|
November 2005 The Megaphone Page 3 The Dining Room Suite
Gurney and Sabrina rented a duplex house from a Mrs. Osborne and it was located at 1238 South B Street and directly across the street from the Dietzen’s Bakery garage building on the alley just west of South Anderson Street.
The Jones, Rhodes & Perkins furniture store was located on the northwest corner of Main and Anderson streets and after being manufactured, I found myself on display. I was beautiful with a dark walnut table top with the corners cut off and lighter walnut pineapple legs connected by a cross bar. My style was a sort of “art deco” and I looked very good beside the buffet and the china cupboard and my finish was what they call honey walnut. I must have really caught Sabrina’s eye, but then, it could have been Gurney’s too. He liked wood things and my payment book says that he bought it on his birthday. Maybe there is a story here. I’ve heard of ladies getting such things as tires or men-things on their birthday so the shoe may have been put on the other foot!
I was delivered to the Meltzer’s home and Sabrina began to fill the cupboards with dining things. She had a friend from Fostoria, Ohio, by the name of Mildred Reed and Mildred was a railroad agent for the Nickel Plate Railroad in 1935. She had to travel to the offices of the railroad from Fostoria, Ohio, to Frankfort, Indiana, which meant that she had her own company car . . . way back in 1935! Because there weren’t many hotels and motels were not heard of yet, Mildred would come for an over night visit when she came to Elwood. She always brought a piece of crystal from Fostoria and so Sabrina’s collection of American Fostoria crystal glassware was begun. It wasn’t long before the china cupboard held a complete dining set for eight plus some unique pieces. You ladies probably all have seen this crystal - it is the one with cubes and has a high content of lead. You can usually tell if this pattern is authentic by the tone of the ring when you strike a spoon (carefully) to it. I was also told that it has three press marks if it is American Fostoria. It was the crystal to have in the ‘30s and ‘40s.
In 1937, Gurney and Sabrina bought their first house from Cecil and Mildred Moyer at 1745 South D Street, which was across the street on 18th from the Home Ice & Coal Co. I found myself in my own room in the center of the house which was designated as the dining room. The east side of the room had three long - at least 90 inches - windows and lace curtains to match my tablecloth. Gurney built a long shelf under the windows to house Sabrina’s beautiful African violets. Violets and lace somehow just go together. Sabrina certainly had a green thumb for growing them and had many colors of them. She also had cacti mixed in with them and particularly the big Christmas cactus. It was amazing how she would just break off a segment and stick it in a pot and it would grow! She was also successful with growing roses and I always had a bouquet of them in a cut glass vase during the summertime.
The buffet was placed on the west side of the room over the cold air return and I’m sure it held it’s breath most of the time because the floor seemed to be weak in that area and especially squeaked when someone walked by. The buffet is very beautiful in itself. There are two side compartments and three drawers in-between. Sabrina kept a pair of candlesticks on lace doilies and a rose bowl on a mirror on the top. I held my breath many times when Linda would get a hold of the rose bowl to look for trinkets!
The buffet housed my special pad which had extra panels for when we really had a big dinner. The table cloths and napkins were in the drawers and the Sunday china was kept in the left side of the buffet and important papers in the other side. The top drawer was for the silverware but glasses and pens and watches were kept in a special split compartment. You’d find chewing gum, something called “Sen Sen” and candy in there sometimes too.
I had five beautifully carved straight chairs . . . sounds funny, doesn’t it? I meant that the top of the back of the chairs had a nice design and the front legs of the chairs had the pineapple style. The back legs were very straight. The captain’s chair usually sat by the telephone except when we had company.
I must say this dining room was a busy place! The phone and the sewing machine were in the corner by the big windows. Although there was a big rug in the center of the room, the space between the rug and the wall was a sort of linoleum runner which was cut to fit the outer edges of the room. A very long woven rag rug was laid and it ran from the front room of the house to the kitchen to take the every day traffic. The copper chandelier was rather small but the candlestick lights made an evening dinner seem very nice.
The sewing machine top held the telephone and when there was an air raid during WWII, the sewing machine light was turned on, the blinds were pulled on the window and doors. Gurney would put his hard hat on and stand by for a call.
By now, I’ve been in the family for fifteen years. Sabrina and Gurney have a daughter and on wintry days, Sabrina allows her to ride that blue tricycle around and around the table! I have scars to this day from the trike’s hub caps when she cut the corners too sharply. I could hardly wait until the time she had to explain to her own daughter about these marks!
As I said before, the dining room was very busy and quite often the quilting ladies from the East Main Street Christian Church would set up their quilting rack and I would get moved to the east side of the room and closer to the windows. My chairs really came in handy while the ladies chatted and sewed the beautiful patterns. Such loving stitches with prayers were put into these quilts which were sent to those who needed them. I think the ladies really related to the Bible story about Joseph and his coat of many pieces and colors.
On other days when I was located to the side of the room, the curtain stretchers were put up. The cotton lace curtains were hand washed and then starched and pinned on the stretchers for drying. Cotton tends to shrink up and so they were stretched and pulled to the tiny pins to dry out flat.
