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  • Tags: Kenneth Landon's Childhood 1868-1943

Kenneth explains how, from his earliest childhood, he had a free pass for any train ride South of the Mississipi, and he travelled often, as soon as he was old enough to use it.

Kenneth tells about his infancy, how his Irish nurse would put whiskey in his milk to help him digest what he believes he could not disgest otherwise, and how his mother, on learning this, promptly fired the nurse.

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 tells how at age 4 he would often go sledding down the hill on Main Street with the help of college students, and how his mother lived in terror as a result. He explains that though there were dangers, nothing bad actually happened.

Kenneth tells how at age 4, mad at his father and his brother for often siding against his mother, he ran away and was captured by and old man at whose house he spent the night and eventually was taken back home the next morning. This was the first…

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.

Kenneth tells about his running away in the subway and how the family searched for him while he hid behind a pillar.

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 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 worked for a neighbor called Lottie Price and got ice cream or a nickel. He would also go to Mister Griffith's store and beg him for sour balls. 

The Landons move to Baldwin St., where at age 6 or 7 Kenneth met a girl named Jean Kitchen, whom he refers to as his first great female love, and was pleased to play with her.

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.

The Landons' moved to Randolph St. when Kenneth was about seven and a half years old. He was playing baseball and later began to run into gang battles.

Kenneth started to get into fights with a number of kids and enjoyed playing with his friend Juddy. He and his brother's behavior draws criticism from neighboring families and the Landons eventually moved away to live at the edge of the town

While waiting for their new home to be built, the Landon family lived in a warehouse for almost a year, with no proper bathroom or central heating.

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. 

Kenneth tells about the houses he lived in as a child: the house in which he was born, the houses on N. Main St., Park Ave., Baldwin St., and Randolph St., as well as some of the events associated with the time they were in each one of them. 

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 talks about his love for ham, which he would eat a lot and carry around in his pocket for snack. He tells about his use of zippers, which a man at an old shack had invented.

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 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…

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 talks about his friendship with the kids of the people on the Landons' side of the street and how he became a graceful dancer. He tells of dance parties they held at each other's houses and the lasting friendship that ensued. Kenneth…

Kenneth tells the story of his brother, Bradley, starting his "business" manufacturing ATV and hiring Kenneth (who thus got his first job) to do advertising work for him. Kenneth addressed up to 10,000 circulars while working from a phonebook. He…

Mae became sick and the doctor asked that she take stout to fortify her blood. Kenneth was asked to receive the keg from the brewer when it came. The keg was delivered but Kenneth lost control of it while trying to bring it down to the basement.…
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