If you are old enough or have memories of your parents talking about those good old days, you will hopefully be able to relate to some of our family’s memories.
My mother talks about "old blue," which was the wood-burning heater that they had in the dining room in the old farmhouse. It was a loathsome character then, but today it would be a masterpiece with its shiny enamel-like surface and silver trim.
It was big, heavy, and an object of many descriptive words, not always nice, because it took up so much space. And, the sooner it could be moved out of the house in the spring, the better.
During the summer, it sat in the "summer kitchen" until the coolness of autumn dictated its travel into the main house again. Mom remembers it as a "Dad doesn't like activity" repeated every spring and fall.
Old blue ate a lot of wood and that and the wood cook stove kept them from freezing in an old, un-insulated house each winter. The big living room’s double doors were kept closed to save heat and only opened during the winter for a short time at Christmas when an overflow of relatives, who also contributed their body heat, made it possible to enjoy the room with the player piano and phonograph.
Some bedrooms were closed off and the big room above the kitchen and dining area received heat from the floor register. The stovepipe that went through the middle of the room became the "winter resort"...
If the woodpile got low or covered with snow, there was coal that could be purchased. That was something that the family didn't like to do.
Though it saved work and gave off more heat, there was always that smell that touched off my mother’s allergies. Grandma Hanson hated coal, but it did last through the night better than wood.
The area around the stove was a hub of daily activity, other than what involved actually using kitchen cook stove. Drying clothes, mending, ironing, schoolwork, card games, letter writing and use of the nearby wall telephone to keep in touch with the neighbors all took place in the kitchen.
Two short and one long was the ring that sent someone scurrying for the phone. Other ring combinations were for neighbors on the line, but unless you were a "rubber neck" and listened to their calls, you didn't pick up the phone.
When the furnace was installed it was like a gift from Hawaii. A hot water furnace also came with those ugly registers that were placed in each room as a year-round fixture and always in a spot where you wished you could put something else.
Sometimes they let off a little steam and often clunked when they were picking up heat after being set low for the evening to save fuel. You could always tell who the wealthy people were from the sacred smell of hard coal (anthraicte).
It sure cost more but gave off more heat. You also still had to haul out "clinkers" or residue that didn't burn down to ashes.
There were those who had automatic stokers to auger the coal. What a luxury — but it also sometimes raised problems and the house would fill with smoke. Later, some of the old furnaces were converted to fuel with a fuel oil fired gun.
It was one of the biggest changes for the rural community when electric lights, electric water pumps, small appliances, and furnace fans that spread heat in the house came into being. Home freezers also allowed people to store meat and other foods that used to have to be canned or forgotten until the natural cold of winter came.
And don't forget the iron that didn't have to be heated on the cook stove that sometimes spread soot on freshly laundered garments. Now the iron is seldom used because most cloth is less likely to wrinkle, or it may be knit or not the style.
Electricity was like waving a magic wand. I do remember my mother saying how Grandma Hanson wouldn't put in electricity until she had enough extra cash to pay for it even though it meant waiting several months after the electrical lines went through.
Stanley Johnson was the electrician who wired the house. Mom said that he gave Grandma an iron because she was able to pay cash on the spot for the job that he had done.
Outside it made things so much easier. This being the time of year for baby chicks and animals to arrive, they needed electric heat lamps to keep them warm. The workday was longer but easier and winter activities changed.
Did you ever go to the post office to be greeted by the chirping of boxes filled with little yellow chicks probably hungry, thirsty and befuddled not knowing where they were? Yep — they came parcel post by the hundreds to be picked up and taken home to a "brooder house" heated just by fuel and later by electricity.
My mother can remember in not so ancient times hearing the chicken post office chorus. A small box of special birds had been sent through the U.S. Mail and yes, they peeped!
Chickens were important. Most women claimed them as her project. The money left over after bartering for groceries was her money to spend on clothes, thread, stamps and such.
It meant picking eggs from sometimes “picky” chickens, searching out hidden nests if the chickens ran free range, culling out the roosters and so called "non layers" by using two fingers to feel to find something. Chicken was fried, cooked and made into favorite dishes but not before they were beheaded, doused in warm water, picked of all their feathers, gutted, washed and prepared.
Grandma never used the legs but there were those who did. The heart, liver and gizzard were special treats to some.
A chicken went a long way in feeding folks and also provided the delicious gravy to pour over the mashed potatoes. Rural women were usually excellent cooks with good economical ways of making a chicken go a long way to fill empty stomachs.
One of Grandma’s claims to fame will always be her homemade chicken and noodles where she boiled a chicken with celery, onion and spices to make a rich broth. Then she used the chicken eggs and flour to make the noodles, which she cooked in the broth.
It was and still is a family staple that no one seems to tire of. My mother has taken over the job of making this family favorite.
It could be said that Grandma paid for the farm by always putting away "chicken money" secretly so she could make double payments on the farm. She also raised Giants, a rooster that grew to almost turkey size and was exceptionally good eating.
They were killed, cleaned and at first sent to the Butcher Brothers Locker Plant in Ellendale. There they were dipped in cold water so it formed a protective ice coating.
These giants were then wrapped well and placed in the locker (later the home freezer). That icy coating kept them from getting freezer burn.
More than one of Grandma’s frozen beauties was super wrapped and sent by the postal service to O'Donn Lageson, a friend of my uncle Paul’s, who was in the service and just so happened to have a friend in the kitchen who would roast it for him and others so they could enjoy a treat from back home.
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If you have news, please contact me via e-mail, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; by postal mail, P. O. Box 192, Geneva, MN 56035 or telephone, 507-256-4405.
Birthdays and Anniversaries:
• Thursday, February 7th: Cheryl Cornelius, Ted Pelzl, Kelly Simon, Emma Lorraine Klemmensen, Karissa Dolan, Dorothy Katz, Joel Radjenovich, Steve & Holly Glynn.
• Friday, February 8th: Lainee Ann Krohn, Erin Thompson, Terry Wacek.
• Saturday, February 9th: Emily Eder, John Warnke, Donnavon Eaker, Laura (Edwards) Baudoin, Brad Lerum, Howard Goette, Kelly Lageson, Heidi Nelson, Karen Knudson, Tami Sorenson, Jay Wangsness.
• Sunday, February 10th: Brooklyn Jo Baudoin, Brett Mitchell Kubiatowicz, Greg Hagen, Abbey Jensen, Tom Wayne, Dean Reiter, Michael Glienke, Wayne Osmundson, Rachel Strand, Judy Thostenson, Peggy Talamantes, Greg Nelson, Madison Johnson, Dick & Mary Ann Ewing.
• Monday, February 11th: Helyn Langlie, Megan Pence, Jet Wayne, Neil Douglas Schmidt, Donna Wilker, David Dunn, Julie Christensen, Rhonda Thompson Christensen, Steve Gallentine, Earl Cleven, Teresa Knudson Pratt, Nadine Berg.
• Tuesday, February, 12th: Gail Skroch, Joe Moon, Michael Hanson, April Van Riper, Rick Borchert, Eugene Kruckeberg, Travis Wayne, Jessie Olson, Greg Oswald, Taff & Jean Worrell, David & Carolyn Hanson.
• Wednesday, February 13th: Cobi Gowlland, Becca Spurr, Greg Spurr, Jim Brocker, Eric Olson, Linda Ingvaldson, Bonnie Jensen, Brian Rechtzigel, Anita Kes, David & Carolyn Nelson, Terry & Pam Roberts.
May all the good wishes that you receive on your special day bloom in your heart and bring you joy!
