after we came home on the school bus, my next door friend, Carolyn and I, would walk down
the long street and catch the Lindenwood bus on the corner of Winona and Lindenwood. We
took the bus to Fyler Bridge and then either walk across the viaduct that led to Maplewood, or waited for the bus to take us across the bridge that went over a train yard. Sometimes I would make the trip to Maplewood with Kathy and Marybeth.
Our main goal in going to Maplewood was to purchase a new release of a 45 rpm single, either
at Katz Drug Store or Goldie's Department Store. At first, it was enough to just buy the
record, but as we became more sophisticated, we bought the record and rushed back to see if
they would play the same recording on American Bandstand, which came on every afternoon
at 4 p.m. Before AB, we had to be content to watch 15-minute programs starring Patti Page,
Kate Smith, and Howdy Doody. I think Charlie Ruggles also had a 15-minute program in there,
too. During the summer, when there wasn't any school, I remember watching "Queen For A
Day." They would focus on these women who were desperate to have a washer, dryer or
kitchen table. The sorriest woman of the day would be voted "Queen For A Day" and Bess
Myerson would swoop in, take off the mink she was wearing and put it on the "Queen." Then
the host, Jack Bailey, would crown her with a tiara. They might as well have taken the mink back after the show, along with the diamond tiara, because what was she going to do, wear them while she did the laundry?
Back to Maplewood. When we had made our purchases, we either walked across the viaduct
or took the bus back to Fyler. The we had to wait for the Lindenwood bus and it was kind of
creepy because by this time, several men were leaving the rail yards to go home. Of course,
we only had to ride with a few of them because most of them made a stop at the diner across
the street, The Fyler Bridge Terminal Cafe."
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