October 30th, 1981
Explore the nostalgic memories from Atlanta, Georgia, at the Elsons mansion in this chapter of The Atlanta Chronicles. Relive the festive holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving through the unique lens of October 30th, 1981.
Transcription
the lane out of the Bridge.
Half a mile so south, quarter mile, half mile south in North Avenue, stopped very back up to and flew the foot that changed.
Down below that on the South Expressway is a style truck and the center right and also it right up lower stadium and Southbound Valley is just very removed is afternoon trying to get through the downtown area, it's an excellent avenue sign up the surface street to get through the downtown area, Spring Street, Portland Boulevard, all of avenue not Bo Avenue but memorial any those gets you through and just maybe some town this afternoon it just stopped upside north down you probably start getting heavy right around the boulevard.
all stuff happened right around1th Street space take all the way up into the Brookwood interchange, headed up the northeast expressway hits a solid wall of automobiles as well all the way out past Claremont theyll begin to listen up a little bit about Hanway between Claremont and She there couple cars like over the media that news when everybody slowing down to take a look at the inbound startss getting maybe theland road and it founding going big down into the Brookwood interchange as well Galways were but they were moving we 285 right now to northeast side of town and on flow shot both north and southbound between Glenwood and La Vista and Longville Highway but no serious problems here to report on the news watch Mropers in Melboury only time.
I think it's bad enough listening to it, you want to try driving in it area northbound traffic is just about standing still, this is your mother traffic watch.
Therelys Charlie what happenss at the North shopping center and Laville High. This isB Bill reporting for byler I came to Mid to get Midda size and got the shock of my life the right shock for my car absolutely it's our special offer good at Mid dealers until April 30 when you buy three of them and to get home that way trying to get home some else since the downtown Connector southbound with problems this afternoon on the northbound side the usual same thing for the Northeast Freeway they're stop and go from Brookwood around North Trut Hills on the northwest Freeway outbound from Brookwood is all the way heavy to about West Pas Ferry southbound Freeway outbound has got its slow spots around the stadium and University Avenue, the East freeway is pretty slow for a change.
From the I20 interchange around Boulevard, Northwest Freeway doing double nickel coming up next going to get into something from the cakes on 96 rock at CMC start with I heard two shots and I saw police involved and then I heard two more in another police failed and.
We began to see the blood fall and then four more shots were fired and there was a police car in front of us and their cars were blown out at that time Carol Coley when the shooting stopped two women were dead,1 civilians and five policemen were wounded in San antonio 45 minutes later police closed in on a mobile trailer and opened fire moments after that the gunmen shot in the head was lying dead on the pavement in San Antonio, Texas officialsial at the U. embassy in Moscow say no one was hurt today when a Russian man claiming to have a bomb forced his way into the embassy compound the man fired two shots from two thought off shotguns and surrendered to U personnel they turned him over to Soviet authorities the embassy says rather the man gave no motive for his actions the White House says there's been a prisoner exchange with the Soviet Union five political and religious dissidents were flown from Soviet prisons to New York in exchange for two Russians convicted of spying in the United States and White House spokesman.
Powell says the Soviet group includes Alexander Ginsburg, one of the best known Russian dissidents The nuclear regulatory commission is ordering a shutdown of eight nuclear power plants designed by Bcock and Wilcox the plants are to stop operating for safety reviews and modification threem island nuclear power plant is cooling down but a gauge failure is making it difficult for officials to tell how fast and how much so the nuclear regulatory commission has opened up its hotline to the Harrisburg trouble spot correspondent patina Gregory told us what happened the NRC says a gauge failed today that reads the water level inside the primary cooling system of the reactor so what authorities did was turn off that primary cooling system and go to a system of natural circulation to cool the reactor down but in the meantime the NRC and Bethfesda opened up a hotline directly to the plant so they could monitor what was going on and we have learned there's been a leak of radioactive iodine into the control room and all people inside that control room have had to put on masks of respirators No word and how.
