Sepia Saturday 151 Phones and party lines

I have so many thoughts and memories about phones  that I had to stop pondering and post...such have been the changes over the past 50 years.   

I still recall 748R, our home telephone number back when we had party lines, a number I memorized at about age 4.  That was a time when the phone exchanges were growing.  Party lines were predominant in our town for some time.  Mom knew  the folks on our line and sometimes they would just talk, to each other,  if a conversation was in process whoever picked up felt free to chime in or to ask for the line to make a call.  This photo from 1975 is of the last party line telephone operator in  Minnesota.  Wow, I thought they were long gone by then but this was in Cotton, a rural northern part of MN,  beyond Duluth near the Iron Mountain Range.  

1975 January  Miss Gellerstedt  

"Hello Cotton"  answers Miss Sigrid Gellerstedt, chief operator of the Cotton telephone exchange, the last hand-crank system in the state.  The late evening sun poured in the windows of her cozy little white house in Cotton, about halfway between the Iron Range and Duluth on Highway 53 where the system was set up.  Miss Gellerstedt sat at the massive old oaken switchboard, a headset crowning her curly hair. On top of the board and the closet full of circuits behind it were a picture of her parents, a plaque with the opening lines of the 23rd Psalm on it and two small American flags. 

The old switchboard in her home, looked very much like an upright piano and she “played” it with the skill and artistry of a true virtuoso.   But it’s all part of history now. She was the Cotton operator for more than 30 years, starting her career in the communications industry on May 4, 1944. At first she had it all alone and worked about 15 hours a day, seven days a week, although her mother helped out.  After many years she had two assistants, local women to fill in and take over. 

When Cotton’s hand-cranked telephones were disconnected the 200 subscribers joined the outside world’s dial system in the form of Arrowhead Communications Corp.  The party lines with up to 17 households on them became historical lore, with installation of automatic dial phones.  Sig and her  assistants, were replaced by a small windowless building filled with automatic dial equipment on County Road 52 about three miles east of Cotton.”  “It’s the end of an era,” said the independent company relations supervisor for Northwestern Bell. He had mixed feelings about the progress that comes with the discontinuance of the crank telephone.  “These people don’t know what they’re going to miss,” he predicted.  The operators, particularly Miss Gellerstedt, recognized many callers by voice. That’s personalized service you probably won’t find in other places.  And if you were lonely or bored, they were glad to discuss local events, give evaluations of the weather or chat about anything you cared to mention and had the time to talk about.  They were a social service and a news medium all rolled into one."  

This is courtesy of a site, attic voices at this link  where you can look for more about the last party line story. http://attic.areavoices.com/2011/10/26/minnesotas-last-party-line-phone-system/

That reminds me me of a passage in Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon Days, ( a Minnesotta writer) in which he writes about a former switchboard operator for whom it seems Sigrid Gellerstedt could have been a model. Here are a few lines:  "The pantry off her kitchen holds the old switchboard, still in good condition, and also the steel cabinet with the switching equipment that took over from it when they went to dial telephones in 1960. … If someone doesn’t answer their phone by the fifth ring, she does, and usually she knows where they went and when they’re expected. … If you do reach her instead of your party – say, your mother – she may clue you in on things your mom would never tell you, about your mom’s bad back, a little fall on the steps the week before, or the approach of Mother’s Day, or the fact that when you were born you were shown off like you were the Prince of Wales"

This 2011 photo is of the vintage, old and  very heavy immobile dial phone that my late uncle Carl kept on his desk in his home; he had a special arrangement with the phone company to accept and translate  the dial sounds. I tried to convince him to convert to a new push button phone but he was not having it. I bought a new phone with big push buttons for him, he made me return it.  This black dinosaur  had worked well over the years and he saw no need to change.   We sold it in the estate sale when he passed.  It limited him all the times when one was asked to push a number for different choices, but he would patiently just sit tight until a live person  finally came on line. If no one came on the line, he would hang up and be done with whatever he had called about.  This frustrated me and I asked him once, "well how will you finish that...."  he grinned and replied, "not a problem, it's their turn to call me..."  I suspect this black behemoth dated back to about 1952 when they built the house, it was used until 2010 when he went into assisted living.

