Sweet and Sour Pie: A Wisconsin Boyhood

by Dave Crehore

  There was always a lot of shouting, punctuated by the slamming down of cards. Sometimes beer was involved.

  Studebaker. The Studebaker Corporation, of South Bend, Indiana, was founded in 1852 and originally built wooden wagons, including the fabled Conestoga. Studebaker got into the car business with the Studebaker Electric in 1897 and built its first gasoline-powered automobiles in 1913. After various mergers and receiverships, Studebaker went out of the automobile business in 1966.

  Our family owned Studebakers for more than twenty years, starting with a 1939 two-door, two-seat business coupe that Mom bought new for $660 and drove throughout the war years. After the war, we owned a Champion convertible, a Commander, and three station wagons.

  “Studies” were economical, reasonably sturdy cars with a feature called the Hill-Holder that was prized in cities like Duluth and San Fran-cisco. If you had to stop for a traffic light while going up a hill, you would depress the clutch and step firmly on the brake. Then, wonder of wonders, you could take your foot off the brake pedal, and the brakes would be locked on by the Hill-Holder. When the light changed, you fed a little gas and eased up the clutch pedal, and as soon as the clutch began to engage, the Hill-Holder released the brake, enabling you to make a smooth start on an upgrade without rolling backward. Sheer genius.

  Two Rivers. A small Wisconsin city on the Lake Michigan shore, about seven miles north of Manitowoc. Known locally as TR or Carptown

  (and sometimes pronounced T’rivers), Two Rivers is believed to be the original home of the ice-cream sundae. In 1881, a customer asked Ed-ward C. Berner, the owner of a Two Rivers ice-cream parlor, to scoop up some vanilla and put chocolate syrup on it. Selling for five cents, 203

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  sundaes soon came in a variety of flavors, including apple cider. The name “sundae” may stem from the fact that at first the concoctions were sold only on Sundays.

  wall-hanger. A shotgun that is too old or unsafe to be fired, and is hung on the wall to create an outdoorsy atmosphere. A wall-hanger may also be converted into a floor lamp, with light bulbs protruding from its muzzles. Not to be confused with a “closet queen,” a shotgun that is too expensive, rare, and beautiful to be fired or even handled very much.

  Waring, Fred (1900–1984). Fred Waring was the proficient and popular leader of the Pennsylvanians, a choral ensemble heard on radio, recordings, and TV for many years. Known as “Mr. Waring” and never as

  “Fred,” Waring was a skilled conductor and composer. He was also the financial backer of an electric mixer called the “Waring Blendor,” well known to Daiquiri drinkers everywhere.

  WOMT. Manitowoc’s local radio station, owned by Francis Kadow, a neighbor of ours when we moved into town in the ’60s. He also owned the Mikadow Theater, named after himself with an allusion, perhaps, to the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. WOMT’s call letters were an acro-nym for Wisconsin’s Only Mikadow Theater, but Manitowoc kids be-

  lieved the initials stood for Women Open Men’s Trousers.

  Zippo. A masterpiece of American technology and business sense, the Zippo windproof lighter was first manufactured in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1932. It sold for $1.98 and featured sturdy construction, reliable functioning, one-handed operation, and a lifetime warranty. Since then about 400 million Zippos have been sold, they are still made in Bradford, and the warranty still applies. Zippos have a hinged metal cap that is held closed by a spring and toggle. When the lighter is opened for use, this mechanism makes a distinctive metallic click that 204

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  is unmistakably the sound of a Zippo. I still have and use a Zippo purchased by my grandfather in 1936. The cap hinge is getting a little wobbly, and one of these years I may send it in for a free repair. I suspect it will be lighting long after my fire has gone out.

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  Document Outline

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Beans for Breakfast

  The Fannie Farmer Mystery

  The Viggle Years

  The Christmas When a Lot Happened

  The Digging Out of Nip

  The Century Run

  Sacrificing Sweet Sixteen

  The Fine Art of Forgetting

  The Secret Smallmouth Lake in the U.P.

  The Butternut Buck

  The Celebrated Water Witch of Door County

  Lucky Thirteen

  How Now, Frau Blau?

  The Dorking Rooster-Catcher

  The Man of Action

  No Fair!

  The Wanderer

  Sweet and Sour Pie

  Envoi

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