The thirty-three stories in this collection touch on changes that affected not only residents of small towns, but virtually all Americans, in the '50s and '60s--changes in race relations, family mobility, music, cars, sports, religion, politics, technology, even food. Set in a small town in Southeast Texas--Sour Lake (population 1,600)--the essays engage memories of simpler times and explore what may be of lasting value from that era. Stories deal with such varied topics as blue jeans, pizza, communism, the first Volkswagen in town, visiting the Queen of England, the Kennedy assassination, growing up in a segregated world, wet-dry elections, the influence of a one-armed coach, and why so many people in small towns are called by their first and middle names, like Linda Sue, Bobby Joe, and Carl Wayne.