Wharton Field House
Stories set here
- Daddy’s Lap, Garden, and Backyard WorkshopBarbara warmly remembers curling up in Daddy's lap and describes his old-time remedies, including cigarette smoke for earaches, hot lemonade with booze, Samon Salve, and an overpowering experiment with menthol crystals in a furnace-connected vaporizer. Family activities included drag races, wrestling, golf, gathering nuts and grapes, and working hard in the garden and orchard. She recalls reading in an apple tree, his embarrassment-inducing old cars, his objections to girls attending college, Friday grocery and library trips, Christmas gifts, singing, trading, and inventive repairs. She also remembers helping him adjust and repair the television and his name for homes south of Coal Town Road: “Frogtown.”
- The First Television and the Music That StayedThe parents returned from Diana’s 1949 leg operation in Chicago with the family’s first black-and-white television. Dee contrasts television with the radio programs that had fed her imagination. Bernie bought a record player after starting window-display work, and Dee repeatedly played Patty Page’s The Tennessee Waltz. Bob and Sue danced, Barb and Margie adored Pat Boone, and Barbie and Diana played instruments. Years later, Diana’s warped violin was discarded, rescued by Mr. Sajben, repaired, and played by his son; Dee regretted being unable to recover it.
- 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.
Events here
one time
Wrestling outing with Daddy
Floyd took the children to see midget wrestling, which he called “rassling.”
other
Barb and Margie meet their musical idol
Barb and Margie attended a Pat Boone concert and got to touch him.
Family corrections
Notes sent in by the family and approved on review. They sit alongside the original record — the book's wording is never changed.
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