Monday, June 07, 2004
FALL AND WINTER....1961
Before school was underway in 1961 we made a trip to Blair. Mom had a cupboard in Grandma’s attic that had been there since she and dad left the farm. I had often seen it and now that we had a house of our own I asked mom if I could have it. We drove the station wagon up to bring it home in….a long, black Dodge. When we had it loaded Grandma laughed (which was rare) she said it looked like we were driving a hearse with a casket in it. I could see her point. I was thrilled to bring it home and after cleaning it sufficiently I put our ‘good’ dishes in it, Franciscan Apple Pattern, …..you can see the picture of it and the dishes which have ended up in John and Barbara’s home. He posted the picture in one of his earlier blogs.
Finally the day for school came and poor John was left again. Oakie was a good substitute for the lack of something to do and in a few days John was used to being the only kid at home. This was the year I made a coat for Becky out of one Granny Bond brought to me. It was pretty red wool with lining and inner lining. I bought a pattern and cut the coat all apart at the seams fitting the pattern pieces to them. It looked like a lot of work but if I could make it nice enough we wouldn’t have to buy one for her that year. It took patience and work but when finished I was proud of it. Better still, Becky liked it and Grandma Bond was happy I had made use of something she needed to get rid of. That coat made all three of us happy.
She needed a warm covering for her head so I knit a long red scarf that was sewn together in the center to make a hood. The long ends were wrapped around her and hung down her back. With fringed ends and a tassel on top of the hood it made a pretty outfit. We finished it with red snow boots and leggings. She had the prettiest winter wraps in school and she wore them several years before we had to pass them on. I think her hooded scarf is still in the cedar chest with some other favorite mementos. When she was about a year old a friend had given me a pretty velvet dark red coat and bonnet for her. I knit white leggings to go with that and have a picture in our album of her in it. Someday I hope John or Becky will put pictures with the family stories so they will be more meaningful. I do not have the knowledge or capability to do so. At any rate, her white leggings are in the cedar chest for sure.
At the beginning of her second grade, Becky wanted to be in the Blue Birds which was the younger age-group of the Camp Fire Girls. Again, there was no leader and so I inherited 14-girls besides her and we held weekly meetings in our garage. We had a long tenure together as I kept all of them until they were ready to “fly up” to the Camp Fire program. I shall write more of the group activities in the next post.
I had George Jr’s Cub Scout group for three years until they finished their Wolf, Bear and Lion badges and were ready to go on to Webelo’s and Scouting. George was in 5th grade now and to continue with his Webelo achievement was helping in a den of young Cub’s.
Halloween came and time to come up with some costumes. Becky wanted to be a witch that year. Since I always made their costumes I was undecided how to come up with the pointed hat. I finally fashioned one out of poster paper and covered it with black cloth. It was good and substantial and Becky wore it several years until it finally had to be discarded. She had a black cape, stockings, shoes and a “witchy” laugh that completed her outfit. George Jr. was a pirate that year and John was a Casper the Ghost. Their costumes were much easier because they were more interested in a scary mask than the rest of the outfit. This was the year that some kids left a poor scared black kitten in our tree out front. We heard it crying but didn’t think much about it until the next morning when John discovered it in our elm tree. He brought it to the door and asked if we could give it some milk…..of course we adopted it and he became a loving part of our family. He was aptly named “Spook” because he came to us on Halloween night and was solid black. We also had a stray cat named “Shadow” because he was pale gray and looked the part. I don’t remember when he came but I think we had him before Spook came along. At any rate, it was Oakie, Spook and Shadow for many years.
Winter was early in 1961 and hard. We had deep snow and frigid temperatures. Big George waded snow all day on the 22nd of December and the children had to walk in tire tracks to school that morning. I wondered how I could make George Jr’s 11-th birthday special. Suddenly it dawned on me…..we would go to Hawaii for his birthday. I procured John’s help to pull it off. We got some straw mats out to place on the dining room floor for a luau. While I made a 3-layer cake he was to go around the house and find some flowers and artificial fruit….anything that looked Hawaiian. He had some leis in his room so he got those and I told him to find his swimming suit along with George’s.
I made trays of food to resemble the tropics….of course, chunked pineapple on toothpicks, hot dogs cut up on sticks for our ‘roast pig’, fruit and flowers were tucked in between plates of sandwiches and I put soft yellow icing on the cake with flowers to garnish. I had to work with whatever I could find in the house so it was a real test of coming up with something out of nothing. John and I had a lot of fun and our enthusiasm was high when George and Becky came in from school, half frozen. I had on a brightly flowered “muumuu,” flowers in my hair and John was wearing his bathing suit. I would give a lot of money to have a picture of their faces when they saw us. John was excitedly telling them we were “in Hawaii” and going to a luau. Our enthusiasm was catching.
