Do you remember those cloakrooms we used at school back in the 1940s? It was a closet type room built into each classroom. We hung our coats and jackets there. We also placed our lunches on upper shelves. That room was also used to store our clean up brooms, brushes and pails to bring coal to fuel our potbelly heaters.

I always liked to go into that room because of the aroma of foods. Each student brought a different lunch.

I can remember one boy who brought big biscuits filled with sliced Irish potatoes. Some had “fat meat” biscuits. Those were the ones that really smelled good. There were sweet potato sandwiches, but I was always partial to my baloney sandwiches, which my mother prepared two to three times a week. We all brought pints of milk that stayed remarkably cool on that long upper shelf.

The food wrappings and containers always stood out in my mind. Some brought their food wrapped in newspapers. Others used brown paper bags. Several had nice lunch boxes while a few used syrup cans. But one particular wrapping was very unique. It was an empty meal bag. And then there was one boy who always carried his biscuit inside a pocket of his jacket. I had a Pinocchio lunch pail and one of my friends had a Roy Rogers pail.

One day, right after recess, a girl came scampering out of the cloakroom screaming and yelling “there is an animal on our food shelf.” A couple of us ran in to see what the problem was. One boy took a broom and tried to knock it down from the shelf, which was higher than our heads.

No sooner after he hit it our teacher, who had been coaching basketball on the outdoor clay court, came in and picked it up. He began laughing and told us “that is my hairpiece I left on the shelf.” We often wondered why he wore a cap when he was on the basketball court.

On real cold days we also used that cloakroom to huddle closer together to stay warm.

I’ll have to say this about that teacher, like Pat Sajak, he did a good job concealing that bald head.

Very much like certain contemporary TV anchors, there was a female teacher who used the darkest dye you have ever seen to keep that hair looking young. She used so much dye that it sometimes hardened on her ears.

I have never really understood why folks cover their hair with dye. The older you get and the more dye you use, the more conspicuous your age is reflected. I suppose that’s why a lot of people won’t use a close-up photo on their Facebook page.

Speaking of those TV anchors, have you ever heard them say “You saw it first on this channel?” While just a couple of minutes earlier you saw the same story on another channel. I suppose the competition nowadays between TV stations, radio stations and newspapers is what drives so many to heart problems.

There is so much competition out there and there is only so much advertising available. I have said it before, but I can’t tell you how pleasant it is to sit in my home office, gather up news, write it on my computer and send it up on the Internet. If I had to “shag ads” again like I did in my younger days I am sure my pacemaker would literally explode.

Before we take a look at some news from 1966, I want to make that statement “Here we go again.” I am talking about President Obama’s announcement last week that he wants to give us Social Security retirees another $250 check like we received two years ago. You know he told us we would get a check last year, but Congress did not OK it. Because there will be no cost of living increases in 2011 he says another $250 payment is needed.

Well, the problem he will have this year is the election “storm” he faces in about two weeks. In my opinion, as Jackie Gleason used to say, “There is no way, I say no way” those checks will be approved. In fact, after this election I think many incumbents will be humming that old familiar tune “So long it’s been good to know you.”

In more 1966 news, that’s the year Yancey State College in Bay Minette changed its name to Faulkner State College. Named in honor of “Baldwin Times” publisher and civic leader James Faulkner, the college is now called Faulkner State Community College.

I have been trying to find some old Yancey State book covers and related items, but they are hard to come by. I think I may have located one cover, but the asking price is quite high. I am trying to get my wife to buy it for me, but so far I’m not having any luck. Let me know if you have information on YS items for sale.

You could eat a lot cheaper in 1966 than you can today. Back then KwikChek advertised in The Advance roast beef for 39 cent a pound. And, my brother-in-law Lawrence Cooper ran a special on cube steaks at 10 cents a steak.

As you have probably read Lawrence and Doris are closing their store in Bratt, Fla. After 54 years, they are closing the curtain on this well-known community store. “One of the real touching aspects will be not seeing all those friends and familiar faces in the store any more,” they said. I am sure someone will want to buy that business because it is the focal point of this crossroads community.

Travis Black, former ECHS principal, was named president of District One Secondary Principal’s Association and Henry Lowery, owner of Greenlawn Pharmacy, was appointed chairman of the 1966 local United Fund Campaign. Henry was very active in local civic and community activities.

Finally, we said goodbye this week to Barbara Billingsley, the TV mother of the popular hit show “Leave It To Beaver.” This show depicted America’s typical family back in those yesteryears. The 94-year-old Billingsley also starred in other well-know movies throughout her 75-year career.

One of the interesting aspects about this family was the diversified roles played by hubby Hugh Beaumont. In addition to being Beaver’s dad, I remember his playing a role as Superman and as detectives in other TV series. Beaumont was also a licensed Methodist minister.

You don’t find families on TV like that today. Many liberal, young, writers today now want to insert scripts containing single parents and gay parents. In fact, shows today are not “in the main stream” if divorce and “exs” are not written into roles.

I suppose that’s why I write these “old timey” columns. I’m sure there is some who do not identify with the stories I spin. Some probably consider them corney. But, you know, someone has to keep the past alive. Maybe, just maybe, the “tea drinkers” will turn this country around in a couple of weeks from now. Then I will feel right at home when I write about the way things used to be.

We will have more from 1966 next week.

Lowell McGill is a historical columnist for The Atmore Advance. He can be reached at exam@frontiernet.net