Moline

Moline, Illinois

Stories set here

The Spirit That Binds Seven SiblingsBernie reflects on the powerful love binding seven siblings, considering their shared blood, close quarters in a tiny house, and individual relationships. Bernie invites readers to listen to each sibling's story and discover the common hidden truth underlying their family bond.
Merlin's Camper Visit and a Familiar GestureRetired steamship pilot Merlin visited Normal overnight with Dorothy after seeing Dee in Moline. His wife Marilyn had died two years earlier. During his visit he shared family stories, and Barbara noticed the finger-by-the-nose gesture that Dee had said resembled Daddy's.
Gus Falk Opens a Door to MolineDaddy spent much of each summer with a nearby Minnesota family. Their grandfather Gus Falk, who lived in Moline and worked at John Deere, visited to hunt and fish and took a liking to him. Following Falk's promise of work at Deere, Daddy quit school at sixteen and went with him to Moline. Minnesota relatives thereafter called Daddy the rich relative.
Welcoming Kelly and Raising a Florida BabyDiana recalls her delight in pregnancy and Kelly’s birth, her mother’s help, and Lee’s tender care for their baby. Kelly disliked clothes and shoes. During a holiday visit to Moline, she refused to walk in the snow, then undressed indoors and was found dancing on the back porch singing “coolding!”
Daredevil Friends, Favorite Foods, and Cards with GrandmaKelly and Byron Huntsberger shared bicycle mishaps, neighborhood pranks, and elaborate Halloween costumes, including a painful pea costume Kelly rejected. Kelly celebrated her love for her father with a nursery-school card declaring she loved him more than macaroni and cheese. Family traditions included fishing trips and games of 500, with Kelly and her grandmother always partners.
Friday’s Shining Floors and Poker NightsFriday began with thorough housecleaning and waxing the kitchen floor. Mom then dressed for grocery shopping at the A&P Store in downtown Moline while Daddy napped in the car and the children chose shopping or the library. Supper was pancakes, bacon, and eggs, followed by hurried dishwashing before poker company arrived. The Cordinglys usually joined Mom and Dad for games played with chips, never money. Drinks, midnight snacks, and Mom’s seemingly tireless work rounded out the weekly routine.
Tuesday and Saturday with MomThe narrator recalls Mom's busy senior years, her pride in getting seven children through school, and her family, friends, card parties, and crafts. Carol and the narrator stayed in Moline, married, had a child each, and worked at the Moline Dispatch and a beauty salon respectively. After Daddy died, the narrator cared for Mom on Tuesdays and Carol on Saturdays; both followed similar routines of errands and lunches paid for by Mom. The narrator humorously insists Mom's light auburn hair was natural. Mom traveled to visit children from California to Florida and to Germany after Charlie's transfer. Family contributions included clothes from Bob's boutique and goods from Iris and Bill's Ben Franklin store. The narrative closes with gratitude for Mom's care, strength, and devotion, including keeping ten people fed and dressed.
Family Rumors and Grampa's Hidden WhiskeyDelores cautiously recalls a childhood rumor about Grampa having an affair and burning down a house, explicitly saying she may have the facts wrong. She thinks it was around the time he moved himself and her mother to Moline and changed his name from Lehman to Williams, and suggests Diana may know more. Years after his death, grandchildren digging in cement blocks at the bottom of the basement stairs during a holiday gathering discovered hidden whiskey bottles. Delores says her mother had kept his drinking to herself.
Circle Skirts, School Dances, and Teenage ConfidenceDee recalls crafts in the Peppy Steppers 4-H club, teenage fashions, and her lack of interest in food preparation, contrasted with Carol’s prizewinning baking. Though shy and unsuccessful at sports even after getting glasses, she loved school dances and a satin polka-dot dress bought at Kay Bee. She remembers her first crush on Merle Ericson, spending her socially difficult senior year with Carol and her friends, trying pizza at Frank’s, and graduating in 1959 with straight A’s in art.
Dee Finds Her Calling Behind the Salon ChairAfter graduating from Hurley’s, Dee began at the Powder Puff Beauty Salon in Moline, wearing the legally required white uniform and shoes and shampooing hair while building a clientele. Her first paycheck bought a red synthetic turtleneck at The New York Store that she still wears. After marrying Ernie, she opened the immediately successful Dee’s Beauty Salon in Coal Valley. Her career brought joy and lifelong friendships, including loyal customer Faye Swears.
