Poscard Friendship Friday

I found this old postcard on line - this is the city park in Chillicothe, Ills. (strange abbreviation) way back in 1909.  Chilli's main business district is two blocks long with stores on each side along Second Street - it has been that way forever.  Then the full block to the north on the left side of the street was the park with a sidewalk going around it and one diagonally through the middle.  The Rock Island tracks were to the west and the depot across from the northwest corner of the park.  I can remember carnivals being held there when I was young.  Carnivals were never my favorite thing - the merry-go-round, tiltawhirl and very mild rides were all I wanted to take.    Heaven forbid I would go on a ride that turned you upside down.  I have also never been on a roller coaster and have no desire to do so. 

Lacon is a town about ten miles north of Chillicothe.    I hope you all have a Happy PFF!  And, thanks, Beth, at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/  for being our gracious hostess.  It is almost my favorite time of year - autumn.  There was frost on the roof around here this morning.  Time to think about buying some pumpkins and mums!  (Click to enlarge)

Long Ago in Ft. Madison

Our daughter, Sherry, in her room in Ft. Madison, Iowa - probably not too long before we were on our way to Topeka.  On the floor by her bed is the little suitcase with the Betsey McCall doll and clothes which I think is still around someplace.  Goodness, the room is neat!!  Probably mom's influence although I don't think there were lots of posters, etc., back then. 

And here is our son, Bill, in his room with his buddy Mugsy.  On the little stand next to him is the little 45 rpm record player that my brother gave him.  He had lots of Elvis records.  We were talking about that last weekend and he wishes he still had it.  There are also some little Golden Books that had records that you could listen to as you looked at the book.  Fun memories.  

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Postcard Friendship Friday

Late today - but will put one up anyway.   Haven't been posting much lately - busy turning 83 years old.  However, found this cute little doggie that goes with this weeks theme. 

As I read it, it is from Merlin to Elivra.  Always wonder about the people writing and receiving the cards.  Hope none of you are in harm's way of Irene.  How frightening - I pray for the people in her path.  Thank you, Beth, at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ for hosting.  Happy PFF to all.
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Postcard Friendship Friday

Since my first little great grandson was born on Monday, I thought this might be an appropriate postcard for this PFF.   He is home with his mommy and daddy now and all are doing well.  His grandparents (my daughter and husband) and I will be going to Colorado to meet him Labor Day weekend.   How sweet to be a great grandmother.  In the preceding post, you can see him just after birth.  Technology!!!!  We also saw him on Skype. 

Happy PFF to all and thanks to Beth at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ for hosting.  Drop in on her site and find more great postcards.  (Click to enlarge)

A Piece of the Future

Meet my first great grandchild born August 8th.  This is Henry Ryan, the son of my oldest granddaughter, Norah,  and her husband, Chad, in Colorado.   We are all so excited and will go see him Labor Day weekend.  He was due on my birthday but came almost two weeks early and that is absolutely okay!!   Mommy and baby are doing well.  Welcome to the family, Henry, you are loved so much by so many.
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Postcard Friendship Friday

Happy PFF!  I personally have never been in an old swimmin' hole - but they certainly are part of what summer activity should be.

The message Mary wrote to Mr. Caywood is kind of a puzzlement.  When is he going to send their mother home?  Gives a person something to wonder about - but it appears that Mary likes him since she addresses him by his first name and ends her note lovingly.  Drop over to our hostess  Beth's at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/  to see more fun postcards and have a great summertime weekend.  (Click to enlarge)

