The magic light bulb

Posted 11/20/19

You probably think an ordinary light bulb is boring in the era of LED lights.

Well, the ordinary light bulb holds a special place in my memories.

Our family visited my grandparents a lot of …

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The magic light bulb

Posted

You probably think an ordinary light bulb is boring in the era of LED lights.
Well, the ordinary light bulb holds a special place in my memories.
Our family visited my grandparents a lot of Sundays. That meant a trip to Mom’s family in the Beulah Community of Lincoln County.
Back then, we didn’t have handheld digital devices like iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, iPads, and tablets. Our handheld devices were cane poles, slingshots, dolls, and arrowheads.
We didn’t have TVs everywhere either. We had our imagination, which brings me to that light bulb, which will forever brighten my life.
How well I remember the light bulb on my grandparent’s front porch. Their country home burned in 1964, but that bulb stands tall in my memory.
On Sundays, a gaggle of my cousins and I would stand beneath that light and stare at it. If we said a magic phrase I cannot recall, sticks of Beechnut Juicy Fruit chewing gum fell from the light.
You can’t imagine how those sticks of gum thrilled me. I could see them falling.
It wasn’t like the tooth fairy, which operates under the cover of darkness. All the kids got a stick. The gum fairy had a sense of fair play, and lots of Juicy Fruit chewing gum fell from a hole in the bead board ceiling where that light hung.
The sticks would sometimes hit the bulb and bounce into our waiting hands. To this day I see the bright yellow, silver foil sticks tumbling in eastern Georgia light.
My sister remembers quarters falling from the light as well, though it might have been nickels. Money was scarce.
I never knew who climbed into that attic, but I’ll put my money on Uncle Carroll. He was lithe and small and could have easily slipped into the attic. The magic phrase we uttered was Uncle Carroll’s cue to act.
As for a supply of gum, that was no problem. Granddad Walker’s country store with its penny candies and chewing gum was 20 yards away across the sandy front yard Mom and her sisters swept with a bresh broom on Saturdays.
Here’s another story about a magical light bulb.
Mom said the 1st electric light that came into the area caused quite a stir. Rural electrification was arriving, and a neighbor had that miraculous, magical first light bulb.
Folks would come from all over and sit and stare at it so long they got pink eye. I can see that happening.
The jump from kerosene lamp to light bulb was akin to the jump from horse to Model T. I’d have stared, too. So would’ve you.
Yes, there was a time when light bulbs seemed magical, but we’re so spoiled and jaded today nothing thrills us.
Alexa answers our questions and turns lights on and off. Nothing seems magical, not even shiny new iPads and flatscreens, but I smile when I think of Uncle Carroll in that attic dropping coins and gum to my cousins and me.
Having a bit of magic in our lives? It made for a lifelong memory.

down south, magic light bulb, light bulb

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