I close with "Party Line" written by Coleman Lee Williams,   late father of our friend, Tom who graciously shared many of Coleman's works. Can you see the women talking....

Hello! What are you doing today?
Well, I just called up to say ---
What's that? She DID? How'd you hear?
No! Wait, this line's not very clear.

Did you say she ---? That's what I thought.    
Well, that's the first she ever bought!
What time was that? I mustn't forget;
Hold it 'til I get a cigarette.

Why, they were here until after eight.
Well, gossip's one thing I simply hate,
But I told her more than a thing or two.
O - Oh! Someone on the line, or was it you?

Of course! I know just how you feel,
(Quit clickin' this phone, you lousy heel!)
No, not you, but the way some act,
It's a pity they don't use a little tact!

I'd like to see it. How's it made?
But where did you put the rick-rack braid?
Bet it's cute. I'd like to see her in it;
Oh! Before I forget, have you tried Pinit?

No, I didn't. Never said a word.
Well, that's not the first, so I've heard.
That's what I say --- like an open page,
It's a wonder she wouldn't act her age!

Well, just thought I'd give you a buzz;
Wish I knew who that guy was,
Didn't you hear him try the line?
Yeah, been doin' it since almost nine!

Where were we? Oh, now I remember,
Didn't you hear? Nine, next November!
I thought so last week on the street.
Yeah, everybody thought her so stinkin' sweet.

You don't mean -- ? That awful clown!
Well, I did hear he left town.
You know that other, -- yeah, skinny legs,
Looked like a dog caught suckin' eggs.

Did you see --- Oh! That makes me mad!
If that guy needs the phone so bad
Looks like he'd get another line,
I pay this bill so this one's mine!

I guess that'll hold HIM, -- now, where was I?
Oh, if you're gonna be home, I'll drop by;
If there's any one thing that'll make me balk
It's some guy cuttin' in when I wanta talk!

Bye, see you in a few minutes!                Written by: Coleman Lee Williams  4/28/1900 - 5/5/1988

Short on photos long on words, today.  Click here to  the Sepia host site where others
share responses to the prompt...

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Sepia Saturday 150 Carl and the Art Institute

To match the Sepia prompt of hurling men, this week, I scanned the photo of artists in the graduating class of February 25, 1950 from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh where my late Uncle Carl attended using his World War II GI benefits. I have shared many previous photos and stories about Carl here and on my blog.   I found his diploma with the group photo below, none of the folks are identified but I spotted him, standing in the back row, which sort of weaves, he is the 5th man from the left, between the man in overcoat with hat and black man with overcoat.  This is quite a large class for this specialty type of study, a nice mixture of women and men, though fewer women for 1950.  The sidewalk in front of them is crackling and the building behind is the multi level facility of the institute. Click on the photo to enlarge it.


1950 February 25  Graduates of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh

AIP  July 2008

The Art Institute founded in 1921, still exists with modern state of the art curriculum. Known as AIP it is the oldest of all The Art Institutes in North America. It occupies nine floors and maintains academic oversight of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. It has had a history of producing all types of art and artists (such as watercolorist Frank Webb and the late science fiction illustrator Frank Kelly Freas), but specializing primarily in design disciplines, including graphic design, industrial design, advertising and game art and design. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is the flagship school of the Art Institute System, and was the original model upon which the others were based. The Art Institutes comprise the largest collegiate art and design education system in the world."  

Carl  would have relished the graphic design capabilities of today with all the  computers facilitating the process.  While he never achieved his dream of full time artistic or illustration work, up until his late 80's he continued to engage in commercial artwork producing precisely lettered signs for politicians or businesses in his area, he was particularly interested in advertising and illustration and drafting, having a very sharp hand and eye for extreme detail. Some of the signs he painted are still in use today in the area.


