By
the time I was seventeen the war was in full swing and I was the oldest sister
to two sisters and a brother. I did my part to help “the boys in green” who
were overseas fighting for freedom. I made candy and shipped it to different
young men that I knew who were fighting overseas.
When
I found out Pop’s mother, Florence, was going to Cincinnati to visit one of her
grand daughters that worked in a factory there I decided I wanted to get a job
there too so I talked and talked until Pop finally let me go with my
grandmother to Cincinnati, Ohio. Of course he went with us because he wanted to
be sure that I would be okay.
I
got a job working in a factory called Goodalls making uniforms. I also found
out that since it was considered a military factory that there was a freeze on
the job and that I wouldn’t be able to leave until the war was over. Pop helped
me find a place to live in a boarding house called Methodist Home for Girls. It
was ran by five old maids and believe me they were strict. If you didn’t get in
quick when they pushed the button you would be locked out. So you better kiss
your fellow really quick and get in the door!
There
was a bunch of us girls that lived in the boarding house. Every morning we
would wake up to the smells of toast being made in the oven, of oatmeal on the
stove and the sound of the whistling teapot that meant the water was hot for
our tea. By the week end we were ready for some entertainment, but not like
kids have for entertainment now.
Every
weekend I would buy a twenty five cent Girl Scout Cookie Sale Street Car
Transfer Ticket. That ticket allowed me to travel anywhere I wanted to travel
the whole weekend. I loved riding on that street car and seeing the sights of
Cincinnati, Ohio! I had one of those tickets left that I had Ann to sell on
eBay. I was really surprised that not only did I get a little bit of money for
my Girl Scout Cookie Sale Street Car Transfer Ticket; I found out the couple
who bought it put it into a Scout Museum! It really makes me feel good to know
that others are getting to see something that I held on to for all of these
years.
They
talked different than we did in the North. One day this guy was doing a job on a ladder, putting up light. He caught his foot in the ladder and fell. There was
another guy standing there and he said, “Hey lady! He’s fallen for you,” I was
shy and it made me mad. Then the other guy said, “I think she’s ready to smear
your puss.” Where I came from that was a bad, ugly word; and he had insulted
me. So it really was hard to get use to northern talk.
We
walked to and from work. We worked on Ninth Street which was only a couple of
blocks up. I enjoyed the work and being almost on my own. But my little sister,
Sue was sickly and missed me. Mom had been an invalid before and for the first
two years after Sue was born; so I took care of Sue, Faye and Willis. Sue would
cry for me; and that was making her worse. It was hard to get away from working
in the factory because of the work freeze but I finally got a waived on my
freeze for the job so I could go home and take care of Sue. It was good to get
away for a little while, but it was even better to finally go back home.
Vintage Street Car Ticket –
Cincinnati, Ohio – 1943 Item # 260444988568
Sold on eBay 7/11/2009 to a
couple from Colorado. They sent me the information that the ticket was going
into a Scout Museum. I had sent them a short history about mother. Mother was
very pleased that the ticket went into a museum, especially since she had
worked in Murray, KY for the Boy Scout Museum there. She was a tour guide for
the Norman Rockwell portion; she loved Norman Rockwell.
No comments:
Post a Comment