Yesteryears by Elizabeth Tanner

By Editor | January 6, 2020 |

Wilkerson takes up new hobby raising ‘tumblers’

By Elizabeth Tanner

70 Years Ago

Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Crider celebrated their 50th anniversary as well as Mr. Crider’s 79th birthday. The Criders were married in 1901 in a double wedding along with Mrs. Crider’s half-brother, George Chant, and Miss Verdie Hill. Wearing a wedding dress that had been worn by her half-sister four years earlier, Mrs. Crider recalled having supper following the wedding ceremony. Mr. Crider, a native of Tennessee, was teaching school at Barksdale when he met his wife. “We walked the same road to school and, when school was out, we got married,” he said. The Criders moved to Garza County in 1917 where Mr. Crider worked at the Postex Mill. The couple had six children, Walter, Andrew “Andy,” Mrs. Claude Brown, Clinton, Mrs. Wilbourn and N. M. Lewis, 17 grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren.

Piggly Wiggly advertised their weekly sale which included multiple breakfast bargains such as coffee for 65 cents, bacon for 59 cents, orange juice for 23 cents, bananas for 12 cents per pound, apples for 15 cents per pound, milk for 15 cents and Raisin Bran for 18 cents. Other odds and ends on sale included Gerber’s baby food for 27 cents, Camels cigarettes for $1.95, Puss-N-Boots cat food for 15 cents and Colgate toothpaste for 42 cents.

60 Years Ago

R.G. “Wilke” Wilkerson, local manager for Wilson Supply, took up a new hobby – raising Birmingham roller pigeons, better known as “tumblers,” for the way they instinctively tumble over in flight. Owning about 23 birds, all of which were pedigree and registered, Wilkerson had the biggest flock around. Anyone interested in watching the bird “tumble,” were encouraged to stop by Wilkerson’s house at 5 p.m. when he let the birds out of their flight pen for an hour long, 200-yard circular flight in his backyard.

R. G. “Wilke” Wilkerson proudly holds two of his prized rolling pigeons, also known as “tumblers,” in the backyard of his home.

Burglars had a busy weekend, breaking into seven local business firms with the biggest haul made at the Lazy S Package Store where an estimated $1,000 worth of liquor was stolen. Accompanying break-ins were reported at the Wagon Wheel, Cattleman’s Bar, K&K Food Mart, Parrish Grocery and Market, Southwestern Public Service Company and R. J.’s Furniture Company. While the other burglaries were not as large, four two-pound sacks of sausage, several pounds of sliced bacon, a few dollars in change and a small alarm clock were reported missing.

40 Years Ago

Dee Caylor shows off a five-pound, 10-ounce radish that he pulled from his August planting.

Dee Caylor displayed another gardening phenomenon, this time in the form of a five-pound, 10-ounce radish. The radish, which was planted in August, came from the same planting as Caylor’s previously pulled two-pound radish.

Mrs. Iva Hudman, the first regular employee of Sentry Savings, retired after 22 years of service with the firm. Hudman, who served as vice president and office manager, said she planned to “enjoy life” following retirement. Seeing a lot of changes through her over two decades of work, Hudman said one of the best was the installation of a computer that handled “all the book work.” She was succeeded as office manager by Mrs. Joy Greer, who was previously employed in the Sentry Savings’ office as assistant secretary for three years.