-first -served basis. We noticed one night that there was a light in the Goose's eye facing us (facing toward Hazard). My Mom, Lucinda Hollifield Taylor, being a pretty clever lady, deduced that this might be a signal to someone, and that good, hard-to-come-by items, might, just might, be available in the store the next day. So, when the store's doors opened the next morning we were right there and, JACKPOT!! Mom was right! Well, we kept the secret to ourselves, but from then on we rarely wanted for those items such as sugar, lard, candy bars, etc. that were extremely hard to come by. We just watched for the light. I've wondered many times who the signal was actually intended for.

-Frank Taylor-