THE HOUSE

the house
it seems that, for all practical purposes, bill and i pretty much lived at grandma's house;  all I can remember of the first house which my dad built with funds and land from my grandparents is supper(now called dinner);doing the dishes-bill and i would alternate who washed and who dried; emptying the garbage can under the kitchen sink-everyday-by taking it out back to a large metal garbage can.  it was brought in an realigned with overlapping newspaper.  Plastic trash bags were a future invention-like disposable diapers and powdered  baby formula, that went into plastic or disposable bottles. anyway, after supper, we watched TV-when we finally bought one-in which the cabinet in their second TV-for there house in Pymatuming Lake- was 6' long; a record player on on end and a radio on the other, with the black & white TV in the center.  The TV was connected to a roof antenna which had motor controlled by a box, which sat on top of the TV unit.  The purpose was to turn the antenna for the best reception without having to keep climbing on the roof.  After TV, it was a bath, then bed. Prayers and scripture reading was unheard of and all Catholic homes had a proudly displayed Bible on a low coffee table in the living room. the Bible was not for reading but served as a repository for newspaper clippings of family an friends/neighbors newspaper obits. Also were included were birth announcements and any family events that made it to the newspaper-mostly tragedies or bad things, rarely good stuff.

I am getting way out of line about grandma and granddad's house.  since I am getting tired i want to mention just 2 things; they bought the first TV-an Emerson. The dark mahogany or cherry cabinet  was about 3' wide, 4' high and at least 3' deep- with 2 swinging doors that opened to reveal the 16" screen. four channels--three commercial and one educational( where Mr. Rodger's started)  Back in the early 50's it cost$600.00 and every Saturday morning bill and I were there to watch the children shows.  They probably owned one of the few TV's on the street, if not in town. A TV, but no car(granddad never learned to drive).  About 1963, grandma got her first driving license.

The other thing I want you to understand was the pattern in this very ethnic town:  the father would raise and save enough money for boat(steamer) passage to America.  He would stay for awhile with relations till he secured a job in the coal mines(12 hour days, on your knees, swinging a pick ax to free the coal out of the mountain) or in one of the steel mills or glass factories as a laborer.  He had to do 2 things: one was learn English(or be fired) and, 2, set aside enough money to bring his wife and children(by ship) to the Land of the Free.  His parents and family worked hard enough, as he did, to have enough money for a house down payment.  That's the way it worked: my grandparents and children were given the money by the previous generation to get a house and start their own life, while living in a home owned by their parents and eventually, just like my great grandmother who affectionately was called Buba, which means "old lady," in Slovak.  And after my grandparents were given a start in life by their parents, the pattern ended as my folks never lent me, or any of my siblings, as much as a penny. to start our new life when we married, for a house down payment, or even for food or anything else.

OK, the next memory will be about my grandparents house and huge yard. and life there, since we spent more time there than at my parents house.  Grandma was a "cookies and milk" kind of grandparent-and it had to be granddad's hard work in the glass factory that provided the funds, not only to feed Bill and I, but we got some of the best gifts from them-especially at Christmas time.  And every time granddad went 'up north' (Kane County) to deer hunt, he had the best stories to tell about seeing Santa and his reindeer-cause he always brought some kind of gift back-like a Flexible Flyer sled or snow sliding dish or better yet a Red Ryder BB gun (can'
't remember if he saved the sleds for Christmas,  No matter).  He was the best, although, till the day he died, grandma had everyone convinced he was a mean man-to her(?)  Not so. He never even raised his voice to anyone( especially in anger), to her or anyone else in the family. AND, this is important; not once did he ever curse or use  a "swear" word to me an my brother Bill, even though, there were times it would have been more than justified. He loved to watch "fake" studio wrestling at 6 PM every Saturday on his B & W TV, and he was convinced it was real; he would sit on the edge of his chair, and when the 'bad' wrestler did something unsportsmanlike-which was a lot- granddad would talk to the TV and say many times, "You son of e beach!!  remember he still had some Slovene in his language(he could speak it) and grandma could also speak Slovak-2 different languages because they came from 2 different parts of what was then Austria-Hungary, although they were married in the U.S.A.  Good night, everyone.