This is one of his early sketches, her
slippered feet did not scan in this
but I show it here as evidence of
 the precise  attention he paid to detail,

 AIP,  known as the College for Creative Minds, has as its symbol the T-Rex dinosaur, which seems odd to me but perhaps it links antiquity of the ages to art..  "The main campus of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, located in downtown Pittsburgh has grown and relocated six times, expanding each time into larger facilities with a broader curriculum, resulting in one of the largest arts colleges in the United States. In 2000 the school's moved again from its previous facilities on Penn Avenue to the historic landmark building at 420 Boulevard of the Allies, the former Equitable Gas Company building. I find this interesting because Uncle Carl retired from Equitable Gas Company.  The school has some of the most extensive arts-oriented technology facilities of any school in the United States, including over one thousand computers equipping numerous general and specialized computer teaching laboratories. Among the specialized shops and laboratories are a 3D rapid prototyping laboratory, sound, video and digital film editing studios, theatrical makeup, wood, metal and ceramic shops, culinary kitchens, and television studios.  
 I kept many of his sketches, some are from his student days, some were too large to scan completely, most all are pen and ink or charcoal..They are so good that they look like photographs, but they are original works.  I am  still sorting to determine which to frame.  .

Chair by Carl

Dining in Style  by Carl
The man at the table has no face, so this was likely not complete



Lady in Plaid by Carl
Dated 1947 on  the back

This sketch of a family enjoying  the TV is iconic,  the miniature size of the old black and whites when TV's first became an important part of home entertainment.  Today we have massive flat screens. 

This is one of my favorites, a postcard size sketch
Everyone who sees it thinks it is a photograph

TV Watching by Carl

This is my contribution to this week's Sepia,  click on the link to the Sepia Saturday site and enjoy postings from others in the world wide community 
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Sepia Saturday 149: Sisters at the waters

Back after a long absence, yet this week's prompt perplexed me.  I could not locate the photo I intended to post of an unidentified  ancestress walking near the water gazing with great trepidation.  I like to share photos from our massive collections, which are still under organization and scanning for genealogy. Instead of the unknown ancestress,  I offer these of sisters at the river. 

Aunt Jinx  

The first one is my aunt Virginia (aka Jinx) and the second is my Mom, Helen.  I believe these were taken the same day in  about 1940 and somewhere near where the family lived on 2nd Avenue in New Kensington, PA along the Allegheny river.  This  might have been near to a boat dock or perhaps that thing out there,  is a dry wharf where swimmers congregated in better weather.  You will notice that it is nearly submerged in the photo of Mom following which could mean these were not taken on  the same day.  Maybe it was a time when they were watching the river rise and wondering what next?  The contour of the hill across the river is the same as is their "perch."  I wish I could ask them all sorts of questions about this now, but it is left to my imagination. 

Mom

Maybe their brother, Carl,  who loved taking photos had a new camera to test.  I found these photos separately, one at my aunt's home and one at Mom's after they passed.  I thought it curious when I was assembling some photos that  they would each have the same shot.  Neither sister ever learned to swim and they shared a fear of water all their lives.  Actually the entire family always had a healthy respect for the rivers and was happy to move farther uphill away from the threat of the river running over it's banks and washing devastation over all in its path.  Any risk of flooding was dreaded.  It was lower cost housing there along 2nd avenue back in the  late 1930's and early 40's and where many of the miners and factory workers like my ancestors lived. 

Mom 1940

I found this one of Mom, marked "1940, high school days" also near that river, windy.  I like the pose, very pre Bus Stop ala Marilyn Monroe, Check out her saddle oxford shoes.  This was obviously back in the day when they wore dresses with shoes and socks, come to think of it we did too as girls in school.

We have a funeral tomorrow and so it may take me a few days to get to see all the posts.  Meantime, if you want to see how others are taking the prompt to the waters, or men looking on, or?, click this link to the Sepia Host site http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2012/10/sepia-saturday-149-27-october-2012.html

Flying Flight or Fright Sepia Saturday 121



American B-25J Mitchell

For today's Sepia Saturday sharing, I selected a photo taken on our February  trip to the south at the USS Alabama Hangar and  Museum  in the harbor at Mobile,  Alabama.  While the main attraction was the battleship USS Alabama and the submarine the USS Drum, there were many historic planes on display and in the hangar. There was even work in process going on in the hangar which I watched in fascination while Jerry braved the descent into the submarine; the ships were not my cup of tea nor glass of wine.

