Change 1920-1942

Class of 41 were home delivered and entered a world lit by fire

Homes and cars used Kerosene lamps.

Most homes, town & country, were heated by stoves burning coal, wood or corn cobs and were supplied by well water separated from an out house. Indoor facilities included kerosene cooking stoves, hand filled bath tubs and hand emptied thunder-mugs. Bed warmers took chill out cold bed and Long John’s fended off outside cold. Most households included vegetable gardens, chicken houses, an barn for a milk cow and horse for transportation. The post WW 1 boom expanded services as city water, household electricity, improved country roads, public streets and lighting. We benefited from electric lights, indoor water and flushing toilets, while our parents paid higher taxes.

Horses powered the world we entered

Me holding reigns of four horse team fresh in from the field, quenching their thirst, sucked up gulps of well water. I stood back watching them drain puddles of urine. I would learn horses are hay burning energy converters and water is a product of combustion. The gulps of water replaced sweat used by their evaporative cooling system. It was an exciting experience, a little guy on the big horse. Years later I realized we animals are heat engines.

We grew up in Wheat country

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Horse and Mule powered wheat harvest Oberlin Rolling Mill Weighing wheat at Grain Elevator

The Cemetery Memorial marked graves of those lost in last Indian raid.

The “Standpipe” water tower identified Oberlin from afar until replaced.

Church below is at center left. Grade school at left, Standpipe at right

Upper photos were taken from top high school, city band on high school steps

Ice plant exhaust pipe beyond church is the one behind Opera House below.

Oberlin Entertainment 1920’s style

Oberlin Opera house was converted to Chief Theater movie house. They let us in for 10 cents until age 12 when prices jumped to 25 cents. An hours worth of hard work could yield 10 cents. Circuses drew huge crowds from all corners of the county, then abundantly populated, due to demands for manual labor.

Circus set up tents on at Chautauqua Park on south side of west Hall St. Viewers came in their Sunday best, Many in Henry Ford’s 30 hp “Tin Lizzy” with push to start “running boards”, hand crank “starters’, “hand feed” throttles & “tune up” ignition coils, foot peddle “gear changers”, hand crank “window wipers”, wood spoke wheels holding rim mounted rubber tires, gravity feed fuel and fold out wind shield was a wind in your face speed indicator. People talked to their “flivver” as they did to their horse, it shivered as if alive.

Evolving Ford’s

1919 Sports Model 1923 Model-T Touring 1927 Model-T Coupe 1928 Model-A Touring

These cars are parked on then dead end Buffalo Ave, now US-83

Oberlin then and now with Buffalo Ave relabeled US 83

In 1920 the east west main road ran diagonal on north side of the railway along Hall street west then up to present US-36. The City Park, with tall cotton wood trees, was a travelers camp site on the North Side of Hall St with open space Chautauqua Park on the south side. The state of KS established a Highway Commission in 1932 when early model trucks hauled more and more farm produce to town, launching new highway construction and upgrades. One of the first projects was to route US 83 up through Oberlin and reconstruct US 36. The old city park, previously used for overnight accommodations, was replaced with motor courts on US 36. The old city part was replaced by a new city park adjacent to the new high school site.

Charles Hawks, supt. of schools, helped a Salina firm design new high school built in 1938 with Projects Works Administration funds (professional workers) and planned movement of band shell to adjacent new city park. He sought ideas from school kids for a new football field entrance. Free food was dispensed from old high school in depths of 1930’s depression. The grade school playground was re-terraced with Works Projects Administration funds, providing jobs for some 50% unemployed when Roosevelt closed the banks in 1933. The Shelter at Sappa State Park was built by Civilian Conservation Corps housed in a barracks near US-36. Gen Marshall of WW 2 was in charge of the CCC program.

