A Memory from my Childhood

Taken probably in the very early 40's, this is a picture of some of us Rome girls after going to the Sunday School that was held at our grade school and taught by Kenny and Elmira Koch from Chillicothe.  As I was doing some of the few chores I do around the house anymore, I was thinking of life as a young girl in Rome and how almost all of us had very limited "wardrobes" - so much so that I can vividly remember some of the few clothes I wore that were so special.  We certainly did not get anything new very often.  Case in point - I am the girl with the majorette boots - I was so very proud of those boots.  Cannot imagine why I wanted them, but they certainly pleased me.  Most of us in Rome were pretty much in the same boat when it came to having a limited amount of clothes, etc., but we still had a good time and life was good. 

Some things that happen make an indelible impression on you.  The girl standing to my right is Mary.  Mary 's younger sister is at the left in the front row and she also had a sister my age, Sally, and a brother who was the youngest in the family.  Mary never, never or hardly ever got anything new!  She wore Sally's handmedowns and I suppose by the time she had outgrown them, they were too used up for her little sister, Elsa.  But one day, Mary did get a new outfit and I can almost see it.  It was what was known as a "bobby suit" - a two piece cotton outfit.  Her bobby suit was red and navy.  She was so proud and happy.  Then her mom washed it and it faded terribly.  That made me feel so bad for Mary - I have never forgotten that little story.  Even though it isn't a really great story, I will always remember how sorry I was that Mary's new dress was ruined. 

Postcard Friendship Friday

 I found this postcard on Card Cow - seems almost like a chain letter.  You can get free hot iron transfers for embroidery simply by addressing five postcards to five of your friends then send them in to Modern Handcraft along with 10 cents in stamps or coins (coins preferred).  You will then be mailed your free transfers.  And you shouldn't forget to send your name and address, too.  

Have a great PFF!  Thanks to Beth  for being our hostess!   Have a great weekend, everyone.

Fishing in Rome, Illinois, in 1907

From the book "Around Chillicothe, Illinois" by the Chillicothe Historical Society, comes this picture of a family with an amazing number of fish from the Illinois River at Rome (just south of Chillicothe and where I spent my childhood).  Looks as if they may have been caught on hook and line judging from the four poles in the picture.  The photo is labeled an hour's catch on Aug. 10,  1907, and the photo is courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. Baker.  It was 31 years later that we moved to Rome.  My father was an avid hunter and fisherman as posted earlier in my blog.  Hope these folks had a great fishfry and invited lots of folks to enjoy their catch of the day!

Smilin' Jack

The other day when looking around on the net, something caught my eye and took me back to being a little girl again - a comic strip  that I used to read.  Here is handsome, dapper, brave Smilin' Jack.  I kind of think he probably was pretty well pleased with himself, also.

Now this is the fellow who stuck out in my mind and I couldn't for the life of me remember his name.  All I could remember was the chicken always there always ready to catch the button that popped off his shirt.  So I did some more searching and, lo and behold, his name is  Fat Stuff!

  I don't remember Dixie, but do remember Jack's "hill billy mechanic" Rufus Jimpson. 

Here's Jack in his goggles - just as handsome as ever.  Note that the strip started in the Chicago Tribune in December of 1933.  Long, long ago.  I probably was reading it in the late 30's and early 40's.  Lots of fun old comic strips back then - will look one up once in a while if folks enjoy this sort of thing.

Postcard Friendship Friday

While looking through albums the other day, I ran across this postcard from our son and his new bride sent from Aspen where they spent their honeymoon 31 years ago.  Bill has always and still has a great personality and is a fun guy!  He and Ann are a great couple.  Doesn't seem like 31 years have gone by since they were married. 