An Acre and Four Rooms to Call HomeCarol remembers moving to 3209 39th Street in 1942 at age four, running through empty rooms and jumping through windows. The $2,187 house stood on an acre in South Moline Township and initially had four rooms, an outhouse, and a well, but no bathroom, basement, or garage. Her father built a basement. A family of ten shared the small house, with the girls' living-room beds put away each morning and Grandpa Williams living there until his death in 1953.
Gramps’s Helping Hands and Generous HeartCarol recounts Edward Williams’s birth, marriage to Agnes Tomitum, and family losses. After Agnes died of tuberculosis, he raised Mom and Lloyd alone and moved with them to Moline in 1925. Despite arguments with Daddy over drinking, Gramps was a valued family helper. He contributed two thousand dollars for a house addition, worked in the garden, helped with canning and childcare, and paid for Mom’s false teeth and occasional dresses. Mom’s “good” dresses for 500 Club meetings were cotton housedresses costing two dollars and seventy-nine cents in J. C. Penney’s basement.
Experimental Treatment for Grandpa’s Injured LegWhile working as a fireman at Herman Nelson in downtown Moline, Grandpa Williams accidentally stepped into a vat of lye, severely burning and eating away the skin and flesh of his leg. Doctors used ACTH and Cortisone, described as experimental drugs at the time, to heal it. The Dispatch published an article about the treatment; Carol thinks it is in the family scrapbook.
Banana Curls, School Games, and a Love of ReadingCarol remembers starting kindergarten at Roosevelt Grade School in Moline in 1944, riding in Mrs. Hogland’s improvised station-wagon seating, and wearing clothes her mother made and carefully arranged banana curls. Kindergarten included naps, a plaster handprint she still kept, and Drop the Handkerchief. Later memories include learning to read with Dick, Jane, and Baby Sally, riding the school bus, having tonsils removed with Marilyn and Bob, and loving fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Grafton. In fourth grade she learned time and multiplication, discovered boys, and began wearing glasses. In fifth grade she won a reading contest with over sixty books and became an enthusiastic comic-book reader. The section heading says First to Sixth Grade, although the account begins with kindergarten.
Friday-Night Games with a Dear FriendCarol recalls doing almost everything with Lila Lambert (now Becker) from grade school through high school, including attending the same church and its Luther League youth program. Their friendship continued into the time of writing. They attended Friday-night football and basketball games to support the Moline Maroons, whose rivals included East Moline and Rock Island. Home games took place at Browning Field and Wharton Field House. Carol humorously describes basketball's popularity by saying someone had to die before a reserved seat became available.
Moline Cheers and Chocolate Marshmallow MaltsCarol shares the school song cheering for Moline and recalls using Lila’s dad’s pick-up truck to attend pep rallies and football games. Afterward, they loaded friends into the back of the truck and went to Iowanna Dairy in Davenport for chocolate marshmallow malts.
A First Boyfriend and a First Taste of PizzaCarol recalls her first boyfriend at seventeen, John Clyde, a neighbor and fellow church member she had known her entire life. He was the first boy she kissed, and she wore his class ring around her neck. On a date with him at Mama Bosso’s in downtown Moline in 1956, she tasted pizza for the first time.
Carhop Trays and Late-Night ReassurancesCarol’s first part-time job was serving root beer, hamburgers, and malts as a Tasty Treat carhop. Owner and neighbor Mrs. Mary Poston hired Carol, Dee, and Marilyn McFarland; Carol recalls that they made about seventy dollars plus tips that summer. Mrs. Poston also owned Hasty Tasty Restaurant, where Barb washed dishes on second shift. Despite being frightened when returning home around 1:30 a.m., Barb joked that she was protecting Carol from Peeping Toms.
A Gold Tassel and a School That Still Feels Like HomeCarol recalls entering high school timidly in fall 1954 and graduating boldly in 1957 in the top fourth of her class. She still treasures her gold graduation tassel and drives past the former school when returning to Moline, mourning its conversion into an architectural firm while retaining a sense of belonging. Ironically, the new Moline High School was completed in 1958 within walking distance of her childhood home.
Dancing Together at the Turner’s ClubCarol recalls her parents' love of dancing early in their marriage. When her father first came to Moline as a single man, he joined the Turner’s Club to exercise and attend dances, which offered opportunities to meet girls. He became a tumbler, appeared in a Minstrel show there, and took Ethel to many dances over the years.
