An archive of posts by Lillian about cooking, quilting, knitting, and memories of family and the past. Open her cupboard and discover the treasures she stored there.
For the past 7 years, my great-grandchildren have come to my house early in December to bake Christmas cookies. My granddaughter wanted to continue the tradition of when she was a child and baked cookies at my house.
Granddaughter – 1995
First, there came a little girl, then a little boy, then my granddaughter married a man with two daughters to add to the crowd. Last September, another boy came along and this year he was big enough to gather around the kitchen table with the rest of the kids.
My daughter who lives with me was on hand to help, but the kids really have everything down pat by now.
I wanted to give them some treat bags and found this cute, easy pattern by Red Brolly and made one for each child.
When not eating pizza or making cookies, the kids like to get into a big box I keep filled with paper, crayons and markers. My great-grandson was proud he could draw a Christmas tree.
I have four children and when I turned 70, I sorted all of their childhood photos, records and ephemera into bins and binders so it would be easy for each child to have his/her own stuff when I was ready to part with it. Now, 12 years later, in my 80s, I thought it might be nice to have the material on a blog where the family, even great-grandchildren, could see it. Also, most of the notes I made when they were children involved more than one kid and I needed copies for all of them. So, I started the monumental task of sorting, scanning and posting on a private blog.
I’ve completed the first baby year for each child ….
…and now have started on the preschool and grade school years.
This is my goal for this year – to complete posting the pictures, records and keepsakes for each child through college. It’s time-consuming but also very pleasant to look back and live those days over again in my mind.
In 1950, I started working as a secretary for Procter & Gamble in their downtown corporate offices. I worked in the very interesting TV and Radio Advertising Department when television was becoming more and more popular. I loved the job, the beautiful old Gwynne Building where P&G was located then, and being in downtown Cincinnati every day.
Long before Pawn Stars was popular on TV, there were several small pawn shops in downtown Cincinnati. Although my parents never went to pawn shops, one of my aunts was a steady customer. She was always in trouble financially, yet each Christmas we were amazed to see the gorgeous gifts she received. I remember one year she showed off an enormous dresser set with elaborate brushes, mirror, manicure tools – all in a satin lined chest. We only saw it once because it was immediately pawned and not redeemed. That’s what happened to all of her elaborate gifts.
My Aunt Annie
This was the first Christmas that I was out of high school, working for the grand sum of $30/week and paying $10 board. I felt I was flush with money and wanted to get my mother something really special. Mother had never owned a wrist watch in her life and I thought this would be the best gift I could give her. I don’t know why I didn’t go to one of the big department stores in town, but for some reason I chose to go to a pawn shop to buy her watch. I had never been inside this kind of store before but the gentleman was very nice to me and sold me a lovely watch for, as I recall, $15. I could hardly wait until Christmas Eve to surprise Mother.
The watch in this picture is the way I remember the pawn shop watch
I haven’t been in a pawn shop since that first visit, but I have a soft place in my heart for the little store tucked away on Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati in 1950 where I bought a special Christmas gift for my mother.
In 1938, my parents, my little sister, Shirley, and I were living in a rented flat on Elm Street in downtown Cincinnati. The building is still standing and I posed for a picture back in 2002.
The door stoop of our two-room apartment on Elm Street (2002)
My father worked for the WPA as a timekeeper and we were finally coming out of the depths of the depression. The living room of the flat had huge sliding wooden doors and on Christmas Eve, my sister and I (3-1/2 years and 6 years) sat with our eyes glued on that door and imagining what Santa might be bringing us. As we sat huddled together in the kitchen, I heard a tinkling of sleigh bells. My father argued a little bit with me, but I swore I heard sleigh bells so Santa must have arrived. Finally, he pulled open the doors and it was like walking into the toy department of a big store (like the Fair Store or Rollman’s or Shillito’s). My parents didn’t wrap any of the gifts but rather had them set up all around the room, ready for fun. The first thing Shirley and I spied were beautiful baby dolls for each of us in little metal strollers. The dolls were dressed identically in white dresses and white flannel coats with bonnets. We were able to tell them apart because my doll had dark brown eyes (as I had) and Shirley’s doll had her shade of blue eyes. They were the most beautiful dolls we had ever seen.
I named my doll Mary Dorothy after two of my classmates at old Raschig School – Mary Louise McFarland and Dorothy Sutton. Shirley just called her doll Baby until later on when we had a new cousin named Carol Ann and then the doll became Carol Ann, too.
