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Ralph Martin Goff was my grandfather. He and his wife, Dorothy May (Belles) Goff lived on a farm near Clinton, Kansas. It is a small town just west of Lawrence, Kansas, where the Kansas University is located.
This story was written by Everett about a memory he had from looking at the picture above.
World War II – Tough Times
During World War II there was a shortage of everything. New bikes were not available at any price. I got my first full size bike from the Monkey Ward (Montgomery Ward) catalog in 1946 after the war.
Dad managed to locate a small bike somewhere that had tires of 2 different sizes. The front tire was somewhat larger.
One Sunday, we had friends over for bike rides, but the back tire was flat. Not a problem. We decided to hike to Clinton and get a hot patch on the tire. Then, we would be all set to ride the bike. A hot patch was a small pan with a rubber patch on the bottom.
Early Scientific Experimenters
There was some combustible material which got hot enough to vulcanize the rubber patch to the tire tube. The Lone Star store had a hot patch device, but they weren’t open on Sunday.
The Boys Venture Off On Their Own
I was about 7 years old and Gary was about 3. So, we emptied our piggy banks of about $2.00, loaded Gary and the tire into the Radio Flyer wagon and started our adventure.
Advising our parents of our plan never occurred to us. The town had only dirt roads at this time. The road to Clinton was especially difficult to pass. Very few people traveled on this road, through the woods, up and down some steep hills and across the bridge over Rock Creek.
Distracted by Candy
I think it was about 3 1⁄2 miles each way. We made it to Clinton, but for some reason we couldn’t fix the tire. So, we spent our money on candy and headed for home.
Scary Moments for Mom and Dad
Meanwhile, our parents missed us and panic set in. They made a general ring on the party line. A general ring is a special ring to alert folks to get on the line. Dad was in the car running the roads looking for any sign.
Someone spotted us at Clinton, so he went there and started toward home on that old road. We were not quite halfway home when he found us.
I can ‘t imagine what he was thinking at the time, but I think he was so relieved to see us that he couldn’t be as mad as he should have been.
Famous Explorers
We were the talk of the neighborhood for several weeks and dad fixed the tire so we had a bike again.
Written by my father, Clarence Everett Goff, edited by me.
Enjoy,
Sherri
