Postcard Friendship Friday

Many of the old pictures of my mother's family when she was a young woman were taken in Glen Oak Park in Peoria, Illinois.  It seems like many people dressed in their "Sunday best" and spent an afternoon in the park.  When I was a little girl, I can remember my grandmother walking me over there and I think the building in this card was by that time a building that housed birds.  I have memories of a mynah bird saying "5 o'clock".  The message on this card is strange and I think it is  connected to..................+

this one which also has a message about chickens.  Maybe you can figure it out!  Nice pictures of Glen Oak Park, though.    Many thanks to Beth at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/  for again hosting and Happy PFF to all.  (Click to enlarge)

Favorite Picture Rerun - Suitcases

I had never seen this picture until my brother sent it to me quite some time ago.  My mother, Nan Pearce, is second from the left, and her sister, Nelle, is to her right.  I don't know who the other two girls were.  Love the fact that they are all dressed pretty much alike in their skirts, white blouses, dark belts and hats - and carrying suitcases.  Mom is also sporting what looks to be a very big wristwatch.  Makes me wonder where they were going!  Some of my favorite pictures I have used in my blog header but haven't had this one up for a while.  Sweet, sweet picture.  (Click to enlarge)

Whatever Happened to Danish Modern?

From my old 1965 Spiegel Catalog comes this ad for Danish Modern furniture.  We had two of the chairs - no ottoman - and I thought they were about as comfy to sit in as a chair can be.  Ours had melon colored cushions.  I used to go to a beauty shop here in town and their chairs were Danish Modern, also.  There'something about the way the seat and back slants that make them nice to sit in.  I found some things in the catalog that seem to be missing now and I will post them at a later date.  There are lots and lots of things missing in the catalog that we have now - that's for sure!  (Click to enlarge)

Postcard Friendship Friday

The Easter postcards are just beautiful with their gorgeous flowers and springy colors - I think they are my favorite ones.  Here is a beauty I found when I was searching for ideas to make my tag for April.  Each month, I trade little tags that feature vintage pictures, lace, paper, fabric, buttons, beads, etc., with a friend in my quilt guild. 

 

Here is the tag I made - I just love the lady in her gorgeous big hat and think it's a perfect Easter Bonnet.  Part of the embellishment of the tag is a cutout of the bird carrying the pretty Easter basket.   Happy PFF and Happy Easter.  And to Beth, many thanks for being our hostess.  Hop on over to http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ and you can check out all the great postcards.  (Click to enlarge)

First Day of School 1961

Looking through files, I found this cute picture of my little kids, Sherry and Bill,  on the first day of school, 1961, in Ft. Madison, Iowa.  Just dawned on me, that was almost 50 years ago.  They were in the second and fifth grades.  Oh me, oh my, where did that 50 years go?  (Click to enlarge)

Friends Visit Us in Topeka

When we moved from Ft. Madison, Iowa, to Topeka, Kansas, we left a lot of good friends and good times back in Iowa.  If you have followed my blog, you know that I have mentioned square dancing quite a few times.  It was such a fun faction in our lives and was a source of enjoyment at very little cost.  And on top of that, even though we didn't think much about it, it was tiptop exercise.  Three couples who were our best friends came down to visit us to go to a dance in Topeka and here we all are in front of our fireplace with my infamous clown painting that now hangs right above my pc.  Of the eight of us, four are now gone.  The couple on the left live Burlington, Iowa, and the fellow on the right is in an assisted living home in DesMoines.  He actually called me the other night - it was so good to hear from him.  No one was more of a jokester than he, but in such a wonderful way.  This was a great "square" and, although we did not dance together exclusively, we used to get one or two tips in during an evening of dancing.

Here we are, my dancing partner and I with that clown peeking out between us.  This was back in the mid to late 1960's - many, many moons ago.  A great time in our lives.  (Click to enlarge)

Favorite Picture Rerun - In The Car

I had a thought about doing reruns of some of my favorite old pictures that are way, way back at the beginning of this blog.   Thought maybe some of the nice people that read my blog (thank you!!) might like to see see some of the great old family photos.  This is my mother's parents and siblings in their car.  Mom, Nan,  is the lady on the left next to her younger sister, Leah.  My grandmother, Maggie, is in the back seat, also.  The little fellow in front is Ed, then my grandfather, Dan, and Harry "Ham" are in the front seat.  I am quite sure the picture was taken by Nelle, the oldest of the five children.   The Pearce family took a lot of pictures and some of them are treasures.  This is a favorite of mine.  I wonder what kind of car it is - it's a cool old car, for sure.  (Click to enlarge)

Postcard Friendship Friday

I am happy to say this is actually a postcard that my husband received from his great aunt Ella when he was just a little fellow.  I have been saving it to post and wish you all a very happy Easter season.  I remember his Aunt Ella in later years--and what I remember most about her was her rouge.

Rouge used to come in little round compacts with a little powder puff maybe the same size as a quarter or half dollar.  Aunt Ella used to rub the little puff in the rouge and make little reddish pink circles on each cheek.  I didn't know her really well, but that is what I remember about her.  

