My uncle Paul Lang was legendary in Randolph for his mechanical abilities as well as his constant search for an opportunity to laugh. He could find humor in small things that most people overlooked. Following are a few examples:
During the 30’s the local paper would publish a sample ballot prior to an election. Today the symbol for the Democratic party is a donkey and for the Republicans an elephant, but in those days the Democratic symbol was a rooster and the Republican symbol was an eagle. At that time the state of Ohio permitted voting a straight ticket. At the top of each ballot was a rooster and an eagle. Underneath each was a place to indicate your vote. You could vote for every Democrat on the ballot simply by putting an “X” under the rooster. An “X” under the eagle would vote for all of the Republicans. Paul would cut the ballots from the paper and pin them on the kitchen wall so I could practice voting. He told me, “Always put an X under the rooster”.
When company came to visit the family, Paul wanted to demonstrate my political abilities, so he would say to me, “Gene, go up there and vote”. Of course I would go up to the ballot and put an “X” under the rooster as any good 3-year-old would. He would then look at the impressed visitors and start cracking up.
I once had a small wooden pushcart with a long handle and wooden rabbits on each side. One day I visited Paul at Jenior’s garage where he worked as a mechanic. He took my cart, drilled a hole in the back, and installed an electric switch. Being 3 years old at the time I was very proud of that switch and used it often even though it wasn’t hooked up to anything. He just laughed hysterically about that switch even though it didn’t do anything – or maybe because it didn’t do anything – or maybe because he just enjoyed kids.
There was an old buckeye tree behind Lang’s gas station and during autumn there were hundreds of buckeyes lying on the ground beneath this tree. Paul taught me that I could punch a hole in each of two buckeyes with a nail, fasten them together with about 3 feet of string, then swing them like a slingshot and heave them up over the power lines. After I did this for several days the power lines in front of the gas station were festooned with buckeyes hanging from strings. Needless to say, the linemen from Ohio Edison were not amused when they had to climb up there and remove the tangled mess. I was really terrified when I heard them talking to Grandma Lang and threatening the dastardly villains who threw those things up there with prison and broken kneecaps. That put a stop to the buckeye tossing.
My dad told me this one:
The local Methodist church planned to have a chicken dinner as a fund raiser. Paul was a good friend of the preacher and he offered to provide chickens for the dinner at no cost.
It appears that Paul decided to furnish the chickens by stealing them from the preacher’s own hen house. The night before the dinner he sneaked in with a burlap sack and started to gather up some nice fat hens. As fate would have it the preacher decided to feed his chickens at this same time. Paul heard him coming and hid behind some feed sacks. This would have worked out well but as the feeding progressed Paul got so tickled that he couldn’t suppress his laughter and was thus discovered. When the preacher found Paul with the sack half full of hens he also began to laugh. He told Paul that since he was that far along with the heist he might as well finish the job, so the hens were procured and the dinner was successfully held.
Paul was killed in a motorcycle accident when he was 24 years old. Even though I was only five when he died I remember well this happy fun-loving man.
The lesson I learned from living with Uncle Paul was that It is worthwhile to sometimes lighten up, take time to laugh and enjoy life, but stay off of motorcycles.
Paul Lang on left
