George and Della resided most of their adult lives, and for the entire time I had with them, at the corner of 19th and Noble Streets in Anderson, Indiana. (My dad told me that they lived in at least one other house nearby... Curt says on Walnut Street... Uncle Don confirms it was at 1907 Walnut and that both Uncle Jim and he were born there!) It was only a block away from the Noble Street house.
The house at 19th and Noble faced Noble Street, and was just a couple of blocks from the Noble Street Methodist Church, which was very important to them. Uncle Don and Aunt Janet also attended Noble Street Methodist until it was merged with another church and became New Horizons Methodist Church on 53rd Street. They are members to this day, even though they live in Florida. Uncle Don was a member of Noble Street Methodist for over 50 years! I hope to have more about the role of Noble Street Methodist in the future.
The house I remember was a two story, white clapboard house with a covered (not enclosed or screened) front porch. The porch floor was wood and was always painted gray to protect the wood from the elements. There was a white banner, or wide railing, that we could sit on. The house set about 4 feet or so above street level, so there were concrete steps leading up to the main yard and another couple of steps to the front porch. There was a slight slope down towards both streets, and the 19th street side hill, all of 2-3 feet high, was a great play area when were were young.
Noble Street had some traffic, but more stop signs, so not as much traffic as on 19th Street. Traffic was faster and more frequent on 19th Street as it had fewer stops and was one route to get to St. John's hospital. Fortunately, there was a 4-way stop at the corner of 19th and Noble.
There was a detached garage, which had lots of interesting and mysterious stuff in it. We really weren't encouraged to play there, but we would sneak in now and then. The roof of the garage was a great source of entertainment as we would throw every type of ball... baseball, basketball, football, tennis ball, etc... onto the roof and try to catch it when it came back to us. There was always one car in the garage... they only owned one car at a time and seldom traded. These were thrifty people who survived the depression, and you could only drive one car at a time! I remember a green 1957 Chevy that would be worth a fortune if we could find it today. They moved up to a nice looking yellow Chevy Impala that they got from Uncle Don. Instead of a paved or gravel drive, there were two concrete tire paths leading up to the garage door. Paving the entire apron leading to the garage would have been too expensive. The garage doors were the old-fashioned sliding-type wood doors.
One of the improvements I recall was the pouring of a concrete walkway leading from the garage to the back door. That walkway is very visible on Google Maps. It replaced a set of concrete steps, that were spaced about a foot apart. The back and side yard (19th Street side) was just large enough to play catch, one our most frequent activities. The other was swinging on the oldfashioned bench swing... my grandfather's favorite outdoor spot.
There was an alley behind the garage. An alley, for younger readers, is a single lane access road through the middle of a block providing access to the back of each lot and and used for collecting trash and making deliveries (perhaps coal in the old days) without parking on the busy city streets. The electrical and telephone lines also ran overhead along the side of the alley so that those companies could access the lines.
There was another house next door on the side opposite 19th Street. An older lady lived there who was a good neighbor friend of my grandmother. We met her, but didn't really get to know her all that well.
Most of the houses in the neighborhood, including George and Della's, were two-story homes. They weren't necessarily big houses, but George and Della's seemed a little bigger than some, and their corner lot was definitely bigger than those which were not corner lots.
There was a small, enclosed back porch that had been added onto the home, but was not insulated or heated. This was where the washing machine was located... sorry, no dryer. There was an antique washing machine in the room for a long time after it was no longer in use. I remember how cold the porch could be on winter days, since there was no insulation. The porch made a great place to store fruits and vegetables since it was cool all winter. Drinks could also be stored there and cold dishes could be stored there when we all tried to fit into the house for meals on holidays and special occasions.
The house itself was not airconditioned at all until I was a teenager, when a window airconditioner was installed in the dining room. Even then, it was seldom used. Most homes, including the one I grew up in, were not airconditioned at the time.
The front door led to a living room which included a set of stairs. George and Della's bedroom was on the front of the house facing Noble Street. We put coats in there when we had gatherings. The kids bought a bedroom suite for my grandparents eventually and my daughter Sarah used the bedroom suite in Florida after Della passed away. I remember a large armoire which was not part of that set. My grandfather owned a violin and apparently used to play, but I never heard him play. The violin was stored in that armoire.
Across the living room was the dining room, which was fairly large by the standards of the day. There was a great old dining room table that had clubbed feet and could be expanded with leaves to hold a lot of people. Of course, not all 23 members of our family when we were all there! My grandfather kept his important papers in and on top of a side piece in the dining room. The refrigerator was in the dining room, close to the kitchen, because the kitchen was so small.