Have a great PFF and thanks Beth at  http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ for being our hostess.  Drop over and check out the postcards for this Friday, 

School Days in the 1940's

Waiting for the school bus in Rome at the corner by Blarney Castle are Audrey Claycomb (she evidently had spent the night with Mary Pasquay who is to the right), Claire Anderson and Joanne Droll, my sister.  There were two bus routes for the high school back then - the North Bus and the South Bus.  The north one collected the country kids in that direction first and those of us south were the last to get picked up.  It was reversed in the evening, so we got home last - in fact, our stop was almost the last one on the south route.

Not a good picture!  However, I just wanted to put it in the post.  Our bus driver for both routes and for the four years I was in high school was Glen Buckingham - fondly called Bucky!  What a nice fellow - everyone loved Bucky.

Another old picture I found.  The football team practicing in the field behind the high school.  I have no idea who the fellows in the picture are, but thought it was a good one to blog.  Probably Jack Mooney, Phil McCormick, Claude Mann, and some of the other fellows from my class are on the field.  Some years later, Ray and I bought the house across the side street from the high school that had been built by the building and trades class quite a bit earlier.  It was a fun place to live.  Our son, Bill, was just a little fellow and he would get so excited when the band practiced in the street in front of our house.  Marched up and down going "Boom, boom, boom""   Sweet memory.

One more picture I found that shows me and my paper doll buddy, Fern Davis, in her front yard.  Fern and I spent many hours drawing around dolls and designing and coloring clothes for them.  We also collected movie star pictures!  Fern had scrapbooks for the individual stars or star couples.  I was so in awe of that.  Mine were in a big box of some sort.   She lived across the street from the grade school in Rome which had become a four room school instead of one room.  The year I was a fifth grader, they built the stage out and walled it off and made two rooms.  Another teacher was brought in to fill that space.  Opal Claypool taught 5th through 8th on the stage and Miss Placher, who had been the sole teacher for a long time, taught the first four grades in the main room. When I was in the 7th grade, two new rooms were added on the front (which is the brick building behind Fern and me.  Miss Placher took 1,2, 7 and 8 and I think it was a Miss Alvord who took the other four.  So I was back with my original teacher in the last two years.  That was all so very long ago when life seemed to be much simpler than it is today. 

Duck Hunting on the Illinois River

My father, Charlie Droll, hunted and fished on the Illinois River around Rome probably all of his life except for the later years. This is how I remember my dad and his hunting.  This picture was taken probably sometime while I was in high school in the 1940's.   He had a duck blind in front of the Lynch cottages that were through the orchard behind our house.  They owned our house, and Dad took care of the cottages and worked off the rent which was $10.00 a month, which doesn't sound like anything - but, believe me, it was.  My parents had gone into debt during the depression since Dad was without work for sometime.  So every little bit helped - and so did the ducks he brought down and the fish he caught which provided some of our meals along with the food from an enormous garden in the summer.  Mom canned and canned - a big job in the hot summertime.  Life was not easy for our parents. 

Back to the hunting - Dad carved his decoys that he used in his duck blind.  I can remember them so well, but I don't have one.  How I wish I did but they were all sold.  This book came out sometime after

1969 with articles about the decoy carvers of Illinois - and my dad is included in this book. I think if you click (just click once) on the page you should be able to read the article if you are interested. 

This tells about the decoys my dad made and how he went about making them.  I remember my brother or sister saying that in Dad's later years when he was in the nursing home  he could tell which decoys were his, if he were shown one,  by the lead weight he used.

This is one of his decoys as pictured in the book.  I can so remember the mallard ones - and I know there were canvasbacks, also.  I always though of them as much prettier than this little decoy shown here.   He was an artist in his own way.  I can remember watching him make big nets for fishing - it had to be a macrame of some sort--he used the two items in the following picture.  I don't know what the method was called.

And now a final picture - Dad's duck call.   I can still hear him as he used it.  There is an art to calling ducks to get them to fly toward your decoys around your blind.

I think I have posted some of this before, but it has been a long time ago and I wanted to include these pictures with the pictures of the book.   Very nice Pieces of the Past for me to think about.