There is nothing better than a good practical joke to start out the day; For that matter, practical jokes seemed to be appropriate at any hour of the day in our house. That said, mornings tended to work the best. For the first 14 or so years of my life our old Victorian house had only one bathroom and it was right off the kitchen. When the house was originally built, a quick trip to the back yard was required in order to relieve yourself. All other bathing activities and morning rituals were done from the comfort of the house. During the depression, as a necessity as well as an opportunity to help out a relative with some needed income, my grandfather, John A. Beck, decided the time had come to add a mudroom and bathroom to the house. Additional bathrooms were not added until the early 1980’s after we had moved our house from its original location on Hopkins Street to the west end. (See related story: “Let’s Move to the West End in our Mobile Victorian“) A year or so after the move we finally plumbed in a second bathroom in the basement.

With only one bathroom for most of my formative years and six family members sharing it as best they could, it was an unwanted “focal point” in the house and located in the worst possible place. Every morning there was a constant parade of family members making their way through the Kitchen to the bathroom in hopes that it was available. With a television that was always blaring and constant activity in the kitchen, there was rarely a time that we used the bathroom without others waiting nearby or just going about daily activities.

My father had this loud, very loud phone “buzzer” that entered the picture much to the surprise of everyone near by, neighbors and all. This thing showed up in our bathroom, refrigerator (See related story: “Buzz, Buzz, Please Pass the Milk or a Beer depending upon the Time of Day“) and even in the homes of family friends.

My dad liked putting the device in the bathroom and wired it to the one and only light switch, which happened to be right next to the bathroom door, but on the outside of the bathroom. The first person needing to use the bathroom would be in for a surprise. There were often times that one or more of the kids would actually race, literally run, to get there first which only added to the surprise. As a matter of habit, we would “hit” switch halfway through the door and on those occasions where the device was wired up and ready, all hell broke loose followed by a roar of laughter, which no one could hear over the noise of the buzzer. I am sure we looked like a bunch of laughing mimes. As quickly as the victim could, they went back to the switch, turned it off and slammed the door as they entered the bathroom for the second time. For many of us, once was never enough. As the occupant of the bathroom calmed down and their pulse dropped below 200 one of us on the outside would hit the switch for a second time. That was just evil, but additional laughter ensued. Finding where it was plugged in was easy and in no time it was unplugged once and for all.

This went on day in and day out, especially when friends were over or if out-of-town guests were staying with us. No matter your age or sense of humor, you were a potential target for my dad and his buzzer. Where is the buzzer now? I refuse to tell….