Casey's Lunch Bucket and a Life of ProvidingCarol recounts Floyd's birth, conflicting family accounts of his birthplace, and his thirty-nine years at John Deere Plow Works. Known at work as Casey, he arrived early for his preferred parking space and carried six sandwiches in a black lunch bucket. Writing about his demanding life helped Carol appreciate his devotion to providing for the family.
A Short Florida Stay and a Return to MolineAfter leaving Germany in July 1978, Carol and Charlie worked at the 31st ADA Brigade at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. They returned to Moline in September 1979 and resumed their careers at the Rock Island Arsenal.
Chris: Backyard Friendships, Soccer, and a Life in MusicCarol's determination to live in the Coolidge school district placed Chris near three boys who became lifelong friends. His enthusiasm for soccer led to memorable football kicks and the captaincy of Moline Senior High School's first soccer team. At Northern Illinois University, he turned toward guitar and a college band while earning his degree. He later released a CD, founded a record company, supported local musicians, wrote music journalism, and compiled a family recipe book presented at the 1999 reunion.
A Christmas Visit Captured in Family PortraitsBernie borrowed a Leica camera to photograph a new place in San Francisco, then brought it home to Moline at Christmas. Using orange and green fabric tacked up in the girls’ bedroom as a backdrop, Bernie photographed the family. A portrait of Bernie taken by high school chum Jerry Edlund during the same trip completed the folio. Later on the family portrait day, the family celebrated Carol’s 23rd birthday. Bernie treasured how clearly the portraits revealed everyone’s personality.
A Circus Ticket Earned Under the Big TentThe narrator asked to help a circus that set up in Moline and helped erect its big tent. He was impressed by elephants pulling up the tent poles with the canvas attached. His payment was a free ticket.
Stockroom Work and Unpaid ClothesAt fifteen, the narrator began what he called his first job in the real world, as a stock boy at Kay Bee Clothing store in Moline. Bernie had held the job before him. The store sold clothing on credit, and the narrator's duties included visiting customers' homes to repossess unpaid merchandise, where he met some memorable characters.
Handing Out Roses with Mr. PenneyThe narrator followed Bernie into work at the J.C. Penney Store in Moline, became the men’s department’s best salesperson, and entered management training. Transferred to Oshkosh for a new store opening in 1962, he spent several days working with Mr. J.C. Penney, handing out roses and checking the registers at his request.
A Shell Sign Toboggan and Happy, Tired Walks HomeA smaller, treeless ravine near the Vergain’s house offered safer sledding for girls and drew many children after heavy snow. Children used sleds, cardboard, boxes, and sometimes skis. The narrator's father made a toboggan from half of a metal Shell gas-station sign and attached a pulling rope. Its sharp-edged, rounded body carried three or more children in fast, spinning rides among other sledders and milkweed patches. Bernard remembers trudging home cold, wet, chafed, exhausted, and happy.
Hayrides Around MolineBernard never went on a hayride because he was too young to have a girlfriend to take, while Iris went on many. He recalls hayrides declining in popularity as horses disappeared from small farms around Moline.
Victory Celebrations and Frightening Lessons About WarBernard places V-E Day in late summer 1945 and remembers pride mixed with incomplete understanding. His mother wanted to join a celebration parade, while his father wanted to remain home. He recalls his father's draft exemption for dependents and wartime work making machine gun parts and tank tracks at John Deere Plow Works. After V-J Day, overheard accounts of atrocities made Bernard decide never to go to war. A later Royal American Shows exhibit in Moline terrified him with photographs and wax figures; he also recalls an unexpected glimpse of an exotic dancer at the carnival.
Improvised Lines and Memorable ClassmatesBernard enjoyed building sets and performing in school productions. In Cuckoos on the Hearth, nearly the whole cast improvised, alarming Miss Rosenberg and upsetting the one actress who knew her lines. He also recalls the theatrical and musical talents of Herman Zimmerman, later a Star Trek production designer, and names classmates Maynard Swanson, Don Swenson, and Stan Leech as later holders of public office.
A Robin’s Egg Blue Chevrolet and a Cherished FordAt sixteen, Bernard acquired a ’36 Chevrolet to drive to Moline High School. Its unfinished robin’s egg blue paint, missing parking brake, and shabby seats embarrassed him, but Dad kept it running and Bernard bought seat covers with his own money. He cruised Moline on a dollar's worth of gas and drove to Chicago with Herman Nelson one New Year's Eve without permission. He fondly remembers a black ’41 Ford with chrome and a radio, priced at $150, but cannot remember whether it replaced the Chevrolet, was shared with Bob, or belonged only to Bob.
