Annual Salute to the Change of Seasons

Fall, so named for leaves which do and golf putts often don't, once again has arrived.

There, pholks, I've said it again fulfilling my annual salute to the change of seasons.

And just like always those leaves are indeed falling and those darned putts continue to fail me, although recently a few have found their way home.

If I had wasted my precious free time running for governor I would have had to put my golf game on the back burner. I would be missing the change of season and the falling of the leaves. Less putts would have had the chance to fall and I would be a confirmed loser along with nearly a gross (good term) of California guberintorial candidates. I'm now content just to be a golf match loser (most of the time) still with a chance to become a winner.

Last week I gave a brief talk to a local Lions Club and was asked to make an election prediction. I talked my way around giving a definite answer, stating only that there is a likely chance that even if he is recalled, Gov. Gray is likely to get more votes (No recall) votes than the candidate who wins if the recall carries. For example, if the "No recall' vote tallies say 46 percent and the winner among the replacement candidates garners 39 percent of the ballots cast, it will mean that Davis actually gets more votes than the new governor.

That's California for you---and me.

POLITICS IS ONE OF THE SUBJECTS which long has been a favorite topic at coffee shops, bars and barber shops.

Last week during a haircut, I skipped the politics at Larry's Barber shop in downtown Visalia where veteran hair trimmer Larry Todd has been toiling on local heads for more than 32 years.

It's not that political clatter isn't on the menu at Larry's right behind the Picnic Sandwich shop which has been a center of local political "discussions" for about as long as Larry has been snipping, trimming, shaving and powdering. But, Larry provides reading materials and pictures not found in too many barber shops these days. His one-chair shop has dozens of WWII books and photos with the majority depicting classic War Birds from around the world. There have been thousands of flight hours logged in the cockpit of Larry's barber chair, testimony to the average age of his clients.

And would-be client wanting a spiked hairdo or a bleach job certainly would be taking a chance asking Larry twice. But what caught my eye the other day was the rest of the reading fodder awaiting my perusal. A couple copies of Popular Mechanics grabbed my attention. One was May 1963, the year after my high school graduation and the other was 1970.

The cover of the May 1963 PM (Popular Mechanics) depicted two Indy race cars, one chevy powered and the other ford powered. A headline read "Will a V8 Win the 500 This year? Ford Verses Chevy at Indy!"

I glanced at the story which was interesting and brought back some good memories. But it was the ads which really jogged my memories. There were several full-page color cigarette ads in the publication. On Page 181, a good looking blond fellow was smiling with a freshly lit Chesterfield between his lips. The caption stated "Tastes Great Because The Tobaccos Are!." Page 68 featured a seductive red-haired woman lying in the grass holding a Pall Mall. That caption told the reader that "Pall Mall's Natural Mildness is so good to your taste!." A smaller headline at the bottom of the add noted that the Pall Malls are "So smooth , so satisfying, so downright smokable!"

Another ad urged readers to enroll in a school for heavy equipment operators. "The construction field is going up, up up...heavy equipment operators today are earning as much as $10,000 a year and more!"

A couple pages later an ad urging readers to learn to repair electric appliances and earn $5 to $6 per hour. But the ad which rally grabbed my attention was one showing a 1963 Datsun pickup truck suggesting the reader consider a "Second car." The cost of this truck, which the ad claims could haul up to one ton and is equipped with white sidewall tires, heater, defroster, vinyl upholstery, 4-speed transmission, torsion bar suspension, a 12,000 mile, 12 month factory warranty, and the economy of up to 31 miles per gallon for a total price of $1,596.

Well pholks that was only 1963, Even back then fall was the time leaves fell and those darned putts didn't. And the candidate who got the most votes was the winner.

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