Folks raised in the South learned early that life didn’t hand you much. But if you were observant and hard working it could give you everything you need. Most of us needed the same things, but it was each group’s secret ingredients that made them special for their branch of the family tree.

Land, water, and people around you held knowledge. You just needed to listen, learn, and apply.

A cousin might show you where to find crawdads. Your dad explained how ...

Lee Iacocca gave us two American classics: the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler minivan. The first was intended to compete with the Chevy Corvair Monza. The latter was designed to take the place of vans and station wagons that were becoming less practical for many families.

Most people today probably could not identify a Corvair Monza if they were riding in it. The last one rolled off the assembly line in 1969 and it quickly faded into automotive history.

Full size vans ...

From the 1940s through the 1970s, Southern grandmothers always had candy dishes on the living room coffee table.

The tradition dates back to the late 1800s, when Emily Post etiquette books dictated that you kept some sweets in the parlor for when company came. Simple sugar cubes or bonbons were the norm then. A hostess was expected to have something small and pleasant to offer visitors, and candy was inexpensive enough that almost any household could manage it.

Then, the candy wasn’t ...

Today, someone at the front door is greeted by a doorbell camera. But the world was friendlier just a half-century ago. And that’s what gave door-to-door salesmen the opportunity to make a decent living.

Traveling salesmen once made up a significant part of business revenue in America. Data from Researchgate and other sources shows that in the mid-20th Century, around 10% of purchases nationally were made at a person’s own front door.

Because of a lack of nearby shopping outlets, that number ...

A ceramic dishpan, a lot of pecans, and a nutcracker made in Little Rock. When we saw those three things sitting in my dad’s lap, we knew we’d hear the cracking of pecans for days afterward.

My dad’s recliner sat beside the bay window in the living room of our red brick house on Beech Street in Ashdown, Arkansas. He liked it there because of the extra light, but also because he could watch the world go by.

The extra light came ...

Depending on where you live, staying warm can be a challenge. And the sources of heat are many. Growing up, I recall a whole catalog of ways we kept warm, and most of them weren’t the kind you controlled with a remote.

My earliest memories of heat don’t come from a thermostat. They come from a wall.

Specifically, a wall heater in the sole bathroom of our house on Beech Street in Ashdown, Arkansas.

That heater was white, looked porcelain, and had a ...

I was six when Neal Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. I was 10 when Gene Cernan became the last.

Between July 20, 1969, and December 14, 1972, exactly 12 human beings landed and walked on earth’s moon.

The first words said on the moon were from Armstrong when he uttered, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Cernan’s parting words were, “We leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, ...

The thing you discover about beverages when you travel beyond the Mason Dixon is that most folks outside of Southern civilization do not know how to properly make and consume beverages.

Tea, coffee, soda pops, and beer, have all been violated. What follows is a primer to help correct these issues.

Let’s begin with tea.

Many think that the national beverage of Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana, is ranch dressing. And at some fraternity parties, it is. But, the real drink is tea. Iced ...

Bell-bottom jeans and bicycle chains are not friends. I share this bit of 1960s essential information for those who are participating in the return of bell-bottoms.

There are some nostalgic returns I support, but I’m on the banana seat fence when it comes to bell-bottoms. Sitting astride a banana seat atop a purple Murray bicycle, I rode through my Ashdown, Arkansas, childhood trying my best to keep my jeans out of the bicycle chain.

The holes and grease in and on my ...

The South used to rely on the Thrifty Nickel as our garage sale newspaper, but like many things these days, the Nickel was replaced by the Internet. Specifically, Facebook Marketplace.

Instead of waiting for the paper to hit the newsstands, we now wait for “New Listing” to appear on a Marketplace posting.

If you’re not on social media, Facebook is a social media platform where people share videos of cats playing the piano, pictures of themselves sitting in cars, and list items they ...