Dudleys Diary

big deal to go out to eat on Friday night. We lived in Wichita Falls at the time and we would go eat at Underwood's Bar B Que or perhaps one of two cafeterias I remember, The Piccadilly or Furr's cafeteria. I remember going to Furr's often and it got pretty crowded on Friday evenings. You would usually have to stand in line that went all the way out the door into the parking lot. I remember the wait was quite entertaining because there was a real Organ Grinder with his trained pet monkey to entertain old and young alike. The old man and his monkey were dressed alike with matching red velvet hats and vests and white shirts and red pants. They were a sight to behold, especially to a kid. I remember the old man would turn the crank on his music box he wore in front of him on a strap and it would play organ music. While he was playing the monkey would dance around on the ground or on the music box or up on the old mans shoulders. After the performance, the old man would give the monkey a can and the monkey would go around collecting donations from the audience who would applaud the monkeys antics. I have not seen anything quite like that since then. That was good old fashioned entertainment and I also remember seeing my first ever Lava Lamp on the check out counter of that same cafeteria years ago. I remember staring at it and being no less fascinated than I was staring at that pet monkey. I guess you could say I was easily entertained in those days.