Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a rural sort of place that did not particularly appreciate education, and just zoom onto my previous posts to understand a bit about it.
When I was a lad there were two general stores in town, the one that Gene and Katy Pittman ran and the one up the street that Mr. and Mrs. Rutledge owned. Gene and Katy had the smaller one, and it was literally a mom and pop outfit. The Rutledge’s store was quite a bit larger and had a greater variety of things, like clothes, than the other one.
The Rutledges employed Mr. Hall as a butcher. Mr. Hall was at the time around 60 or so. They lived only a few blocks from my grandmum, and Mrs. Hall was the classic stay at home spouse, but she did teach piano lessons in her home. They were really nice people, and Mr. Hall was into radio in a big way. I was also interested in radio, so we would sit in his shop and he would show me how to repair them. He did that as a sideline business and he also collected antique radios.