Memory Lane...Part 3

Lord how I hated those things!

When pantyhose first came out, I was sure they would not survive. They were expensive and you had to throw them away if you got a run, unlike the regular stockings where you could replace one if you got a run. I was really glad when we didn't have to check for your stocking seams anymore. Garter belts and girdles!! Man, we had a tough life.

I scrolled back quickly through the previous parts to be reasonably certain I haven't posted this before. My parents married in January 1929 and the first purchase they made was a General Electric refrigerator. It served our family of five admirably for many years, and continued running as a spare after the folks finally bought a larger unit. I was in college by that time. It is still running. My brother has it in the kitchen of the guest quarters. The light bulb has been replaced several times and the rubber door gasket twice. Otherwise - maintenance free.

At one point along in the 'sixties I had read an article about the Smithsonian's search for old but still working appliances for a display. I commented to Mother that it would be an honor to have Old Faithful in the exhibit. She gazed at me wordlessly, and clearly was thinking "surely this idiot cannot be my child!" I knew I had suffered a severe episode of foot-in-mouth disease. Yuska

Incredible. "They just don't make 'em like they used to."

Do you think it's energy efficient?

We were not a "throw-away" society back then. You bought things to last---and they did.

My mother had a Kelvinator with a water spout in the door in the early 1960's... and it was old then. When they moved to the mountains they brought it as an extra out in the garage, As far as I remember, it was a working fridge for 40 years before she finally sold out.

As to its energy rating, I can't evaluate it, but because of its relatively small capacity and lack of a defrost feature, I don't think it pulls much juice. The "freezer" is just a small compartment that holds a couple of ice cube trays. Like many other families we rented a cold storage unit to store the butchered hog and steer. Mother would tell Dad what package to pick up on his way home that she could thaw and cook the following day. The very cold temperatures in those commercial storage units kept the packages rock hard.

Your "butchered hog and steer" just reminded me. My Dad has been gone for many years, but one day an older relative of mine was reminiscing and told me that when my Dad was a kid he had a pet lamb. Mind you, this was Buffalo NY in the late 1920's, not on some farm. He told me that lamb followed my Dad around like a dog would. When my Dad used to go to the butcher shop for his mother, the lamb's hooves would "clack-clack" on the wooden floors. I couldn't imagine that a pet lamb would be allowed in any store today.

I wonder if that lamb eventually became dinner.

What a great story, Nancy.

Just turned 59, so not as ancient as I'm going to sound...when I met my DH at 16 his parents had a home based business of providing blocks of ice to those on Thunder Beach - Georgian Bay..as it was a rural area and no hydro provided these well to do cottagers would have ice blocks delivered several times a week...my FIL and 3 of the older boys would take the team of horses, the ice was cut and stored in a unit that was filled with sawdust which helped keep the blocks intack for the remaining seasons...can you imagine...I have a saw that was used by them among some of my cherished items....

Betty, we had an ice box when I was a kid. You can rarely even buy ice in a block anymore. I've also seen photos of the huge ice storage buildings by the Susquahana river (MD/PA) where they'd store the huge blocks they sawed from the frozen river. Global warming would prevent that anymore even if we still used block ice.

I remember seeing a truck that delivered ice, but he didn't come to our house. I also remember the coal truck that had a long chute and he poured coal into our basement bin through a window. Then my dad would haul the coal to the furnace and then the ashes had to go out. I don't remember where he put the ashes, though.

I remember the words "ash pail" but have no idea where the contents went either.

Probably went on the garden, where mine go... although mine are wood ashes not coal.

Maybe that's why my dad had such lovely dahlias.

that's exactly where they went..remember grandparents having a stockpile and used them on the ice in the winter for non-slipping purposes...

I used some ashes one year on the icy sidewalk... what a mess, and was only non-slip if I had lots of clinkers in it.

To all who have posted here:

Look above to Feb. 22 and see some of the many stories and photos contributed by 1gardengram (Diane Donner) and know the joy your posts and this thread brought to her.

The memorial to Diane: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/735595/

Here she is pictured with her four great grandchildren, last December.