Winters in Victor, Colorado during the 1940's & 50's by Charles Spray (AKA Jeep Hack)

Winters in Victor, Colorado during the 1940's & early 50's by Charles Norman Spray (AKA Jeep Hack). ©

Unlike many of the kids today, we did not have a boob tube to keep us indoors in winter watching and playing games. We entertained ourselves with outdoor activities.

Oh, we had our favorites on the radio. Listening and hanging on to every word while letting our minds and imaginations paint the picture.
The Lone Ranger’s “Hi Ho Silver,” Jack Armstrong’s “All American Boy,” and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon with his “On King” were just a few of them. They were all great but limited as to day and time. Not as time consuming as TV's.

The Lone Ranger began on radio in 1933--portrayed by Earle Graser for some 1,300 episodes. From 1949 to 1957 the character was played by Clayton Moore in a TV series along with his horse Silver & Indian companion Tonto.

On radio from 1933 to 1951 Charles Flynn portrayed Jack Armstrong, a fictitious "everyboy" General Mills intended listeners to emulate. If Jack ate Wheaties, boys across the nation would too.

Challenge of the Yukon was a 15 minute radio adventure series that began in 1938. It became a TV series in 1950 with Richard Simmons portraying Sergeant Preston and his dog Yukon King,.

CHALLENGES OF THE SEASON. No Anti Freeze (non-existent) for the engine, so you drained the radiator on your car at night and re-filled it in the morning with hot water. No Snow Tires so you used chains put on for the duration of the winter. Packed Roads, Unplowed made Victor’s surrounding hills ideal for sled riding. Bundled Up but an accepted way of life, it was Winter.

ICE SKATING was a popular pastime. An open dry pond area below Cox’s was flooded every night by the City from a hydrant on the north end of the pond. Freezing, it provided a super ice skating rink. With skates sharpened up at Dan Harrington’s Law office and shop, many a Hockey game was played on that rink using a crushed Tin Can for a puck and a stick or a limb for a club. A big open stone fire pit located beside the pond held a fire to warm up by. A couple of pieces of wood brought from home along with an old board or two provided fuel for a fire. I vividly remember Jody Myers and what a magnificent skater he was. He taught this Mountain Boy with two left feet how to skate backwards. Our Skating Rink that held so many memories is now an elaborate hockey facility, “Brian’s Park” home of the “Victor Penguins Youth Hockey Club”.

SLED RIDING: In the 1940’s and early 50’s Victor got a lot more snow than it does today, Climate Change I guess. The unplowed, packed up and down streets provided a great outlet for sled riding. For a quick thrill, a zip down Spicer Street was a popular go to spot.

If it was a balmy star lit night we’d pull our sleds up Battle Mountain to the end of the road down below the R.R. tracks and the Ajax Mine. There between the homes of the Olson’s and Blackledge’s we’d point our sleds downhill, flop on our bellies and take off down the steep hill to the a rare flat spot on the bottom.

Speeding across the flat (one of the very few) we’d zip past the old Ice House spot, take a right at the Depot and proceed down 4th Street going past the Auditorium and Rosser’s Pool Hall to the intersection of 4th and Main [Victor Avenue]. Taking a left on Main between the Victor Hotel and Coleman’s Drug Store we’d go on down main past the many businesses there. Downs' Grocery, the former site of the Old Gold Coin Bar and Dance Hall, past Hack’s Barber Shop next to Clark’s Quality Cash Market, Bodecker’s Barber Shop and Zeke’s Bar. All on the sunny North side of the street. On the “Never Summer” South Side of the street were among others, a Liquor store, the Amber Inn and the old site of the Green Parrot Restaurant.

Across from Eddie Seals Drug Store on the Northwest corner we’d turn right down 3rd Street between Harshies and Walt Rounds Market (now the Lowell Thomas Victor Museum) then go South past the Stope Bar & Café, the Bowling Alley and the Isis Movie Theatre. Picking up speed on the steep 3rd Street we’d zip down past the Library, Mortenson Shoe Repair Shop, the Assay Building and on down past the Kessey and Lorenz homes to the bottom of the hill. Turning left we’d go down the narrow gulch road below the Bielz home and end our ride.

How far had we come? How many feet in elevation were lost in our journey? How much time did it take to get to this spot? Who cares! It was a great experience, a magnificent adventure. Did it have a good point as well as a bad point? You Bet! The good point was the thrill of the ride. If there was a bad point it was having to go back up to the main intersection pulling your sled all the way back up the mountain to town. When we got back up town to the 3rd and Main Street intersection we'd kick the snow off our shoes or boots and go inside Harshies to stand on the big iron grate in the floor enjoying the warm heat filtering up from the furnace below.

Pulling the sled back up town often involved a warm-up stop at Harshies.

Lil Clark had moved the Gold Coin Bar and Dancehall down to where the Victor Cash Market was at one time on Northeast corner of 3rd and main. Re-establishing the Gold Coin there (now the Offices of the Cripple Creek Victor Mining Company) she had piped the holiday music outside of the building with a big speaker. It was there that I heard the song “Rudolph The Red Nosed Rain Deer” for the first time—sung by one of my Cowboy Heroes, Gene Autry. The story goes that he was very reluctant to record such a silly song, but at his wife’s insistence he did. It became one of his biggest hits.

"Winters In Victor, Colorado during the 1940's & early 1950's" (submitted April 2021) by Charles (Chuck) Spray -- also known as Jeep Hack. ©

Click below for companion stories by Chuck Spray (AKA Jeep Hack):

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
To discover why Charles Norman Spray was also known as Jeep Hack by his family and friends while growing up in Victor, click this highlighted link to his "Recollections of Life in Victor During the Great Depression, World War II and After". Included in the preface titled “ THE WHY OF IT ” was this explanation. My daughter who was always telling me “Dad, write down some of the stories you are always telling me.” Finally, to appease her I started writing.
Perhaps in the telling I’ve stirred up a few recollections you might have of your own life. Write them down for your children and grandchildren to follow. The children of today need to know that some things weren’t always the way they are today--things that will never be in the history books nor be taught in the schools, things that made up your life. It’s important they know of the world you knew, what took place before I-Pods, texting, and the abuse of one of man’s greatest inventions, television.
Please forgive my grammar, spelling, punctuation and over-all abuse of the English language. The Cherokee people have no word in their language for goodbye, so I’ll just say “Happy Trails” until we meet again. Chuck Spray (AKA Jeep Hack)

THE PAST MATTERS. PASS IT ALONG.
The Next Generation Will Only Inherit What We Choose to Save and Make Accessible.

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