LOSE CHANGE: An Elk County resident shared a story with us about some shenanigans he got into when he was a child in Bradford.
We found it funny reading it today, but we’re sure at the time it was not fun for him or his mom.
“I’m an Era subscriber and Kersey resident but was born in Bradford in 1943. We moved from Bradford when I was seven years old. The little mom and pop store on High Street was where we bought our bread, milk and other essentials.”
Our reader wasn’t sure about the spelling but said it was similar to “Kapajohns.”
“My mom was divorced so it was just her and I. We lived on Avenue B, one street below the store.
“Mom didn’t drive so we walked everywhere. One cold winter day we were walking home from downtown. My hands were cold, so Mom said to put my one hand in her coat pocket and my other hand in my own coat pocket. When I did, I felt some change in Mom’s pocket. When we got home, I took my hand out of her pocket but not without taking some of the change with me. Mom didn’t notice. My hands being small I probably didn’t have more than thirty or forty cents.
“As soon as we got home, I went straight to Kapajohns. I was ordering up penny and two-for-a-penny candy left and right. Mrs. Kapajohn was patiently putting the candy in a small brown bag. I sensed someone was behind me. It was Mom. She asked me where I had gotten the money. ‘She had me dead to rights.’ I told her the truth. She didn’t make me put the candy back, but we went straight home. I realize now that times were tough for us and Mom missed that change.
MARILYN HORNE: Rich Hannon in Bradford passed along a film he ran across last year that featured a local celebrity.
Rich wrote, “I watched a version of Charles Dickens ‘The Christmas Carol’ last year I’ve never seen before. It was a musical version that was on TV in the 1950s starring Frederick March as Scrooge. When the one ghost takes Scrooge back to view his past, Scrooge’s girlfriend sings.
“I thought to myself what a beautiful voice.
“When I checked the credits, I found out the actress wasn’t singing. She was lip-synching to the voice of Bradford’s Marilyn Horne. I thought someone might find that interesting.”
