The "A Story From 'The Saturday Evening Post Vault'" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading my July/August 2021 edition of "The Saturday Evening Post."  I've read it a few other times, but I never tire of reading some of the stories over and over again.  One of the stories I enjoyed the most was a story that was placed in "The Vault" which are stories, or "Gems" as they label them, that was written and posted in previous issues of the magazine.  The story I was re-reading today was originally written and posted in the July17, 1954 issue of the magazine.  The story is titled "King-Sized Woes" and says that no one except Nat King Cole himself will ever realize how much it has cost him to achieve his success.  When the singer, in 1947, bought a pricey, ivy-covered, Tudor brick mansion in Hancock Park, one of the most exclusive residential districts of Los Angeles, the homeowners rose in unison against this "invasion."  Signs reading GET OUT were posted nightly on the lawn.  More than 100 lawsuits were threatened by neighbors.  A hastily organized property owners' association offered to buy the house from Cole.  The real-estate brokers who sold it to Cole were threatened and requested police guards.  Guards were also posted at the house until Cole complained about it.  Cole remained unperturbed on the surface.   He issued a statement: "I would like to meet all my new neighbors and explain the situation to them.  My bride and I like this house.  We can afford it and we'd like to make it our home.  The story got headline play in the Negro press and in the Deep South.  "There was more sand raised in the newspaper's than there was here," Coe says.  "Some people threw rocks on the lawn and someone shot through a window, but I think that was a mistake."  The only time that he met the lawyer for the other property owners, the latter told him sternly,, "Mr. Cole, we want you to understand our position.  We-er-well, we don't want any undesirable people coming into this neighborhood, you know."  "Neither do I," Cole said mildly.  "If I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain."  Cole still lives in the disputed house.  He claims his relations with his neighbors are now excellent.  "Everybody makes too much of these things." he says, "but I guess I'm a symbol to a lot of people."  Neat to be able to read stories from the past and reminisce what life was like back then.  Every time I get a new issue of "The Saturday Evening Post" I always head to the back of the magazine to see what they have included in that issue from another issue of "The Post" from days gone by.  To me, stories such as what I just typed seem like they happened just yesterday, but to many of you reading this story, it seems like it might of just happened months ago.  But then I have to remember that I'm a bit over 3/4 of a century old when things I just described were common.  If you have never read a copy of "The Saturday Evening Post," well...you must pick one up sometime and see what a real magazine was like years ago.  As soon as my copy arrives in my mailbox, I know I will have a few hours of entertainment waiting for me that evening.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.