Thanks again to our lovely hostess for PFF - stop by http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ and say hello to Beth and also check out the blogs posting cards.  Happy PFF to all - and Happy Easter.  (Click to enlarge)

Old, Old Hatpins

This weekend is our guild quilt show and I bring two old, old quilttops to use for table covers every year.  So I was rummaging through the old chest I keep them in and came across this tattered old box from Skagway, Alaska.  In it are hatpins from the early 1900's.  These were in my mother-in-law's  things, but I have no idea who had owned them.   Maybe they belonged to her mother, but that will never be known.

The pins are really long and sharp.  I think most of the woman had very long, thick hair and wore it in buns or braids so needed large pins to hold their big hats.  One of these has initials and the date 1909 and is very decorative.  They are lying on one of the old quilttops I am taking to the show.  Next week, I will take pictures of the old tops and do a post of them.  They are really very pretty.  The quilt show is always a lot of fun and something I look forward to.  We have an extraordinary group of good quilters and we put on a good show!  (Click to enlarge)

So Glad They're Obsolete!

It's almost inconceivable to me now that I baked my first cake in the oven of a stove like these.  I am thinking our old coal stove was probably like the $23.99 model since we did have a warming oven and a reservoir.  Mom turned out some wonderful meals on that old thing and it kept the kitchen cozy and warm in the winter.   That, and the coal stove in the living room, is what heated our entire house.  My sis and I were moved upstairs when we were a little older and the heat for the rooms up there came through vents in the floor.  At night, the fires would go out and dad would be up early to get them going.  He always slept with his trousers and a flashlight beside the bed and a ladder under the porch that would have given access to the upstairs in case of fire.  The summer was another matter for cooking.    For that, there was a kerosene stove that didn't heat things up so much.   I think growing up like that has a tendency to make you a little "tough" in the sense that you can adapt to some adverse conditions easier.  I know I have mentioned that our "bathroom" was outside and down the path aways which also tends to make you hardy!   But I can truly  say, I did not feel deprived or unhappy as a child - I think it was just the opposite.  Would I want to go back to living that way now?  OMG, NOOOOOO! That is why I am not a camper!   But there are no regrets.
(Click to enlarge) 

Postcard Friendship Friday

Happy PFF - the weeks fly by so quickly!  I will continue with some more Ft. Madison postcards I found on CardCow (I thank them for letting me use their images!).  Here is the main street - Avenue G - but long before we moved there judging from the cars parked along the curbs.  The postmark is 1947 but it seems to me that the photo was taken sometime before that.  However, I am not that knowledgeable about cars!  Can always spot one like the one I drive and maybe a VW.  Otherwise, I am unable to actually tell what make they are.    I do know quite a bit about quilt patterns and flowers   because I so love them. 
This card and the following one

were both sent by the same person to the same person.  This one shows the Sheaffer Pen Company that I mentioned on last Friday's PFF post.  The second card was written on Easter Sunday.  From what I could find on the internet, Sheaffer is now a part of BIC.  It lists Ft. Madison as a repair center, so don't know if they make pens there any more.  Many thanks, to Beth at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ for being our gracious hostess.  (Click to enlarge)

This picture was taken long before we lived in the area, moving there in 1936, but I think it is such a wonderful old photo and is another from the old book of Chillicothe businesses and homes.  When do we ever see bushel baskets anymore?  They were free and wonderful for so many things.  You could buy oilcloth liners and put your dampened ironing in them so it would not dry out before you finished your chore.  Believe me, it was a chore!  I did a post on the rigors of washday some time ago and if you wish you can read it here.  We lived in Rome, a little town about three miles south of Chilli, and back then it seemed so very far away.  My mother didn't drive, so we would all pile into the car and head north to Chillicothe to go grocery shopping or whatever other shopping that needed to be done.  Dad always parked on the side street right beside Kroger which you can glimpse in the picture.  Sometimes mom would take one or two of us into the store with her - that was fun - but lots of times we waited in the car with dad.  How I wished that he would have parked on the main street so we could see what was going on.  Funny how little things stand out in your mind from over the years?  (Click to enlarge)

Two Really Cool Little Gals

Of the many pictures I have that have been taken over many, many years, there are always ones that are my favorites.  This is one of them and it was taken back in the late 80's.  It is not artistic or even in good focus but I love it anyway.  When have you ever seen two little gals that are more comfortable and happy with the way they look than these two?  Absolutely nothing greater than new sunglasses - and, in Molly's case - heart shaped ones!  Topped by a pink ballcap, yet!  Here are two of my three "favorite" granddaughters - the third one had not been born yet!

Postcard Friendship Friday

Happy PFF!  Here is the Riverside Park at Ft. Madison, Iowa, the first town we moved into along the Santa Fe route way back in 1957.  Off in the distance you can see the depot and the big bridge across the Mississippi that the trains and cars both used to get back and forth from Illinois.

Here is another view of the depot (the side facing the Mississippi was shown in last Friday's PFF) and

the card back.  The writer talks about going to visit the dam which was at Keokuk, if I remember right, just south of Ft. Madison.  He also mentions going to see the prison.  That would be the state penitentiary which was located not too far from the bridge.  Ft. M was called "Pen City" for the state prison and for being the home of Schaeffer's Pens.   Again, thanks to Beth at http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ for hosting PFF.  Visit her blog and check out all the great blogs participating each Friday.   (Click to enlarge)