Saturday, January 17, 2004
UNCLE TED (CONCLUSION)
Uncle Ted was a handsome man. He looked like Rudolph Valentino, the silent screen star of the flapper era. Like all young guys with a car, a paycheck and nice clothes, he was never at a loss for pretty female companions. Just when he was thinking himself as the un-attached bachelor he met a beautiful woman who was just as well-dressed, nice looking and happy to be single as he. This was a different kind of woman than he had been used to. Before, women would pursue him and want to be his steady. Beulah Wright was not anxious to win him over at all. She was working for a photography business in Omaha and was good at her occupation. She was highly independent and didn’t need him around.
Of course this was a serious afront to his manhood and charm. He spent all his time trying to win her over. He brought her to the farm where they had great week-end visits with my Mom and Dad who were on the farm at that time. They would go hunting, play cards, make bon-fires down in the woods, go fishing from the creek bank and picnic. My mother and dad liked her a lot as did the rest of the Andersen’s. She finally agreed to marry uncle Ted and it was a nice family wedding. I have pictures I will have John post later in this section.
Life was pretty unpredictable as far as income and jobs were concerned. They bought a home and knew it would be a challenge to pay for it unless they had steady work. When uncle Ted was laid off from his job at the Union Pacific shops where he worked they decided to start their own business.
My cousin, Dale ( that some of you have met on his new blog) sent me information on their Owl Film Developing business. With aunt Beulah’s knowledge of photography and uncle Ted’s ability to make anything they made a “dark room” in their basement to develop film. Uncle Ted had a motorcycle with a side-car and he would go to the businesses where it was pre-arranged to pick up and deliver their processed film. Dale related a funny story about his Dad on a return trip one day. There was a terrace in front of their house and the driveway was rather steep. He thought he would scare her so he put his pedal to the metal and zoomed up the drive-way with a deafening roar. This was followed by a loud crashing noise. She was in the house and came running while he quickly closed the front garage door. She inquired about the noise and he nonchalantly said he hadn’t heard it. It was some time before she learned the truth. Andersen’s didn’t talk much about pranks that went awry but the garage had a large patch on the back side after that.
There were several times uncle Ted didn’t have enough seniority to keep from a lay-off at work during the depression so he went West to work on construction at different times. He worked on the Boulder Dam (name was later changed to Hoover Dam) and also on the Keystone Dam at Ogallala, NE. We liked to hear stories about that when he would talk about them.
Growing up we were at uncle Ted and aunt Beulah’s a lot and they came to our house a lot. We would always have a good meal and my favorite thing was to listen to the family stories told over and over with the same attention to detail and laughter that followed.
Dale told of a small car his dad built for him that he could actually drive around the neighborhood. Uncle Ted could make anything and even made two power mowers before they were ever on the market. He was the only “musical” uncle and would play the guitar and sing. He never failed to play “It ain’t gonna rain no more” and we children would always sing along with him. Aunt Beulah played the piano very well and I loved those times at their home.
When I was 10-years old they had a son, my cousin Dale. He was the only little kid I ever liked at that time and I adored him. When I was a little older I got to baby-sit him and since I was a dumb little kid myself, I loved to scare the wits out of him. I’m sure he has been in re-hab a lot for those early refractions.
Uncle Ted retired from the Union Pacific Railroad and he and aunt Beulah moved to Missouri and later to Arkansas. We were able to visit when we came home on vacation and it was always good to see them. I am glad my children were able to grow up knowing them because they were always so special to me.
Uncle Ted died in his favorite chair after dinner one day on February 26,1966. Aunt Beulah found him with a magazine in his lap that he had been reading. It was a Hunting and Fishing magazine so I like to think he was preparing for that last big catch. Somewhere he and his brothers are probably fishing right now. Aunt Beulah lived up into her 80’s and was a joy to us all. I still have my favorite cousin Dale: sad to say we are the only two left from seven brothers and nine cousins. This is why I write our story.
Tomorrow we begin on someone I know a lot about. My dad!
Until then,
Essentially Esther
Of course this was a serious afront to his manhood and charm. He spent all his time trying to win her over. He brought her to the farm where they had great week-end visits with my Mom and Dad who were on the farm at that time. They would go hunting, play cards, make bon-fires down in the woods, go fishing from the creek bank and picnic. My mother and dad liked her a lot as did the rest of the Andersen’s. She finally agreed to marry uncle Ted and it was a nice family wedding. I have pictures I will have John post later in this section.
Life was pretty unpredictable as far as income and jobs were concerned. They bought a home and knew it would be a challenge to pay for it unless they had steady work. When uncle Ted was laid off from his job at the Union Pacific shops where he worked they decided to start their own business.
My cousin, Dale ( that some of you have met on his new blog) sent me information on their Owl Film Developing business. With aunt Beulah’s knowledge of photography and uncle Ted’s ability to make anything they made a “dark room” in their basement to develop film. Uncle Ted had a motorcycle with a side-car and he would go to the businesses where it was pre-arranged to pick up and deliver their processed film. Dale related a funny story about his Dad on a return trip one day. There was a terrace in front of their house and the driveway was rather steep. He thought he would scare her so he put his pedal to the metal and zoomed up the drive-way with a deafening roar. This was followed by a loud crashing noise. She was in the house and came running while he quickly closed the front garage door. She inquired about the noise and he nonchalantly said he hadn’t heard it. It was some time before she learned the truth. Andersen’s didn’t talk much about pranks that went awry but the garage had a large patch on the back side after that.
There were several times uncle Ted didn’t have enough seniority to keep from a lay-off at work during the depression so he went West to work on construction at different times. He worked on the Boulder Dam (name was later changed to Hoover Dam) and also on the Keystone Dam at Ogallala, NE. We liked to hear stories about that when he would talk about them.
Growing up we were at uncle Ted and aunt Beulah’s a lot and they came to our house a lot. We would always have a good meal and my favorite thing was to listen to the family stories told over and over with the same attention to detail and laughter that followed.
Dale told of a small car his dad built for him that he could actually drive around the neighborhood. Uncle Ted could make anything and even made two power mowers before they were ever on the market. He was the only “musical” uncle and would play the guitar and sing. He never failed to play “It ain’t gonna rain no more” and we children would always sing along with him. Aunt Beulah played the piano very well and I loved those times at their home.
When I was 10-years old they had a son, my cousin Dale. He was the only little kid I ever liked at that time and I adored him. When I was a little older I got to baby-sit him and since I was a dumb little kid myself, I loved to scare the wits out of him. I’m sure he has been in re-hab a lot for those early refractions.
Uncle Ted retired from the Union Pacific Railroad and he and aunt Beulah moved to Missouri and later to Arkansas. We were able to visit when we came home on vacation and it was always good to see them. I am glad my children were able to grow up knowing them because they were always so special to me.
Uncle Ted died in his favorite chair after dinner one day on February 26,1966. Aunt Beulah found him with a magazine in his lap that he had been reading. It was a Hunting and Fishing magazine so I like to think he was preparing for that last big catch. Somewhere he and his brothers are probably fishing right now. Aunt Beulah lived up into her 80’s and was a joy to us all. I still have my favorite cousin Dale: sad to say we are the only two left from seven brothers and nine cousins. This is why I write our story.
Tomorrow we begin on someone I know a lot about. My dad!
Until then,
Essentially Esther