A door within the kitchen led to the unfinished basement, which was very dark and scary. My dad used to tell us about one of his chores as a youngster... hauling coal to the coal-fired furnace! They had upgraded to a fuel oil furnace by the time I got a look into the basement. A couple of things I remember about the kitchen, other than my grandmother's fried chicken, were the Anderson Banking Company calendar which was always hanging on the wall next to the back door (leading to the small enclosed porch) and a decorative piece hanging next to the kitchen sink... a colorful ceramic parrot on a perch. It's funny what you remember from childhood.
The stairs were our very favorite part of the house, of course. We could play on the stairs, within limits. The upstairs included one large bedroom above the living room, plus a smaller bedroom over my grandparents bedroom on the front side of the house. There was no bathroom upstairs. One of the things we discovered in an upstairs closet was a trumpet, played by one of the kids in high school... not sure which one was the musician.
The bathroom was at the foot of the stairs, and off of the living room. There was an oldfashioned bathtub, but no shower. Again, this was not unusual for an older house at the time. I remember my grandmother coming in to wash my grandfather's back just like she would for us on the few times we stayed long enough to need a bath.
One of our favorite things about the house was the hot air registers, which were located on the floor. Imagine a metal grill, about two foot square, blowing warm air on a winter's night. You can't beat it. You just sat down right on the grill and didn't get up until chased.
The living room contained a two-piece sectional sofa, with gray fabric. Between the two sofa sections was a square table with a lamp and pictures. They had a black and white TV, and I always remember they would turn on a small backlit lamp which sat on top of the TV, whenever they watched. Initially there was an old upright piano, but it was replaced by a really nice stereo. No music worth listening to, but still. I think there was a Harmonicats record that we could stand. No rock and roll whatsoever. My grandfather had a favorite chair... a LazyBoy of course, which was our favorite chair whenever he was at work.
I'm here to tell you, the place hopped when 23 of us gathered on Christmas afternoons. With all of us basically restricted to the living room and dining room (the stairs were off limits and the kitchen was too busy with preparations and clean up), we still managed to have a great time. Those two rooms probably had about 800 square feet of space... and there was a Christmas tree with presents taking up space also. And one bathroom!
Update! Curt sent me the following info on the trumpet and the violin:
Lee, I believe it was your dad who played the trumpet you referred to in your memories section of G&G's house. I saw a picture once of your dad in his high school band uniform, which is my anecdotal evidence. By the way, I requested and received Grandpa's "fiddle" after Grandma passed away. I intended to have it repaired then learn to play it but have not accomplished either one to date.
I don't remember seeing the picture, but mom has a set of high school annuals... in the hall closet last time I looked. How about other high school yearbook collections? We have a set from Highland High School for roughly '69 thru '72, thanks to my wife Teri.
Another email from Curt:
Hi again Lee, Your memories section on the family blog led me to think about some of the things I best recall about that house and the wonderful times we had together as a family there. Every home has its unique characteristics I suppose, and a couple of them that I vividly remember after all these years included a certain smell the house had--certainly nothing offensive, but one that was unique to me. It may have been a combination of things such as the fuel oil furnace, maybe a type of soap Grandma used in doing laundry--I'm not sure but it was just part of being at that house. The other was a faint but very familiar tinkling sound as we walked through the dining room from the kitchen or living room. Grandma had a set of crystal glasses in a silver rack on the top of the refrigerator, which was in the corner of the dining room nearest the kitchen. The kitchen was too small for the refrigerator. I suppose a floor joist that ran under the refrigerator had just enough give to it so that when anyone stepped on an area of the dining room floor supported by that particular joist, it caused the fridge to move just slightly, making one of the crystal glasses ever so lightly touch the adjacent one.
I definitely remember the tinkling sound when walking through the dining room! The smells I remember are from the fruit (mainly apples) on the back porch, plus the smell of the stairs... lots of wood, I guess.
The house I remember was a two story, white clapboard house with a covered (not enclosed or screened) front porch. The porch floor was wood and was always painted gray to protect the wood from the elements. There was a white banner, or wide railing, that we could sit on. The house set about 4 feet or so above street level, so there were concrete steps leading up to the main yard and another couple of steps to the front porch. There was a slight slope down towards both streets, and the 19th street side hill, all of 2-3 feet high, was a great play area when were were young.
Noble Street had some traffic, but more stop signs, so not as much traffic as on 19th Street. Traffic was faster and more frequent on 19th Street as it had fewer stops and was one route to get to St. John's hospital. Fortunately, there was a 4-way stop at the corner of 19th and Noble.
There was a detached garage, which had lots of interesting and mysterious stuff in it. We really weren't encouraged to play there, but we would sneak in now and then. The roof of the garage was a great source of entertainment as we would throw every type of ball... baseball, basketball, football, tennis ball, etc... onto the roof and try to catch it when it came back to us. There was always one car in the garage... they only owned one car at a time and seldom traded. These were thrifty people who survived the depression, and you could only drive one car at a time! I remember a green 1957 Chevy that would be worth a fortune if we could find it today. They moved up to a nice looking yellow Chevy Impala that they got from Uncle Don. Instead of a paved or gravel drive, there were two concrete tire paths leading up to the garage door. Paving the entire apron leading to the garage would have been too expensive. The garage doors were the old-fashioned sliding-type wood doors.
