84 year 0ld PA PA

[Cadetat6]

Memories WW2 Ice man, put in front window sign with 25 lbs, 50 lbs, 75 lbs, 100 lbs He would bring that amount to back porch ,put it in “ice box†Milk on porch, in winter cream would freeze and push up over top of bottle Coke for fuel, or coal , Ford employes could buy coke from foundry. Delivered like You now get top soil Coke ,you put down wood boards on lawn , push wheelbarrows full of coke to basement Coal window and dump it through the window Waffle man in wagon pulled by a horse, selling waffles Make push cart with 4 foot 2x4 board, an old skate, empty orange crate, empty can with Candle for a head light Rubber band gun using two pieces short wood and inner tube cut up into rubber bands Burn potato in camp fire too long and get little white potato in middle Empty cans, step on two and they clamp on your shoes and you walk making noise Film projector, mickey mouse, in your garage. Charge to see it was pin,bottle top, paper Clip,stone or any thing Pumpkin seeds 5 cents for a cup full Awrey bakery man came door to door with basket of baked goods. If you were near Tireman and Ironwood you could buy them from the home of Awrey Good Humor man in his truck selling Good Humor ice cream on stick. If you lived near Martin Street and Willette Street you could go to their factory Theater Friday night gives dishes, always hear one break during show Doctor comes out to your house if you are sick Stores closed on Sunday, but the butcher lives in back of store, and he answers door bell Men wear spats on their shoes School is a mile away and you walk to school Jewel Tea Company sales man comes to your house Elephant rides on Belle Isle Oh, don't the memories come flooding back. Yes, I remember so many of the ones you wrote about, Art. A few more..... remember the "Sheenies" that would come thru the alleys with horse and cart, the hollyhocks and morning glories on the back fence, stoking the coal furnace, having to go down and light the hot water heater and wait for it to get hot to take a bath, daddy bringing home a bag of Hershey Kisses or English Toffee was a real treat, Stella Dallas, listening to the Lone Ranger and The Shadow and Gangbusters while laying under the upright radio, rushing outside after dinner to play Hide and Seek, Hopscotch or Jump Rope, playing dress up, paper dolls, cowboys and Indians, jumping off the roof of the garage, banking up the snow and flooding the yard for an ice rink and getting frostbitten fingers and toes, upright player pianos that you would pump with your feet, and music lessons, and beating the rugs with a rug beater, rubbing down the wallpaper with Climax., P&G bluing, wringer washers, the old Ironrite, pulling curtains over the pins on a curtain stretcher, Rumble seats, burying your dear pets in the back yard, Mustard plasters, being rubbed down with Wintergreen for a fever (Scarlet Fever!), the smell of sheets dried outdoors on the clotheslines. sodas at the corner drugstore, the iceman tossing chips of ice to you in the summer, the horse drawn vendors calling "Straaaawberriees", Rosie the Riveter, Blue & Silver &Gold Stars in the windows and everyone's unabashed patriotism, the Sunday morning that lived in infamy, FDR's fireside chats, Sunday School, Big Brothers (home on leave) letting Little Sisters stand on their toes to dance to 'Sentimental Journey', 'My Devotion', 'Ole Buttermilk Sky' and hundreds more of the most beautiful "MUSIC" ever to be, the 12 th Floor at Hudsons at Christmas, the red carpet and brass handrails going up the staircase at the Michigan theatre, the stars on the ceiling of the Riviera theatre, the Bob-lo boat, Sanders ice cream, watching them bottle Vernor's ginger ale down on Woodward (or was that Griswald?) near the river, meeting under the clock at Kerns... the Grande Ballroom, Jefferson Beach and Edgewater Amusement parks, the Walled Lake Casino, remember Crystal Pool?, the family going on picnics in the summer, horseshoes, burning leaves at the curb.....and on and on and on. There really was a time when one could ask "Who needs a TV set?" No wonder Norman Rockwell's paintings are so beloved. Whew, that was some trip.....

[206thmpco]

Those are wonderful memories!

 

My mom was born in 1921 and grew up in the Roxbury part of Boston &

we could never believe that there was a farm with cows next door to my grandparents house.

 

She used to always talk about her father "Pa" getting up early to stoke the coal furnace

and warm up the house.

 

There was an ice man, a milk man, a rag man, and an egg man that used to come to

their neighborhood.

 

One of her favorite "treats" was to go to the corner store they called "Hughesies"

because Mr Hughes owned it - and get dill pickles from a barrel & saltines.

 

"Pa" had a beautiful garden (he worked as a gardener for Franklin Park) and

my mother especially remembered his glorious hollyhocks.

 

When you mentioned about the curtain stretcher! oh boy! my mother used to

always talk about having to do that. My grandmother always told her daughters

(the boys were exempt) "Many hands make light work!"

 

When they heard about Pearl Harbor on the radio, my mother remembered that she

was sitting on the radiator reading a book (it was cold that day).

 

Her sister Patsy was a great dancer & taught them all to jitterbug after

rolling up the dining room rug.

 

During the war, Ma & Pa were home with their daughters Millie, Margaret, Helen (my mother)

and Patsy ( the "baby"). On VE day, Patsy had a sailor escort her home & she

must've leaned on the doorbell when he was saying goodbye. All the bedroom windows immediately went up and her sisters all yelled out: "Are you allright out there Patsy!"

They were gonna come to her rescue like the Cavalry if that sailor was taking any "liberties".

HA!

 

One of my own favorite memories is of my Dad raking the leaves to the curb and then

burning them. That had to be one of the best smells in the world. On a cold day,

the kitchen windows would get steamed up & I remember the wonderful smell of

my mother's beef stew!

 

Thanks for sharing your memories!!!

 

Mary Ann