1924 (we think) couple on a motorcycle
Going though old stuff is fun, fun, fun. I found an old negative of this photograph that belonged to my Grandpa Engen of Holt Minnesota. KFGO’s Terry Spies assures me that this is a Harley circa. mid 1920’s. Who are they? Well it’s not Grandpa, I have no idea who the man is but we are certain that the woman in my Grandfathers Sister. Gladys Engen Brown. Who was married to Sam Brown and lived in Mayville for many years.
My great Aunt Hazel passed away a few years ago, but on one of my last visits she showed me some hand-written pages. She was starting to put down some memories of her years growing up in Marshall County Minnesota. ”Maybe they might get published some day if somebody might think they were worth reading“. Well Aunt Hazel, I hope you don’t mind but I think the folks will enjoy reading some of your memories. Here’s Part 3
GRANDPA KNUTSON’S CANE AND PEPPERMINTS
“This is something I’ll always remember, when my older brother carved a diamond willow cane for my Grandfather Knutson, Jens told me to walk over to my Grandfather’s place and give it to him. He was so happy, he reached into his pocket and gave me one of his white peppermint candies. My Grandmother always had pink peppermint in her aprom pocket. I still have the cane here. Tillie gave it to me when she had an auction.”
MOONLIGHT CLARINET
“One of our neighbors played a clarinet. In the evening he would sit outside and play ‘When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain’ it really sounded pretty in the evening on a clear still night”
Curling Your Hair
“When I and my sisters grew up, to fix our hair with curls we had to use a curling iron that we put in the chimney of the kerosene lamps. to heat it and to put in the curls. We had to be real careful that it didn’t get to hot as it would burn our hair, so we tested in on a piece of paper”
More to come from Aunt Hazel.
Bob Harris
By The way Thank you for all the nice comments please keep them coming.
My great Aunt Hazel passed away a few years ago, but on one of my last visits she showed me some hand-written pages. She was starting to put down some memories of her years growing up in Marshall County Minnesota. ”Maybe they might get published some day if somebody might think they were worth reading“. Well Aunt Hazel, I hope you don’t mind but I think the folks will enjoy reading some of your memories. Here’s a few more of them right now.
The Barter System
“My father traded a load of hay for a spinning wheel so my mother & Grandmother could have one together. We didn’t have sheep, but my grandparents did. So Ma got wool from them. She had to wash it and dry it out in the sun, then she spun yarn and made so many stockings and mittens. I hated to try and put on the wool socks as the were real long.”
The Little House Out Back
“Another thing our bathroom was the little house out back, and our ‘Charmin’ was the Sears Roebuck catalogue. It got pretty cold out there sometimes, didn’t waste much time.”
Stanley Lysne Gets In Trouble
“This is a story Oscar (my brother) has told me many times. About when he went to school, there were so many children at that time in the two room school. It was about Stanley Lysne (he was Oscar’s age). One time the teacher kept him after school, for some reason, either misbehavior and not getting his lessons done. When she told him he could go home, he took off and run past the school and told the teacher ‘KISS MY ASS’ and run for home. He thought he was safe, but heard something and looked back and the teacher grabbed him and took him back to the school and gave him a licking.”
More to come from Aunt Hazel.
BH
By The way Thank you for all the nice comments please keep them coming.
My great Aunt Hazel passed away a few years ago, but on one of my last visits she showed me some hand-written pages. She was starting to put down some memories of her years growing up in Marshall County Minnesota. ”Maybe they might get published some day if somebody might think they were worth reading“. Well Aunt Hazel, I hope you don’t mind but I think the folks will enjoy reading some of your memories. Here’s a couple of them right now.
On Washing Clothes in the Old Days
“My Mother was very lucky, when the Maytag washing machines came out with a gas engine on it, my father bought her one. That machine lasted for many years, but when electricity came through it was changed over to an electric motor. The hard part was that we always hung the clothes outside. They would freeze so stiff in the winter. The well water wasn’t very soft, so in the winter we would melt snow to wash clothes”
Riding in Dad’s Model T
“My Dad had some land in Mud Lake and I was so afraid riding in the old Model “T”. He wasn’t good to drive and we had to drive along a road made on the river bank. I was sure we would end up in the river.”
The Beauty of Winter
“I always thought it was so nice in the winter. I would go with my parents to Uncle Matt’s for Christmas. Dad would have a cutter and team of horses and had sleigh bells. It was so nice to hear the horses running and the sound of snow.
More to come from Aunt Hazel.
BH
I can still remember the day Dad brought home the family’s first record player. It looked like a suitcase, grey and white in color. Speakers detached from the sides and you lifted up the cover to reveal the silver spindle in the middle of this round plate size rubber mat that went round and round (at various speeds).This long arm with a needle on the end that we (us kids) had to be careful how we handled so we didn’t break it. Then he pulled out 3 albums (younger kids can “google” that word) Hank Williams Greatest Hits, Luke the Drifter (who was actually Hank Williams) and some guy named “Whoopee John”. While I was a fan of the early 60’s rock and roll, there was just something about Hank Williams that stuck with me . I often think it was his “moaning” of the blues that stuck in my head back then and continues to this day. LP’s were added as the months went on…Hank Snow, Johnny and Jack, Homer and Jethro, remember the DUKE OF PADUKA. We had one of those also. We kids got some of those little yellow records that spun at 78 rpm. I still have the one that had campaign songs for the 64 presidential election. Yogi Bear’s on one side and Magilla Gorilla’s on the flip. I’ve got the “Mr. Ed” one too.
As the years went by the record player just plain wore out. Needle broke, latchs got loose and couldn’t hold the speakers together when we put it a way. A stereo console entered the family and the process started all over again. …oh we did watch TV once in a while too.