Treasured Presents, Music, and Bicycle Rides

On Saturday nights, before Daddy and the boys built the new addition with a bathroom, we’d get our baths in the kitchen in a big tin tub. The water had to be heated on the stove. In the early years, when the house had two bedrooms, as I’ve said, I slept in a baby bed in Mom and Dad’s room. The girls, Iris, Carol, Dee, and Diana, slept on roll away beds in the living room. Bob and Bernie slept in the other bedroom with Grampa Williams. The bathroom was a two-seater out back by the burn barrel. Later, we slept on an iron bed painted brown. We used to peel off the paint and stuck our gum under the rails. We covered up under brown wool army blankets and had chenille bed spreads. We loved to watch the late movies on Saturday night, when Mom and Dad would play cards with friends. One of the advertisers was Sturdevant Milk. The announcer would play some game with a viewer. If the viewer didn’t win the announcer would sing, “You missed our number by a mile. Here’s something else to make you smile—a gift from Sturdevants.” The Omar man, the Watkins man, and the Fuller Brush man came to the house to sell us bread, vanilla and brooms. “Hey Mom, here comes the Omar Man. I’m the Omar Man, knocking on your door. Taste my bread and you’re gonna want more.” I remember having party lines. Every house would have it’s own ring. Sometimes we’d be nosey and try to listen in on other people’s conversations. One of my favorite childhood memories concerns Iris. One Easter, Iris and Bill’s Ben Franklin Store flooded. The other kids remember the work it took to clean up the store. I remember all the Easter candy we got out of the disaster. Our back porch was full of chocolate bunnies, those gooey yellow chicks and any flavor chocolate covered egg you can imagine. YUM! One year, for some occasion, Iris gave us a subscription to a comic book. We treasured this present. Bernie would love to play Mario Lanza records. Especially that “Drink, Drink, Drink” song. The record player sat on a small stand in the hallway. After he left home, he would send wonderful birthday presents. He sent me a “balloon” outfit from Marshall Field’s that I treasured. I remember Bob would tease me a lot, and I would wear him out climbing up his body and doing “flip-overs” in his arms. The famous story of me stealing Carol’s dyed-to-match outfits, when she left for work, is true. I could also get Dee to fix my hair and sometimes even cut it before I left for school in the morning. I played together the most with Diana. We especially loved to ride our bikes up and down 39th Street. One time, a dog at the end of the street tried to bite Diana, but got the wrong leg. That was one surprised dog.