Tamales were once a lunchtime staple for many folks in downtown Paducah! All in the days before Federal sanitation laws were passed, many ethnic foods were made and sold from private sources, without business or food handling licenses! Several tamale makers produced a handmade product, from freshly ground meats, spices, and cornmeal, wrapped in the traditional corn husks. Charles Burns and his wife Mary sold their snacks from their home on North Sixth Street in 1918. Other vendors included Robert Claxton and his wife, Emma, who made the tamales on North Thirteenth Street. Jim and Lottie Fritts served tamales from their abode on North Fourth Street. Breezie Helwig was a WWI veteran who had been gassed during the conflict, and came back to Paducah.He arose at 3 am, (daily except Sunday)and proceeded to the Market House produce stalls to buy corn and husks, and to buy neck meat from Metzger Brothers at stall 5 of the Market House meat market. Tamales were always sold in pairs, tied with a string.  Some tamale vendors sold their scrumptious delights from a improvised "box" that hung at their waist, with a sling around their arms, similar to a harness. They would walk up and down Broadway at noontime yelling "Tamales!" Some pulled theirs behind them in a homemade cart, with a sign attached to their chest, which read "Homemade Tamales, 2 for 5 cents." Any way you acquired your lunch, it was always a tasty treat, and neat to eat, wrapped in its own "green" packaging!