Twenty-five years passed and Shirley asked for Mary Dorothy to add to her doll collection. I knew in Shirley’s care, Mary Dorothy would be dressed impeccably and would be in elite company in my sister‘s collection. She stayed there for over 40 years until 2004 when she was given to my youngest granddaughter, but I had to promise to sew the clothes to dress her as she looked on that first Christmas Eve.
Mary Dorothy and my granddaughter – 2004
Before Shirley passed away in 2010, she gave my granddaughter her doll, Carol Ann, as well as the rest of the collection.
My granddaughter, age 10, and Mary Dorothy, age 75 – 2013
Throughout the years while I was raising my four kids (beginning in 1954), I kept a journal where I periodically made notes about holidays, school, vacations, etc. As an occasion arises where I think one of my journal entries would be pertinent, I’m going to post it just as I wrote or typed it back in the day (except for an explanatory note or correction of a typo).
The children will be known here by the nicknames their grandfather used when they were toddlers: The oldest daughter will be Newsie (because she was as good as a newspaper for finding out the latest happenings), the oldest son is Bar (because he called Grandpa’s truck Bar and Grandpa called him Bar), the youngest son is Jackson, and the youngest daughter is Shanty (as in Shanty-Boat).
Summertime and the living is pretty hectic most of the time. The days are filled with sounds of kids out playing – riding squeaky bicycles, fighting over possession of the sand pile, hitting baseballs off the garage roof, playing “mudders and fadders”, slamming screen doors, protesting the boys’ teasing.
Jackson and the water hose
The days are filled with the sights of wet bathing suits, soggy footmarks on the floor, barefooted and bare-chested boys, tan and healthy looking faces, dust two inches thick in the backyard and grass two inches long in the front, blooming petunias and marigolds, a veritable forest in the back hollow with lush trees, squirrels, birds, chipmunks and a family of raccoons.
The days are filled with the smells of summer – the harsh chlorine smell of a carful of wet kids coming home from the pool, the smoky fragrance of wieners and hamburgers on the grill, the smell that permeates the neighborhood when someone bakes a cake, the fresh fragrance in the air after the grass has been mown.
Lillian and Penny, the dog
Summer is filled with knothole games and the undefeated Sweeneys in their green and white uniforms, the much defeated Reds whose progress is followed avidly on TV and transistor, the harness horses at the night races and soon at the fairs, the neighborhood pools swarming with kids, the parks filled with families and picnic baskets, the roads overflowing with people and paraphernalia.
A knothole game at Oakley Park
Life is hectic, true, and fun and as the song says, “lazy, hazy and crazy”! L – July 11, 1964
Journal entry – May 9, 1954: Nancy was two weeks old on Mother’s Day. She celebrated by waking up at 3:30 AM and staying awake until 6:00 AM. I accompanied her. (Note: I remember that she was lying in bed beside me, eyes wide open and trying so hard to talk.) Her Daddy bought a box of chocolates for her to give me and a card signed, “Daddy and Nancy”.
I followed that first celebration with three more children and many more happy Mother’s Days.
Throughout the years while I was raising my four kids (beginning in 1954), I kept a journal where I periodically made notes about holidays, school, vacations, etc. As an occasion arises where I think one of my journal entries would be pertinent, I’m going to post it just as I wrote or typed it back in the day (except for an explanatory note or correction of a typo).
The children will be known here by the nicknames their grandfather used when they were toddlers: The oldest daughter will be Newsie (because she was as good as a newspaper for finding out the latest happenings), the oldest son is Bar (because he called Grandpa’s truck Bar and Grandpa called him Bar), the youngest son is Jackson, and the youngest daughter is Shanty (as in Shanty-Boat).
In January, 1964, we were a family of five: mother, father, 9-year-old daughter Newsie, 7-year-old son Bar, and 3-year-old son Jackson. We lived in a 1922 two-story home in the Oakley suburb of Cincinnati with a nice backyard for the kids to play in. Jackson was prone to the croup and didn’t get to go out and play in the big snow that greeted us on the first day of January, 1964.
