The Great Hog Pen Shootout

I guess we all have childhood experiences etched in our memories, some may be of individual events, others may be of places. Uncle Caskie’s was always a favorite place, The Great Hog Pen Shootout was an event at Uncle Caskie’s and Aunt Clara’s.

Slingshots were the weapon of choice at Uncle Caskie’s; I know the thing about putting someone’s eye out, but the fact is that Wilson, his brother Jimmy, my brother Billy, and I used slingshots rather than paint-ball guns, which of course were nonexistent. There were few other weaponry choices; rifles were too dangerous I think you’d agree, as were crossbows and bows and arrows and dynamite, and besides we didn’t intend to be lethal. I guess we could have moved to the BB gun option, but slingshots were much less expensive and we didn’t want to run up the national debt. Also with BB guns you really could put your eye out.

There was an old country store just down the road from Uncle Caskie’s (this was at one of the three homes that I remember them living in – this was, I think, the second home). We’d collect pop bottles or ask our parents for money and walk down to the store to buy soft drinks and penny candy. In those days an empty soft drink bottle would get you 2 cents, unless it was a large bottle like Canada Dry Ginger Ale came in, then you would reap a windfall of 5 cents. 

We’d purchase Mary Janes, Squirrel Nuts, Pixy Sticks, Fireballs, and wax bottles with flavored colored water in them – all for a penny a piece. How things have changed. In those days you went to a nondescript country store for this kind of candy, today you’ve got to go to some boutique candy shop where you’ll pay a sight more than a penny a piece. Today a Mary Jane or a Squirrel Nut is a novelty, in those days they were the bread of life. In those days you could spend 5 cents and the proprietor talked to you and knew who you were; today you can spend $50.00 and then you need to get out of the way for the next customer and don’t bother with names.

The country store was a good place to pick up a slingshot along with your penny candy and Nehi orange drink. I don’t recall any warnings on the slingshot from the Consumer Product Safety people and I don’t recall any age limits on their purchase. Since the slingshots were sold without ammunition perhaps the manufacturers assumed we’d use pretend rocks? No harm in pretend projectiles.

To be continued…