James Laird - Christmas Celebrations in the 1930s - Page 4

Through our local Boy Scout Troop I became good friends with a boy who lived across the street from the Boy's Home. I was allowed to visit him regularly. He was into sailboat racing and he had won quite a few races at Long Beach and Newport. The boat he sailed was called "Flatly" was built just around the corner from the boys home in an old barn converted to a small boat works.

We would often go around there to watch them building the boats. As the name implied they were flat bottomed and made of plywood and sailed with a crew of one or two. In the early evening there were quite a few grownups working on boats or just standing around shooting the breeze. It was one of those guys who showed me the best way to sharpen a knife. As I was just starting to grow hair on my arms and legs you could often see bare spots where I tested how sharp my knife my was by shaving off bits of hair.

Jim Laird