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Hammond Indiana

Subject	Message	Replies
Horse tales Date: 03-14-2009 By: Paddy	Like the buried streetcar tracks, no visible evidence remains of how horse-power served our Hammond ancestors. You might not be surprised that the Hammond Fire Department stopped using horse-drawn pumpers in the 1920's. But would you believe that horses travelled Hammond's streets into the late 1940's? They did. Horse-drawn wagons delivered ice to homes. I remember the signs in house windows, rectangles measuring about one foot square, with "50 pounds, 75 pounds, 100 pounds or 'No Ice Today'" printed on each side. The ice wagons were a kiddie treat. When an ice wagon entered our block, us kids would quietly follow. As the Iceman stopped to deliver ice to a home, he would deftly cleave the ice block to the requested size. Using tongs, he then hoisted it over his leather-clad shoulder to carry it to the house. Our treat was the left-overs. When the Iceman cut the large blocks, the cutting left lots of shards. The shavings ranged from almost mush to fist-sized chunks. When the Iceman returned to his wagon, he had to push the ice shards off the end of the wagon so he could cover the remaining ice with canvas. The event was a treat for all. There were shards galore, and us kids eagerly reached for the biggest. I can say that I never met an Iceman who did not enjoy sliding those icy treats toward our eager hands, pushing them slowly enough for us to catch them. Icemen were not the only ones using horses in the 1940's, but those are horse tales for another day.	4

Replies

Date	Member	Message
03-16-2009 ( Reply#: 2847 )	tom w	Remember the guy that went down the alley with a huge horse and wagon with bells on the horse and he would yell what sounded like "Rags a lion" What he actually said was Rags, Old Iron. I remember that both him and the horse and wagon were filthy, huge and scary. I betcha that memory wasn't from the fifties. lol Take care, Tom W Hammond Tech 55-58
03-21-2009 ( Reply#: 2891 )	Paddy	The rag man showed up in our neighborhood, but we had little to offer him. Me and the neighbor kids had learned the value of scavenging. We returned empty bottles to the local grocery store on 150th and got a nickle per bottle. We used a wagon to carry metallic castoffs to the junk yard at Hohman and Calumet. Two other horse-drawn vendors plied their trades on our streets. One was the "Scissor Man," as we called him. His wagon held an elaborate hand-powered machine that honed scissors and knives. Everyone sewed in those days, and their scissors needed periodic attention. The other vendor sold fruit and vegetables, and I remember him by name, Gus the peddler. I remember Gus because he gave my my first paying job at the tender age of eight. Gus came through our neighborhood on a daily basis. A man he called Eli drove the wagon while Gus attended to the business end, where he displayed his goods. Customers were treated to burlap bags of potatoes, ears of corn bulging from string sacks, bushels of apples, boxes of lettuce, cartons of oranges and what have you. If a fruit or vegetable was available in Hammond, Gus carried it. My first job started out as a volunteer position. When Gus's wagon came down the 4800 block of Beech Avenue, I tagged along. If someone made a sizable purchase, Gus would ask me to carry the sacks to the customer's door. I began accompanying Gus all the way down to 150th, where he would reward me with a quarter for my help. For a kid in those days, a quarter bought a whole lot. I could buy a Saturday morning ticket at the Orpheum Theater in EC for 14 cents. Ten cents would buy me candy or a soft drink, and I would have a penny left over. The Rag Man, Scissor Man and Gus the Peddler marked the end of the era of horse-drawn vendors who traveled Hammond's streets. I have fond memories of them and the time, but Hammond and I moved on. Large grocery stores provided far more than street vendors could offer, and they disappeared. My next job was delivering the Hammond Times, and I forgot about Gus, Eli and their Dun horse whose name I never knew. Several years later, I ran into Gus and Eli, but that is another story.
03-22-2009 ( Reply#: 2893 )	duane	I definitely remember the scissors man. Early day "Edward Scissorhands"? Although the one I remember had a cart he would push with a seat and the grinding wheel...no horse. Also vaguely remember the rag man.
03-22-2009 ( Reply#: 2894 )	Paddy	The Scissor Man's contraption was awesome. When he came down the street, it made a loud clanging noise to announce him. The whirling belts and wheels made me keep a distance, afraid that the thing might suck me in and slice me to pieces. I thought the thing was horse-drawn, but maybe my memory is lumping all street vendors from those days into wagons!