Val Willis is my grandmother who passed away in 1997. She lived her life in Manchester, GA with my grandfather J.W. Willis. They jointly owned Willis Furniture there. Grandma Val had a great sense of humor and was very wise. She had a knack for writing good stories and eventually had a book called “Pickle In The Jelly” published in approximately 1973. I have recently uncovered the last known copy of this book and will be sharing it here with you at Redgage through consecutive blogs. This is the introduction, which Grandma Val used to explain the characters in the book as well as the background and tone of the book. Please enjoy! It’s all great fun and be sure to keep coming back as I put up more chapters as documents as time passes! Please let me know what you think!
Pickle In The Jelly - Introduction
By Val Willis September 23, 1909 – January 27, 1997
Dedicated to the descendants of “Pickle In The Jelly” without whom the jelly jar would be minus participating pickles and jam-up jellies:
Barry & Babs – the Crystallizing Crooners
Scott – the Whole Hamburger Dill
Hardy – the Artful Arti-Joke (formerly Lee, the Li’l Pickle
Krista – the Jelly Beanie
Jubal – the Big Briny Barker
Lamar & Twila – Lam and Twi, the Cucumber Cools
Stacia – the Peachy Preserve
Gaye Anne – the Sally Delite
Jana – the Dilly Dolly
Spot – the Chow-Chow Bow-Wow
Floyd & Bev – the Krispy Kandied Kukes
Cindy – the Sweet- Apple Ring-a-Ding
Bill – William, the Bill Pickle
Diane – the Fig-ure Preserve
Joni – the Jelly Roller
Pickle In Your Jelly?
If there’s a PICKLE in your jar of JELLY,
You don’t just stand there
Staring at – holding it tight in your hand.
Pick the PICKLE from your jar of JELLY
Your life will be free
To hold all the happiness
At your command.
Don’t ever expect all the good things of life
To seek you and find you;
Don’t ever sit back, hoping all hopes fulfilled.
Break out of the bonds that hold you away
From the sweetness around you –
Break ‘way from defeats that keep
True Life from being instilled.
The JELLY is your life in all its wondrous
Fulfillment and glory!
The PICKLES, despairs barring you from your
Own wonderland.
Pick the PICKLE from your jar of JELLY –
There’ll be more love and
Contentment than your life
Ever could plan.
P.I.T.J
PICKLE IN THE JELLY – OH!
PICKLE IN THE JELLY – those few who still may not be familiar with the phrase get an odd look on their faces when they hear it; like, “Are you SURE?” That’s after they ask, I BEG your pardon?”
A word of explanation might be in order as to what PICKLE IN THE JELLY is and what it means. A newspaper column, it appeared in three or more newspapers for three or more years. The column had no name. Then at breakfast one morning we innocently opened a new jar of jelly and there on top of the jelly rested a whole cucumber pickle. Yes, a whole cucumber pickle. The gang around the breakfast table looked at me in open-mouthed astonishment as I yelled, “THAT’S IT! THAT’S IT!” “What’s it? What’s what?” they asked in alarm. “MY TITLE! MY TITLE! The colum- the col-, the ti-ti-ti-title for my col= col= column! PICKLE IN THE JELLY! THAT’S IT! THAT’S IT!” And I did handsprings, cartwheels and somersaults all over the kitchen.
Forthwith a letter was dispatched to our editor requesting that henceforth he place at the heading of our column the title, PICKLE IN THE JELLY.” The phrase describes exactly what the columns are; a study in contrasts, a mass of organized confusion or a group of conflicting paradoxes. Each column is both sour and sweet, ridiculous and serious, consistent and unstable, nonsensical yet intelligent, absurd but wise, uncertain and explicit, perplexing yet clear. Sad and whimsical they are, nonchalant and cautious, incongruous and harmonious, normal but unconventional, intellectual and scatterbrained, both positive and negative, angelic and/or devilish. We’re conformist and reformist, conservative and radical, and if the need arises, Democrat and Republican. You name it – synonym or antonym. As a fan stated “PICKLE IN THE JELLY always makes me laugh, yet there is always a lesson to be learned.” That is the sole aim and purpose of the column – long may it rave.
Now we have graduated to a few column inches in most all the newspapers in the corporation. We had our own radio program, written and performed by The Pickle. We have made several guest appearances on television and social events.
Our theme song was composed by the Sweet Dills, Nina Valk and Mildred Edge of Miami. Piano and vocal on tapes are done by Lam and Twi, the Cucumber Cools. Their name originated from the fact they are as cool as ‘cumbercubes’ when they sing. Solo piano was taped by the Beat Pickle. There are other assorted Pickles ranging in age from one to forty-four years including Joni the Jellyroll, Lee, the Li’l Pickle, The Sally Delites, William the Bill Pickle and the Chip Mon-kees who have their own version of the theme song. Week before last,m the column was prepared by fourteen-year-old Georgia Peach Pickle, who seems to be a slice from the Sour Cuke. Another paradox.
PICKLE AND THE JELLY and I have stayed up nights, bored our family, kept our jelly jar with the pickle in it in the fridge – we have spoken at dinners and conventions. According to some people we speak too often and too much. For example, when we get going on reforms such as school reforms, tax reforms or government reforms, many who have to hear us wish we had chloroform.
All in all, we have a wonderful time. There are those in sympathy with us, for when the Man of the House acted like one and yelled, “WHO SPILLED THIS STICKY STUFF ALL OVER THE KITCHEN FLOOR?” we were told, “It’s too bad there has to be a pickle in your jar of jelly.”
We are convinced our mission in life is to help create a few smiles and laughs here and there. That is not too hard to do, for even when we come out of the beauty shop looking as if we didn’t get our money’s worth, there are smiles on every face we see, all the way home. When view ourself in the mirror, we wonder, too, how they could help smiling……
No comments:
Post a Comment