NICKNAMES: POST #25

At Herman Junction nearly every person had a nickname, especially the guys. Really that is true about all of the South. We have more "Bubba's" than you can shake a stick at. That has always amazed me. Our parents give us names when we are born and then call us something else all of our life. I mentioned in an earlier post about Booie Woods calling his son Jerry, Joe Bob. By the way, wonder where the name "Booie" came from? His name was Henry but I never heard anyone call him anything but Booie.

My oldest brother C.W. was called 'Gravy'. When he was in Korea he heard someone yell out the name 'Gravy' and it was a friend from home who was stationed in Korea too. I was told that when he was a little fellow a group of men were at our house helping Dad kill hogs. Some of the men told C.W. that they were going to take the meat home with them. He told them, "You can take all the meat but you can't have the gravy." From then on that was his name. Harvel's nickname was "Star". He was the catcher on the baseball team and when he was batting they would yell at him, "Come on, Star Baby", but later it was just Star. Rayburn's nickname was "Smiley". I don't have a clue where that came from. But, through the years I have met a lot of people who attended Harding College at the same time that he did and I will often ask, "Did you know my brother, Rayburn?" They will tell me that they don't remember him. Then I tell them that everyone called him "Smiley" and nine times out of ten they will say, "Yeah, we know Smiley!" In Herman Junction there was Thomas "Buster" Norwood and I don't have a clue to this day what "Oop" Rogers real name was. I had a cousin named Leonard Knight but we all called him "Boke" and another cousin named Tom Knight but we called him "Tuck". And then there is Roosevelt Spencer that everyone still calls "Roosy".

My nickname was and still is "Hook". That name is on my diploma and about everyone around home still calls me "Hook". There have been all kinds of stories told about how I came to get that name and I never correct anyone about it even when I know they are wrong. I know why I got that name but I ain't telling so you just think whatever you want to about it. I kind of like the name "Hook" and if you were named "Teddy Martin" you would like "Hook" too! My Uncle Charlie used to say, "Teddy Martin, going down the road a kickin' and a .......laughin!" I knew that he didn't mean 'laughing' though.

Barbara's family never called a soul by the name they were given at Birth. Oldest brother Floyd was called "Gabby" all his life. Shirley was next but the family called her "Hawey". Have you ever heard of such a name? The next sister was Melba Louise but everyone to this day calls her "Jane". My Lady Barbara has always been called "Bob" but she sure didn't look like a "Bob" to me, and little brother Johnny was called "Pete". Linda Faye came close to being called by her real name because everyone called her "Lin".

At school at Bay there was a ton of Nicknames and I am sure that I do not remember them all. I suppose that the one most well known guy out of Bay many years ago was Wally Moon. He was the rookie of the year with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team in 1954. But, everyone at Bay knew him as "Booger". Just a few years ago C.W. saw Wally and they addressed each other as "Gravy" and "Booger."

This post is going to go on forever if I don't stop. But, I will tell you some more nicknames that I remember and some of them I am not going to put the real name in because I don't want to have to whip someone that will jump on me about these names being revealed, especially the girls. I remember, Rip, Big Dog, Truck, Snuff, Duck, Cotton, Bird Dog, Hoss, Fat, Leech, Skinny, Ott, Gooley, and on and on the list goes. I suppose that I will miss someones nickname in this post but you get my point in all of this anyway. In spite of our identities being lost in all these nicknames, all is well at Herman Junction.