As the old saying goes, Prohibition might have made drinking illegal, but it didn't make it unpopular.  

Anne Butler, of St. Francisville, has this story about running booze:

"The late Morris Bennett, who got his pilot license while still in high school and operated the St. Francisville-New Roads ferry for half a century, recalled that bootleggers would cross late at night.

"They would wait until the ferry was about to pull out before they'd board, to make sure the revenuers weren't aboard.

"He said they drove old trucks with chicken crates in the back to make it look legitimate, and one old fellow carried the same chicken so long all its feather fell off.

"The revenuers would ride the ferry all night long trying to catch them.

"This is only one of a million stories he had, from circus elephants to evacuating cattle from floods, from motorcycle weddings to monkeys in the pilot house."

(Thanks, Anne. Now let's hear those other stories. …)

Martha Wright says, "The story about giving directions in New Orleans (up river or down river) reminded me about the time we lived in Oklahoma.

"I was working for the Sears catalog store. When a customer would order an appliance that was to be delivered, I would have to take directions on how to get to their house.

"I would hear something like, 'Go two blocks and turn east, then three blocks and turn north.'

"It confused me, because I always think left or right. And after living in Louisiana — and especially in New Orleans — right or left made a lot more sense to me."

"Sometimes a smart-aleck answer is not appreciated in the spirit in which it was given," says Dale Marks, of Baton Rouge.

"I recall going downtown with my fiancée to apply for a marriage license for my second marriage.

"The clerk asked how my first marriage ended.

"I told her, 'On a sour note.'

"Neither she nor my future wife appreciated the answer."

I was planning a light lunch, maybe a salad, when I came across this nostalgia item from Lettye Harris, of Baton Rouge, that wrecked my plans:

"Readers’ recent comments about Dufrene’s Bakery in Golden Meadow bring back fond memories.

"My grandparents lived in Golden Meadow for years, and I spent lots of time with them.

"My grandmother and I would go to the side door after the bakery had closed for the day. The men on the evening shift would sell us a fresh hot loaf of 'cap' bread right out of the oven.

"We could hardly wait to get home to slather it with butter!" 

Marsha R., of Baton Rouge, is an avid reader, and her literary passions include mystery stories.

That's why she was livid when she got her mail the other day:

"Believe it or not, some demonic marketing genius has managed to mail me my drug of choice, directly to my door. ...

"It cannot, should not, be legal."

What the "demonic" marketer did was send her, free, the first two chapters of "Stranger in the Looking Glass," part of the "Antique Shop Mysteries" series.

The idea is to get her to read the first chapters, then pay for the rest of the novel (and perhaps the entire series).

Marsha tells of her attempts to resist temptation:

"I will not open it, I will not open it, I will not open. …

"As they say in the comics, 'Argh!'"

Write Smiley at Smiley@theadvocate.com. He can also be reached by mail at P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821. Follow Smiley Anders on Twitter, @SmileyAndersAdv.

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