raadioactivity was leaked that was correspondent betweenina Gregory in washing The president of the Atlanta school board Benjamin Mays says teachers should forfeit pay for any time missed because of a strike. the at Association of educators has mailed a strike survey to teachers were upset because the school boards proposed budget for next year provides a raise of only six and a half percent other teachers in Georgia would get a nine and half percent pay raise approved by the Georgia legislature a motorcyclist is the third traffic fatality and cab County today police spokesman Chuck Johnson says the motorcyclist is identified asland Alexander school a 26 of Maritta Georgiarg he was traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Claremont Road and apparently was unable to stop for a cadillac which was making a left hand turn onto Audubon drive that accident occurred at about 130 this afternoon Johnson says the victim was taken to the cab general hospital where he died about an hour after the accident we returned to daylight savings time this weekend remember to turn your clock ahead one hour when you go to bed Saturday night.
ello newsswide sports After a two day rest, the grades continue their current home stand tonight, starting a weekend series with the Chicago Cu. The grades Bill Nero will be going after his 199th career pitching victory. the Atlanta hots of even their NBA playoff series with the bullets with the seventh and deciding game to be played Sunday in Washington Co goal for Nancy Lopez has decided to pass up the Lady Milo tournament and next month at the Brookfield West Country Club. However the tournament will have8 of the top 10 Money winners entered on the New York Stock Exchange. The Jones Industrial average closed down 4.33 at 856.64 volume 29 million610000 shares.
Eaton Airlines as well, a lot of people are already cutting back on meat consumption and prices continue rising what will a boycott do I dont think enough people.
cut back.
ough, yes, because they figured oh I haven't cut fast enough yet I realized that I got meeting my freezer.
But I'm not going to lose it one person I buy meat doesnt have an effect, 100 people in one people in large attorney turning away in that meat corner will have an effect in a hurry.
s after this.
That was the lady that started the boycott on coffee she's now getting a boycott to she's starting a boycott now on meat which is really expensive here just awful the 14th Street no real problems into Pe Street as you move through Brookwood old Peach Street traffic heavy up to Brookwood Drive and the Dering Road 25th Street area, traffic on West Pe Street as you move north of 14th is looking pretty good till you get up into Per point and there there's not a red light up there you will know then you have to work your way out into Pe Street Road expect some delay there the traffic on North side Drive earlier there was a actually 1700 block of Northside Drive police are getting it cleared up you might want to use how Mill Road is an alternate' all we have from the news radio 92 CB traffic center.
Well I just thought you might be interested in what the traffic's like here every afternoon from about three o'clock they have the chopper report and the bubble top report pops all over they call them they've got choppers all over the place and they all ringing and tell you what's going on that's really hell out there I mean these freeways of five and six lanes wide and they get absolutely jammed up.
It's tough going and the other was a little bit of news of daily events and the United States, San Antonio was the big place today with some guy going crazy but there's always something going on you know, just even locally but we had a spring holiday just before Easter they have a week off the public schools do the private schools have a different week it really is quite funny the private schools will not conform at all with the public schools here and they always have the separate holidays except for the summer vacation which is of course the same three months during July and August.
But anyway, during that week that the children had off, which was when Maitlon had his accident.
There was two little girls kidnapped that go to Rachel school One was in her class. Fortunately, it all came to a reasonably happy ending. but kidnapped them my mother was in hospital and found out all about it and went round and told the babyster that had been told to come and take them to see their mother and he went off tearing out of town he was miles away and the older girl, the one in Rachel's class was8 and the other almost was 10, she jumped out of the car at some point, which was a terribly risky thing to do that she was okay. and after that the guy sort of panicked about and end to a lamp post prayed up the car. and he tried to get a woman in a pickup truck to take him somewhere. and know they all got in her car or something like that and they ended up going to the hospital because he had ra his arm and was unable to drive and when they got to the hospital the little girl was screaming and shouting and finally they realized what was happening and.
