Transportation in my early childhood years meant that you rode in a family car or truck, rode in a cab or on a bicycle, or rode in a Streetcar.
Streetcar rides were few and I have only retained memories of two occasions from those days. One was of an evening ride home from the west end of Louisville to my Grandfather Link’s Crittenden Drive home in the Highland Park area of Louisville, Kentucky.
While visiting our cousins, we were given a Bingo Board Game which I held on my lap during our ride.
During that trip, some rambunctious boys in one of the neighborhoods along the route placed small firecrackers on the Streetcar rails. No doubt they were thrilled by the loud popping sounds created as the trolley wheels ran over them.
The second Streetcar adventure came when Grandfather Link gave my Mother and Aunt Doris money to buy ice cream from the Drug Store located a few blocks away on Park Boulevard.
As the group of us walked down Ottawa Street past our Aunt Annie and Uncle Clarence’s home, neighbors along the way hailed us from front porches to share the exciting news, “The War is over!”
Thoughts of ice cream treats were forgotten as the hurried decision was made to take a Streetcar ride from Park Boulevard to downtown Fourth and Broadway where revelers gathered to celebrate the momentous occasion.
Heroes would come home and the flag with one star that hung in the 4435 front window on Crittenden Drive would be taken down and stored in the family’s cedar chest.
Thoughts of a Streetcar bring back to mind movies that I am thankful for that are very pleasant and very endearing.