Pictured here is a man we have talked about on the blog before. Some of you probably can recall Mr. Taylor - he had a lot of satisfied customers who came back to him for work when he was an auto mechanic in Baldwyn many years ago. He once did some work for me on an old blue Buick; and it was a good, reasonably priced job if I remember correctly.
He was driven to and from work and assisted by his son, Billy Joe, during his work day. However, he did the work with little or no assistance. I heard that he may have had some jobs that he did at home, after dark, and needed little or no lighting for that ( that may have been a pun).
I recall that Mr. Taylor worked for C. A. Houston at his garage on Twitchell Hill. That was where I had my work done.
These days, technicians, as they are now known, rely on computers and on-board diagnostics to determine a problem with an automobile. Wonder if a blind technician could do as good a job as Mr. Taylor did???
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Incidentally, John Melvin, do you remember once you pushed me all the way back to Baldwyn when that same old blue Buick broke a fuel pump arm in front of Ruff's dairy just north of Tupelo in the middle of the night? If I didn't thank you at that time, I do now!
"Blind Jim" had another son, Merle "Red" Taylor who was a talented musician and played fiddle for several blue grass bands.
ReplyDeleteJim died in 1984 and Merle died in 1987.
Well Carl just think about it--we had bumpers back then, what would we do now?? I remember doing my own work in my shop on West Main or Joe Grisson and I would go to Billy Waynes' shop on top of the hill, we would spend hours walking thru the "junk yards" I suppose times have changed I'm just not sure they have changed for the better--------
ReplyDeleteJohn Melvin
PS and you are welcome--anytime--
Milton, just a note to tell you that "Red" and his family were good friends, I've lost touch with Robin and Gina, I see Dale every once in a while, do you remember Merle playing on channel 9 ?? I'll bet you can tell us about him--what say?
ReplyDeleteJohn M
Mel, unfortunately the long and late hours of my jobs prevented me from getting any quality TV viewing.
ReplyDeleteI understand that Red teamed up with award winning fiddler Bill Mitchell (former Lee Co. sheriff) a few times. That would have been something to see.
Blind Jim's cousin John Thompson said that Jim's kids were always trying to fool him by handing him the wrong wrench or tool but his sense of touch was so acute he was rarely fooled.
I was told that Little Jimmy Dickens from the Grand Ole Opry visited Red Taylor on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteI also recall Mr. Nanney who was blind and did mechanic work some. I believe was Milton Nanney's dad who lived on south Second Street. Does anyone recall his work. Mom said she thought he was blinded in WWII.
ReplyDeleteCarl I love your website. The pictures are great!!
ReplyDeleteI am Robin Taylor Wages, Jim's granddaughter and Merle "Red" Taylor's daughter. Pa Taylor was always working on something when I was growing up, most especially lawnmowers. You could never fool him with much.
ReplyDeleteMelvin, haven't seen or heard from you in years but I am in Birmingham, AL and Gina is in San Antonio Tx. We are both on facebook if you get on there