The other little girl that had left out of car and they all were returned home and the guy apparently is now behind bars but then just last week there was a little boy murdered in the southwest a nine year old boy murdered by kit of a nutcase of about 19 and the children at Rachel's school were collecting money to help with his funeral expenses and so on which were very high here he used to be in Mrs. Curley's class that's Rachel's teacher and Rachel said that when the children were told that they were all crying.
And carrying on, they had television in the classrooms and quite often they let them watch the news or whatever and apparently it was on the news.
So, you know, just daily things really.
Pretty dry stuff.
But life here in Atlanta generally is really very nice the trees at of middle school just right now and we've been very busy Ruth's been traveling a great deal, she's been well they've been away for a couple of weekends and she's in New York right now she was in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago and you know it's just busy Be.
Okay I recorded that on Friday that was the 27th of April it's now Sunday morning and I was busy writing to you but I've decided that I'll complete this tape and send it to you.
With the general news on it, Maitland has just come up and he wants to start talking, so I'll let him go, you really mateitland, do you know what you want to say to enter own granddad?
Well, mate wonder, as he nowun, he wants to tell you what happened to his chin.
I felt right over with the fun in my arm.
And I crash under one point landing on the world.
You can talk better than that and so what happened after that when you hit the one point landing?
I had the one inside. Yes, and then what couldn't You couldn't run. My lady carried you didn't she and then what.
What did Jimmy say?
Doctors got to go to the hospital. And what was it like at the hospital, Maland, D, D, How, who was the doctor, Mr. Hobby, Mr. Hoy, And what did he do to you, He gave me the shots. He gave you shots.
Well, was Mr. Hobby nice Meitland?
little bit nice he was see what Rachels You want to see what Rachel's doing she's doing making something for a program She's making something for a program What program she's making she's putting the line on a maland bed.
And that brown big thing on the maitland's bed.
And let's see what sort of program is she having I think it's the lion in the clown. Oh, she making other program Do you want to play on that program mate.
I think she's doing little plays downstairs, do you think you could participate in that nicely?
The other little boys was that of Helen, the little girl that lives across the road, she's just had her seventh birthday.
Anyway, oh, there was just something I was going to mention on that bit of news earlier on the tape about teachers Ruth's.
She's in sort of an administration area they call it, she's on a certain program called a Fo through program as they call her but she's still on a 12mon teachers's pay, they have different kinds of teachers and she's in the 12 monthth group which are obviously the full timeers but they have had a cutback recently and she's been cut back by something like 20 days which means you know obviously she doesn't work and this is what they do with all the teachers it's Sunlight New where they're paid for the full year and they just paid for so many days a year.
like the days that the children had off during the ice storm have to be made up also on a Saturday they have to go the 6th of June will be a Saturday and they have to go back to school that day to make up one, they made up one earlier in the month.
Anyway.
But as I said, the teacher's pay is organised quite differently.
What else was I going to mention oh yeah television here you know there are so many channels and for instance last night John was home late and there was there's such a lot of garbage John you know chips I don't know whether you had chips that's about two crazy motorbike cops and all that sort of junk and the do 98 beauty show which has got a whole lot of uglies on and they get a do in 98 the one that worms and so on theyre really quite crazy well.
Last night we've had there several education channels and they really are excellent, they have as little advertising as possible they instead of actual advertising they had that you know RBM or some large organisation had sponsoredly putting them on and for instance last night I watched Shakespeare's place, that was Henry VII from the time that he married Catherine Americanagon.
to the time that the first child of Anne Bon was cresed and it was three hours and I guess that it was in four parts and there was only about two advertisements between each part, which is very, very few for here.
We're constantly barrged with advertising and you really is bad news but you get to the point the ads are some of them are excellently done they're very, very good advertisements and you do get to.