Favorite Picture Rerun - Sidewalk Cleaners

Another of my very favorite pictures from the Pearces that is certainly worth bringing  forward again.  The lady on the left is my mom, Nan, but I don't know the other two girls.  And, I also know that this would not be the sidewalk in front of the Pearce home - it was on a raised lot with steps up to the yard.  The three ladies must be dressed in some sort of working garment - could that be the forerunner of a housedress?  And two of them are wearing dustcaps--I have vivid memories of my Grandma Pearce wearing those little bonnets.   On the cleanup agenda are some raking and some scrubbing although I can't tell which one my mom is doing.  The icing on the cupcake is the horse and wagon on it's way down the street.  Just past the tree near the middle girl, when you enlarge the photo you can make out an old fellow with one hand on his hip and the other on a rake or broom apparently shooting the breeze with another person.  How I wish I knew more, but  I think this is one great picture!  (Click to enlarge)

Postcard Friendship Friday

I went searching for something to do with this awful hot weather and this was all I could find.  Fortunately for us here in Michigan, it looks to be better tomorrow and on for the next several days with temps in the 80's instead of the 90's.  I will take that!  The little poem on the card certainly hits the nail on the head when it comes to human nature. 

Here is the back of the card - I have tried and tried, but cannot make any sense out of it.  I certainly hope Emily could.  Thanks to Beth at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/  for being our hostess.  Check out her blog and see what everyone has posted for this week.  Happy PFF and a good weekend to all.

Motto Pictures

This is the start of my collection of old motto pictures.  I found this in my mother-in-law's things and just adored it. 

This is the second piece - my daughter gave it to me for my birthday sometime after 1972. I love the art, the poem, the frame and the person who gave it to me. Whenever I would go to antique stores or shows I would buy any of these that I could find and afford.

One of my very favorites, this one was found at an antique show in Peoria.  I pretty well have my walls filled with odds and ends like this.  Most everything came from antique stores, garage sales, auctions or was lovingly made by someone.  Anymore, as much as I dislike housework, I kind of wish I liked things more modern and much sparser.  Alas, that is not the case so I am also collecting quite a bit of dust!   I have the theory that dust is "clean dirt" since it can be eliminated quickly if you just get out the dustcloth!  One day soon!  (Click to enlarge) 

Postcard Friendship Friday

Here is a postcard featuring two little children who look as if they would rather be doing something other then posing before an old crazy quilt that is being used as a backdrop for their photo.  Cute little kids and lovely old quilt.  You may or may not know, but quilts are a very important part of my life and have been for getting close to 40 years now.   It is an obsession in a way.   The back of this card has nothing written on it,  but I have found another card----

which is also in the field of needle arts.  This one you could send to a friend as part of a promotion for the Modern Handcraft company in Kansas City.  The instructions are in the message on the card which shows some really great vintage embroidery and quilt patterns.  I have started doing embroidery again and really enjoy it.  Nice to have something to pick up and work on while watching tv or just relaxing.  Takes no effort getting ready - just work as long as you wish then put it away until the next time. 

This one went to Pansy Story in Topeka, Kansas.  Hope Pansy liked it.  Stop by Beth's blog http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ to see all the other postcards this PFF.   Beth is our hostess for this fun blog hop.  Have a Happy PFF.(Click to enlarge) 

Bing

For a lot of the years growing up in Rome, Illinois, we had this furry, funny old dog named Bing.   Heaven only knows what breeds of dogs he came from - he was quite a mix of something or other.  Lots and lots of hair and must have been part sheep dog since it grew down over his eyes.  However, my dad cut it back especially in the summer and it looked so odd at first.  Here he is with my sister.  Why she had him standing on a box, I can't tell you.  I look at this photo and am thinking what a pretty sis I had and what pretty hair she had! 

Here is Bing in his doghouse with the personalized entry.  I am also seeing dad's workpants hanging on the clothesline in the back - and the line is being held up by a clothesprop.  Remember those?   Thought you might enjoy this little piece of my past. (Click to enlarge)

Postcard Friendship Friday

In the good old summertime!  Here is a quartet of pretty, happy girls dressed to go swimming back in 1906 - my, how things have changed.   What a cute picture of some very cute girls.

