"That Damn Clyde Barrow".. Revisited.

One of the great & touching moments within Billie Parker Moon's manuscript.. had to do with her telling of a wonderful story involving Clyde and her young son Buddy Mace.  As told by Billie--

"There was the time Clyde gave my 4-year-old son Buddy a sackful of quarters. There must have been eight or ten dollars in quarters in that sack. The next day, Buddy was handspringing proud of his new found wealth. He told his grandmother that he would pay the newspaper boy. Back then, we paid 25 cents a week for the daily paper."

"When the paperboy came, Buddy proudly handed him a quarter and demanded a receipt. The paperboy was in a kidding mood that day. He solemnly told Buddy that the quarter was a fake... no good. Buddy looked at him and I was afraid he was about to say he had gotten the money from Clyde and his Aunt Bonnie. Instead, he took the quarter back and strolled into the house. He walked up to me and said, "Mammy, that damn Clyde Barrow done stuck me with a whole mess of fake quarters." 

"When Buddy died a short time later, Bonnie and Clyde were in Dallas and had just bought him a Shetland pony. The poor little guy never got to see the animal."

As a point of reference, the inflation conversion from 1933 to today is now up to 18 to 1.  So $8 to $10 of quarters then, would equate to $144 to $180 today. So a pretty good haul for a youngster. There's more to come from Billie's unpublished book, so stayed tuned for more Billie insights-- exclusively here on The B&CHB. Excerpts from Billie Parker Moon's manuscript are ©2010 The Bonnie & Clyde History Blog by A. W. Woodward.  I hope all are enjoying these rare Billie Parker revelations.