To give you an idea of the worth of money then, here are some values I remember. A loaf of bread or a bottle of coke was 5cents. Went to a movie matinee and saw a movie, news, coming attractions, chapter of a seriel like Flash Gordon, a cartoon, and a double feature, mostly westerns for 10 cents. I sold the Kansas City newspapers on the corner for 3 cents- of which I kept l cent.

   Buck Jones, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and John Wayne were becoming stars. Roger Maris and Babe Ruth were top athletes, along with Max Baer the Boxing Champion. I was a Kansas City Blues fan. This was our baseball team.

   Streetcars were the major means of transportation. For 5 cents, I could ride from First Street all the way to 63rd which then was the outskirts of town. The Radio, newspapers and telephone were the only means of communication and the phone was a hand-crank party line.

   The movie went from silent to sound, to color. I made bicycle deliveries in the neighborhood for the local Crown Drug Store. Kreske's and Woolworth were called dime stores as most anything could be bought for that. Toy lead soldiers were 5 cents a piece. Western Union was the quick message of the day. I had a very good bicycle that cost me $20. I earned $12 a week delivering telegrams by bike.

   I remember my dad taking me to the Barber Shop and was really upset. My haircut had gone from 25 cents to 35 cents. Milk could be delivered to your front door each morning. Iceboxes were the only thing to keep your food fresh; they had a large lower section for food and a small upper section. You bought a block of ice ranging from 25 pounds to 100 pounds to put in the upper section to keep the ice box cold. The ice came from a truck that came by daily. The water from the ice drained into a pan under the ice box. One of my chores was to empty it daily.

   Our apartment was three bedrooms and rented for $25 a month. It is still occupied as of last year when we drove by on a vacation from California to New York. It's been around since the 30's. One of my Aunts was the only one who could afford a car. She bought a new Ford 4-door sedan for $300.

   Newspaper headlines then were made by people like Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde. I sold Liberty magazines door-to-door for 5 cents. Roller skates were four wheel, had a metal clamp you tightened on the toe of your shoe, then put the leather strap over your foot to hold them on. Used a small sled to "belly flop" down streets at near by hills in the winter.

   I hope that this is enough to give you some insight of my early childhood in Missouri. I will be 75 years old this Christmas and growing up today is so different from in my day. We didn't have: Computers - credit cards - refrigerators - automatic automobile gear shifts -rollerblades and skateboards - fountain pens - ATM cards - cell phones - 3c stamps not 32c stamps - microwaves - self-serve gasoline pumps - UP codes for market products automatically scanned - color and large TVs - VCR tapes -audio cassettes - instant breakfast - non-fat milk - air conditioning -central heat - movie stars kept their clothes on and didn't swear - stores were closed on Sundays - walked to school, no busses from the school - power tools - 10 speed bikes - automatic switches for lights, stoves, and ovens -so many things its hard to keep track.

   Guess enough is enough, so I'll call it quits. Hope this gives you some of what it was like in Harry Truman's and my day. -

PS: Placerville (Old Hangtown) is located only 9 miles from where gold was was discovered in 1848 that started the 49er miner gold rush. I saw the article requesting stories in the Sacramento Bee from your teacher.