East-Palestine-Great-Depression-Era-Stories

Great Grand Father WittenBerger

• Grew up near New Middletown - was a stagecoach stop "Ginger Hill" - ginger came from the fact that grandad's mother or grandmother would make gingerbread. House built on the hill about 1918 ... later a Hill family lived there and had a girl ...they named Ginger.

• his father was a wagonbuilder -

• tinner / slater / furnace / did most of the slate roofs in East Palestine -
• said "I bet I can give you something perfectly good and you will not eat it" then put donuts in a brand new bedpan full of cider - the fellow did not eat it
• one guy put a bit of pumpkin pie on his shoe and waited for friend to come ...then used his finger to wipe the pie from his shoe and eat it....friend was aghast
• Was very good with horses - bought a troubled horse - seller sarcastically asked "how is that horse?" ....he answered "my wife uses him...he's great!" .... you could tell alot about a person by how they treated their horse
• Horse named Joe - would follow voice commmands - including backing up...

Wittenburger - Revolutionary war era

• 17 kids by first wife and 6 by the second
• first wife was buried before Ohio became a state

Wheelbarrow bet

What the bet was who knows? - loser had to wheel the other to Washington D.C. from East Palestine

McGraw Tire and Rubber

• McGraw was on his way west on a train when someone talked him into getting off in East Palestine and starting his company there
• X will go back to work when McGraw starts up again - was not very ambitious
• Y would get your a job if you payed him - he was a son of a bitch

Mental Deficient

• saw an ad of a lady in the south wanting a husband ( year?) --- bought him a ticket
• he walked back and when he returned had holes worn in the bottom of his shoes

Mathew Lyons - lived in house immediately to the west of fathers

• Mathiew Lyons - Big beard - never ever shaved - trimmed with shears
• wife was a relation of the Firestones
• First Person I voted for was Abe Lincoln

Firestone Farms

• Brother came out 1 year in advance to start the farm - 1800
• Katy said "might have trouble getting out of Germany" - name appeared too Jewish when Hitler came to power

Drunk who painted

• painted landscape scenes - lady mentioned that it would be good place in the lake to fish from if there was a stump - 15 seconds later there was a stump

Meyer Paiser

• Daughter was paying Pete Blosco to screw here - she was quite ugly
• Meyer has a scrap iron dealership
• owned part of a company in Pa .. city?
• jewish community in East Palestine? - had no synagogue

John Blosco

• Bought up houses during the depression

Boot Legger

• killed rival and took him down into the coal mine that stretched 6 miles between E.P. and Negley.

Single Guy Suicide

• slit wrists and bled out over a bucket to avoid making a mess

Great Uncle Charlie Woods

• Had a feed store
• cart with horse - father would hop on the back and ride out to where delivery was made

Lady robber with the dress shop

• would shoplift in Youngstown and sell dresses in East Palestine

George Rockenberger

• 1932 he received a call from a friend / supplier in Cleveland - "George the banks are closing in Cleveland...you better go get your money out"....he kept his money in his shirt pocket the rest of the depression

Mothers Father

• Farmer got sick and sold a field of cucumbers site unseen - weeds were deep - leave garden unweeded after a time
• sold baskets -
• tore up will after mothers mother died

John Remish

• Ham Radio - heard him on the broadcast band radio - spurious -
• work 1938 - worked for Taylor radio that sold appliances - west side of Market street - south of main
• ruin TV reception with oscillator near clients house
• Arecibo antenna - walked out over wooden walkway 500 feet over antenna - Sam Harris - ham radio operator - built antennas for them / employee - wrote for QST column - early 70's - Junky Car
• Father walked in thru knee deep snow to operate John's radio because son did not have license to operate rig. Radio was spread out and dangerous to start

Italian complainers

• Saldos - no matter what you gave them they would bitch it was not better

Italian construction equipment theives

• Dinsio - would steal anything
• bank - blew the top of the safe : packed stuff on the top of explosive to muffle sound - several banks on the east coast and one on the west - M.O. was theirs...
• route 46 place - loading a bulldozer - fan from the radiator cut his neck and killed him - no hood on Bulldozer - brother fell onto fan and was decapitated because it was running
• Jack Davis' brother - wife knew a guy who knew them -
• 2 or 3 brothers
• slick
• trained by federal government to go behind enemy lines to get intelligence

The Bum Trade

• The train riding bums had a camp near mile pond on a high spot
• one of them set up a sandwich shop on the corner of Taggart and James south east corner
• Guys would sometimes knock on doors to beg a sandwich
• Some people would put croton oil in their milk - to give the milk thief severe diahrea

RailRoad

• had crossing guards to man the switches
• bums would make a board to ride under car in suspension

Johnny Monk

• John Monk and his brother lived on Main street - south side of street between Methodist church and city building
• chickens roosting on on the headboard of the bed
• brother needed help moving
• Johnny putting cock to wife - brother walked in and asked for help - John said " he'll be over when he's done"
• between fathers and grandfathers age
• Johnny's son was in Texas - checked with railway express - freight agent in ( 1960 ) - how much to cost to get son from Texas if he had him crated up. Railway express agent told father.

Alex Walker

• Uncle Jack's Age
• zipper did not work - hit the ball / ran for 1st - pecker flipped out as he ran - Audience member " Hey Alex you do not take your bat to first base with you!"

Rafferty Girls

• twins - airheads - knocked on the door and girls mother came to the door - asked for the girl by name - mother asked "why?" X said "I want to fuck her!" ....he was chased off by mother with a broom.

McCready

• Pair of guys - neither were bright ...neither could tell time - one got a watch
• one asks other " what time is it?" ... guy with watch says "there she be and showed the watch" asker says "damn she aint" ... both pretending they knew what they were doing.

Gonarhea Guy

• had gonarhea - "the clap" ... doc can you get the clap off the toilet seat ... Doc Hartford said "yeah but its a hell of a place to take a women"
• family from Red Hill - east of the city somewhere before the Canelton road

Condom Recycling

• fish out of sewer plant / wash / dry on broom poles
• Kleiner
• had a small pickup store later
• had an adopted son: Petey - ( sisters age )
• owned / controlled Mile Pond - nothing but carp

Movie Theatre

• Brother Jack would go to theatre - could tell how many friends were with because of the number of piss streams on sidewalk by lumber company afterwards
• Farted in theatre - second time when he lifted rump to fart lady hit him on the head with a handbag
• was a big drinker and rolled 2 cars
• put a big rudder on a small fishing boat and ended up tipping it over in Canada and drowning. - Father saw Jack putting on bigger rudder and thought "mistake" but said nothing
• Alot of his friends met untimely ends
• knights of columbus
• minstrel show
• very popular

Background

• few people had horses
• few people had cars
• notice all the small store front / houses around town - was more of a community
• many lodges - Eagles - Odd Fellows - Masons - knights of columbus what else?
• Many churches considering only 5000 people
• Industries - pottery / furniture / refractories / tires / ...outsized for size of city