One of the improvements I recall was the pouring of a concrete walkway leading from the garage to the back door. That walkway is very visible on Google Maps. It replaced a set of concrete steps, that were spaced about a foot apart. The back and side yard (19th Street side) was just large enough to play catch, one our most frequent activities. The other was swinging on the oldfashioned bench swing... my grandfather's favorite outdoor spot.
There was an alley behind the garage. An alley, for younger readers, is a single lane access road through the middle of a block providing access to the back of each lot and and used for collecting trash and making deliveries (perhaps coal in the old days) without parking on the busy city streets. The electrical and telephone lines also ran overhead along the side of the alley so that those companies could access the lines.
There was another house next door on the side opposite 19th Street. An older lady lived there who was a good neighbor friend of my grandmother. We met her, but didn't really get to know her all that well.
Most of the houses in the neighborhood, including George and Della's, were two-story homes. They weren't necessarily big houses, but George and Della's seemed a little bigger than some, and their corner lot was definitely bigger than those which were not corner lots.
There was a small, enclosed back porch that had been added onto the home, but was not insulated or heated. This was where the washing machine was located... sorry, no dryer. There was an antique washing machine in the room for a long time after it was no longer in use. I remember how cold the porch could be on winter days, since there was no insulation. The porch made a great place to store fruits and vegetables since it was cool all winter. Drinks could also be stored there and cold dishes could be stored there when we all tried to fit into the house for meals on holidays and special occasions.
The house itself was not airconditioned at all until I was a teenager, when a window airconditioner was installed in the dining room. Even then, it was seldom used. Most homes, including the one I grew up in, were not airconditioned at the time.
The front door led to a living room which included a set of stairs. George and Della's bedroom was on the front of the house facing Noble Street. We put coats in there when we had gatherings. The kids bought a bedroom suite for my grandparents eventually and my daughter Sarah used the bedroom suite in Florida after Della passed away. I remember a large armoire which was not part of that set. My grandfather owned a violin and apparently used to play, but I never heard him play. The violin was stored in that armoire.
Across the living room was the dining room, which was fairly large by the standards of the day. There was a great old dining room table that had clubbed feet and could be expanded with leaves to hold a lot of people. Of course, not all 23 members of our family when we were all there! My grandfather kept his important papers in and on top of a side piece in the dining room. The refrigerator was in the dining room, close to the kitchen, because the kitchen was so small.
A door within the kitchen led to the unfinished basement, which was very dark and scary. My dad used to tell us about one of his chores as a youngster... hauling coal to the coal-fired furnace! They had upgraded to a fuel oil furnace by the time I got a look into the basement. A couple of things I remember about the kitchen, other than my grandmother's fried chicken, were the Anderson Banking Company calendar which was always hanging on the wall next to the back door (leading to the small enclosed porch) and a decorative piece hanging next to the kitchen sink... a colorful ceramic parrot on a perch. It's funny what you remember from childhood.
The stairs were our very favorite part of the house, of course. We could play on the stairs, within limits. The upstairs included one large bedroom above the living room, plus a smaller bedroom over my grandparents bedroom on the front side of the house. There was no bathroom upstairs. One of the things we discovered in an upstairs closet was a trumpet, played by one of the kids in high school... not sure which one was the musician.
The bathroom was at the foot of the stairs, and off of the living room. There was an oldfashioned bathtub, but no shower. Again, this was not unusual for an older house at the time. I remember my grandmother coming in to wash my grandfather's back just like she would for us on the few times we stayed long enough to need a bath.
One of our favorite things about the house was the hot air registers, which were located on the floor. Imagine a metal grill, about two foot square, blowing warm air on a winter's night. You can't beat it. You just sat down right on the grill and didn't get up until chased.
The living room contained a two-piece sectional sofa, with gray fabric. Between the two sofa sections was a square table with a lamp and pictures. They had a black and white TV, and I always remember they would turn on a small backlit lamp which sat on top of the TV, whenever they watched. Initially there was an old upright piano, but it was replaced by a really nice stereo. No music worth listening to, but still. I think there was a Harmonicats record that we could stand. No rock and roll whatsoever. My grandfather had a favorite chair... a LazyBoy of course, which was our favorite chair whenever he was at work.
I'm here to tell you, the place hopped when 23 of us gathered on Christmas afternoons. With all of us basically restricted to the living room and dining room (the stairs were off limits and the kitchen was too busy with preparations and clean up), we still managed to have a great time. Those two rooms probably had about 800 square feet of space... and there was a Christmas tree with presents taking up space also. And one bathroom!