Friends Turn Herman Away from RevengeAt about seventeen, Bernard and his best friend Herman Nelson became caught in the rivalry between Moline and East Moline guys after getting East Moline girlfriends. Herman confronted rivals at the Chocolate Shop and was beaten in the alley. After retrieving a .22 pistol, he intended to return and shoot the man he blamed for his broken nose. Bernard, Sig Eckburg, Jerry Edlund, and Bill Adams persuaded him to go to the hospital instead by warning that his nose might heal crooked. They never returned to the Chocolate Shop, and Herman dropped the girlfriend, but rivals continued looking for them at the Hasty Tasty. One night they hid under Herman's car to avoid being caught.
A Mother's Lessons in EqualityBernard recalls discriminatory songs and limericks performed by his grandfather and father. His mother repeatedly countered them, out of his father's hearing, by teaching that no person was better than another. He believes her teaching, his own experiences of discrimination, and his liberal education helped him reject prejudice. He also recalls Dale McFarland's complaints about black workers at Farmall and abuse directed at Swedes and Belgians in Moline, ending with a hope that prejudice would end with his generation.
A Friendly Greeting in the Hotel LobbyBernard's father took him into the LeClaire Hotel in downtown Moline and turned him toward a black man shining shoes. Having only seen white people before, Bernard was speechless when the man smiled and offered him a shoe shine. His father then led him away. Bernard is unsure whether prejudice was intended and thinks his father may simply have wanted him to see the man.
Forties Memories: A Surplus Periscope and a Hidden PhotographBernard recalls a War Surplus Store opening in Moline after the war, much to his father’s delight. He and Bob obtained a small periscope and unsuccessfully planned to use it to watch Sis Vergain undress, but her shade remained closed. He also recalls ordering a glossy photograph of Jane Russell in “The Outlaw” and hiding it in his dresser because he felt uncertain about whether he should have it.
A First Friend and a Little Hope at Art SchoolOn a hot July Monday, Bernie begins figure-drawing classes at Ray Vogue in Chicago. Overwhelmed by the nude model and anxious about fitting in, he meets Byron, an Army veteran studying on the GI Bill. During a cigarette break, Byron's openness and encouragement leave Bernie both unsettled and smitten. With tuition paid but only a week of rent money remaining, Bernie needs a part-time job. By day's end, a new friendship and the discovery that he can draw as well as his classmates give him hope.
A Good Life in the Homes We SharedIris recalls marrying Bill on September 11, 1948, and beginning married life in cramped shared quarters during a postwar housing shortage. Their next home was a fifty-five-dollar-a-month upstairs apartment in Moline, where Daddy brought the kids for Monday-night wrestling, potato chips, and Pepsi. They bought a small East Moline house where Linda, Beth, Jeffrey, and Laurie were born, then built a home on 4th Street Court in 1957, where Kurt joined the family and the children grew up. Iris traces later homes in Roscoe, a northern summer place, the sale of their house in The Ledges, a newly built Arizona home, and their move to a three-level Rockton home in spring 2000, calling it a good life.
Leaving the Rock River House by BoatIris has vague memories of a brief stay in a house on the Rock River with a large screened-in front porch and many mosquitoes. During flooding, the family loaded belongings into a boat and left. She thinks this may have been her parents' second house in Moline.
Gus Falk's Friendship and a Fresh Start in MolineGus Falk met Daddy, Uncle Clarence, and the other sons through stops at Grandpa Dan Guild's radiator repair shop in Brainerd during his annual Minnesota hunting and fishing trips. He offered to help them find jobs at John Deere in Moline. Upset by Grandpa's decision to cut down and sell the black walnut trees, Daddy left for Moline at sixteen. Gus secured him a job at John Deere Plow Works, where he worked for thirty-nine years. Iris also recalls Daddy driving a truck for a WPA road-building company during some early Great Depression years. He jokingly claimed his inexperienced crew built a particularly bumpy road section on the way to Chicago, but the family never believed him.
Brownie’s Dancing Days and a Lifetime of MotheringDespite grief at home and being refused a college education, Ethel found happiness in friends, dancing, and work. Mary Hill introduced her to Floyd, whom she married in 1928. Together they raised seven children, while Ethel survived a serious goiter and worked several jobs. In widowhood she enjoyed crafts, cards, grandchildren, and travel, including a cherished 1979 European holiday funded by Bernie. She died during a visit to Diana in 1988, remembered for her unqualified love.