Work at the hangar, keeping Sepia alive today

The B-25J photo is recent but the subject is certainly for times of Sepia,  the American B-25J Mitchell a twin engine strike bomber used by the US Army in WWII.  There was a crew of 6 men.  This plane with it's striking full nose art is in the yard outside.  It must have been a frightful sight approaching targets and it was meant to be. 

The B-25 first gained fame as the bomber used in the 18 April 1942 Doolittle Raid, in which 16 B-25Bs led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle attacked mainland Japan, four months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The mission gave a much-needed lift in spirits to the Americans, and alarmed the Japanese who had believed their home islands were inviolable by enemy troops. While the amount of actual damage done was relatively minor, it forced the Japanese to divert troops for the home defense for the remainder of the war Originally designed for the US Army Air Corps, the B-25 was known world-wide as the most devastatingly effective medium-range bomber of its time. By the end of the war, nearly 10,000 B-25s had been manufactured for use as bombers, naval anti-submarine patrols, Air Force reconnaissance platforms, air-to-ground attack/strafing asset and VIP transport. To date, it is the only military aircraft ever named for an individual.

Wikipedia and other websites  provide quite a bit of  information about this plane manufactured by North American Aviation. The B-25 was a safe and forgiving aircraft to fly. With an engine out, 60° banking turns into the dead engine were possible, and control could be easily maintained down to 145 mph (230 km/h). The tricycle landing gear made for excellent visibility while taxiing. The only significant complaint about the B-25 was the extremely high noise level produced by its engines; as a result, many pilots eventually suffered from various degrees of hearing loss.

Crew members and operators on the airshow circuit frequently comment that "the B-25 is the fastest way to turn aviation fuel directly into noise". The Mitchell was also an amazingly sturdy aircraft and could withstand tremendous punishment. One well-known B-25C of the 321st Bomb Group was nicknamed "Patches" because its crew chief painted all the aircraft's flak hole patches with high-visibility zinc chromate paint. By the end of the war, this aircraft had completed over 300 missions, was belly-landed six times and sported over 400 patched holes.  Was that the first flying quilt?

By the time a separate United States Air Force was established in 1947, most B-25s had been consigned to long-term storage. However, a select number continued in service through the late 1940s and 1950s in a variety of training, reconnaissance and support roles.
For a look at what others share this week, click this link to the Sepia Saturday site and enjoy all the flights.
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Sepia Saturday 119 My Aunt at WORK



1951 Aunt Virginia,aka  Jinx with the  PPG Forklift

This week, Alan plucked us from leisure with that 4 letter word that makes me shudder in retirement land, work. I have  many photos I could have contributed, but this week, I feature one I have previously shared of Mom's sister, my Aunt Virginia (Konesky Irwin) who worked over 40 years at the Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) factory in Creighton, PA.   I particularly like this photo of her with the forklift because of the story she shared with me  to encourage me to never back off from learning something new nor shirk responsibility.  I was blessed to have a forward thinking strong, independent  woman like her in my life, but then our family was filled with such women.   She  volunteered to learn to operate the forklift  because she knew that whatever she learned could only benefit her in the long run, the more skills the better off she would be. She was working in a factory and making good money for herself but she was ambitious too.   While the rest of the factory workers, predominantly men by that year,  declined to  do anything extra, she was eager.  But, as she related, her new skill generated lots of ill will towards her, especially from the women who thought she had over stepped her boundaries.  She never accepted  that because she explained during  the war, the women ran the factory while most of the men were off fighting and so why wasn't she just as capable now, especially when no one else wanted to do this.  But   jealousies and bickering can be part of any workforce,  factory or office.  Jinx figured she could  make more money at this and it would be easier than some other tasks.

I found this clipping among her photos after she died in 2009.  This would have been in 1945 by the reference to her age and address.  I never heard this story and would have been a baby when it happened.  I thought it interesting that this accident would have been reported in the local newspaper.  I also found this photo with "ready to go to work at PPG" on the back, from 1943.  I remember those dresses in the 1950's as a kind of chambray.  I don"t know how the women worked in those, but perhaps they had coveralls that they changed into at the plant.  

