Sharon A-Z

D - Richard Barnett Dakin-

Recollections of Childhood in Sharon 1930s

The chapter I am about to embark on deserves a book all to itself, Uncle Muff and to a lesser degree, Aunt Fan.

As recorded earlier, Uncle Muff was a veterinarian and the only one in Western Connecticut and Eastern New York. The mid-1930's ushered in the law that all farm cattle must pass a T.B. Test yearly. This required all cattle to be inoculated with a serum and three days later checked for a reaction. An animal that reacted positively had to be destroyed. I have seen whole dairy herds wiped out and small dairy farmers who would lose one, two, or several pet milking cows.

I spent countless days riding around the countryside with Uncle Muff while he tested herds or treated animals. There were relatively few farms in Eastern Dutchess County or Litchfield County that I have not visited at one time or another. Many of these visits would be all-day forays requiring us to take a picnic lunch.

Of the hundreds of farms I traveled to, the Calhoun farm here in Cornwall brings forth a vivid memory. From the moment my uncle entered the barn to begin his examinations, until he left, the broad shouldered Guernsey bull caged in the corner would bellow. He too had to be tested and this proved to be quite a test of wills. Uncle Muff won.

The farmers, for the most part, were cooperative in this testing program. They would normally keep their herds stanchioned in the barn but occasionally it was necessary to round up the animals, which always proved to be fun and exciting.

Most of the roads were dirt and many times the old Model A Ford became bogged down in the mud. The farmer would then bring his team of horses out and pull us free from the quagmire. I remember riding through the covered bridge in Cornwall Bridge before it was washed away.

When Uncle Muff had a series of calls to make he would leave his itinerary with Mabel Hotaling, the telephone operator. If a call came to him that required urgent attention she would track him down and deliver the message. I do not recall what his telephone number was but it was one long and three short rings. Our house was on the same line as his and we served as a backup answering service.

Uncle Muff enjoyed a good cigar, in fact several of them per day. He had his own brand, Oblong Valley, which came in a wooden cigar box twice the height of the usual size box. He had a noticeable facial tic that caused him to pause in his speech pattern. He was a short rotund individual who enjoyed a good joke thus causing him to shake like a bowl of Jello as he laughed.

Spitting dregs of cigars was all part of smoking or chewing on the cigar. As a surprise to my Uncle I cleaned the car out and washed the windows for him. As we drove out of the yard he turned and, splat, against the newly cleaned window, the half-chewed stub of a cigar. A chagrined look and mumbled apology followed. The windows remained dirty following that incident.

Behind Uncle Muff's house was a large barn. It had been used as a livery stable in earlier times and there were several stalls and box stalls for horses. Several storage rooms were located along one side, all great places to hide when necessary. A small room in the corner was Doc's operating room for use on small animals. Downstairs storage contained several old buggies and sleighs, one of which is now in Gramp George's garage. What a great building to play in on a rainy day.

Uncle Muff was a graduate of Cornell University. Part of the Thanksgiving tradition was to listen to Cornell versus University of Pennsylvania football game on the radio.

Another idiosyncrasy Uncle Muff had dealt with his attack on the crossword puzzle that appeared in the New York Herald Tribune. He would often pull the car to the roadside and take a few minutes to work a solving the daily puzzle. I assume he had some success and solved them.

Uncle Muff had a soft spot in his heart for the view from Silver Mountain, a hill overlooking a broad valley between Millerton and Amenia. It was his custom, whenever he was any place near this site, to go up and just admire the view. This he was doing one day in 1935 or 1936 when a Ford convertible roadster parked near by. My uncle was not shy and entered into a conversation with the driver relative to the view. Uncle Muff shortly realized he was visiting with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States. Roosevelt also enjoyed this particular spot and was known to visit here often whenever he could sneak away from his secret service agents.

Uncle Muff's car was filled with a fabulous array of instruments, cases and medicines. There was a pill case that opened up to display about 20 pill bottles with all sorts of sizes and colors of pills. My brother and I would rearrange these bottles at every opportunity. Come to think of it, I do not remember Unc ever taking any pills out of the case. Another fun instrument was the stethoscope with which we would listen to the heartbeat of dogs, cats, calves, and occasionally horses or cows.

Aunt Fan was a feisty roly-poly gal. Both she and Uncle Muff were as generous as the day is long. Although she suffered from diabetes she made rich creamy homemade ice cream and had it on hand most of the time.

Aunt Fan was not one to sit and do nothing but seemed to be on the go most of the time. She loved opera and no one had better disturb her during the Texaco broadcast of the opera from the Metropolitan Opera House. You could go into the house but not visit. We soon learned to be elsewhere on Saturday afternoons.

She had a car that kept her on the go most of the time. A shopping trip to Poughkeepsie was one hell-of-a big deal. Lucky Platt department store was happy to see her appear in the doorway. Another shopping trip that only happened occasionally was one to Hartford. This usually resulted in her renting a room at the Bond Hotel down near the railroad station, so that she could rest awhile before driving home. Every family should have an Aunt Fan and Uncle Muff.

