Mom's Story - Installment #4

I went from Milwaukee to Menasha to live with Aunt Nell, as Big Grandma was afraid I’d go with non-catholic boys – which I did. But only to their house. No dances or driving around. No cars for young kids those days. Reuben Axelson was my first boyfriend and we’d got to his house and play the Victrola. One record was “I Found A Million Dollar Baby in the 5 & 10 Cent Store” and we played it over and over.

Then my parents moved to Arpin. There I went to Tommy Welch’s house and played ball with all kinds of kids. It was fun. For Christmas Tommy gave me a new dress. It was way too big, but when I went to Aunt Nell’s, she made it to fit. No more Tommy. He was too far away. No letter writing either. No one could afford to write.

When I was 17, I went to Milwaukee to work for Aunt Linda and Uncle Ray Ushold while she was in the hospital to have her veins removed from her leg. While I was there, I got other jobs working for some other people. My Grandpa Adler and my Dad would take me to Milwaukee to work for Aunt Linda.

Grandpa Martin Adler passed away in 1936. There weren’t funeral homes then where bodies were shown, so till the day of Mass, he was in the house on Adler Road where he’d lived. The people came for visitations at the house all day and evening. I’d never seen a person in a coffin before and I was very sad and I cried. My Dad took me in another room so people wouldn’t see me crying. Grandma was in the kitchen making fried potatoes for all the family from Milwaukee that had stayed there for a couple days.

I learned to keep house from working for ladies in Milwaukee. They would inspect my work when I had Thursday afternoons off and then would have a list of what I had to do on Fridays. When they had women over, I had to serve them. They’d have a salad and yeast rolls. I made butter horns or parkerhouse rolls. I got good recipes from Mrs. Bryan.

On Thanksgiving Day, I would go to my Aunt Gert and Uncle Jim Gildernick’s and we would have a frozen river and snow banks in November. We’d slide down hills with sleighs and go to the river to ice skate. I didn’t have skates, just my rubber boots. I had lots of fun.

When it was summer, I went to Grandma Croell’s (big grandma) and helped her with housework. She had an old organ we could play to make music and an old Victrola and records. Aunt Nell and Uncle Alex came from Menasha to visit and stay at Grandma’s. I’d have to go home, and I didn’t want to. Aunt Nell and Uncle Alex brought a box of candy bars for her three sisters’ families and that was a treat for Aunt Gert and Sophie and Ma. They all thanked them.

Uncle Alex had a tavern and dance hall in Menasha. We all thought he was rich. He drove a swell car, had nice clothes, and a big house. We never got to visit them as Dad was farming so he couldn’t get away, and no car to go that far.

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Well, "that's all folks" for this time. There'll be another installment next weekend.

JB