I hope you are having a good summer so far and are able to enjoy doing the things you like to do whether it be gardening, swimming or just having time to relax and sometimes do nothing at all.  Take a minute and stop by Beth's blog http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ to check out today's postcards.  Happy PFF.

 I have decided to add two pictures from my mom's side of the family from the days when they had a summer cottage north of Peoria.  These pictures and many others are in earlier posts under the "Pearce Family".  In this one, my Aunt Nelle sits on the boat and my mom, Nan, is the first girl standing in the water.  They, too, are in their swimwear.

Here is my grandfather, Dan, with my grandmother, Maggie to his right and an unknown woman with them.  Thought these went well with my postcard. (Click to enlarge)

The River Comes Up Our Street

Back in the spring of 1943,  the Illinois River flooded.  We lived about a block from the river and this is looking down the street from in front of our house.  This was also the first picture I ever took, according to the note on the top of it.  (I must have inherited that trait from the Pearce side of the family!). 

Here is my little brother, Bud, rowing the boat in our yard.  That is dad's old double bow boat that I could navigate very well.  I loved rowing the boat.

This picture shows Dad standing in our yard. Right behind him to his right is our outhouse. Everyone had to take typhoid shots since we all got our water from wells and they were under water. Naturally, anything for drinking or cooking had to be boiled.

Here I pose in front of the river.  I was finishing my freshman year in high school.  Certainly was not a fashion plate - although I don't think I looked any different than the lions' share of teenagers back in the forties.   I am noticing the pin on my blouse and remembering it was a wooden "CD", my initials, and I had forgotten all about it.  I wonder where that ever ended up?   Will post more pictures from this point in time on a later date.  (Click to enlarge)

Track Inn

I was reading the Chillicothe weekly newspaper on line the other day and came across an article about this restaurant that was out at the end of Santa Fe street.  When we moved back to Chilli in 1982,  we would sometimes have dinner at this little place that was kind of like a little hole in the wall but the food wasreasonably priced and it was good.  You could have a nice meal for not much money and lots of people ate at the Track Inn.  There were two or three tables right by the windows in front and then a counter with stools all the way back on the left side.  On the right side were booths - or tables - all the way back.  What used to strike me as being funny was that everytime someone came in the door, everyone with their back in that direction turned around and everyone at the counter glanced left to see who was arriving.  Most of the time, you knew who it was.  Looks from the picture like things have been spiffied up since the eighties.  My, they had good pies!!  Following is part of the article from the paper.

Track Inn building originated in 1900s.  The building Di’s Track Inn occupies originally was Marburger’s tavern, opened by John Marburger in 1907, which was split between the tavern and a barbershop, according to local historian Gary Fyke. The tavern changed hands a few times, and then became different restaurants, including the Northtown Café, New Apollo and Michael’s, until Donna Gondek’s parents, Sam and Mary Ann King, bought the businesOpening in May 1977, Track Inn’s business mostly came from the railroad. Gondek recalled long days and busy times at the restaurant during the initial years. She and her mother were thrilled to make $300 the first day the restaurant opened, Gondek said. The business was her mother’s idea, and she kept the food cooking while Gondek was out front with the customers.  As years went by, Gondek ran the business by herself and found she enjoyed the making of the food.


Picking up skills from her mother on cooking, she also learned how to make pies and other goods from her night cook. She began baking up a storm, winning her 42 awards in a five-year period at the Heart of Illinois Fair. They made her stop entering, Gondek said.  “I really had dedicated pretty much my life to it,” said Gondek of the business.

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Postcard Friendship Friday

Happy PFF - and Happy Fourth of July.  Looking for a card for this bang-up holiday, I came across this rather strange card.  Have never connected the 4th and Eskimoes before, but it's a bit different than the usual greeting.  I found some very cute funny - well, maybe funny like a rubber crutch - cards of ornery, mischievious boys who were trying to set firecrackers to everything they see.  Very cute drawings but not really "feel good" cards.