1943 Virginia "Ready to go to work
at PPG"

1971 PPG Virginia, left with a friend, right, at  their shop floor Christmas Party

 Above is another of my aunt with an unknown woman in 1971, at the potluck Christmas party that they enjoyed on the shop floor.  I cannot determine  what the other woman is holding up near her head because this photo is not very clear.  This was the year that Jinx played Santa  adorning herself with full costume because no one else would do it.   Jinx never weighed more than  100 pounds and was about five foot  six inches in height, she was strong, muscle and bones.  That makes it all the more humorous that she would be Santa, but she did.  Again, doing what no one else would do, not learning more but just doing this for some fun.   So here is "Skinny"  which was one of her nicknames all her life,  as Santa.  She certainly worked hard at a nontraditional place for women, but she could enjoy herself too.

Skinny Santa 1971

Click here to go to the Sepia Saturday site and enjoy others posts about work.

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Sepia Saturday 118 Girls Night Out

Long ago --back in 1962-63 my first year of Allegheny college I was really looking forward to being away from home.  The Campus was coed but  we lived in an all girls dorm, South Hall  and had room mates assigned by the college.  My roommate, Janet was also from the Pittsburgh area and we were similar but different,  as outgoing and busy as I was she was more cautious and serious. I was a Spanish major and she French.  I was experiencing the world around me and she was intent on studying and frequently reminded  me that was our purpose. I'd burn the midnight oil and she was an early to bed and rise. She would dutifully hike to town even in the snow to Catholic mass while I announced that I could  do just as well at the college chapel, which happened to be Methodist.  This really gave Janet fits, "but we are Catholic, that's another reason they put us together..."  Well, it was the start of my questioning many things, religion and faith among them. It was the 60's I would do many strange things, stretching my wings. Allegheny was  a top notch recognized Eastern college with vast curriculum emphasizing Liberal Arts, Foreign  Languages and pre-Medical.  It was a big new world for me, first time away from home. 


1963 Allegheny College  Ann, Janice, Janet and me

The two girls (well we were only 18) across the hall,  Ann  and Janice were from Maryland  and about as opposite as us, Ann more earthy and Janice far more worldly. Most of the time  the 4 of us experienced everything together but Janice and I seemed to push the edges more than Ann and Janet.   Here in a January 1963 photo  are the 4 of us girls headed somewhere for our girls night out.  You can see that Janet standing next to me was an unwilling participant but  at least weekly we would drag her along. I can almost hear her telling us that we had to be back on time.   Ann was being particularly playful  behind Janice' head.  I suspect this was a Friday and who knows if we were movie bound or what.  It was a way different time, we dressed to go out and to attend class; no jeans, no casual attire...so very different. In those snowy cold frigid winters with snow blowing off Lake Erie, we still were bound to wear skirts and dresses to classes, no slacks.  That really was dumb.

There were curfews at the dorm and often Janice or myself would find something to engage useven if it was only talking too long at the bidges across campus, but we'd  miss the door locking so one of  our roommates had to come down the side steps and let us in. The signal was pebbles tossed at the window. We must have been on the  4th, top floor because I noted  girls on 4B on the back of this photos, that was our dorm floor and section and we even had a jingle we sang, that went  something like, "we are the girls of Section 4 B---guys never get in our way, so give a great big cheer for the section of the year, Section 4 B we're OK..."   It got  to be easy to reach that  upper level and then again, our roommates came to expect it, we couldn't toss pebbles too high or we'd risk racket and breaking windows ans that would have blown our cover.  This was all in  prehistoric times, no cell phones, not even phones in our rooms, there was one phone a pay phone down the hall, no cars on campus and none of us had one anyway  and rules, OMG the rules.  Here I was looking forward to freedom from Mom's iron hand and there I was in a girls dormitory which could have been run by nuns.  It was strict.  To make matters worse, the floor warden, who was a senior  lived right next door to us and so although our room was near the stairway, she often had her door open and that challenged sneaking in and out.  I suppose she knew the tricks and had been through this same  freshman shenanigans.  Janet my roommate was the least devious of all and would let me know that  the next time I was late I could not count on her to sneak down the stairs and let me in,  Janet always threatened to leave me outside till morning but she never did.  And she was never late, ever.  We are still friends, in touch with each other, she was Steve's Godmother,  and  is still teaching French at a private school and lives with her husband near DC.  Don"t know what ever happened to Janice or Ann. 

