A YesterYear Boy in Summer Underwear, Part Three 

Hearing all the shouting between Ned and Lucius, Boon came running to the open window to see what all the commotion was about. When he realized Ned was outside holding the reins of a horse down in the dark, he raced down the stairs and out into the garden: 

   

But where was Ned?

Surprised and now wide awake, Lucius ran out of the house in just his BVD underwear, accompanied by the entire household, to confront Ned, a most unexpected night visitor: 

Sure enough there stood Ned with a horse. But Why? 

Bewildered and not too happy, Boon confronted Ned and seeked to understand why he brought them a horse in the middle of the night!!  

Stunned beyond words, Boon had to sit down, sighing and holding his head.  This couldn't be happening!  Could it??

 

Lucius, now wrapped warmly in a blanket covering him in his BVDS's on this cold night, approached Ned and was given the low down... 

 

What Ned told the boy was a humdinger! 

But rather than spoil the second half of the film, I recommend you rent, buy or stream The Reavers!  You won't be disappointed. You really will want to get your hands on the book too!  There is so much more to this story than the movie could depict unless it had been made into a mini-series. 

Again, Special Thanks to William Faulkner, Mark Rydell, Director, Irving Ravetch, Producer, and the Production Companies: Cinema Films, Duo Films, Solar Production, and National General Pictures. And also to the outstanding cast and crew! What a joy....Chris 

A YesterYear Boy in Summer Underwear, Part Two

  

Lucius was awakened from having just dozed off by an intruder. Well, not exactly an intruder. But rather another boy, Otis, would was related to one of the women who worked at the boarding house. The boys were to share a room for the night. Otis knew of a floor peep hole where he could watch and listen to action in the room below. 

 

  

  

 It was late, so Otis began to undress to crawl into a second bed in the boys' assigned bedroom. After getting his coat off, he asked for help with his tie. As Lucius reached to assist, Otis insulted his aunt, the woman who worked at the boarding house. He called her a very uncomplementary name. 

    

This infuriated the younger boy took issue with the term used and became so insensed he pounced from bed in his underwear and began beating Otis. 

 

After the initial surprise, Otis, being older and bigger, quickly gained the upper hand, subduing easily the smaller boy.

 Duirng the encounter, Otis reached for a knife from his pants pocket and was able to slash Lucius' hand. 

 

Boon had heard the commotion from downstairs and came rushing in. He quickly broke up the fight between the boys before Otis could severly injure Lucius. 

Boon separated the boys and took Lucius into the bathroom to stop the bleeding and bandage his hand while Otis ran out of the bedroom.  

  

After the older boy ran out, Boon was able to get Lucius settled down and back into bed. It was very late and it had been a long day.

 

Lucius was later comforted by Boon's sweetheart....

After things had settled down, Lucius finally fell asleep but was soon awakened by loud shouting outside his open window. Will this boy ever get some rest?  

 

Getting back out of bed and going to the window, Lucius discovered it was Ned, who had earlier stowed away under a tarp in the backseat of the automobile! 

 

He had something important to tell Boon. Something sure to make Grandpa Boss, back home, very unhappy. 

A surprised Lucius is now wide awake!

Be sure to join Union Suit Fans in the Limelight next week for Part Three of "A Yesteryear Boy in Summer Underwear."

A YesterYear Boy in Summer Underwear*

Although it didn't win an Oscar back in 1969, The Reivers, was a good coming-of-age film featuring a very talented 11 year old boy. This movie was based on the 1962 book by William Faulkner (1897-1962), one of my most favorite authors. That book was published one month before his death. His novel, of course, was on the best seller list and he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1963, posthumously. He had previously one a Pulitzer for another book, A Fable. Only three other authors have been awarded more than one of these prestigious awards! He had also been rewarded a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950 and the Legion of Honor from France in 1951.  He's been called "One of the towering figures in American Literature."

The film adaptation stars Steve McQueen as Boon Hogganbeck, Will Geer as Boss McCaslin, a very young Mitch Vogel, Boss' grandson, as Lucius. The Reivers was Vogel's very first film. "Reivers" actually refers to mischievious, trouble bound, adventurers.

The year was 1905. Lucius' grandpa, Boss, purchased the first automobile in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a bright yellow Winton Flyer. When Boss and members of the family were required to catch a train for a funeral in a distant town, Lucius was left in “the care” of Boon, a family friend and hired hand. No sooner had the sound of the train faded away when Boon polished the newly delivered automobile and took it for a spin. It was so much fun, he decided to take a drive up to Memphis. And why not take the boy with him. Lucius at first firmly refused as he was a very good kid who respected and obeyed his grandpa. But Boon was sweet on a certain woman so wasn't keen on staying around town babysitting. He soon talked the boy into accompanying him in his grandpa's car.

After several adventures they finally made it to Memphis. Boon arranged for the two of them to stay overnight at a “rooming house.” At least, that was what he old Lucius. The place, the boy soon discovered, was inhabited by young and pretty women. Men of the town would come and go but seldom spent the night. What was a young boy to think?

The plot definitely thickened as they say. So do yourself a favor and discover further adventures by watching this flick (as films used to be called) on any number of streaming services. In the meantime, here are a few scenes of the first night the duo spent in the rooming house.

After a dusty trip in the Winton Flyer, the madam, I mean the matron, Miss Reba suggested Boon and Lucius enjoy a bath. Lucius finished bathing first and pulled on a clean suit of BVD underwear and fresh socks while Boon undressed for his bath: 

 

Lucius noticed a life size panting of a beautiful, reclining woman that immediately interested him. 

Boon kindly and seriously discussed gentle facts of life with Lucius.  And thus, the boy began his transition away from childhood: 

  

 Boon eventualy pulled Lucius away from stairing at the portrait so they could finish dressing...

 

....before heading down to join the women of the household for dinner.

  

Miss Reba introduces Lucius to Otis another boy temporarily staying at the "Boarding House" before getting settled in for a nice meal.

After dinner, Lucius returned to his assigned bedroom for sleep after taking one last look at the portrait hanging on the wall.  

 

He then said his prayers and crawled into bed, exhausted after the trip to Memphis:

 

What's this??! Before Lucius even closed his eyes....

  

Well, to see what caused the boy's consternation, 

return back here next week to Union Suit Fans in the Limelight !

*The one-piece "summer underwear" featured in this posting called BVD's back in the day was first manufactured and sold as BVD's in 1877, about twenty years after union suits as we know them today became immensely popular. Lucius wears white BVD's while Boon prefers two piece red underwear.

Joseph W. Bradley, Luther C. Voorhees, and Lyman H. Day of a New York City underwear company named their brand of underwear after the first letter of their last names. BVD's became widely worn as an alternative to long two-piece underwear and union suits, because this underwear design, one-piece had cooler short drawers combined with short sleeves (see my posting with examples in my companion blog, Union Suit Fan.

Special Thanks to the following for making such an entertaining film and choosing top-rate actors: Mark Rydell, Director, Irving Ravetch, Producer, Production Companies: Cinema Films, Duo Films, Solar Production, and National General Pictures, and particularly to the outstanding cast and crew!