Memoirs of Norbert E. Gnadinger, Sr. Volume 1

What I am going to attempt in this document is to write down the memories of my life and how they interact with my relatives and friends throughout this life.

“Only The Truth Will Serve”

I will try to make it straightforward and honest for I have no desire to hurt anyone. If someone gets their feelings hurt it will be because they mis-read the intent of the words. With prompting, sometimes, I still have a very good memory. I’m sure you have heard the story that an old person remembers well the events of fifty years ago but cannot recall something that occurred five minutes before. If I am not sure of the facts I present, I will follow them with a question mark like so (?). Some of you readers will still question my true statements anyway because your interpretation of the facts are based on your or another persons memory, not my memory. Please read, accept and enjoy for no one else has the energy or even wants to do what I’ll attempt in this missive. For the young people, this will be an education in progressive fact. We will travel from the, more or less; simple life of the 1920’s all the way through into a new century, 2000, where our main objective in life is to survive on two persons salaries. The older readers will enjoy this Memoir especially for they lived through most of it and they will constantly come face to face with “their” memories. I don’t believe I would attempt to write these Memoirs (memories) if I didn’t have the “computer” with the “Word Processor”. It makes everything much easier. Also, when I was born in the 1920’s, a computer was “one who computes”. Today, 2000’s, a computer is an “it”, not an action. (7/10/2000)

The Gnadinger clan, in Louisville, began with my grandparents, Edward C. Gnadinger (Jan. 2, 1843-Jan. 20, 1882) and Catherine (Gehrig) Gnadinger (Nov. 7, 1847-Jan. 30, 1903). They were married on November 22, 1864 in Jefferson County. My Great Uncle, Anthony, Edward C’s brother must have lived with Edward and Catherine at that time. Anthony Gnadinger and Pauline Riedle were married at St. Joseph Church on September 5, 1871 in Jefferson County and moved to Paris, Kentucky where an older brother, Johann Ignatius Gnadinger, lived. Edward and Catherine produced a large family but their children were not very prolific. Thank goodness my Pop and Mom were fertile or I wouldn’t be here on this earth as I was the youngest. And, in my case, what children they had, were much older than me and I didn’t have a lot of contact with the older ones. For instance, Pop’s oldest sister, Mary Catherine (Gnadinger) Stober, 1865-1927, had Grand-children my age. Mary Catherine Gnadinger married Jacob Stober on June 9, 1886 in Jefferson County. The next sibling was Andrew Anthony Gnadinger, 1868-1913, with one daughter. Andy Gnadinger married Rosina Huber on June 24, 1891 in Jefferson County. Their daughter had three children, none of whom I knew. The third child was Joseph X. Gnadinger, 1870-1917 who had no children. Joseph Gnadinger married Rosa Kleier on August 29, 1894 in Jefferson County. The next was Pauline Rose (Gnadinger) Schuster, 1872-1929, who had one son, Charles J. Martin from her first marriage, Pauline Rose Gnadinger married Charles F. Schuster on September 30, 1903 in Jefferson County. This son had eight children but we were never close, socially. Elizabeth B. (Gnadinger) Klein, 1874-1943, had no children. Lizzie B. Gnaedinger married Peter Klein on November 10, 1897 in Jefferson County. Edward Charles Lewis Gnadinger, 1877-1926 had four children and several Grandchildren but we weren’t real close to them. Ed. Gnadinger married Lillie Rupp on October 9, 1901 in Jefferson County. John J. Gnadinger, 1879-1956, had no children. John Gnadinger married Agnes Metz on September 2, 1903 in Jefferson County. Francis (Frank) Adam Gnadinger, 1882-1935 had one daughter and six sons. Frank A. Gnadinger married Mary C. Determann on August 8, 1906 in Jefferson County.

