Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Memories of the big house - downstairs

I have seen pictures of my mother holding me on the steps of our new home in the summer of 1950. We moved in June of that year. There doesn't seem to be many pictures in between that time until Barb appeared in April, 1952. I was 3 1/2 when she appeared.

I have been told by mom and my grandmothers in the far distant past that I was potty trained at 18 months. While this is a somewhat remarkable achievement I can only say that I do not know why this happened so early. I do remember being acutely attuned to the adults in my life and the fact that I got a lot of pressure to perform from Grandma S. (dad's mom). [I'm not putting last names in this blog to keep this somewhat anonymous.] She was a stickler for that kind of stuff and didn't put up with a lot of small child nonsense. There was an up-side to this, however. If you played by her rules you got to hang out at her house. The house on K____ was absolutely magnificent in my eyes. It is still there, but the last time I was in it was 1960.

I guess I made the mistake of getting into my grandmother's rouge when I was quite young. My mother found me playing in it and making quite a mess. I'm sure my grandmother had a fit and that probably made a big impression on me. I never did anything like THAT again over there. As I got older I spent a lot of time visiting over there and staying over night, especially after Barb came on the scene. She had a wonderful screened porch on the front with an old-fashioned wicker swing. I remember lying down on it (it had padding that was quite comfy) on very hot days and drinking lemonade with her there. There were other wicker chairs to sit in also, and it was a great spot to hang out in during the summer.

The living room had green wool carpeting in some sort of swirly pattern. I guess my mom's friend Wini still has a few pieces of this carpeting in the garage, which I saw on a visit over there a couple of years ago. Talk about memories. She had a wing chair and another red chair that wasn't very comfortable, as the padding was kind of shot. My grandfather had his chair with a nice reading lamp. She had a couch with a flowered pattern, a television (floor model black and white, as everyone had in those days), and another wing chair. There was a creepy print of Whisler's Mother on the wall. The centerpiece of the room was her parlor-sized grand piano, which was a Steinway. It had a fringed throw on it (very Victorian) and ivory keys. This is where I learned to play. She taught pupils in her home, and there was always a stack of music nearby. The LR was specially built to house this piano and the floor was doubly reinforced to take care of the piano's weight.

There was a room called the sun parlor off of the LR. She kept more music in here, and a lot of old books from my dad. As I got older and learned to read, I read almost every one of these books. The room was somewhat cold in the winter and stuffy in the summer, so I didn't hang out in there. I think there were chairs to sit in, though. It was a pretty room, but not very comfortable. I believe my grandma put the Christmas tree in here, but I'm not sure about that. They stopped doing a tree when I was very young, as it got to be too much work for them. She had some very old German ornaments for it. I have no idea whatever happened to those.

The huge dining room went off the LR in the other direction. She had a beautiful dining room set and the chairs had white leather upholstery. I have often wondered what ever became of that set, as the house was sold in 1960 and they moved into an apartment. There was also a big buffet sideboard and the still magnificent leaded glass china cabinet that now resides at my mom's apartment. The china cabinet sat behind the head of the table seat where grandpa always carved at big dinners. The extra chairs sat along the one side of the room until the table was opened to full size. It must have sat at least 12 people or more. Back in those days people had big families, although my dad's family only consisted of him and his brother Fred. We would see them on Christmas Day every year and have Christmas dinner there. He and Marge had two daughters, Susan and Sally, who are my cousins. I never saw them other than at Grandma's. My mom and Marge didn't get along all that well, and my dad and Fred were polar opposites in personality. All was cordial, and the food was great, but that was the extent of family interaction. [I am estranged from Sally. She has kept up no contact and even avoided my mother and me years ago when we saw each other at Penney's and she walked the other way to avoid us. Susan made contact awhile ago and I have emailed her. She lives in Florida now and is a retired nurse. Fred passed away a few years ago, and Marge is still alive and in her 90's.]

The kitchen was small and, in retrospect, poorly laid out. It had very little counter space. They ate off of an enameled table which was later replaced in the mid-50's by a stylin' formica table (which are now called "vintage."). The stove was old, and was replaced in the late 50's before they moved to their apartment. The cupboards were made of burled maple, I believe. - very similar to this

My great-grandfather (grandma's father) ran a hardwood lumber company, and the house had been their wedding gift. It was a show piece for all kinds of beautiful wood. The sink was nothing special. It was a long porcelain double sink with built-in drainboards, typical of the times. There was a small room off the back where the ice-box used to sit. A large refrigerator was in there by the time I was old enough to remember. She also had cupboards in there and another enamel table for a toaster and old fashioned waffle iron.

There was a small back porch that led to the outdoors. The trash cans were underground and had a lid that went over them. Looking back, I have no idea how grandpa hoisted them up for pickup. I do remember it was quite a ritual to wrap the garbage in newspaper and tie it with a string. My grandma kept a ball of it on that extra table with the toaster in a little enamel bucket. My other grandparents tied their garbage with string also, so that must have been what you did back then.

I will continue this at another time with upstairs memories.