Do get very of them, but I gather Helen's been sending us newspaper clippings quite regularly lately and I gather that.
So Pacific televisional channelnel2 is in serious trouble, so obviously the advertising is the only thing that keeps it going.
But we thoroughly enjoyed watching the plays last night I was going to have an early night, but I went on from there to watch Saturday night Live and it was finally about about quarter to two, which of course was quarter to three when I went to bed.
Oh the other thing that I noticed in this week's clippings was that would be in serious trouble I gather they're selling up all the land and I think the article read that it was planned that of 15,000 people would live there but now apparently only 3000 are there at present and they're selling up the rest of the land, so obviously.
The building industry is still in trouble.
We just flawed, you know, by the comments from different people about what's happening down there. I don't know whether you notice it when you're living in it, you know, we always feel it when you're living in something, you never really, He still go on happily just a moment. I'll tell her Yeah Rachel's just come upstairs and she informs me that.
She's skinning things organized downstairs what exactly are you organizing downstairs Rachel Well we getting lots of putting them in front of each other a rag on the floorer and then we will invite some people to sit in the chairs and the children on the floor.
And you see me and Bay and clown and lion will be in play and the lion his address on one of my dresses and we did as he up theres in it and we put bow on his tail he looks very beautiful lion you better explain to our lion is very big What you mean play What have you called the play Helen wants to know the lion that eats everyone The lion that eats everyone Oh the lion in the clown.
Learn on the cl and what do you call this room you've got set up down there Rachel the studio No oh you just told me it was your studio call it the movie the movie movie The.
And you're going to have good fun matching.
Are you going to sell, Are you going to have fun at the play, We're going to try and get some people to come to it. Are you going to charge them my. are you It them $2,$2.
That's quite expensive, isn't that might look?
I'm.
a billion billion adults$2 in children,$25. Oh yourself sell some cookies and stuff.
Now we're making ice blocks in the freezer already on the television on the television.
Well, do you want to tell Nna something about what's been happening at school, do you want to tell her about the exam that she had to sit?
I want you to tell her about Ra, but you didn't mind it, did you at all, you thought it was easy pe.
Why what's the problem, Ba one?
Maton's got something to say. Na, we're going to do the pledge. I'll show you the name of my teacher and how I whistle.
Go somewhere.
Okay, where do we go quickly, quickly?
This Miss now we're going to do the play. everybody ready.
Thank.
And just look for.
That's excellent children Well, it's Maitland's6 birthday on Tuesday and he's very excited under Maitland.
Yes.
Tell you the people that can.
We said we knowOh, this how many boys?
And who are they, they your?
dies you got lots of baddies at school, haven't you now Maitland, did you have to sit in the thinking chair last week?
A, you' telling me the truth how many times did you sit in the thinking chair?
Anon.
Misus Miss Eson told me that it was five times Maitland, was it.
How many times?
So.
She always says that well I got a message through Rachel the other day, Rachel came running out and she said,Ms E told me to tell you thisea the Maitland mightint mind her and he won't mind the music teacher is that true?
You would mind the music teacher and you would mind Miss Eson, well wonder what you were doing ba, Was it Stevie?
Yes, he keep on annoying me. So I had tono him back.
Is that right, I see we don't have to annoy him back mate one then you won't get then you won't get TC William I didn't Oh, I see he made you.
like voice Oh I see he makes it sound like your voice. he must be quite clever he.
Does he have you got a screechy little voice?
Oh well you're looking forward to a happy birthday party aren't you madeland and do you know whatland up with that present that Marcisha sent you that you haven't been let open yet there's a letter there from Nna, a card from Nna.
No, no not even till your bi I'm going to keep it till Tuesday morning.
Well that's a little bit of the children Leton goes a bit like both go a bit silly when they're on the tape you find if you can distract them enough to sort of like when you got carried away about Stevie if they sort of forget they on they perform much better anyway what can I tell you about well?
