INTRODUCING WHAT’S-HER-NAME
 By David Flick

The great little town of Hammon once had a booming downtown section. In fact, it was all of two full blocks long. In the 40's and 50's, Saturday nights were big business. People would flock to town in multitudes. Dragging Main was the big thing for the high school kids. Those who had cars were very proud of them. Those of us who were too young or too poor to own cars took delight in watching the macho guys drive their dates up and down the length of Main in Hammon.

Most of the guys had cars which were somewhat modified. Nearly every guy had glass-packed mufflers and flipper hubcaps on the front wheels. They would roar up in low gear to the turnaround there in front of the Washita Theater, make a their turn, and head back west to the other turnaround, which was all of two blocks down the street in front of Kent’s Laundry. Then they would repeat the process a million times.

The guys usually had a girl sitting tight up against them in the middle of the seat of the car. Sometimes the girl would be almost in his lap but that didn’t matter, they were draggin’ Main in the town of Hammon. For a long time I couldn’t figure out how those guys could drive with a girl in their lap. But when I got a driver’s license and it came my turn to do it, I learned quickly. You have to experience it to know what I’m talking about. Shucks, it’s easy to drive a nice car with a girl in your lap. She helps you drive right nicely.

Back in those good old days, some of us used to go down town for lunch. Most would go to the Joe Frank Moad’s drug store, put a nickel in the juke box and enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches, potato chips and a cherry-coke. The combination could be purchased for thirty cents.

Another option was to go to Tom Sharp’s cafe, which was across the street north of the drug store on the corner. This was the cafe that Doc Dallas would go to drink his hot coffee.

Ole Doc was the most amazing guy I ever saw to drink coffee the way he did. He was a little short fellow and always wore a tie. He didn’t talk much but his actions were loud and clear. He would saunter into Tom’s cafe and sally up to one of the stools along an eating bar. The waitress, whoever she might have been, didn’t ask any questions. Doc would be having his regular usual, which was a cup of teeming hot coffee.

Without a word and with no fanfare whatsoever, he would calmly measure out five teaspoons of sugar and put it in the sizzling cup of hot brew. He would sit there about three minutes, stirring the sugar into the coffee and staring right at the cup as though he were putting a hex on it. When the sugar was sufficiently stirred into the brew, he would remove the spoon, lay it on a napkin, and tip the cup, gulping it down like someone drinking cold water. It was a one step deal, No sipping whatsoever. He just guzzled that hot stuff down like it was ice water.

I would sit in awe to see him do such a thing. His throat had to have been made of pure cast iron to have pulled off something like that. I know he did it because I saw him do it numerous times. In fact, I would sometimes see him heading for Tom’s and divert my trip to wherever I was going and follow him into the cafe just to go watch him do this ritual. I tried it a time or two, but burnt my mouth severely each time. I would have sooner put ice in the cup rather than sugar because ice cools the coffee. Sugar won’t dent the heat of a sizzling cup of hot coffee. Not one bit.

There was yet another option for noon meals downtown. It was a little hole-in-the-wall cafe about half way down the block on the south side. It was next to the SCS (Soil Conservation Service) office. Billy Don Jordan’s dad was the head honcho there in the SCS office. The little cafe offered a hamburger and an RC Cola for a quarter.

Some of the guys would skip lunch all together and go to the pool hall and enjoy a mid day game of pool or snooker. Billy Travis was one of the best pool players in our class. However, he usually had a tough time beating Danny Joe Blackhawk and Franklin Miles.

Then of course, most of the students ate at the lunch room. I always enjoyed eating at the lunch room because Mrs Campbell and Mrs Walker were fantastic cooks. And we could always have seconds, thirds,... and even fourths if we wanted them. I thought the food was great and I could have as much as I wanted.

In those days Main street was bustling with businesses. At the corner of Main Street, on the north side at the east end was the Washita Theater. Going west down the street on the north side was Opal Mae Down’s Dry Cleaners, Doc Dallas’s Drug store, (I never knew what it was that Doc Dallas sold because I didn’t go in there. I was afraid of him), the pool hall, Red Johnson’s Barber shop, (A different Red Johnson from Sharon’s dad), Hite’s cafe, Mr. Irwin’s Shoe repair shop, Ben Cole’s Grocery, Opal Mae’s drygoods store, and on the corner was Tom’s cafe.

Across the north/south street to the west of Tom’s was Jack Walton’s Ford agency. That was the extent of the north side of Main Street.

