Back to the Good Old Days
Tipp Senior Citizens Reminisce about Life in Tipp City
Four Tipp senior citizens from the classes of 1960, 61, and 64 reminisced about their childhood and teenage lives in Tipp City. From their perspectives, life was good, and Tipp City was their playground.
The Tippecanoe Historical Society had hosted similar oral history recordings in the past and hosted this event at the Tipp Senior Center on Tuesday, September 24. The room was full of interested listeners. Historical Society Board member Jackie Wahl introduced the four who would talk about growing up in Tipp in the 40s and 50s: Mike Jackson (class of 64), Rex Spencer (class of 60), and Becky Moser Mattox and Diane Brundrett Voyentizie (class of 61). Then, Historical Society Museum Director Susie Spitler, holding a timer, told the four seniors to keep their comments to 5-to-7 minutes each (which, of course, wasn’t long enough for anyone) and that they could also answer questions from the audience.
The four speakers told numerous stories, all interesting, many funny, and some nostalgic. Here are just a few:
Becky Moser Mattox explained that she took a cab to kindergarten, which was on Main Street at that time. Then when she was older, she would walk home for lunch and invite other kids to join her. Her mom finally said, “You’ve got to quit bringing all those kids here for lunch! (You never knew how many were coming). So, she started giving me lunch money for the cafeteria.” Becky also said that her dad’s store was right next to their house, and her dad would call from the store and ask, “Who’s in the basement?” and Becky would answer, “No one,” so her dad would yell, “Then turn off the damn lights.” A little later he’d call again and ask, “Is somebody upstairs,” and Becky would respond, “I don’t think so.” So, her dad would say again, “Then turn off the damn lights!” Later, Becky married a man with two boys, and they had two boys, so she now has ten grandchildren and two great-granddaughters. She said, “It’s just been wonderful!”
Diane Brundrett Voyentizie said she was home-schooled for kindergarten. At home, one day, she asked her mom how to spell “chicken,” and her mom ran to her dad and exclaimed, “We’ve got to get her in school!” So they did, and Diane began going to the old Castle school, which was eventually demolished and replaced by Broadway Elementary. After graduating from Tipp High School, she went to UD and got a summer job at a Holiday Inn, where one day, a handsome, older man (12 years old) asked her to dinner. Her father said OK, “but he has to come to the farm to meet us first.” And he did, made a hit with everyone, and they got married four months later. Diane now has three children and six grandchildren, had a very happy life, and adored her husband, who passed away about five years ago. Diane credits Tipp City, her parents, and her family “for her values, determination, and the love that brought her back to Tipp City.”
Rex Spencer moved to Tipp in 1946, when he was four. His dad left the Navy and entered the hardware business on Main Street, where Midwest Memories now resides. Across the street was a movie theatre, now the Monroe-Township building. One Saturday afternoon, Rex sat through the 2:00 p.m. matinee, which was a John Wayne movie, The Flying Tigers. He then stayed seated for the 4:00 showing and said, “I had plans to stay for the 7:00 viewing, but my mom came over and dragged me out of there for dinner.” Rex also liked watching wrestling on TV, which was becoming available to the average family. He particularly liked Don Eagle with the Mohawk haircut and Rattlesnake Wyler. His dad sold TVs in the hardware store, and told Rex about a couple who bought one of their TVs. They had it only about a week when the husband came back into the store and said, “What can I do? We were watching wrestling and my wife got so upset she threw a Coke bottle at the TV and broke the picture tube!”
Mike Jackson started by saying, “I’m going to go a little different direction than these people because that’s just the way it goes, and (sarcastically) I’m much younger than them.” He continued, saying that today, people talk about a grocery store. We want a grocery store. When I was growing up, you could get everything you wanted in Tipp City. You didn’t need to go anywhere else. We had everything from grocery stores to small markets, markets everywhere. We had restaurants, clothing stores, and jewelry stores. He said, “We had the nursery super store, Americas’ super nursery store, Springhill Nursery. You didn’t have to leave Tipp for anything. And something changed…the interstate. When the interstate opened up, everything changed. And it has changed even today.” he said everyone goes to Dayton, Vandalia, or Troy to shop. “It was a different time,” Jackson said. “When you could have fun, not cause any serious harm. But you were on your own. And I think it led to a lot of independence.”
NOTE: if you want to watch this oral history recording, contact the Tippecanoe Historical Society. This was recorded during the entire event and is available on KIT-TV and DVDs.