We had a lady staying last week for just over a week, she was here and she's from Sea Island which is on the coast and she was here to have tests and her medical at West Pas Ferry Hospital, which as we make them went for his June, her name is Dudley Robinson but we called her lamb Robinson.
Anyway, Dudley arrived or Tuesday a week ago.
She's a very close friend of.
Jimmy's family, Jimmy's family from Lunchburg, Virginia and this lady lived up that way too and her husband died five years ago so she sold a house, her house up there which was apparently enormous and had 20 bedrooms and she sold it to the government it's now state home for tourists.
She bought this enormous place down in sea Island where Ruth and Jimmy do go and visit her quite a bit so they wanted her to be pretty comfortable here and we entertained her royally on Saturday night we had 30 people and for dinner that she had met that have been down to sea they're all golfers during the evening Johnson said me was one thing and come and they're all royals and they all played golf.
Anyway, they all came, they'd all been down to sea because Sea Island is purely a tourist resort it's just a hotel and there's a few hundred people out over there but it's mostly.
Beach houses, Richard Mansions and the hotel and golf course semester of their principal been down, it's one of the holiday resorts around here, the it's terribly expensive.
Anyway, all these people came for dinner and we planned it three weeks before Henry Ruthy night for outdoors can you believe that well on the Saturday it was just a fabulous day it was warm but it wasn't too hot if it's too hot the bugs come out, the bugs and but it was just very plea.
We had folding tables out on the patio and linennon tablecloths and napkins and all the silverware and crystal and beautiful floral arrangements and we served this meal to 30 people it really went out extremely well during the morning one of the couples that were coming and called up and said could they bring a guest with them and Ri said of course they could it and we were joking that it was La Robinson state because it made up the even numbers to 30 and.
It turned out his name was Mitch Cobcheck who is a professional basketball player for the Washington Bulls and they were here that the basketball is about to end and the playoffs are on at the moment in fact this afternoon we're going to watch the very final which is the Washington Bulls and Atlanta they've won three games each and they're about to play off for the seventh game so this will be a exciting game today it's all very exciting, terrific basketball anyway this guy is in the Washington Bulls he's white which is quite unusual I think you about 80% of the teams are black.
And he's seven feet tall where I thought we' were going to have to remove the doors completely, but he almost touched the beams on the roof and the den where we had drinks beforehand he's just gigantic and the guy the couple that he came with was chaps his financial advisorr here in Atlanta and he stays with them when he's down here, very nice guy and promising future I gather though they have to be.
Prepare for later on apparently the tragedy of these professional sportsmen is just shocking the terrible things that happen to them when they retire of course if they're injured and or out I mean they make millions while they're at it, but they spend a lot also their standard a living's extremely high and.
Your life can be quite sad afterwards.
Anyway, he was here at the dinner and we really had a very nice evening Everyone was all dressed out Ruie has a friend called Dudley and Dudley's just got so much money John claims her only program in life from day to day is how to spend it all one of her problems is that she has a beautiful home really fabulous both of them each of them have a dressing room and Dudley was showing Ruth and I her knew wallpaper apparently it's been more paper about six times in the last six months because she can never find one that she's happy you she was showing us to us this is a sunken bath, tiled bath and the sauna and goodness as well but there is a whole wall that would put Ashleyardras out of business It is full of shoes I mean the most.
they're Gucci and all the big names and shoes.
And.
But whoid occasionally tries to get her act together and pops the shoes in the wrong boxes and Dudley can spend hours just looking for the pair of shoes I'm sure that she only wears them once or twice so it's probably not a great problem anyway Duley was ever dinner or also a few weeks ago with another couple friends of Ruth and Jimmy he's the Martins he's an eye doctor they called them here which sounds rather quackish but he's an opttt or somedown thing or he's an eye specialist anyway they' a super couple.
