On 19 Aug 2015, I posted 50 Interview Questions.  Following is a summary of answers to questions 16-20 from the interview with my Mom.  Enjoy!

• Do you remember any fads from your youth?  Popular hairstyles?  Clothes?
  • Paper dolls, roller skates (clamped on your shoes with a key)
  • My dolls hair used to be glued on.  Over time, the manufacturer changed the hair so it looked like it was growing out of the dolls head.  This made all the difference in the world!  I could finally wash my dolls hair without her loosing it!
  • I used to fall asleep with bubble gum in my hair.  My mother was constantly cutting my hair to remove the gum.  Madame C. J. Walker invented the straightening comb and many ladies got her hair pressed.
  • Long skirts were in style.  My favorite skirt is in the following picture:

Alice & Roland Davis – With Her Favorite Skirt!

• Who were your childhood heroes?  I used to read Marvel comic books with Superman, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman.  I also played with paper dolls.  The paper doll book cost $1.  You would cut the clothes out, and you punch the dolls out.
• What were your favorite songs and music? When I was in college, I listened to a radio station (Randy’s Music) that played the latest Rhythm and Blues (R&B) music from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am.  I really enjoyed all R&B music; however, some of my favorite singers/songs:
  • Cab Calloway – “Hi-De-Ho” was my favorite
  • Ray Charles
  • Nate King Cole – “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” was my favorite
  • Louis Armstrong
  • James Brown
  • Elvis Presley
  • Lena Horne – my favorite was “Stormy Weather”
• Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?
  • Yes, a friend of my father’s gave him two puppies for Christmas.  We could only afford one dog so my father gave the other one away.  We named our dog Tony.  Our dog was a Husky – brown all over with lots of hair.  He stayed in the house with us.  Everyone was afraid of him, even the other dogs in the neighborhood.
• What was your religion growing up?  What church, if any, did you attend?
  • My family attended St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Mobile, AL.  We were Methodist.  My father was a deacon and my mom a deaconesses.  My mom also washed and pressed the tablecloths for communion once a month, played the piano and sang in the choir.
  • My mother was a good piano player.  She played professionally with her husband until her children were born then she focused on the kids.

Between The Dashes