Coming back to the east end of Main on the south side and going west was Ray Curtis’s Massy-Harris tractor & combine company. Next to his business was Trout’s grocery and standing alone in a small building west of Trout’s was Mrs. Northcutt’s business. I was also afraid of her because she had a huge German Shepard dog. I don’t ever know if it was mean or not, but I sure didn’t try to find out. She sold comic books.

There was always the rumor that Mrs. Northcutt had a thing going with Doc Dallas, who was almost exactly across the street north of her business. They both lived in their places of business and according to my source, Pat Hodge, they were good friends. Whether or not it was ever true about anything they had going, I know not and will probably never know. Such knowledge probably isn’t worth much anyway.

Going west from Mrs. Northcutt’s was that little hole-in-the-wall cafe. I don’t remember who owned it, but they could sure make good hamburgers. Next to the cafe, again going west, was the SCS office, followed by Trent’s Variety store, Albert Flynt’s grocery store, the Post Office, and finishing with Joe Frank Moad’s Drug store.

In the west block of Main Street, on the south corner was First National Bank. Carolyn Burke’s grandpa, Mr Leuter was the banker. Her dad, Floyd Burke, was the chief clerk and I think the loan officer for FNB. Next to the bank, in fact completely surrounding the bank, was the Dugger International Harvester Company. Billy Dugger’s Dad owned half interest in the company. They sold Farmall tractors, from whom my father, grandfather and uncle purchased several tractors through the years. In some of those early years, Dad also bought a couple of Ford tractors from Jack Walton.

Somewhere along in about 1952, give or take a few years, the Duggers began selling Chevrolet cars along with their Farmall tractors.

On the north side of the west end of Main, immediately across the street from the Bank, was Jack Walton’s Ford Agency. Sometime along in the early 50's, I forget exactly when, Red Johnson, Sharon’s dad, bought the Jack Walton Ford Agency.

So Hammon had Massy-Harris tractors on the east end of Main and at the other end of Main was Chevrolet cars, Farmall tractors, and Ford cars and tractors. At least there was no shortage of places to buy cars and tractors in Hammon. And the bank was right in the middle of it all to loan the money to buy. In fact I secured loans from Mr. Leuter to buy my first two cars. It is interesting to note that my first two cars had been previously owned by the same man, Tom Sharp. The first was a ’55 white over blue Ford which I paid a massive $500.00. The second was a ‘59 Blue Ford which I bought for $900.00. That was back in the days when a dollar was as big as a wagon wheel.

As fate would have it, one of the Duggers had son who fell in love with the Johnson’s daughter. I thought it rather strange that the Ford dealer’s daughter would fall in love with the Chevrolet dealer’s son. Since I was, and still am a Ford man, I wondered what a Ford dealer’s daughter could ever see in a Chevrolet dealer’s son. I thought she should have fallen in love with a Lincoln or Chrysler dealer’s son or something. Maybe a Packard dealer’s son. Surely not a Chevrolet dealer’s son... But since there were none of those kinds of dealers around Hammon, I figured that she was doing the best she could under the circumstances. I reckon it doesn’t matter much what kind of dealer it is if love is there. And evidently Sharon loved Billy very much because she’s still married to him these nearly forty years later. It must’ve worked out alright.

A funny thing happened shortly after Bill and Sharon married. I remember it well because I saw it happen. Bill was a Baptist and Sharon was a Methodist. Shortly after they were married, Bill brought his new bride to church. Now it was clear to everyone in the building that they were now a wedded couple. But formalities had to be carried out and the pastor did a right nice job of pulling off the correct formalities. Since Bill was a member of the church and his new bride was a guest on that day, the preacher asked Bill to stand and introduce his guest. Virtually everyone knew who they both were. Bill was obviously rather apprehensive about the whole deal but acceded to the preacher’s request.

He stood tremulously, with Sharon standing beside him, while he introduced her. Bill had to have been nervous because his exact words were: "I’m Billy Dugger and this is my wife, Sharon Johnson..."

Of course, laughter pervaded the auditorium forthwith. I remember looking at Billy and seeing seventeen shades of red arrest his face. I forgot to look at Sharon, but suspect her face was as red as his. He quickly followed, after the laughter had subsided, with, " Er.. I mean, this is my wife, Sharon DUGGER."

I never forgot that. I’d be willing to wager, if I was a betting Baptist, that was the last time Bill ever introduced Sharon What’s-her-name...