Kalispell, Montana, circa 1935: “It’s tough to go girlin’ when you smell like cow shit.”

More cool old photos from the world famous deYong Museum of Stuff Stored In the Shed:

My dad was five years older than my mom so they never went to school together. When asked how they met, they told very different stories.

Her version was that they met at a dance, that he shyly ambled over to her and asked if he could have the next Lindy Hop.

His version was that he was that he was driving down the street one day when he saw her window shopping. He claimed he pulled the car over to the curb and asked her if she would like a ride. Being the refined young lady that she was, she said no and quickly scurried away. He claimed he drove around the block, pulled over next to her again and asked if she was sure she didn’t need a ride. According to his version, she found herself powerless against his rugged good looks and farm boy charm and eagerly jumped in beside him.

She was always horrified when he told this story and responded with an aghast, “Oh, Bill, you know that’s not true.”

He would laugh and give a little nod to assure us that despite her protestations it was, indeed, true.

With their conflicting stories in mind, I asked him if it was difficult for a farm boy to find dates with the city girls. I was thinking about logistics. There were several miles of dirt roads between the farm and town. He was expected to do several hours of chores every morning and afternoon. And making the circumstances even more difficult, there were twelve kids in the family but only one car. The deYong kids had to ride horses to school (I cannot even begin to fathom how that was possible in a Montana winter).

These were the kind of problems I was thinking about when I wondered about dating difficulties.

“Those weren’t problems,” he explained. “The real problem was that it’s tough to go girlin’ when you smell like cow shit.”

You know the old saying, “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes?”

Well, in this case I just don’t think you’re going to like what you find on his shoes.