FRATERNITY PADDLE

It is difficult to believe I have uncovered my father’s old Fraternity Paddle from his college days at Ohio State, out there in Columbus.  Omega Tau Delta?  1936 – folks, this nice sturdy flat oak paddle, still nicely finished (you won’t get splinters from this baby), is from 1936, and was no doubt used many times to whack swell brotherly guys on the ass – hard.  How many times did a typical frat guy get slammed with one of these oak paddles?  It’s 30” X 3 ½” X ½” and it has a tapered handle for a good grip.  I figure they all had to make their own, and burn their names (and the Fraternity symbols) into the wood.   Hope they had nice workbenches and vices.  Lots of filing, sanding, whittling and polishing right here.  (I know – I used to do all that working on furniture.)  It has a hole drilled near the top – it hung on a wall, or a door, or in a closet – probably had a leather lace through the hole.  I tell you - I can’t believe I saved this thing.  Amazing that He saved it.  It’s wonderful, or ridiculous, probably both.

         

I forgot – they All signed it – about 25 guys, first and last names.  They had to use a wood-burner too; there were no ballpoints in 1936.  One of my father’s college buddies was Irving Shulman, known by the guys as “Shmoonie”.  He wrote “The Amboy Dukes”, a popular 1947 novel of early teenage rebellion in the period just before Rock and Roll joined all those alienated kids into our image of the rebellious 1950s teenager.  It was a lurid mainstream book I associated with “The Blackboard Jungle”.  My dad didn’t have a copy, and though I do think he had read it, he never recommended it, and I still haven’t read it.  But now I want to.  So much to do, so little time...

          And now it’s a few days later.  It’s Tuesday, and I spent hours finding out I couldn’t get my taxes done yet.  Sigh. 

          Ever read Mr. X comics?  Great story.  The first four issues or so are the best cause they have Dean Motter and the Rodriquez brothers both!  Well, that may not mean much to some of you.  But it’s about a guy who never sleeps, and says “So much to do, so little time…”

          And now to publicize the show, advertise for entertainers, and post this.  Soon I’ll complete the posting of all my shows, up to #133, onto Youtube.  I have to put up about ten of them and then I’m done.
          I re-thank Bad Accent Music – Evzen! Karine! Brad! Jonah! Emma! Andy! And the sax player...

          Too many endings.