This is my first time back with Sepia after a  busy time.  To see other posts on the international community, click here  http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2012/03/sepia-saturday-118-going-out.html     http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2012/03/sepia-saturday-118-going-out.html

Sepia Saturday 110 Movie Theaters and how we were



About 1954 me and my Grandma
ready to go to the movies

 A challenge this week with Theater as our theme, but I think back to growing up in New Kensingon, PA in it's glory days when we had 3 movie theaters in a town that is all ashambles to the dregs today. Stroll along my memories with me to back before televisions became  a standard home furnishing, many Sundays, after mass and family dinner, from as early as I can remember, my grandmother,  Rose and I went to the matinee movies downtown and would stop for a big ice cream cone on our way home.  She enjoyed her movie theaters which she always referred to as just that, "movie theaters".  Some Sundays we'd  catch  two, a musical or drama  for her and cowboys and Indians  in technicolor for me.

Baba which I called her all my life, from the Polish word for Grandmother, made her money for our day out and about by playing the numbers at the local bookie who took bets at the butcher shop.  She was quite lucky most times and kept her stash for our treats, saying that was for us to have fun.  I spent lots of my time at their house and each morning when I awoke she'd ask me about my dreams and then get a small black book from the cupboard drawer.  I learned years later from her that was her Dream Book which translated the subject of dreams into numbers and those were the bets she placed,  always winning when she played Patty's dreams.  How I wish I knew what became of that book, imagine if  today I could use it for the lottery.

 I  learned that the reason we could afford two movies was we frequently got in free at the Liberty where her brother Bill worked as a projectionist, when movies came on the big reels.  I have shared photos of Bill before, here's a newspaper clipping she  saved of the  man at work.  Notice the name Walter Austin, somehow Bill came from Walter and he'd changed the  Polish Ostroski aka Ostrowski to Austin, generating much  fuss and disdain from his sisters.   But today's theater theme  showed photos of the buildings and I  had to dig and  search to find any photographs of the big time days in New Kensington when we had the Liberty, the Dattola, the Circle and the Ritz theaters.  I was amazed to find a Library of Congress photo of our own old Liberty theater which was demolished.   These movie theaters were grand seating from 700 to 1000 with more balcony seating, plush carpets, draperies, gilded to the max.  Wish I had photos of the insides, they sure don't make 'em like that anymore.  Todays movie theaters  use a sardine pack seating system,  superior technology does not make up for lack of grandeur and class. 

Downstairs  where I watch movies today
Back of my recliner looking toward the big screen

Today, I wait for DVD's and the latest Netflix offerings and take my self downstairs to our own big screen, surround sound put my feet up in the recliner and enjoy the movies, I often think how Baba would have loved this.   

A Westmoreland county historical site shows  that:  On May 2, 1921, the first of the new theaters, the Liberty Theater (demolished 1996) opened on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street and the Ritz Theater (958 Fifth Avenue) opened the next year.


The Liberty courtesy of the Library of Congress



Dowtown  Fifth Avenue as it looked when we walked to the movies
The old Liberty  is on the left

From a historic website the Dattola theater



The Dattola movie Theater on the other end of Fifth Avenue
Photo from 1969 coverage in the Valley Dispatch,
taken sometime in the  1960's.



The newspaper article tells the sad tale of the Dattola.

I have no photos of the Circle nor the Ritz.  At one time they had both become bingo halls and today that is likely gone as well.  Will New Kensington ever  be revivied to it's glory days when  we grew up in the  50's and 60's.  Who knows

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Dolls for Sepia Saturday 109



About 1947 me with doll



Our prompt this week is Dolls which should be easy for me because I was the oh so very typical little girl with dolls, dolls, dolls.  Being from the sheltered good old days, times of  years ago, in a small town in Pennsylvania, I enjoyed my dolls a long time, and had them across my bed into my teen years.  But I have few photos of me with my dolls, as you can see I was not a very careful mama here....