Old grade school bell was mounted in left entrance column at football field, per an idea I submitted in response to Hawks’ request. The idea came from a Jimmy Steward Army vs Navy movie where winners rang a bell, each day we passed the old grade school bell going out to play. It was later remounted in above enlarged Smick Field memorial

Our new grade school opened in 1929 Banta’s Morning Glory brand flour mill burned in 1930

Above photo of back end of Foster Lumber yard was taken from atop new S. Penn Ave Banta Elevator. The enlargement shows Sale Pavilion at right, Al Dryden Chevrolet Garage across from court house, adjacent initial Lee Kump Motor Ford Garage and Elmer Brown (small white) Cream Station.

Sale Pavilion across from Court House – 1930 Armistice Day feed, in front of Pavilion, put on by WW 1 Vets.

Livestock sales were every Friday. Mid 1930’s drought caused sales to last late into night to clear cattle.

Dust storms compounded the effects of drought and market crash. Stock market 1920-1940 performance above. The movie Grapes of Wrath depicts the actual conditions quite well. Families in an old truck with all belongings passing through were common sights in Oberlin, the provider offering to “work for food”. They had given up farms and were seeking a fresh start in CA. During “dirty thirties” we “class of 41 kids” were sent home from school when large dust clouds were seen coming from the south. Milk was donated for grade school kids going without breakfast. We the fortunate managed to not be hungry and give food to the less fortunate.

1925 Golf Tournament at Oberlin 1923 Third Degree IOOF “Odd Fellows” winning team

People bonded and looked after each other in many ways.

1946? aerial view of Oberlin; left looking south, right looking north

From horse traffic on dirt main street to auto traffic on brick paved main street – note cloth awnings.

Bert Hostinsky’s 1936 high school marching band practicing for Tri State band contest in Enid OK. This band, shown in home made uniforms on Grade School steps, won first place. In 1938 this band won contest money at Colby which paid for new band uniforms, as shown below.

New band uniform. 1938 vintage tractor, wheat combine and truck 1936 Ford V-8 replaced model-A

Resurrected Model-T

Model-T Ignition coil Ammeter (later models) equipped with electrical generator

My snow covered salvaged model-T, only one in Decatur County equipped with a Radio

Three peddle “gear shift” Magneto Electrical source to fire spark plugs

Autos like the Model-T transitioned US population into the new era of engines and electricity – providing a need for national highways. These pre-trained personnel entering WW2, this was my B-29 maintenance trainer.

Early Radio

Early model radios required batteries and ear phones. One large “A” battery heated tube filaments and a packet of 300 1.5 volt cell “B” battery provided 200 volt plate voltage to attract electrons. Dad let me listen with one ear phone as he searched to find KMMJ Topeka

1926 Atwater Kent Radio with speaker

Volume Dial & On-Off switch for 1926 Atwater Kent Radio

Later model radios were equipped with speakers and powered with household electricity

My own 1938 Radio

Typical 5 tube radio, connected tubes in series using 110 volts to heat tube filament. They used AM, Amplitude Modulation, signals with coupling transformers between amplification stages to improve fidelity.

Elevators sprouted up along Railroads, powered by single piston gas engine, with huge flywheel, powering line shafting with a flat belt. Wheat was lifted from bottom to top and distributed to bins or to Railroad box cars. Prior to 1970 wheat was hauled in std box car’s with door way boarded up leaving room for a flex spout aimed to toss gravity accelerated grain into the ends. Electrical motors began to power elevators by mid 1930’s. After WW2 power auger systems were used to move wheat and large steel bins began to replace wood and concrete bins. Railroad wheat cars became specialized to load from the top and dump from bottom. By 1980 highway system and trucks had grown larger permitting refined all metal elevator systems to be set up along highways. The face of Oberlin main street changed as permanent awnings replaced cloth ones. With larger power machinery fewer people were needed. With air conditioned homes and TV entertainment down town became less populated. The crowds of people circulating 4 to 6 wide down town side walks visiting elders parked in cars became a thing of the past. Old ways faded into history – new trucks are too big for old elevators.

These Decatur Community High School teachers programmed our class of 41 for what was ahead.

We could not have grown up in a better community

From Oberlin to Mechanical Engineering Kansas State Manhattan KS 1941-1943, then to Army Air Corps

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