Since these are my memories, I have to say that out of this group of cousins, I was fairly close socially to George Peter Stober, Charles Joseph Martin, Kenneth Martin (my age), Edward John Gnadinger and Lillian Catherine (Gnadinger) Kroeger. I’m sure my older brothers and sister were close to many more than I.
Now, to get back to my “phenomenon about married life”: My mother, Mary Catherine (Mamie)(Determann) Gnadinger, 1881-1959, was very close to all of her family and as a result, all of her children were too. I am not taking anything away from my Pop’s family who were very dependable and “German” but Mom’s family was much more friendly and fun-loving. There was always music, singing, dancing and joking no matter who you visited. Both families were emigrants from Germany but the area of Germany you come from must make a difference.

Anyway, with my Mom’s family, I have to start with my Great-grandparents so that I can explain how the Droppelmans fit into the picture. Mom was very close to her Droppelman cousins. My Grandmother was Elisabeth (Von Bossum) Determann, 1854-1889, Elisabeth Von Bossum married Bernard Determann on February 26, 1878 in Jefferson County, and was the daughter of Henry Von Bossum, born in 1823, and Lena(Dina)(Dinah)(Bernadine) Sinesck (?) Von Bossum, born in 1833 in Germany. Henry Von Barsum married Dinah Sinesck? on November 17, 1851 in Kenton County, Kentucky. After the death of Henry Von Bossum, Dina Carolina Von Bassum married John Henry Schrader on October 4, 1874 in Jefferson County. Elisabeth’s sisters were, Katherine Von Bossum, 1857-1938, Frances(Von Bossum)Droppelman, 1865-1925, and Rose Von Bossum, 1866-1945. Frances Van Bassum married George Droppelman on March 3, 1886 in Jefferson County.

My Grandmother died in child-birth when she was 35 years old. Mom, her brother and two sisters were then raised by Katherine and Rose Von Bossum and Frances Droppelman so you can see the personal attachments that resulted. Katherine and Rose never married. Frances did and ended up with ten living children: Herman H. Droppelman, 1887-1979, George Droppelman, Jr., 1888-1966, Bernadine F. Droppelman, 1891-1972, Clara Droppelman (Sr. Raphael), unknown, Leo B. Droppelman, 1895-1980, Lillian F. Droppelman, 1898-1988, Margie C. (Droppelman) Kremer,1900-1976, Helen A. (Droppelman) Sauer, 1902-1987, Angela (Droppelman) Stewart, 1904-1969, and Dorothy T. Droppelman, 1908-1999. Their neighborhood Church was St. Boniface.
Why am I giving you all of this data? Because these are your ancestors and a “General Statement” is filled with all sorts of information. In later years when you have a thought about our family you can just refer to this section of the Memoirs first. I will now continue with the statistics.(Pop’s brother, Andrew A. Gnadinger died March 03, 1913)

Mom’s older brother was George Bernard Determann, Dec. 7, 1879-June 8, 1950. George B. Determann married Clemintine Niehoff on Oct. 24, 1906. He and Mom were both born in Covington, Kentucky. He was married to Clementine (Niehoff) Determann (Aug. 26, 1883-March 10, 1967). Their children included:

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  Marie A Determann, 1908-2000
  
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  Elizabeth C. (Determann) Weidekamp, 1909-1999
  
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  Margaret H. (Determann) Elbert, June 15, 1911-(?)
  
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  Clara C. Determann (Jan. 28, 1913-Sept. 11, 1966)
  
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  George Lambert Determann, 1914-1983
  
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  John Henry Determann, 1916-1963
  
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  Joseph Andrew Determann, Sr. (Aug. 18, 1918-May 18, 1993)
  
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  Rose Lee (Determann) Sulik, 1922- *
  

Mom, Mary Catherine (Determann) Gnadinger (Feb. 2, 1881-Nov. 22, 1959) was married to Francis (Frank) Adam Gnadinger (Feb. 26, 1882-Sept. 9, 1935) on Aug. 8, 1906. Their children were:

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  Robert Francis Gnadinger (Aug. 18, 1907-Aug. 6, 1980)
  
