BB Guns:

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Tommy Moss had one! Sonny Apple had one! Slop Bucket Robert Turner had one! Buddy Stitz had one! But Lewis Butler did NOT have one! Oh ,No! "I would shoot my eye out if I had one!" Guess who was the only kid in Carthage, Tennessee to lose an eye: Lewis Butler, that's who, BUT IT WASN'T DUE TO A BB-GUN!

Well it's just as well. I learned to shoot later in life; probably better than all those guys who had BB guns did anyway! In fact I still hunt every Fall for deer and squirrel because I like to eat them. Venison roast and chili and squirrel breakfasts are my downfall, especially when the champagne flows and the crowd is full of good cheer!

In front of my house on Fisher Hill in Carthage there was a street light probably hung there during the "twenty's". It had an enameled, fluted, reflector and a naked 200 watt bulb. The light it gave out was harsh, but it was at a street light "of that day." If a BB was glanced off the reflector the enamel would flake-off leaving a black spot. If the bulb was hit it shattered.

One day all the "guys" were assembled around the street light in front of my house. Someone said that we were all lacking in intestinal fortitude (the term “chicken” was then coined ) if we didn't shoot the street light out. Of course all the "guys" who owned BB Guns gave the first opportunities to those of us who didn't own a BB gun. We took turns taking "pot-shots" at the light, and when it came my turn I skillfully avoided hitting the bulb because I knew that it would get me into trouble!

Just as my shot glanced off the enamel reflector making an elegant black spot, my mother walked out the front door calling my name and requesting my presence. Mother played a "tune" using a belt on my behind and I accompanied her with appropriate vocalizations much to the amusement of my cohorts in crime! Mother was a skilled musician!

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