In the late 40's my mother would hand me a note plus some money, instruct me not to read it and give it to Mr Mac at the corner convenience store where I usually got my penny candy.

I dutifully carried out my mission by not looking at the note and handing Mr Mac the note. He would reach behind him and put a blue box in a plain brown paper bag.

The first few times I did not look but an 8 year old boy's curiosity finally won out and I checked the note --- KOTEX.

To say the least I was very confused and the box was no help since the only other information on the box was Sanitary Napkins. Why would buying napkins be such a big secret? It wasn't until I became a teenager did I find out the reason for my secret mission.

I remember getting the Mule Team model as well. Went together well, but the lines for the mules and painting it were my troubles. I guess at 7 my sense of detail just wasn't there!

I remember some of these items on my Grandmother's shelves. I also remember the phone which I loved to use because my parents' phone was "modern"!

Specializing in brands that end in the letter "x".

Don't forget borax's use in laundering cloth diapers. A little white vinegar and borax thrown in with the soap makes the bright white and like new. I raised three kids in the pre-Pampers era.

I remember as a kid sending in the coupon for a model of the twenty mule team: 20 mules, the three wagons and the muleskinners, and the harnesses, etc. It was one of my earlier attempts at model building but I did manage it.

Crazy, the number of uses for borax: alone as a laundry detergent booster; mixed with ammonium chloride to produce a flux when welding iron and steel; as an anti-fungal foot soak; to treat thrush in horse hooves; as a cockroach killer; to make buffer solutions in biochemistry; as an ingredient in enamel glazes; mixed with glue, water and food coloring to make the gloopy play slime for kids called gak; etc.

Lila Marie (16) and her sister Rosa Nell (14), according to the 1940 Census.

Chris Farley's Grandpa?

sar·to·ri·al
särˈtôrēəl/Submit
adjective
of or relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress.
"sartorial elegance"