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  Bernard George Gnadinger (March 10, 1910-March 3, 1992)
  
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  Carl J. Gnadinger, Sr. (May 30, 1912-1996)
  
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  Stanley Louis Gnadinger (Dec. 26, 1913-1993)
  
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  Mary Catherine (Gnadinger) Wantland (May 28, 1916-April 22, 1985)
  Her husband: William C. Wantland, born, Oct. 5, 1912
  
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  Frank Joseph Gnadinger (March 23,1918- *)
  
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  Norbert Edward Gnadinger (June 27, 1921- *)
  

The third child of John B. Determann (Nov. 28, 1850-Feb.10, 1896) and Elisabeth (Von Bossum) Determann (Oct. 16, 1854-May 17, 1889) was Bernadine E. (Determann) Steinmetz (April 19, 1884-Nov. 22, 1969) who was married to John G. Steinmetz 1880-1974. Bernadina E. Determann married John G. Steinmetz on February 26, 1908 in Jefferson County. Their children were:

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  Catherine E. Steinmetz (Mar.17, 1909-Aug. 14, 1998)
  
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  Paul C. Steinmetz (Feb. 14, 1911-Aug. 17, 1995)
  
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  Helen M. (Steinmetz) Hammond (Oct. 13, 1912-July 13, 2002)
  
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  John Bernard Steinmetz (Sept. 20, 1916- *)
  
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  Mary Angela (Steinmetz) Zimmerer (June 13, 1918-Oct. 31, 1978)
  
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  Bernadine (Steinmetz) Purcell (Mar. 30, 1920- *)
  
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  Gabriel Steinmetz (Mar. 7, 1922- *)
  
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  Rita S. Steinmetz (Aug. 30, 1924-March 31,1931)
  

Mom’s youngest sister was Matilda C. (Determann)Cooper, 1886-1966. She was married to Harry J. Cooper, Sr., 1887-1950. Mathilda Determann married Henry J. Cooper on September 10, 1913 in Jefferson County. Their children were: George (Duke) Cooper, 1914-1974, Ellen E. (Cooper) Franke, 1916-1983, Thomas (Dynamite) Cooper (July 11, 1917- ), Harry J. Cooper, Jr. (April 27, 1921- ).

Now, who was I close to on Mom’s side of our family? I can only speak for myself. George Droppelman, Jr. and his wife Irene built a house next door at 1029 Ellison Ave. after I was born, and they spoiled me completely. I appreciated all their gifts to me. Leo Droppelman was my God-father and Margie (Droppelman) Kremer was my God-mother. I have fond memories of them. Herman Droppelman became the sheet-metal shop teacher at Ahrens Trade High School from which I graduated and I came to know him very well. Dorothy Droppelman was single and always a friendly person. The Droppelman’s were Mom’s first cousins and all were old enough to be my parent but they remained friendly to us all. Of the Determanns, only Joseph Determann, Sr., 1918-1993, and Rose Lee (Determann) Sulik, 1922- , were close to my age but we were never together, socially. Our greatest memories of all the Determann’s were our frequent visits to their Camp on the Ohio River at Transylvania Beech. There was always swimming, a picnic and a “Bon” fire with nostalgic singing of old songs in the evening. (7/13/2000)
We lived closer to the Steinmetzs than the others. For this reason I can say that socially, we were active with all of them for the most part. And this social activity went back and forth with them over the years. Catherine Steinmetz and Helen (Steinmetz) Hammond became my good friends in later years. Since Bernadine (Steinmetz) Purcell and Gabe Steinmetz were close to my age, we naturally spent a lot of time together especially at the Fontaine Ferry Roller Skating Rink in our teen years. My children sort of grew up with their children.

