Growing Up Simple--In Texas: An Irreverent Look at Kids in the 1950s

Although George Arnold warns the reader at the beginning of his book that some of his tales are completely true and some are mostly made-up he has written a delightful book about growing up in Central Texas as an 'in-betweener' (those born between the Great Depression and the Baby Boom. 1939-1947). George and his friends were always looking to make a fast buck and their first job was the most lucrative of his childhood career; they were paid $10 for every 'healing' at tent revivals for pretending to be miraculously healed by the travelling preacher. When George had amassed nearly $1400 by the end of the summer he devised a plan to 'launder' his earnings into a legitimate bank account (no, his parents did not know of his 'job') by show more opening his own lawn care business. When he was a young teen, George and 2 of his friends began working at the local movie theater, the location of some of their more elaborate pranks. Suffice it to say that a group of church ladies watching a Billy Graham revival movie, 2 teen boys hanging their bare bottoms over the balcony while dropping 'Elgin Hot Gut' sausages into the crowd had me laughing out loud.
Growing up in the 50's was a simple pleasure for George and his pals and they seemed to make the most of it with good-humored pranks played with abundant enthusiasm. A fun book! show less