This card was written a long, long time ago - about 102 years.  Again, thanks to Beth for being our hostess on PFF.  Stop by her blog and see all the blogs you can visit to find great postcards this PFF.  Have a  fun Fourth.  (Click to enlarge)

The Orchard Behind Our Old House

When we were growing up in Rome, Illinois, we lived in a very old house - as they used to say,  5 rooms and a path.  However, that does not mean our childhood was not happy - it was.  I do think that it might be better to not have so many toys, clothes, etc. - but always plenty of love and food.  It makes your imagination develop.  Right behind our house (my parents rented) was an orchard.

So gorgeous in the spring.  It wasn't a well maintained orchard and I don't remember having many apples but it wasn't ours.  Here is a picture of my sister and brother, Jo and Bud,  posing under one of the trees.  You can see two people walking on the path through the orchard and see the "gray barn" a short distance away.  That was where my father kept our car and he had his tools there, also.  The people who owned everything were from Peoria.  There were three cottages, the mother owning one and two sons the other two.  My father used to take care of the yards and do odd jobs for them to pay off the rent for our house which was $10.00 a month.  Hard to believe.  Dad, a very hard worker,  also worked at Pabst Brewery in Peoria. My parents never did completely recover from the depression - and I am certain there were many, many couples that were in the same situation.  Back to the picture, I have no idea who is walking through the orchard.  They look dressed up - maybe if my brother sees this he can let me know who he thinks they are.  I can also spot on the side of the barn the "hot bed" dad always had to start plants early for the garden. 

This has to be me - what do you suppose I was doing.  It was a very pretty orchard and fun to play in.

This is what the old house looked like in the 60's or 70's.  It was burned down by the fire department not long after this was taken and a batting cage put up on the land.  Click to enlarge)

Items from 1965 Spiegel Catalog

Love to look through the old catalogs.  I have two of them - the 1961 and 1965 Spiegel wishbooks.  Here are some of the familiar items listed that were in many of our homes back at that time.  Melmac dinnerware - unbreakable everyday dishes was used by many families for their family meals.  I kept a meat platter for years and I think my daughter has it now.

Another item in most homes - the pole lamp.  The one at our house had the glass shades - in an amber color.  I always rather liked pole lamps.

This is very similar to the stereo we had.  You could pile on 10 or 12 records and have music for a long time.  How cool it was to have the sounds coming separately from the speakers.  I recall one record we had
we had - Enoch Light and the Light Brigade - where the separation was awesome.  Can't believe all that has come and gone since then.  I found a little video on Youtube that is from the old album we had.  I think I recognized the cover - but regardless it's Enoch Light.  http://youtu.be/K7wldS-N92Y.  Hope this works in case you would like to hear it.  Goodness, this was a long time ago!  I also discovered that it's Enoch Light's music that is used for Mad Men's theme song - http://youtu.be/5YE088AE_4Q - you might want to check that out also. 

Favorite Picture Rerun - Bathing Beauties

This is a cute picture that was in those that my brother sent me. Two of my aunts are showing off some pretty nice legs! Aunt Leah is on the left end and Aunt Nelle is on the right. The four gals in between are unknown to me. I imagine this was taken when my grandmother and Aunt Leah were visiting Nelle and family in California and that these were Nelle's friends. Look closely and you can see that Nelle is wearing stockings and they are hooked to garters! That is a new look, Nellie! They certainly appear to be having a fun time. You go, girls. (Click to enlarge)

Postcard Friendship Friday

I know nothing about this wonderful old postcard and there is no image of the back.  However, I think this must be gracious living at its finest.  The lady seated at the right seems to be almost highlighted and she surely is the birthday girl in the photo.  The message written on the card is -

"This is my class taken at my home on my 60th birthday.  Always remember the fine happy hours and always remain as chaste and good as you are today.  Your motherly friend."

