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Thursday, July 3, 2025 at 1:12 PM

Remember When: The weight of a simple dollar

Remember When: The weight of a simple dollar

By Guest Columnist Mary Jane Boutwell

Recently, I held in my hands a $2 receipt for poll tax. Talking with several others, we agreed that was a goodly sum at the time. During my early years, one of the women living on the place would come and work all day in the house for $11 a day. She seemed to be glad for the money, but it only happened several times a year. 


About the same time, I drove around the north side of the square and noticed the sign for the Canton Cinema. After Brother recovered from polio enough to get around my family, all seven went to the show every Saturday night to see the comedy short and Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Lash LaRue, The Lone Ranger or whomever was using their guns and horses to bring lawlessness to an end. My younger brother and I came up with a sum for our weekly allowance-a whole quarter, Daddy kind of agreed. By then, it cost a dime for us to get into the show. We got a snack at a nickel a pop once or twice a year. We shared. That was all of the weekly allowance we got. 


Back to the princely sum of $2. It cost $2 or less for all seven of us to go to the show. Before anyone misunderstands, I also remember walking about a mile barefoot to church carrying my shoes–my choice. This kept the shoes clean and was easier on my feet. This when most country roads were dirt dusty with a little gravel but called gravel roads.


During the same time period, a tractor was occasionally hooked to the tractor and pulled around the community for anyone that wanted or needed a ride to church. Just think, $2 to vote what county roads to church, a very basic Community Church taxi. Everyone counted pennies.

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mary Jane Boutwell is a passionate historian and is thrilled to share stories about way back when.


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