The Coopers were different. I mean no disrespect. Full German heritage, Aunt Tillie, married a full blown Irishman, Harry Cooper. This became a friendly kidding point in our families from the very beginning. These half Irish, half German relatives had one thing, a better sense of humor, the rest of us full Germans lacked. It was hard for us to relax. We had a sense of humor but did all our laughing on the inside (?). George Cooper, although much older than me, was my friend. He got me my first full time job when I really needed it. I have to break in here to repeat a story told to me by Tom Cooper about his brother, George. At the time of this happening, the Coopers lived on Dumesnil St. in the west end of town. George must have been about six or seven. He owned a coaster wagon and knew where Aunt Mame (Mom) lived. He rode this coaster wagon, one leg in the wagon and one leg pushing off, all the way from his home at 1534 W. Dumesnil St. to 1027 Ellison Ave. This was a pretty good ride even for a grown-up. End of story. Ellen was always friendly but I never did anything socially with her. Tom Cooper was an “old” River Rat like me. He was always on the River and I wished I could have done some of the things he did. We still reminisce. Harry Joe and I spent wonderful times together as teen-agers. We bicycled everywhere together or we walked or used the Street-Car. We have continued to get together, socially, but, nowadays, having a family changes your social approach. Pop’s brother, Joseph Gnadinger died 3/08/1917. (7/16/2000)

The Gnadingers main residence was at 631 East St. Catherine (Mechanic) Street (and has been torn down) until the death of my Grandmother Catherine (Gehrig) in 1903. Anthony and Rosa stayed at that address through 1904. Pop moved to 1025(?) Goss Ave. in 1903 and then to 803 Samuel St. with Joseph in 1904 at about the time he married his first wife, Regina (Rickie) Steinmetz. Frank A. Gnadinger married Regina Steinmetz on May 4, 1904 in Jefferson County. By 1905, he was living at 832 Samuel St. After Rickie and her son died in 1905, Pop moved back in with Joseph and Rose (Kleier) Gnadinger at 803 Samuel St. In 1906 he met and married Mary Catherine Determann. They then moved to 1008 Ellison Ave. where all of their children were born. In 1923, Mom and Pop built a new home at 1027 Ellison Ave. and here is where they finished their lives. Their Church affiliation was St. Vincent de Paul on the corner of Shelby and Oak Sts. (7/18/2000)

During this period, during this younger period in these lives of our relatives you could notice a pattern. All of them lived within walking distance of each other. Of course, everyone walked everywhere in those days. Walking was free and few in the city could afford a Model T and it wasn’t practical to own a horse. The main reason, I believe, for this clannishness was the feeling of security it brought to you. Later you’ll see that quite a few in the family had lived on Ellison Ave. at some time or other. The next generation was different and we were soon spread out all over the city and county. But, very few moved to other states. Once again the security factor, I think.

I have always heard that Conrad Steinmetz, Uncle John’s father had a grocery store on River Road at Harrods Creek (?) and lived there also. By 1902, they, Conrad and Uncle John, had relocated to 1607 (?) Logan St. This number has a question mark because, during this period, street numbers all over the city were being updated, and even some street names were changed (Mechanic St. to St. Catherine and Milk St. to Oak). I believe the final address for the grocery store on Logan St was 754. Conrad Steinmetz married Christina Strassel on February 3, 1874 in Jefferson County. While at this location, they all attended St Martins Church on Shelby St. After the death of Christina Steinmetz, Conrad Steinmetz married Mary Stober on April 26, 1887 in Jefferson County. I remember Uncle John saying he was the oldest parishioner at St. Martins and church records should verify this claim. When Uncle John and Aunt Dene (Bernadine) were married, they would live at the store at 754 Logan with Conrad and Mary Steinmetz, and also with Aunt Kitty (Catherine Von Bossum). Finally, in 1924, they built a new home at 1078 Highland Ave. and in 1926 (?) they moved the grocery from Logan St. to 980 Schiller St. just a few steps from the house. This is where they spent the remainder of their lives. Their parish of choice became Holy Trinity (presently St Terese) at Schiller and Kentucky Sts. (7/21/2000)
This must have been a very prosperous time for our family because Frank and Mary C. Gnadinger, John and Bernadine Steinmetz and Harry and Matilda Cooper all built new homes in the early 1920s. George and Clementine Determann had moved into their new home at 671 S. 35th St in 1917.