I wonder what her class was about.  Maybe she was a piano teacher or voice coach.  It's for sure we'll never know! 

This seens like  an appropriate card for me to post since my daughter celebrated her 60th birthday on Wednesday.   Some wishes---Happy Father's Day to all the dads, grandpas, uncles and husbands!!  And Happy PFF - check out http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ for more postcards listed on Beth's blog, and thanks to her for hosting PFF.  (Click to enlarge)

Favorite Picture Rerun--Long Ago Ballgame

Take me out to the ball game! There certainly was a good crowd at the game somewhere around Rome or Chillicothe, Illinois, many years ago. Look at the great automobiles! And it is amazing how dressed up the fellows walking across the field are! No blue jeans and t-shirts with all kinds of messages on the front. My, my, how times have changed!

Play Ball! Dad is the middle fellow in the back row. The second player in the back row was my sister's father-in-law, another Charlie. The fellow on the end is E. A. Lawson whose General Merchandise Store is in a previous post. Third from the left in the front row is my Uncle Carl, Aunt Carrie's husband. I see an "R" on the sleeves of a couple of the fellows toward the left of the picture. Go, Rome!

My father all ready for the game.

His two sisters, Barbara and Caroline, with their husbands, Joe Thorne and Carl Kirk Aunt Carrie and Aunt Barb.

Dad, Carrie and Barb.

One of only three or four pictures of my grandmother, Caroline, on my dad's side shown her with her youngest daughter, Carrie.  I have a few memories of her but not many.   These are special old photos that I have posted  a couple of years ago, but thought I would bring them forward.  (Click to enlarge)

Back to 1936

Some more pictures from the little book published in 1936 with pictures of the businesses and residences in the little town of Chillicothe, Illinois.  Since I lived in Rome and not Chillicothe as a child,  my mom never shopped at this little neighborhood grocery.  I believe there were at least two other ones in town.  Mom would shop at Kroger or the A & P when we made the three mile trip to Chilli for groceries.  Back then, it seemed like a long way.  Rome had it's own little store and you can check out a post I did on that earlier by clicking on  Lawson's  

One of the two drug stores on the main street in Chillicothe.   Carlisle's was there forever, but Moffitt's was the one the kids liked since it had a soda fountain.  What a treat it was to have some chocolate ice cream with marshmallow and pineapple.  Yummy!  Cherry cokes were also a tasty treat.  Chillicothe's main business district was two blocks long on Second Street.  It was a thriving little place for a lot of years but then went the way of most of the businesses in small towns when people started to travel further to shop in big malls in larger cities.  In this case, it was Peoria that lured the shoppers to come spend their money outside of town.   

An added note - this weekend was the Alumni Banquet in Chillicothe.  This is the 65th anniversary of my graduation from high school with a class of 45 - 30 girls and 15 boys.  Our class has had a reunion every five years in connection with the banquet which meant that you not only saw your class members, but many of the people who were in school at the same time with you.  This is the first one I have missed - makes me a bit sad as I think you feel more like siblings than classmates when the class is so small.  Five years ago my daughter drove me there and that was a lot of fun.   Maybe I will get there for my 70th!!  If my sis were still living, I would have been there for sure.  Life continues to change and we just have to continue to embrace the changes!  I hope they had fun and I am sure they missed me!   (Click to enlarge)

Postcard Friendship Friday

If I am reading the date right,  this was taken in Portland, OR, about 82 years ago today.  Lovely picture even though it is faded.  I love the soft, sepia color. 

No message on the back.  I just did a little search and the 2011 festival is going on now.   If you would like to check out the calendar of events, just click the link http://www.rosefestival.org/events/. 

And here is one for Flag Day.  Betsy Ross sews another stripe to our flag. 

And another link for you to use is http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/  which will take you over to Beth's blog where you can find more postcards on this PFF.  Thank you again for hosting!  Happy PFF to all.  (Click to enlarge)