I turned the heat up on the furnace so the temperature would be suitable for the occasion while George and Becky got into their “costumes.” Becky had a halter and flowered skirt with a garland of flowers in her hair, George wore a lei with his swim suit. Things were in place for daddy to come home. He arrived on time and we heard him stomping his feet in the garage to get the snow off of his boots. When he came through the door and saw what was going on he went along with the flood of excitement and like a good sport put on his bathing suit. I dare say this was one birthday that none of the children will ever forget……just a silly idea on a snowy day that made fun out of nothing.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
Finally the day for school came and poor John was left again. Oakie was a good substitute for the lack of something to do and in a few days John was used to being the only kid at home. This was the year I made a coat for Becky out of one Granny Bond brought to me. It was pretty red wool with lining and inner lining. I bought a pattern and cut the coat all apart at the seams fitting the pattern pieces to them. It looked like a lot of work but if I could make it nice enough we wouldn’t have to buy one for her that year. It took patience and work but when finished I was proud of it. Better still, Becky liked it and Grandma Bond was happy I had made use of something she needed to get rid of. That coat made all three of us happy.
She needed a warm covering for her head so I knit a long red scarf that was sewn together in the center to make a hood. The long ends were wrapped around her and hung down her back. With fringed ends and a tassel on top of the hood it made a pretty outfit. We finished it with red snow boots and leggings. She had the prettiest winter wraps in school and she wore them several years before we had to pass them on. I think her hooded scarf is still in the cedar chest with some other favorite mementos. When she was about a year old a friend had given me a pretty velvet dark red coat and bonnet for her. I knit white leggings to go with that and have a picture in our album of her in it. Someday I hope John or Becky will put pictures with the family stories so they will be more meaningful. I do not have the knowledge or capability to do so. At any rate, her white leggings are in the cedar chest for sure.
At the beginning of her second grade, Becky wanted to be in the Blue Birds which was the younger age-group of the Camp Fire Girls. Again, there was no leader and so I inherited 14-girls besides her and we held weekly meetings in our garage. We had a long tenure together as I kept all of them until they were ready to “fly up” to the Camp Fire program. I shall write more of the group activities in the next post.
I had George Jr’s Cub Scout group for three years until they finished their Wolf, Bear and Lion badges and were ready to go on to Webelo’s and Scouting. George was in 5th grade now and to continue with his Webelo achievement was helping in a den of young Cub’s.
Halloween came and time to come up with some costumes. Becky wanted to be a witch that year. Since I always made their costumes I was undecided how to come up with the pointed hat. I finally fashioned one out of poster paper and covered it with black cloth. It was good and substantial and Becky wore it several years until it finally had to be discarded. She had a black cape, stockings, shoes and a “witchy” laugh that completed her outfit. George Jr. was a pirate that year and John was a Casper the Ghost. Their costumes were much easier because they were more interested in a scary mask than the rest of the outfit. This was the year that some kids left a poor scared black kitten in our tree out front. We heard it crying but didn’t think much about it until the next morning when John discovered it in our elm tree. He brought it to the door and asked if we could give it some milk…..of course we adopted it and he became a loving part of our family. He was aptly named “Spook” because he came to us on Halloween night and was solid black. We also had a stray cat named “Shadow” because he was pale gray and looked the part. I don’t remember when he came but I think we had him before Spook came along. At any rate, it was Oakie, Spook and Shadow for many years.
Winter was early in 1961 and hard. We had deep snow and frigid temperatures. Big George waded snow all day on the 22nd of December and the children had to walk in tire tracks to school that morning. I wondered how I could make George Jr’s 11-th birthday special. Suddenly it dawned on me…..we would go to Hawaii for his birthday. I procured John’s help to pull it off. We got some straw mats out to place on the dining room floor for a luau. While I made a 3-layer cake he was to go around the house and find some flowers and artificial fruit….anything that looked Hawaiian. He had some leis in his room so he got those and I told him to find his swimming suit along with George’s.
I made trays of food to resemble the tropics….of course, chunked pineapple on toothpicks, hot dogs cut up on sticks for our ‘roast pig’, fruit and flowers were tucked in between plates of sandwiches and I put soft yellow icing on the cake with flowers to garnish. I had to work with whatever I could find in the house so it was a real test of coming up with something out of nothing. John and I had a lot of fun and our enthusiasm was high when George and Becky came in from school, half frozen. I had on a brightly flowered “muumuu,” flowers in my hair and John was wearing his bathing suit. I would give a lot of money to have a picture of their faces when they saw us. John was excitedly telling them we were “in Hawaii” and going to a luau. Our enthusiasm was catching.
I turned the heat up on the furnace so the temperature would be suitable for the occasion while George and Becky got into their “costumes.” Becky had a halter and flowered skirt with a garland of flowers in her hair, George wore a lei with his swim suit. Things were in place for daddy to come home. He arrived on time and we heard him stomping his feet in the garage to get the snow off of his boots. When he came through the door and saw what was going on he went along with the flood of excitement and like a good sport put on his bathing suit. I dare say this was one birthday that none of the children will ever forget……just a silly idea on a snowy day that made fun out of nothing.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