The Homestead of Uncle Harry and Aunt Tillie Cooper was located in the west end at 309 N. 34th St. As a single man, Uncle Harry lived in many locations all over the city. Even after his marriage to Aunt Tillie they were wanderers until they built and moved into their permanent home. Some of their temporary homes were at 930 E. Madison St., 2721 W. Main St. and 1534 Dumesnil St. From Dumesnil St. they moved to 1027 Ellison Ave. to stay with our family while they finished building the new house on 34th St. This event was the creation of my earliest memory. This memory is very clear and no other source than Tom Cooper, my cousin, has verified it. I may have been three years old but the Coopers always made a big impression on me. Our house on Ellison Ave. backed up to Reutlinger St. and we had a garage in the basement. I can still remember people carrying furniture out through the garage door and loading it on something (a truck or wagon, I don’t know). I vaguely remember Uncle Harry as one of those people. Give me a break. I’m lucky to remember this much. The Coopers maintained this address on 34th St.as their home until Uncle Harry died in 1950. Aunt Tillie then moved in with Tom Cooper (?). The family all attended St Columba Church at 35th and Market Sts (?).

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  Uncle John J. Gnadinger for well over forty years
  
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  Cousin Fred Gnadinger from Paris, Ky. retired from there
  
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  as did my brother Bernard G. Gnadinger
  
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  Others included my father Frank A. Gnadinger
  
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  my uncle Joseph Gnadinger
  
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  my uncle Edward C. Gnadinger
  
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  Helen’s uncle Allen T. Buchter
  
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  and last but not least, Norbert E. Gnadinger, Sr.
  

The ladies also had a favorite place to work. At least, they were hiring people regularly. This was the Kaufman-Straus Co. This company handled similar merchandise as Lazarus, Dillard and J.C. Penney does today. It was situated on Fourth St. where the present Galleria is located. Look-a-like stores of that time were J. Bacon & Sons, Stewart Dry Goods and Jefferson Dry Goods. Those who held jobs at Kaufman-Straus were my Aunt Tillie Cooper, Lillian Droppelman and Margie Droppelman. Lillian stayed in the retail trade and retired from Stewarts.

One other Company has to be covered: J.F. Wagner Sheetmetal Co. There is a little story connected to this. My Grandfather, John B. Determann, owned a sheetmetal and cornicemaking company (I received this information from my mother, at her knee). When Grandpa Determann died in 1896, my Uncle George Determann was only 17 years old and had no experience at running a business. Here things get a little hazy. Evidently the Determann business was bought out by J.F. Wagner (?) with the promise that uncle George would have a job with the Wagner Co. (?). Uncle George Determann worked for J.F. Wagner all of his life and became superintendent as well as Secretary-Treasurer (?). Several of my Determann cousins also later worked for Wagner. Besides my uncle George, these other family members worked for Wagner at one time or another. Cousin Herman H. Droppelman, cousin George Droppelman, Jr., and uncle Harry J. Cooper Sr. (7/28/2000)
Before leaving this General Statement to begin telling you of my most interesting life I must state some facts about life and the environment at the beginning of the 1920s. Later, when it becomes relevant, I’ll break in with another General Statement describing the introduction of the Buchter Family into my life.