The ironing was also done in the dining room. Sabrina would set the ironing board near the telephone and the windows so she could watch the street and the passers-by as she ironed. She was also close to the phone in case it rang unexpectedly. The phone was certainly not used for pleasure but as a necessity in case Gurney had to go get a truck. The grocery list was called to Lina Holmes and on a certain day, Harrison would bring his panel truck and deliver the order. Sabrina would sometimes talk to her family but nothing lengthy. It is ironic that the phone number 779 is now Sabrina’s granddaughter’s license number.
I remember another time when I was scooted closer to the front door to make room for a day bed for Sabrina’s brother’s recuperation from an auto accident. He must have had some chest injuries because Sabrina was forever putting these poultices on his chest. He sure did a lot of yelling at that time!
Linda also had a fish tank with guppies and snails in the dining room and Sabrina was “thrilled” when they became even more plentiful. There were snails everywhere . . . in and out of the tank! Turtles were not allowed as the ones you got at the dime store were painted up and looked a lot like candy. Sabrina was afraid Linda would try to eat one if she thought it was candy. Boy did that girl like candy!
The dining room was the warmest room in the house because of being directly over the cellar and that caused even more activity. The coal man put the coal down the chute right under the middle window and Gurney would go downstairs every morning before leaving for work and build the fire for the day. I can hear him yet calling to Sabrina about when to open the damper or close it. The device was on the wall by the buffet and it was forever slipping. Once a good fire was going, the wooden clothes rack might be put over the register to dry the clothes that didn’t dry on the outdoor line. Whenever Linda’s long hair was washed, she had to sit by the register to dry her hair too.
In 1949, Sabrina had a stroke by the front door in the dining room. That led to a heart attack and she passed away in September. Linda went to live with her mother’s brother and wife and Gurney lived alone and kept the house just like it was before. Linda met Bill when she was a senior in high school and they were married in 1957. The next summer, Gurney married Bea, a dear lady who revered having a home. I was so happy that once again I would have lots of nice gatherings and dinners on my surface. Bea had lots of brothers and sisters and many of them lived in Minnesota but they would come for Bea’s wonderful meals and tease and torment one another unmercifully.
Gurney then died in 1974 and Bea continued living in the house until 1983 when she decided to move to Phoenix with her unmarried brother and sister. This meant that I was put into storage in some friends’ barn until such a time that Linda’s daughter could take me. Boy was it cold in that barn, but I was safe and dry. I was very happy when Carole finally came to get us and take us to her home at Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh. It was certainly an experience riding in a tandem truck with Carole driving! We finally arrived after a detour to Columbus, OH, with some college furniture for her brother-in-law. Carole was so pleased to have me close to her. She polished me up and found two quilt tops in the drawer which had been appliquéd by Sabrina. One top was a “Rose of Sharon” pattern and the other was a Lilly pattern. It was a miracle that the quilt tops survived forty years and were out in the barn for two winters. Yet the material was still good and Linda quilted them up for her children in remembrance of her mother.
My new home was now what was called a “Prairie Home” or “Arts and Crafts” style. The design was rumored to have been a creation of Frank Lloyd Wright. Whatever it was, I fit right in the designated dining room just like I was made for it. Even the wallpaper was almost the same as Sabrina had long ago. The buffet fit under the triple windows and the china cupboard was on the other wall. By now, my chairs are pretty weak and everyone had to be careful sitting on them.
Soon after the move to Pittsburgh, the next generation of the family came along. I was really put into action since the kitchen area was so small and baby Eric was even bathed on my surface. The big golden/Labrador long-haired retriever was a curious soul and a couple of years older than Eric. He was named Gauss for some mathematician although his job seemed to be watching Eric. They were immediate friends and Eric, when he learned to talk, said that Gauss was his “brother” and they had many conversations with hugs and kisses. They were just inseparable. One day, Eric had made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich which Gauss was determined to have. To prevent Gauss from chasing him, Eric placed his sandwich down and then hooked up the sweeper cord to the dog’s collar and then taunted him with the sandwich. Around and around the table they went with giggles and barking. I thought my beautiful legs would not last long when the cord and sweeper got tangled up. I was very glad to see Carole come to Gauss’ rescue.
The next move was to Williamsburg, Virginia to a town house but all the dining room suite pieces were moved and the chairs were glued up once again. Then I was moved into another dining room in a town house in Glen Allen and finally to a real house where I had my own room again. Whew! I never knew I would live in all these wonderful places - it was sure a long way from my original roots. However, my moving wasn’t over yet.
Carole has now taken me to Connecticut and the china cupboard is now filled with her treasures. Some of Sabrina’s dishes have made their way back to me and Carole feels very attuned to them as they are from the grandmother she never knew. She is very grateful to the very caring step-grandmother who made it possible for me to be passed along to Carole.
This month, I will celebrate 75 years in this family. The payment book from the Jones Rhodes and Perkins Furniture Store is in a frame on the wall near me. It is dated November 15, 1930. I’m trying to remember if I really was Gurney’s 32nd birthday present. The payments were $2.50 a week but the total price is not legible. Even as old as I am, I still have that Thomasville luster. Take a look at some of the current Thomasville furniture and you’ll see what I mean. I feel I have lived a full life with this family and that I am still of value to them when they remember all these years of family gatherings. I hope so.
Linda
(Meltzer) Harris '57 |