|
Downtown Alley Early recycling without government intervention
This is the alley between Capitol & Hale Streets. You can see the Kanawha Valley Bank building in the background. The man in this photo is most likely what we called a Bum back in those days. Today we call em Homeless. However, there's one big difference: Most of the Bums in my day actually WORKED, at least part of the week. I can remember setting on my porch on Smith Street watching these huge carts go by, being pushed by men a fraction of their size, loaded down with cardboard and other items. Those huge carts normally had real automobile axles and car tires! The carts were so heavy, that the men had to balance them just right in order to push them. I watched many a man up in the air holding onto the handle because the front of the cart was so heavy. They were on their way to what we call today... "the recycling center" on Dryden Street just off Capitol Street next to the railroad tracks. Most often, they were doing this just to get money to buy alcohol, and take a couple of days off. Then, back to work. TODAY
|