We had just completed and helped win a war, World War I(the war to end all wars) alongside England, France and other Allies against Germany and its’ allies. To help fight the war, a training camp was set up in Louisville called Camp Taylor (named for former President Zachary Taylor).(I worked at Tube Turns with Zachary Taylor’s Great-Great-grandson, Dabney Taylor. Dabney was the first person to name me Trebron Regnidang). Camp Taylor trained thousands of soldiers but statistics show that more soldiers died from influenza in 1918 while training at the base than died from combat in the war. After the war ended the Camp was decommissioned and Helen (Buchter) Gnadinger’s father, Louis E. Buchter, Sr. was part of the crew doing this important work(more about this later). Camp Taylor encompassed an area roughly from the Zoo and Audubon Hospital at Poplar Level Road on the East, all the way to Preston Highway and included the present day Audubon Park and the town of Camp Taylor between the Watterson Expressway and Hess Lane.(7/31/2000)

We had many movie houses with silent films. If there was a talented piano player, she would watch the screen and play appropriate music to match the action and you would become one with the show. We used our imaginations a great deal at the movies or listening to radio. Local theaters included the Broadway, Towers, Shelby, Preston, Baxter and the Uptown. All you had to do was walk, pay a dime with an extra nickel for a candy bar if you were rich and you saw two first run features, a comedy, previews of coming attractions and an intermission to visit the rest room.

Very efficient Street-cars were available. We had the Oak Street, The Portland-Shelby and, the Hill Street Line (an early Bus) if you wanted to walk a little bit to “catch” it. You could get a free transfer to such lines as the Broadway, Chestnut, Market, Brook, Fourth St., Walnut, etc. and these lines could take you all over the city There were also the Interurban Lines that could take you out to the far suburbs and even as far as Indianapolis, Indiana.

Our other entertainment was primarily local and we walked everywhere we went. We played ball in the street (not many people or cars), became Tarzan in vacant lots or “out to the creek” where we also learned to swim (in the nude for no one owned a swimsuit) and visited Shelby and Tyler Parks regularly. We also picked blackberries near the creek and sold what we couldn’t eat. We regularly raided the local fruit trees. (8/03/2000)

The League of Nations just after World War I. Both organizations had the same goal, world peace, but, all through the 20s and 30s the League of Nations was noted for its’ weakness, not for its’ strength. There was no authority to carry out its’ mandates as there is now with the United Nations organization. President Wilson pushed hard for the League of Nations but Congress failed to ratify this treaty. All of this occurred as we begin these Memoirs.(8/05/2000)

Everyone we knew had only one bathroom and some, possibly 50% (?), just had an out-house. For those of you who have never heard of an out-house, it was a, roughly, three by four foot house built over a deep hole in the ground. They were one or two holers. The plain seats had holes shaped much like the toilet seats we use in our home today. There was always a Sears & Roebuck Catalogue handy to use the pages like toilet paper (?). You had to use this “out-house” winter or summer. Those were the good OLE days. I only remember using toilet paper. All heating of the house was done with wood or coal. There were some very efficient coal stoves in those days but they only heated one room. If you were lucky and could afford them, you had fireplaces in the other rooms. Either way, in winter, you slept with a lot of comforters on your bed and the housewife always had to “fire up” the stove in a cold house in the mornings. Naturally, the stove was in the main room of the house, the kitchen with a bucket of coal, another bucket for ashes and wood kindling sitting beside it.. It was cozy and was the social center of every home. If you were very lucky and had a basement or dug-out area under the house, you probably had a coal furnace. You lived in the lap of luxury. The dug-out area was called a cellar and generally you entered it from outside through what was naturally called a cellar door, which was almost flat and when you opened the two doors, there was a steep stairway going down to the dirt floor of the storage or furnace room. At night, you “banked” the fire by adding the amount of coal you knew from experience would last until morning, cut back on the air going through the coals and hoped the fire would not go out during the night. Most wives became very good at this important task. All controls were manual. There was no thermostat. Some few houses didn’t even have electricity. (8/09/2000)

