Dedicated To Main Page Life History Project
Life History of Philip Harris
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Dedicated
To Main Page Life
History Project
1. Tell about your favorite uncle.
My favorite uncle was Harold Harris. He was easy to talk to. He would always help out with car problems. He also helped me buy a good used car. He brought up 4 small children after his wife died.
2. What changes have you seen in technology? (Indoor plumbing, water, telephones, computers, cars, etc.)
When
I was a lad we had no running water. It was my job to bring in pails
of water each day for drinking, washing and laundry. We never did
have running water at our home in Harrisena. We thought we had
arrived when the old outhouse was replaced by a chemical toilet in
the woodshed.
3. Tell something you remember about one of your grandparents. (Were they funny, crazy, loving, mean, or special in a certain way.)
About: Ella (Spinning) Miller and Donald Carlton Miller
I had some very wonderful grandparents. Grandmother Harris took care of me when my appendices burst and I was paralyzed for a time. She was a wonderful cook. I stayed with my grand parents on several occasions when growing up. It was my second home. I do remember one time I was over to Art and Henry Harris. I had picked up some new swear words and used them on my grandfather. I was over his knee getting a spanking so quick it made my head spin. I never did that again. Grandmother Miller was a kind person. I liked to stay overnight at her house. I could take a bath in her tub and she had a dish of hard candy. I was blessed with good kind grandparents.
4. Did you ever have an accident, illness, or an operation? Pick one and tell about it.
When I was 17, I was in a terrible accident with two of my best friends, Bob Jenkins and Eugene Bushy. Gene had his girl friend with him in the back seat. We were headed to a square dance at Greens pavilion on Hadlock Pond. Bob and I were to meet our dates at the dance. Going up Ridge Road just north of where Quaker and Ridge now are, we were hit head on by a drunk driver. My two buddies were killed. I was thrown out of the car. I was found in a field. Dick Kubricky had come upon the accident. When they found me he took me to the hospital before the ambulance came. I had a broken jaw and my teeth we smashed out. The excruciating pain I was receiving was from the flesh that had been torn loose from inside my ribs and back. I was in the hospital for several weeks. The girl was in a coma for months, but did survive the accident.
5. Tell what your hobbies or interests are. (Do you sing, sew, write, hunt, build things, let us know more about you.)
I have a lot of things I like to do. I am a licensed square dance caller. I am now calling and teaching square dancing in the park we are staying in here in Bradenton, Florida. I also like writing. My book "Moses of the Barkeaters" was fun to do. I have another book that I have completed but not yet published. I keep going back to revise it. My love in the summer is my garden in Harrisena. I love to work the soil and watch things grow. I will have 300 strawberry plants this year to harvest berries from. I must be nuts. If you want strawberries in June, see me. Wanda and I love our dancing. We dance 3 nights a week.
6. Tell about the changes in television. (Anything you want, earlier shows vs. today's shows, invention of VCR's & DVD's, the sky's the limit.)
We didn't have TV when we were growing up. We used to watch the radio. I remember when TV came out. We used to go to Glens Falls and stand in front of Braden and Chapman music store and watch the amazing picture coming over the screen. The H. Russell Harris family Isabel ,Peggy and Connie would let us come over and watch their TV. They had the first TV on Ridge Road,maybe Queensbury. We used to sit and watch the test pattern before John Cammeron Swayze and the news came on. Then our favorite was Milton Berle and the Texaco Star Theater came on. I bought the first TV for our family. It was a 12 inch Crosley. Some of our favorite shows were besides, Milton Berle were , Sid Caeser, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Fibber McGee and Molly, George Burns and GracieAllen,Jackie Gleason, Ed Sullivan and The Lone Ranger. The shows were all carried over from Radio. The other technology advances. Have left me behind. I am totally amazed with a fax and the computer. The TV programs were a lot better in the beginning than they are now. It seems that TV is a total waste land now.
7. Lets be romantic! Tell us about your valentine, first love, first crush, or how you were proposed to, or how you proposed to your sweetheart.
I can still remember my first love. I started school in the Harrisena one room school house. Mrs. Pulver was the teacher. There were two of us in Kindergarten. Me and Joyce. I had a big crush on her. She would even kiss me in back of the wood shed. I would be so embarrassed that my face would be red for days. When we were in first and second grade I sometimes walked her home. She lived in the house built by John J. Harris, owned now by Norma Stark. I would pull my little wagon and ride down the hill back home. Joyce was a foster child and one day had to move. My heart was broken. I have been blessed to have two special loves in my life. Alice the mother of my wonderful children and Wanda who has brought the greatest joy I could imagine to my life.
8. What types of jobs have you had and which did you prefer?
I took any job I could
when I was growing up. I worked on farms for $1 a day. I worked in
Marrion Harris store in Kattskill Bay for $2 a day. I went to work
when I was a teen ager for Dorance Branch's General Store on Ridge
Road, Queensbury for $3 a day. I worked after school on weekends and
every day in the summer. I worked a short time in Binch's lace
factory in Glens Falls. It was the highest paying job in the area. It
payed $70 a week for a 7 day week. I was working there at the time I
was in the accident. I hated that job and never went back. When I was
able to go back to work, I went to work for Grand Union Co. as a bag
boy and potato bagger. We worked a 48 hour week for $38.75 I worked
for Grand Union until I retired , 44 years later. I worked my way up
from potato bagger to Produce mgr. I can say my all time favorite job
was as Produce Mgr. I was a General Manager in stores around the
North country for many years. My favorite store to manage was North
Creek where I spent 12 years. I also worked as an executive out of
the Waterford office. I worked the last 6 years of my Grand Union
career as a company auditor.
9. Who was your best friend while growing up, or who is your best friend now? Let us know a little about the friends you have had in your life.
My best friend while growing up and as a teenager was Puzzy Coon. We hunted, fished,and went to dances We were very close friend. We went camping on the islands of Lake George. My wife Alice was also a best friend. My wife Wanda is my best friend and companion. We have made several good friends here in Florida. We play cards and go to dances with friends almost every night.
10. Tell us about your favorite Aunt
My favorite Aunt was Aunt Rachel Harris Kubricky. After work I would come home in the summertime and all my kids' Jim, Brenda, Randy, Renee and Steven would be waiting in their bathing suits to go swimming at Aunt Rachel's pool. She was always so pleased that we came and always made us feel welcome. When I needed to take my drivers test for my license, she let me use her car and went with me. She gave me the encouragement that I needed to pass my drivers test. I used to be buddies with Dick and Duke Kubricky and she made me feel like one of the family.
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