Anyway, they've got two children, in fact they live just up the road from the shield, the shields kids are on the same class at school and go to Westminster.
F and a half years ago they purchased a snake and they called it Noah theower Well Noah the bowa has caused all kinds of problems with the servants and maids and so on one time a maid who was terribly frightened the snake had a reputation of going missing, Dudley when she was there doing it would not eat or sit or drink or anything until she had completely checked out where Noah the bowa was that he was safely in his cage because people were always sneaking their arm around of it and tickling her and so on she'd think thisru snake it appeared but his history had been one of disappearing for two weeks at a time and one occasion they hit him in the bathroom and he apparently.
Got up into the air conditioning vent which was a good four feet from a painting on the wall which you must have got to and then up through the roof and they found him in the attic and he'd been there two weeks but one time he was missing and the little girl had hidden him and the mother took her out to McDonald's for a treat and tried to con and finding out where the snake was and anywhere the little girl told her that she popped it in a closet Anne to her home but she unfortunately got there tooday with a white face a black maid standing at the door and she didn't even have to ask yes she found Noah she had put her hand into the closet to get out or put something in and the snake appeared it when they board it it was about a foot long finally just a few weeks ago.
was5.6 I mean it was huge anyway and I gather it's not something you ever get terribly fond of you know they don't sort of become family pets but its weekly diet was one live rat can you imagine going to buy a live rat every week anyway this particular week they bought the rat and so on and gave it to Noah and Noah was moing or sheing or whatever the hell snakes do periodical when he was obviously in a very apathetic state and when they went in the rat had eaten Noah which was just charming so that was the end of Noah I told Beverly shes about it who wasn't.
You had to admit that she wasn't terribly upset because she couldn't bear the damnar thing, so that was the end of now other hour.
Trothy and Jimmy have some wonderful friends they really are very nice people and they're all very sweet to us and you know it's just very, very nice living here the kid's just a door Elliot Jimmy caught Maitland the other morning he's always having his cattle and Jimmy had given Elot to him early in the morning he was sitting him Jimmy's big armchair with Elot in his arms and he just looked into her eyes and Jimmy he said he said to herI just love you Elliot looking deep into her eyes he really just the novelty just hasn't worn off with them it was quite funny.
We were coming home from school the other day and the children said.
Was it right, Ra said yeah do you know what a real family is and I said no what's a real family should a mother, I said yes and a father I said yes and a brother yes and a sister and a baby, I said oh because I said,"Well we'll need a baby and maintenance and said can we steal Elot?"
Well, John's finding himself pretty busy now he works nearly all weekend for Bob Edwards you know doing things around the place. But in fact, he's just come back this morning and went over Bob's there away for the weekend and Bob had got the whole roof split sprayed with sort of ins fluff or some dar thing anyway, as you go in through the gigantic tot and poles and through the main front door, was there two closets on either side of the front door, which most of these houses seemed to have. And when the house was completely sprayed with insul fluff. they realized when they opened one of the closets that has the vacuum cleaner and stuff. and there was.
Was full of insult fluff. And there had never been a ceiling put into this closet, if you believe, So they're away for the weekend now asked John, if he would go And, I mean, part of your job in this case is also to clean up the in fl, We never doing anything like there. And so he's just gone over there this morning.
But one of Bob's daughters is home studying she lives away from home but she comes home to study in the peace and quiet and so she has just asked him police you know did he have to do it today, she really would rather he didn't this well I'll run out of tape so bye y'all I'll take good care and we'll see you soon.
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Halloween in Atlanta
Experience the spooky fun of Trick or Treat in Atlanta, Georgia. This chapter of The Atlanta Chronicles captures the essence of Halloween as it was celebrated on October 30th, 1981.

The Elsons Mansion
Step back in time to the Elsons mansion, a central location in the October 30th, 1981 chapter. Uncover the stories and festive atmosphere that make this episode of The Atlanta Chronicles so unique.