We had two entertainment features in our house. We must have been rich. First, we had a wind-up phonograph with lots of records. As I said it was a “wind-up” and spring loaded. The spring was at least large enough to play through a twelve inch record. There was a hand crank sticking out of the side of the box. After you cranked it up tight, you put a new needle in the pick-up device, you placed the record on the turn-table, started the turn-table and placed the needle and pick-up device against the grooved record. The music or sound came out of a trumpet or megaphone device. There was also a speed adjustment for the turn-table. You adjusted the speed to get the purest sounds. It was also fun to slow down or speed up the table. The sounds varied from a very deep bass to a very shrill, high-pitched tone. You could play only one record at a time and there were no diamond needles. The needles wore out fast and you had to replace them often for the best sound. This, then, was our Stereo and it was great for that was all we knew. Everyone sang along with the records. As I grew up a little and could be trusted not to break anything, I was given the job of playing the records for dancing when my older friends and relatives had a party in the basement. When the party got a little “mushy”, they sent me upstairs out of the way but I always got in on the refreshments.

Our second luxury entertainment item was a “Player Piano” I liked it better than anything I had access to in those early years. For the uninitiated, a “Player Piano” does all the intelligent work and all you do is pump the pedals. For nostalgia, you can buy them today but they are all electric or electronic. Here’s how it works (?). You insert a music roll into the roll mechanism. The roll is about a foot wide, is paper, and is roughly thirty feet long. The paper has pre-punched holes put there from the master roll. The oblong holes are punched and coordinated with the keys of the piano. After you insert the roll, you draw the end of the paper down and hook it to another receiver roll. The paper is now passing across a mechanism which reads the pre-punched holes and activates the strikers which hit the tuned piano wires which produce the music. Your only skill is being able to pump the foot pedals. This activates a bellows which runs all the complicated inner works. The pumping was not real easy but it gave you sexy leg muscles. The words of the song you were playing were printed on the face of the paper. As you pumped and the paper crossed from one roll to the second, lower roll, and the music was filling the room, you would read the words and if no one objected, you sang along very loudly. It was great (the only reason Mom put up with this noise was that she liked to sing along too). When the song was finished, you switched a lever from play to reverse, the roll rewound, you took it out and put in another (you pedaled for the reverse, also). I don’t remember many of the songs but my favorites were: Beautiful Ohio (River), Beautiful Dreamer, and The Missouri Waltz. (Stanley’s first wife, Mary Jane [Bogdon] Gnadinger, Born, 1919).

As you can now understand, we were a simple people and we had simple tastes in life. Yes, we would have gladly bought all of the sophisticated electronic gadgets that are available today and which we take for granted. Since they were not there for us we got by with what we knew. After all, our Grandparents would have been glad to give up the horse and buggy for even a Model T Ford. We did not even own a real radio until my brother Carl bought one after he got his first job with the Piggly-Wiggly Grocery Chain. I say real radio because we did have a Crystal Radio Set. A simple gadget composed of a crystal loaded rock, a wire which you scratch across the rock and earphones attached to the wire.(no batteries, no speakers, no tubes). You put on the earphones, scratched the wire across the rock and you pick up the local radio station if you’re lucky (?). We could have bought a regular radio with vacuum tubes at this time but we couldn’t afford it or we used the money for more important things.

When you go to the theater to see a, really, old time movie, there are generally scenes in the background showing mothers and sometimes, “nannies”, sitting on park benches with or pushing their charges around the area. At that time, the baby was in a perambulator (pram), later named a buggy or a baby carriage. I spent my early years in such a conveyance outdoors. When my own children were little, this item was called a baby stroller and I have a picture showing Helen pushing one of ours in it. Today, this same “buggy” is sometimes shown being pulled behind a bicycle.

I could go on and on with these “General Statements”, but since I haven’t been born yet, I had better have the doctor visit our home so that this Memoir can begin. I did save this most important statement until the very last. On August 19, 1920, the Tennessee House of Representatives voted with the Tennessee Senate to pass the resolution to ratify the Federal Suffrage Amendment giving women equal rights to vote. This made Tennessee the thirty-sixth state needed to amend the U.S. Constitution at that time. Think about that. It took the politicians approximately 150 years to decide that women and men have equal rights. The blacks had to wait even longer. (8/11/2000)