Maple Drive greeted 1964 wearing a thick blanket of white as seven inches of snow covered Cincinnati early on New Year’s Day. The street is rutted deeply with tread marks and the cars are all wearing top-pieces of snow which occasionally tilt rakishly on the side as the sun grows warmer. Most of the walks are neatly shoveled and salted so the kids troop gleefully across lawns and up the middle of the roads. Our kids got an extra two days of vacation due to the snow and showed their appreciation by wallowing in it all day. As a surprise for Jackson and me, Newsie and Bar fashioned a plump snowman with all the trimmings—limb arms, rock eyes and buttons, plaid scarf and Bar’s green leather cap. Jackson can look through the dining room window and see friend snowman staring back at him from the yard, which is pocked with footmarks of various sizes.”
L – January 2, 1964
Jackson had six more years to be the baby before another daughter came along and I love to read in my notes where the two older children went out of their way to surprise and please their little brother. Happy memories of almost 50 years ago.
Thanksgiving is so much about family traditions – like baking pies – two of the pie tins go back to the mid-1950s…
….getting out the 1952 wedding china….
…my oldest daughter embroidered the tablecloth in the 1960s…
….having the youngest kids check out the turkey.
This tradition began in the mid-1950s with my two pre-school children posing for the movie camera, gently poking the turkey with large forks to see if it was done. It continued with another son and daughter in the 1960s and 1970s and now the youngest grandchildren are somewhat bewildered looking at the turkey. Grandson is happily contemplating turkey breast, cranberry sauce and apple pie. Granddaughter doesn’t eat anything.
On July 13, 2012, my two daughters surprised me with a big box of wrapped gifts, informing me it was exactly 80 days until my 80th birthday and I would be able to unwrap one gift a day. The gift items would commemorate a year in my life in some way. This is what I received this week to wind up 80 days of special, unique, commemorative, handmade and nostalgic gifts.
2003 – 2003 was the year my youngest granddaughter was born. The gift is a wonderful fold-out picture book with photos of my granddaughter along with her handwritten notes of greetings and love. Precious.
2004 – My youngest daughter knitted a pair of socks for me from a 2004 pattern in the most beautiful fall colors.
2005 – A 2005 CD of Andy Griffith singing all of my favorite hymns. In addition to the music, there are personal notes and comments by Andy. This is perfect for me since I’ve been a fan of Andy Griffith since his early monologue days.
2006 – A 2006 edition of Keith Olbermann’s book, The Worst Person in the World.
2007 – A packet of 2007 5-inch Lynette Jensen’s Thimbleberries squares – Warm and Cozy
2008 – Three Topps’ trading cards to commemorate the election of Barack Obama.
2009 – A 2009 Philadelphia Mint collection commemorating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Penny.
2010 – A pin commemorating the USA medals won in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
2011 – My youngest daughter knitted a Drachenschwanze (dragon’s tail) scarf from a 2011 pattern. 2012 – Two pins popular in 2012 – “Keep calm and quilt on”, a take on the WWII British slogan and a pin for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
All 80 years have been covered and it all ended with a Grand Finale gift. My oldest daughter made up a charm necklace for me that I call a “Meme Necklace” because it tells so much about my interests and in a way is a summary of the 80 gifts.
There are charms for Cincinnati, Ohio, and my Libra astrology sign; a small dog running with a paper in its mouth for all of the pets I’ve had; charms for some of my favorite things – a unicorn, forget-me-nots, vintage jewelry, a scotty, a Dutch shoe, a harness horse, the Cincinnati Reds, Abraham Lincoln; charms to commemorate cooking – a mixer, a slice of pie, a 1st place ribbon; needle and thread (quilting and sewing); charms for favorite vacation spots – St. Louis Arch (my youngest son’s home), an Amish buggy (Holmes County OH Amish country); a covered bridge (Vermont); Cincinnati’s Coney Island and river boat; a Hershey’s Kiss to represent chocolate and my mother’s homemade fudge; and a typewriter symbolizing a long secretarial career.
It has been an amazing 80 days with every day a reminder of 80 amazing years.
All of my posts on this wonderful celebration are listed in Family – My 80th Birthday in my index on the right hand side of the page.
My youngest daughter has links to all of her knitted projects here:
When I got up early, I looked outside to see the tree in my front yard holding 80 balloons. My two daughters had gotten together at 11 PM last night after I went to bed and taking the dog with them so he wouldn’t bark, hung 80 balloons in my decorative pear tree.
They also put up a sign announcing my 80th birthday. Now, any of the neighbors who might have wondered about the age of the old woman who walks her dog 3 times a day up and down the street will know. The 80th birthday is off to a good start.
LILLIAN'S CUPBOARD 