Update! Curt sent me the following info on the trumpet and the violin:
Lee, I believe it was your dad who played the trumpet you referred to in your memories section of G&G's house. I saw a picture once of your dad in his high school band uniform, which is my anecdotal evidence. By the way, I requested and received Grandpa's "fiddle" after Grandma passed away. I intended to have it repaired then learn to play it but have not accomplished either one to date.
I don't remember seeing the picture, but mom has a set of high school annuals... in the hall closet last time I looked. How about other high school yearbook collections? We have a set from Highland High School for roughly '69 thru '72, thanks to my wife Teri.
Another email from Curt:
Hi again Lee, Your memories section on the family blog led me to think about some of the things I best recall about that house and the wonderful times we had together as a family there. Every home has its unique characteristics I suppose, and a couple of them that I vividly remember after all these years included a certain smell the house had--certainly nothing offensive, but one that was unique to me. It may have been a combination of things such as the fuel oil furnace, maybe a type of soap Grandma used in doing laundry--I'm not sure but it was just part of being at that house. The other was a faint but very familiar tinkling sound as we walked through the dining room from the kitchen or living room. Grandma had a set of crystal glasses in a silver rack on the top of the refrigerator, which was in the corner of the dining room nearest the kitchen. The kitchen was too small for the refrigerator. I suppose a floor joist that ran under the refrigerator had just enough give to it so that when anyone stepped on an area of the dining room floor supported by that particular joist, it caused the fridge to move just slightly, making one of the crystal glasses ever so lightly touch the adjacent one.
I definitely remember the tinkling sound when walking through the dining room! The smells I remember are from the fruit (mainly apples) on the back porch, plus the smell of the stairs... lots of wood, I guess.
Curt forwarded the pictures, which were taken in February 0f 2008. The house has not changed much, although everything about it looks much smaller. I notice that the old banner (railing) on the front porch has been replaced. Also, window airconditioners have been added in several windows.
My uncle Don emailed me with something Aunt Janet remembered:
Jan just reminded me of two other things. Mother had a beautiful Christmas cactus and we got starts from it and Joni also has starts from it and they are both doing great. Think Wilma has the original plant but not sure.
The other thing Aunt Janet remembered is filed under Fun and Games.
6 comments:
You mention that old bedroom suite that I used that used to be Della's. It's a beautiful dark cherry wood with nice detailing. A little surprise when Grandma Mary Alice and Grandpa Jerry brought it down to me: There were two or three handkerchiefs with embroidered flowers on them and a necklace and bracelet that I assume were Della's. I've kept each of them, and even used one of the handkerchiefs as my "something old" at my wedding.
-Sarah (Dixon) Sain
Curt reports that the older house was at 1907 Walnut Street. My mom reports that my dad (Jerry) may have been in junior high school when they moved to 19th and Noble. Curt took a picture of that house, which is in a state of disrepair. But we have a picture and hopefully will get some memories about life there to post in the future!
I asked Curt if he knew why our grandparents moved from Albion to Anderson. He emailed this reply:
Mom told us Grandpa had been working in a bank in Albion I believe when the depression hit, and either the bank had to close or at least cut back on staff. With no jobs there, he learned from someone that there was work in Anderson. He went up here, got a job then sent money back so Grandma, mom and your dad (I think your dad was already born at the time) could take a train up to Anderson. Mom said they didn't have much of anything to move and said she never knew whether they had been renting or were in the process of buying a home but had to just let it go back to the bank or seller.
Uncle Don reports on the "violin":
Dad (George, our grandfather)played the violin and mandolin very well and he and 4 or 5 other guys played about once each month and the wives went along.
Curt reports on the Christmas cactus:
Grandma's cactus has spread far and wide as I and my daughter Una also have plants that are the result of starts from the original. My cactus is now about the size that Grandma's was (best I remember). Mom does still have Grandma's original plant. I'll check with Mom again but I believe she said Grandma had either received her plant from her Aunt Sadie or took a start from Sadie's plant. The neat thing is with Joni having one as well, the original plant, like Grandma, has touched many lives and continues to do so. When it blooms around Christmas, I always think of the wonderful times our family was together at 1903 Noble Street. It would be great if everyone in the family had a start from the original--and that could easily be arranged!
Uncle Lee,
You mentioned the old-fashioned bench swing. My favorite thing to do when we visited "Grandma Great" was to swing. I also remember the HUGE Catalpa tree. Whenever I see a Catalpa, it takes me back to when I was a young girl, just swinging away!! I also remember that familiar smell of the house. Speaking of it brings that certain smell to my nose right away. This blog brings happy tears to my eyes. I remember when "Grandma Great" passed when I was in 3rd grade. My sister, Rachel, and I always had fun in that house as young girls.
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