(Excerpt p 49)

The 1940s started calmly enough but changed rapidly took place.

I entered the Housatonic Valley Regional High School, then in its second year of operation. I started in a normal size class but by the time 1944 rolled around our class had dwindled to 54 members, the smallest size class ever to graduate from H.V.R.H.S.. I was the only boy from Sharon to graduate that year along with six Sharon girls. Certainly a great deal of trepidation was felt as we met many new people from surrounding towns. I have many life-long friends as a result of this experience. I'll say more about high school later.

In the spring of 1942 I started working as a bellboy in the Sharon Inn. This was a large wooden inn at the Main Street - Amenia Road intersection. I was a Jack-of-all-trades while working there. Manpower was very limited and a person wore many hats. Wartime restricted travel and therefore, our clientele was rather limited. My hours were long and wages were short, about $15 per week plus tips, if any.

When a job opportunity came up to work in the A & P for the grand sum of $.65 cents per hour I jumped at the chance. Although I worked in all areas of the store, I was primarily assigned as a butcher's helper. Dave Duffy was the store manager and Ray Carpenter was the meat manager. The store hours were 7:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. every day and until 9:00 on Saturday. Cleanup took place after closing, making a long workday. Thursday was my day off.

At first there was plenty of meat to fill the display case but as rationing took over and shortages became commonplace such items as tripe, pig's feet, and sauerkraut occupied more display area. It got so that we would invite people into the cooler to see for themselves that we had no meat. Deliveries finally had to be made at night to customers would not stampede the store.

There was a separate showcase for fish. Fresh fish was delivered on Thursday and displayed on crushed ice. Some fish such as mackerel had to be cleaned out and beheaded for the customer. By Saturday afternoon most of the fish had been sold so that the case could then be washed. Hot water was necessary for this activity and it was one of my tasks to build a wood fire in the hot water heater in the basement. Every inch of this case had to be scrubbed and rinsed, a job requiring several hours.

One phase of my employment was that I was to be sure the hamburg trays were always full. Prices ranged from 29 cents to 39 cents way up to 49 cents per pound for this commodity. Turkeys, chickens, and ducks were all sold by the pound with head and feet on and guts included. I soon learned how to draw a foul and cut up a chicken. Thanksgiving and Christmas we worked overtime cleaning turkeys and getting them ready for customers.

In the fall of 1943 Ray went [away for two months] and I had to run the meat department alone. I would come to the store around 6:00 a.m. and get whatever was available ready then come back after school and carry on with other jobs. I survived the Thanksgiving rush by myself although we did not have as many birds to prepare. I got a small bonus from the A & P company for my efforts. If it had not been for the war I would probably be a fat, happy butcher, long since retired.

On the grocery side of the store the clerk would wait on the customers. If they wanted a can of peas you went and got it then the next item and so on. The price of each item was then recorded on the side of the brown paper bag used to carry the groceries, totaled, and collected. The A & P was a cash and carry store. One learned how to add correctly and hurriedly. A few customers would pay in advance and you would simply deduct this purchase from their credit as carried in their account.

Time to regress again. During high school days it was quite fashionable to skip days. After all, your parents wouldn't know. Not so, with John and Dick Dakin. One cousin, Ed, was the Vice Principal and another cousin, Jo, was the secretary to the principal. If we were not in school or misbehaved while there, a phone call home clarified the problem.

On the positive side of this arrangement, we rode to the high school with Jo almost every day thus saving a long walk to the bus. Jo and Peete lived in the cottage so we would walk up there, then on to school. Ed Dakin left the high school in 1942, as did several other faculty members, to go into the Navy.

War years limited the amount and type of activities available to young fellows full of p---and vinegar. Gas rationing, no tires, and no cars put a crimp in extracurricular activities. If a fellow was able to get a car for evening use, it was an unwritten law that he would have five or six passengers. Bob Constantine from Lakeville often had use of his father's wheels. Ralph Loper, not only had use of a car, he also had farm gas ration stamps. He was akin to King Tut. There was a gas station down in Amenia Union, where you could obtain gas without ration stamps. It paid to know the right people.

Most of the fun activities took place in New York State. After all, the drinking age over there was 18, but who was counting. Bars and roadhouses from Amenia to Millerton made their money on Connecticut youths. Places like Manning, Sharkeys, Brick Block Hotel, and Sam Parker's were frequented by many of the youths from Connecticut.

A Friday night activity looked forward to eagerly was the Square Dance at the Ellsworth Grange. Walt Sheldon's band played and many Dive for the Oyster and alamands lefts rocked the hall. I used to ride up to the dance with Doug Conklin and his wife. Great fun for a reasonable price.

Although I enjoyed high school I did not do well academically. I was too busy having fun I am sure that the fact that we were at war and I would be going into the service shortly after graduation and the fact that someone was going to try to kill me had some affect on my scholastic achievement. The day after high school graduation I did received greetings from The President of the United States, my draft notice. Ten days later, June 28, 1944, I was inducted into the U.S. Navy.