I took a doll or two with me everywhere I went which was not that far in that town,  mostly down the hill to my grandparents. I had another stash of dolls at their house as well as dolls at home....someone (likely my aunt Jinx who was a working bachelorette for many years, living with her parents)  decided that it would be easier for all concerned that I keep dolls at their house where I spent most of my time anyway.  This decision came likely after I was walking in the rain with my grandma and dropped one of my dolls, soaking  her and generating my tears and fussing.  Shortly after that, my Granpap fashioned a miniature umbrella for my dollies, wonder what ever became of that.  My dolls had an extensive wardrobe made by my grandmother and aunt and even myself, who learned to sew early and had my own miniature sewing machine, something else I wish I had today.



About 1949 me and my talking doll, Marcella
I  still have this doll today



These next photos show me at my grandparents' with dolls; I am guessing the years because they were not marked on the photos..



About 1950 with  2 dolls, the one on the
left survived from a few years





Prize bride doll today
original dres, shoes and a
green plastic  trim I  glued on her veil  to the consternation of
my aunt.



Still today I have two of my most cherished dolls, Marcella, a  talking doll who still utters a few words, "pick me up"  and my  prize bride doll acquired from a tantrum I demonstrated in the  former GCMurphy Five and Ten Store while shopping  with my aunt Jinx when  I was about 9 years old.. I spotted this bride doll and had to have her; while my aunt tried to reason with me to wait until my birthday, I was not to be dissuaded and she could not bear my pout or worse so she bought her on the spot.  The first time my aunt Jinx met Jerry, husband, she told  that story of when she was forced to buy me that bride doll as an example of how far back (and thereby well ingrained) my stubbornness and determination could be, this was to warn him about my traits, and that I would pull out all stops to get my way as I was used to having it....but it was too late, he'd already experienced the same by then.  She talked about the bride doll until she died in 2009, so you know it was really a master tantrum and an example of how I could get my way as a child.  Such a shock to grow up and learn life doesn't work always the way we want, expect, demand...



Marcella today, talking doll..Like the bride doll all original dress & shoes



While scanning other photos I  found these of my cousin Paula Jean with her father and her own big dolly, across the country in California in about 1952. 

About 1952 Paul and Paula Jean

I don't ever recall having a doll bigger than me, but her mother, my aunt had written across the back, "I won this at the Carnival for her, it's bigger than her but she drags it all around."     Our family genes have determination embedded, here follows Paula with Big Dolly, "stay there," she seems to demand.  She will get a laugh when she sees these two photos, especially with the "babushka" on her head, no match for the Big Dolly's big hat!

Paula Jean positioning her Big Dolly

Clck here to go to the Sepia Site to see what else is shared this week.  

  http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2012/01/sepia-saturday-109-21st-january-2012.html

Ladies with Feather Hats Sepia Saturday 108 (Click Here to Sepia Site)



Ancestress of the hats

         Meet my  unknown ancestral ladies of the big  magnificent feather hats.  I have not been able to identify these women by name but the photo was with Rose's, my maternal grandmother's, small leather box of  family photos and I believe they have a limb somewhere in the Ostrowski (Ostroski) family tree.  They do not appear to be the simple immigrants from Poland nor the regular coal mining town relatives with hats like that; on the back someone wrote in pencil only, "Eastern girls"   How much farther east than Pennsylvania?  For a time I thought that the woman on the left could be Helen Sajikowski (Salkowski) my grandmother's step mother, third wife of her father, Frank.  After studying the  faces very closely I don't believe it is the same woman.  There is quite a bit of stunning detail on the dresses, seam work and  ornate fitted stitching.  The two appear  related.  But most of all, the hats are an untold  story, how heavy were they.  How straight did these women walk to carry a hat full of plumes atop their heads?  Where did they wear such headgear? 

So many questions and most of all who are they?  Did the photographer supply the hats to have their photo taken?  I know that happened in the earlier times when itinerant photographers supplied costumes for folks on the farms, hills,  small towns to adorn themselves. 

Here is a photo of Helen, my grandmother's step mother so you can compare; let me know what  you think.   Quite a lace collar that she sports atop her dress but no feathers,  nor hat.

