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Musical Instruments

We got our first radio when I was going to grade school, so we knew very little news of the outside world before then. What a thrill it was to come home from school one day to find the battery-powered floor model radio in our dining room. Needless to say, we didn't waste any time to gather around the radio in the evening to listen to the news casts and some stories. Some of our favorite programs were "The Shadow" and "Amos 'n Andy". I'm sure there were others that I don't remember.

We also had an RCA Victrola with a big horn that Dad brought home one day from an auction. A big box of records came with it. We did justice to all of these records, but some of the favorite ones were "On the Road to Mandalay", "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", "The Battle of San Diego", and "The King Cotton March". This provided many hours of entertainment for us. After the victrola was old, Mother let us take it outside. We put it on the picnic table to play. We marched in single file through the orchard and all around on the lawn, doing arm exercises to the tune of "The King Cotton March". When our needles were used up, we replaced them with small nails. This put a quick end to the records, and the victrola didn't last long after that. We had used it up and it had to be put into the junk. If we had taken better care of it, we could still play the records today, and bring back pleasant memories.