When I was born (1925) Chattanooga didn’t have any radio stations and no one had television. WDOD signed on the air a few weeks after my birth. Chattanooga’s second radio station (WAPO) didn’t sign on until eleven years later, and WDEF five years after that (1941). Now, there are probably twenty-five radio stations. How many of you thought TV would put radio out of business?

One of my best friends in the thirties was Marvin (Kayo) Bell. His parents owned Bell’s Sundries store. They lived upstairs over the store. We would gather around the console radio in the back of the store and listen to Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Amos and Andy, or maybe Gangbusters. You didn’t need a picture - we could all visualize what was happening.

Movies were even bigger. ‘Talkies’ were new and movies were a great escape from the drab depression. Lavish musicals were popular, but I favored the World War I movies, especially the flying films. ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ and all those pirate pictures were big too, but on Saturday you could see an exciting serial, a cartoon, the news, and a western double-feature for a dime.

Robert Walker, the future mayor, was still getting in the Park Theatre for a dime after he had a beard. He would go to the first movie, see it, get up and look for a girl to attempt a conquest. When the girl would leave, Robert would search for another, not leaving until the last show was over. He sure got a lot of entertainment and loving for a dime.

Sometimes theatres would have give-a-ways to boost attendance. Once I won a pound box of ‘Grandma’s Cocoa’. At first I thought I was lucky. Then I realized I had to go up in front of all those people to accept the prize on the stage. That was a real challenge. Remember I am shy.

Movies were about the only entertainment outlet for Mom. Every Saturday for years she and Elmo Hullender would go to the Park Theatre. Sometimes, when I was about nine, I would go to the movie alone. Coming home after dark was scary. I would walk down the middle of the street and run past the alleys.

Nearly everyone walked everywhere in the thirties although you could ride a street car for a nickel. A cheap date would be to take a girl to the end of the line on the Missionary Ridge street car.

Brother Harold and I started thumbing rides to and from town. It never occurred to us, or our parents, that there was any risk. Imagine today your nine-year old thumbing rides.

Despite all the hardships, unemployment, etc we didn’t worry much about robbery or other crimes. We all heard about Al Capone, John Dillinger, and others and saw crime movies, but most of the crime seemed to be in Chicago. Years later I saw an article in the Paris edition of ‘Stars and Stripes’ about U.S. crime. Chattanooga’s crime rate was among the highest in the country - five times as high as Chicago. That is definitely not true today.

I believe we had a false sense of security because black-on-black crimes weren’t publicized. There was no TV and radio newscasts were taken off the wire and local news taken from the newspapers.

Today, news media emphasizes crime so much that many people live in fear. Times are different; risks are greater, largely because of drugs. Our perspective is distorted by the competition of news media. Many of our people, especially older citizens, live in fear. What a shame!

(This is an excerpt from Bob Elmore's new book, "A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the National Cemetery." The book is $10 in softback, $20 in hardback. Copies are available at the Bicentennial Library downtown, Wally's (on McCallie), Senior Neighbors, The Racket Club and the Brainerd Trophy Shop. All proceeds, not just profits, go to the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. For more information, call 629-1366.)