Uncle Lloyd’s Visits and Cocoa-Dunked SandwichesLloyd moved to Moline, married and divorced, and later lived in Savannah, Illinois. His Army Signal Corps service included injuries during an amphibious landing in New Guinea, followed later by lung surgeries. The account says a 1965 surgery kept him from his father's funeral, although Ed's death is elsewhere dated 1953. Lloyd eventually disappeared from the family's lives, but his beloved visits left a lasting breakfast tradition of sandwiches dunked in cocoa.
Grampa’s Helping Hands at the House on 39th StreetEd Williams became a permanent member of Ethel and Floyd's household around 1934, helping raise seven children and handling housework, gardening, and canning. He contributed earnings and savings toward enlarging the house. A severe acid burn at work ended his later employment, though treatment healed his leg. The family remembered his affection and help, alongside episodes when Floyd had to retrieve him after drinking. He died of a heart attack in 1953 and was buried without a headstone.
Dances, Seven Children, and Grampa’s Helping HandsAfter moving to Moline, Ethel met Floyd through Mary Hill and married him in 1928. They raised seven children, while Ethel worked several jobs and survived goiter surgery. Ed became a permanent member of their household, contributing childcare, housework and money, despite drinking and a serious workplace injury. Lloyd served in the Army Signal Corps, suffered lasting injuries and eventually lost contact with the family, leaving fond memories and a cocoa-dunking breakfast tradition. The passage gives conflicting dates for Ed’s death and funeral.

Events here

Just before the 1996 Normal visit
Merlin visits Dee
When she was eighteen months old; for the holidays
Kelly’s snowy holiday visit to Moline
Kelly refused to walk in a snowsuit in the snow, then undressed and danced on the back porch.
job
The narrator worked in her salon
Worked as a hairdresser in her own salon.
move
Recalled move to Moline and surname change
The narrator recalls Grampa moving himself and her mother to Moline and changing his name from Lehman to Williams. She tentatively connects this with rumors of an affair and a house burning, explicitly warning that her recollections may be wrong.
1925
Grandpa Williams and family move to Moline
Grandpa Williams, Mom and Lloyd moved to Moline.
fall of 1954
Carol enters high school
Carol remembers timidly entering the school's doors.
1957
Carol graduates with a gold tassel
Carol graduated in the top fourth of her class, earning a gold tassel for her graduation cap that she still keeps.
September of 1979
Returning to Moline
Returned to Moline after a short stay in Florida.
At Christmas; on Carol’s 23rd birthday
Family portraits during Bernie's Christmas visit
Bernie photographed the family with a borrowed Leica camera against orange and green fabric in the girls’ bedroom.
Later that day
Carol’s 23rd birthday celebration
The family celebrated Carol’s 23rd birthday after the portrait session.
During the same Christmas trip home
Jerry Edlund photographs Bernie
Jerry Edlund took the portrait of Bernie included to complete the family photo folio.
Around twelve or thirteen years old
Helping erect a circus tent
Helped set up the big tent and received a free ticket as pay; watched elephants pull up the tent poles.
After graduating from high school
Sales and management training at J.C. Penney
Bernie worked there before the narrator, who became the best salesperson in the men’s department and entered management training.
other
A frightening visit to the Royal American Shows
His father took him into an atrocity exhibit containing graphic photographs and wax recreations, including a replica identified as Tojo. Tojo was represented, not present. Bernard also recalls seeing an exotic dancer outside a tent.
job
Stan Leech becomes Mayor of Moline
after the war, in the Forties
A small periscope from the postwar surplus-store era
Following the opening of a War Surplus Store, Bernard and Bob obtained a small periscope. Their plan to watch Sis Vergain undress failed because she kept her shade closed.
One year later
Renting an upstairs apartment in Moline
Rented a small upstairs apartment for fifty-five dollars a month and lived there two years. Post-World War II lodging was almost impossible to find.
Every Monday night during the two years in the Moline apartment
Monday-night wrestling, chips, and Pepsi
Daddy brought 'all you kids' to watch Wrestling from Hollywood; they ate potato chips and drank a whole lot of Pepsi.
He was sixteen years old at the time.
Daddy sets out for Moline
Daddy, whose personal name is not stated in the passage, decided to leave for Moline after the dispute over the trees. Gus was instrumental in the move.
1926
Ethel moves to Moline with her father and brother
Ethel was 15.
About 1934
Ed joins Ethel and Floyd's household permanently
Previously lived with them on and off. Remained until death and helped raise the children.
1925
Ethel, Ed and Lloyd move to Moline
Ethel was fourteen.

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