I promised to write about Jack and Mabel (Phillips) Herron so I’d better do so.

I always called them Uncle Jack and Aunt Mabel although I wasn’t related to Jack at all and Mabel was my Grandmother Clark’s first cousin. So the relationship was distant but Grandmother Clark always told me that “There’s no such thing as shirt tail relations—either you are or you aren’t.”

Uncle Jack had a serious side, but you seldom saw it. He was almost always in a good humor, loved to tell jokes, and was a real practical joker—-some would say extreme.

For instance, his younger brother, Virgil Herron, would come out to Maple Hill to get his hair cut. He lived and worked in Topeka. As most of us remember, Uncle Jack always kept a big jar of candy in the barber shop. He would have suckers and all kinds of candy from time to time.

He began to notice that Virgil would take a generous portion of candy from the jar, and then he would fill his coat pockets and his pants pockets, never saying a word. Uncle Jack didn’t say anything either, but Virgil made a lot more money than Jack and he thought Virgil could have bought his own candy.

So Uncle Jack called my mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark, and he asked her to make a couple dozen soft centered chocolates—-except these chocolates were to have soft soap centers. Mother hesitated but then agreed. She put them in a candy box that Jack supplies, and took them over to the barber shop.

The next time Virgil came in for his hair cut, Jack said, “Do you like soft chocolates (which he already knew were Virgil’s favorites.)” Virgil said he did, and Jack handed him the box of chocolates. Virgil opened the box and popped two or three in his mouth and was chewing them handily—-until his taste buds finally sensed the taste of soap. By that time, Jack was rolling with laughter while handing Virgil water to rinse his mouth out. I don’t think I remember that they came to blows, but Virgil was kind of unhappy for a while. Jack would laugh so hard when he’d tell that story—-among the millions of others that he could tell so well.

He was the Maple Hill Barber for 63 years. The story of how he became a barber is one that will wait until next time—but it again involves Jack’s sense of humor and a practical joke!!

The picture below was taken when Jack celebrated his 90th birthday. He was still going strong!