"A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of femininity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothes and wearing a costume; it's the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it's the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, to make all others seem jealous over, and to make all men feel masculine about. A piece of magic is a hat." (Martha Sliter)

This last tidbit is from the Audubon Society Website:  At the turn of the last century, stylish women wore hats with the latest feather-topped design from Paris, New York, and other centers of fashion. Millinery houses in Europe and America traded internationally and indiscriminately for birds and bird feathers. The more exotic or unique the hat design and feather display, the larger the sales.   By the 1890s, women were wearing whole bodies of birds on hats and clothing. In 1886, noted ornithologist Frank Chapman counted 40 varieties of native birds, or bird parts, decorating three-fourths of the 700 ladies' hats that he had observed in New York City.

This has been my Sepia post for the week , click on the title to my post to visit the Sepia Saturday site, see Alan's feathery hat prompt for this week, visit other contributors in  our inernational community.  You will be tickled ....( sorry could not resist...)

Sepia Saturday 107 Year Post (Teofil and his dogs and pets)

About 1942 Teofil and his coon hounds

I can't match that  angora rabbit that Alan showcases this week, but I have some different pets, photos from the family archives.  In this family we have an animal;/pet loving gene, that goes at least as far back as my maternal grandfather, Teofil.  He was crazy about his dogs whether they were his coon hounds and hunting dogs which were carefully tended to outside or whether in later years domestic pets.  In this photo it was a Sunday so he was dressed up, notice the white shirt and tie.  But before they could journey across the river to Rose's (my grandmother and his wife) family gathering, Pap (as the family called him) insisted he had to first go home to check up on his dogs.  This gave him a break between church service where he attended reluctantly and the busy noisy activity with his wife's sisters for the day.  He enjoyed  the gatherings where he would adjourn with the men outside for a cold piwa (beer) and cigar after dinner, but he stalled going each time.   Rose, my grandmother would be very frustrated because they could have taken the bus  right from church across the river to her sisters and ridden with her sisters.  But Pap would have a respite using his dogs as an excuse.  She said he  liked those dogs better than anything; after enough weeks of that she began to  take the bus immediately after church with her sisters and let Pap go home alone to  pet his dogs, feed them or  whatever excuse he had.  He would take the later bus and join them later, problem solved, schedules rearranged, every body was happy.   They had no vehicles so it was bus or by foot. 

1956 Teofil has a woodchuck to tame, but it was summer
and Rose allowed it outside
 

I heard stories that Teofil could easily hunker in a bush and snare birds to tame them as caged pets; I do remember they always had beautiful canaries.  He  was intrigued with making pets out of groundhogs aka woodchucks. About  1930 he brought a groundhog into  their family  home in a coal town; it was cold outside, winter time and he'd found the poor furry creature shivering on his way home from the mine. He was a softy for animals.  He picked it up and brought it home; he would tame it later but for tonight, unbeknownst to Rose, it needed to warm up. Teofil  set the  creature in a small box near the wood stove that heated the home and went to bed, it was late, he'd worked an extra long double shift and Rose and the kids were already asleep.  Rose got up early in the morning and was not amused to discover the animal there, so she immediately  tossed it out side, or so it is speculated.  Later on when Pap arose, he looked at the small box where he'd left his rescued ground hog and found the box empty.  "Rose, where's  the guy?"  Something like that he asked.  She looked straight at him and  asked what he was talking about.  He told her how he'd found it cold, shivering and she looked at him and said he must have been dreaming, she'd never  seen a ground hog and what would it be doing in her kitchen anyway.  He had no proof and Rose admitted to nothing, so that was the end of that although he did have the kids scurry round about and search for it.  Rose did not bat an eye but went on cooking breakfast.  I thought this was so like my grandparents when I heard this story several years ago from Uncle Carl; if I'd known about it as a kid I would have found out the truth, but I can believe my grandma tossed the critter out with a good hurl.  She was an eat off the floor housekeeper.  I can only imagine her  keeping quiet and not admitting a thing.

This is my Sepia post...for more click on the title to this post and see what others are sharing.