Browse Items (80 total)

  • Tags: Kenneth Landon's Childhood 1868-1943

The Landon family eventually moves to 710 Walnut St. where Kenneth's father, Brad, would stay until 1938 or 1939. The furniture from the house would come to Kenneth and Margaret in Richmond, Indiana. 

Mae was away and Brad decided that he and the boys (Bradley and Kenneth) were going to make pancakes. As a chemist Brad tried to analyze the mixture, throwing one after another of the ingredients and hoping to come to the perfect pancakes. He never…

Kenneth tells about the ATV company going bankrupt, mostly as the result of his father's poor business skills. When Kenneth left home, that was the end of manufacturing staff.

French Creek would freeze during winter and people could ice skate on it six to twelve miles. In the spring the ice would break and back up against the bridges and back up the water in turn, causing flooding in the town. People enjoyed it. 

Kenneth tells about how fair his hair was, how girls thought he was cute and gave him some candy, and how one time he ate a bag of candy and got sick.

Kenneth and his family traveled to Niagara Falls and the boys had to eat fig newtons, which Kenneth came to love very much. He would eat fig newtons in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.

Kenneth's father was mean to his family but nice to other people. He treated his wife and kids harshly. Mae had no pocket money and the kids had no allowance unless they worked for it. At age fifteen Kenneth confronted his father and challenge him to…

Kenneth tells about his parents' relationship with each other, their fights in the middle of the night over issues of marital intimacy, probably because his father treated his mother harshly. He tells about one night when his father was weeping and…

Kenneth tells about his dog, Jimmy, who was a very special dog from a prestigious kennel in England. The dog was originally a gift to Kenneth's father, but Kenneth always considered Jimmy to be his dog. Kenneth's father was the only member of the…

The Landon brothers got in a furious fight in which Kenneth's brother ran after him until he vanished away for the rest of the day. The boys were alone that day so Mae, their mother, who usually protects Kenneth could not help. Kenneth was gone for…

Kenneth (age 6 or 7) and his older brother made a propeller at their father's railroad shop. He tells of how they got into trouble again with the motorman (whom the propeller almost hit). The kids vanished but were eventually found.

Kenneth and his brother built an elaborated tree house across the street from 710 Walnut St., ran an aerial to the tree house and put electrified wires around it to prevent "unauthorized" access to it. He tells how the tree house became the locus of…

Brad took his son, Kenneth, on a visit to his older brother, Henry, in Washington D.C. Brad's first job was in Washington, so he wanted to see the city again after many years. He also wanted to show Kenneth the great painting of Commodore…

The area where Kenneth and his family lived was infested with black snakes, and often the kids would find them curled up in their clothes at the river where they used to go swimming. One day one of the children caught a six-foot snake for the Barnum…

Kenneth remembers Bill running the mile in high school, "all up and down in one place." Will remembers his one moment of glory running the mile.

Kenneth recalls the time when, at age 2, his baby buggy took off down the hill at full speed, his mother rushing down and sweeping him up, and how later on they both enjoyed reading a book about a baby riding in a baby buggy.

Kenneth bought his own clothes from Cash Smith, the man who owned the clothing store. It so happened that Kenneth was the right size to model clothes, so he made money by modeling clothes for cash on Saturdays. 

Kenneth and his brother caused trouble in the neighborhood, including starting fires and building things in the trees, which caused his family to have to move often. He tells about how he put a girl named Martha's hair in a ink well.

Kenneth recalls dating several girls (Mabel Shirk, Mabel Poppinay, etc.) and how he always had girls. He expresses his disappointment in his early girl selections.

Kenneth's tells about his boyhood friends and fighting, how he got beaten up so often, how he developed attack strategies that made it too costly for those who could and wanted to beat him up.

Kenneth dressed up as a girl for a party, went to play baseball with his brother and a friend after the party, still wearing the girl clothes, and was mistaken for a girl by men watching the baseball game

Kenneth once went in a new house on Park Avenue and inadvertently fell headfirst down the chimney. He was wearing a big straw hat which offered some protection to his head, but still he was knocked out for awhile. Once he realized what had happened…

Saturday was pay day and everyone would dress up and go to downtown. Kenneth would watch the men gambling and quickly learned the best way to win. He remembers gambling, playing the role of the banker and winning consistently. 

Kenneth goes to aunt Maud's school and gets lost as he tries to go back home on his own. He was found and brought home.

Boies Penrose, the governor of the state, had a son with many garments he no longer needed. For many years these were passed on to Kenneth.
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