Beyond the River

by Greg Liles

In 1959, there were no cell phones, computers, or Internet, nor were there any schoolyard massacres or public forms of humiliation aimed at minorities or threats of global terrorism that we experience nowadays and times were much slower and less demanding for those who lived during this era. Racism was a problem but not nearly as problematic as it would become in later years. Children went to school each morning knowing that they were in a safe environment where they could learn unencumbered by the problems of the world. Each morning they stood by their desks with their right hands over their hearts proudly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and praying for indivisibility under God with justice and liberty for all, not knowing that not too far in the future God would be banned from public schools and indivisibility would be a thing of the past. They gladly gave their weekly allowances to purchase a small piece of their country's heritage and to ensure it remained intact by buying U.S. Savings Bonds and read about all the good things happening in the world around them in their Weekly Readers. They were taught the Three-R’s and how to get along with others and didn’t have to perform drills on how to survive terrorist attacks on the playground which today has become common practice. When they were home, kids didn’t sit around on the couch all day texting their friends and playing video games of mass destruction - their skin growing paler all the time from their lack of good old vitamin C (sunshine exposure), and a boy’s imagination was all he had to keep him occupied. Wages were much lower then but prices of things were much cheaper so the one counteracted the other. War World II had been over for nearly fifteen years and the promise that it had been the war to end all wars gave the American people the courage to move forward. The market was a consumer’s paradise with all the gains made in technology and electronics. Color TVs (some with remote control), and transistor radios and tape recorders and Hi-fidelity record players filled the shelves of department stores. The economy was booming and the average income was $5016 per year and the average home price was only $10,900 so the homebuilding market was on a rocket ship headed straight upward and banks were strong so that home and auto loans could be had by just about anyone. The average new car price was below $3000 and gasoline was only 25 cents per gallon so people were traveling more and the slogan “See the U.S.A.” was born. Milk was a dollar per gallon, bread was twenty cents a loaf, a beer was only fifteen cents, cigarettes were only a quarter a pack, a U.S. postage stamp was only four cents, and movie tickets were only a dollar. All in all 1959 was a good year for most people. I was there and I enjoyed that era. If you were there, you will agree but if you were not, then here is a chance for you to get a feeling for what it was like, as seen through the lives of three young boys who called themselves the three buccaneers and whose pirate pledge was - fun for all and all for fun! This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 19, 2020