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If someone didn't appear in
films very often it was usually because they were behind
the camera, a small boxy 8mm movie camera called a "brownie".
You loaded the film cartrige in the dark and then, a
minute and a half into filming you turned the cartrige
over to get another minute and a half of filming. There
was no sound. That process never came to home movies.
No one could have afforded it! When a new film arrived
in the mail, we waited until dark to see what had been
captured on the film, if anything. You'd have wait,
otherwise there would be too much sunlight glare on
the screen. There were hundreds of these thrown in two
cardboard boxes. Watching one was never enough. They
were like little cookies or donuts. Watching one would
lead into a movie viewing session of one after another
three minute slices of life. The films started in the
mid fifties as the children arrived. There were stacks
of little plastic grey reels in orange boxes which always
seemed like a discovery when you looked through them.
And for the most part, they ran through the projector
normally. But occasionally there were one or two where
the sprockets were broken and you'd have to rush to
the projector to stop it as the film stopped in front
of the bright hot lightbulb and a film melted. It wasn't
easy to pick Kay out of the crowd in these home movies
of family gatherings. She is what would be called an
extra, if she were in Hollywood. But at family gatherings,
when the camera panned, she was the one who had staked
out her spot in a soft chair and stayed there for the
rest of the visit. Like an extra, what she had to say
seemed to get lost in the jumble of conversation. She
wanted people to hear her, but because of her slow and
quiet way of talking and the noise level of other conversations
going on, she became known to occasionally resort to
gags. It worked too. A gag brought her some of the attention
that she missed. She was the one with the sea monkeys,
hand buzzers, 8 ball, snapping gum, flare matches, pen
radios, the fake snakes. At one time, she was a slim
beauty who men had adored. She had been so busy with
dates, she barely had the time to come up for air. But
she was doomed to forever remain a Habick when her weight
ballooned up to three-hundred pounds. Her elegant beauty
had deserted her, but she still had her sense of humor.
Pretty dresses and hats went into mothballs. Replacing
her love of beauty, were antiques. They cluttered her
small bungalow, although she no interest in their value
or significance. After years of collecting, there were
some places in her house that were downright unpassable.
Although Kay's situation may have seemed "hopeless"
by some, if you gave her a listen, you'd be rewarded,
for she was fun. That's why she needed gags to catch
your attention. In one, what looked like a container
of mixed nuts., had two spring "snakes" in it. They
sprung out when someone screwed off the lid. "What's
the matter are you seeing snakes?" she'd say, encouraging
a laugh. Iin another favorite joke, a stick of what
appeared to be Doublemint Gum, was offered. The resulting
snapping sound made when a mousetrap-like device was
sprung, got everyone's attention. That was why she especially
liked it. Flare matches looked like a regular pack of
mathes but burst into a bright colorful flame. It was
a favorite joke for Uncle John, Carl or Lou when they
were looking for a light for their cigars. Sea Monkeys
were a novelty pet. Like the Eight Ball and pen radio,
they were given to children. Every child who had ever
read a comic book, had seen the ad showed smiling humanoid
creatures that bore little resemblance to brine shrimp
that arrived in suspended animation, if you ordered
them for a dollar. By adding water, you could see them
better if you had a microscope. What did the gags do
for Kay? They brought her a few moments of someone's
time and she loved that. "Can you remember Brooklyn,
Carol, Bertha, Dot, Florie, Tina ?" she said, finally
hitting on the right name after going through them all.
She had that habit sometimes, of not getting names right.
There was a short delay during which Tina considered
the question: "Yes Marge, I mean, Florie, uh, Kay, "
she said. Kay had these memories: Remember singing "East
Side - West Side," and Carol tap dancing to it. She
was good at it too! I'm sure you've heard the stories
of throwing snowballs at people's umbrellas - and how
Kay herself had "conditioned" her hair up for dates
using the steam from a boiling kettle right on the stove!
One year the name Harry appeared with her name on her
Christmas cards and everyone had to ask who this was.
But there was not much she could tell them. He was someone
she saw occasionally, and later became her fiance. That's
all anyone ever knew about him. There were pills that
if taken, were supposed to help Kay keep her weight
down. Although Marge and Tina brought her a bottle of
those pills occasionally, they couldn't deny the aroma
of fresh baked cookies, pies and danish, seemed to be
calling out to anyone in the vicinity of her home. For
the bakery was right on her corner and was full of fresh-baked
delights!
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