Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Curtain stretchers (and other memories)

My parents moved a lot as I was growing up, but we lived in the switchboard house at Guss, Iowa, for at least seven years. Many of my fondest childhood memories are linked to that home, and most of the snapshots taken of me as a baby were taken in front of it. I included Skinner School in the slide show because that's my first school, the one I attended when we lived in Guss. I remember the "Uncle Sam" mailbox that's pictured here.




I remember what much of the inside of that house looked like. I recall sitting on the front porch on a summer evening with Daddy, the radio inside broadcasting "the fights" (boxing matches) blaring through an open window, and my dad getting so involved in the action that he was squirming in his seat and throwing punches. He was a big fan of Joe Lewis.

Some other things I recall from those seven years of my childhood:




Every spring Mother would take down the lacey curtains in the living room, wash them, and put them on the curtain-stretcher so they'd dry wrinkle-free. I remember running around the stretched curtains in the yard and peeking through them. The whole living room smelled clean and fresh when the curtains were brought back inside, after drying in the sun.

I recall Mother using pants-stretchers, too, on Daddy's pants; a Google search tells me that those are still available!

Flour-sifters. When I was growing up, flour was always sifted before measuring it and adding it to your mix. In fact, I still sifted flour after I got married, back when I made all our bread. I still have a sifter, but I only use it when I make an angel food cake, or an "Elvis Presley's favorite pound cake", from scratch; that happens about once every five years.

I recall making baby dolls out of clothespins like these. I'd take an ink pen, draw a tiny face on the top part, and bundle my "baby" in a Kleenex tissue. I believe my mom showed me how to do this. (Oh, and she had taken an outgrown baby dress of mine and sewed it up at the bottom for a clothespin holder to take out to the line! I just remembered that.) She also taught me how to shape the silver inside wrapper from my piece of Juicy Fruit gum into a chalice. She showed me this while sitting in Church, probably trying to occupy me. But I digress.


Egg beaters were in common use in the '40's and '50's. Fact is, I still use one, if the only thing in a recipe that needs beating is eggs. It's much easier and faster than getting out the mixer and dirtying up a mixer bowl.

And that's today's trip down memory lane.

6 comments:

  1. I had a mom that used those stretchers too. I helped once and got many fingers jabbed too. The old beater took forever to get egg whites fluffy for pies too.
    My how times have changed.

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  2. I'm familiar with all the other items, but I have never heard of curtain stretchers. See, I learn so much from reading your blog.

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  3. I love trips down memory lane. Was "The Switchboard House" part of the phone company? That kind of switchboard? I've always wondered how the long distance operators knew how much money you put into the payphone back then.

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  4. Anonymous1:41 PM

    I also remember all of the things you mentioned...with fond memories I remember...even tho they had much more to do with much less..it seems as if parents had more time to spend with their kids..back then..whereas today..parents have all the gadgets they need and spend less time with their kids..??? what happened??!! oh well...God Bless...hugs...Ora

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  5. I still sift flour

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  6. I still use pants stretchers some time. John likes for me to use them in his jeans. I have one of those sifters too and I have it on display on top of the cabinet along with some other old "stuff". Oh and in our town they didn't call it the switchboard house they called it the telephone office. It was Gereral Telephone Company in our town. I have a picture of myself standing on tip toe on the porch pointing to the sign. Finding it would be like finding a needle in a hay stack. Sorry didn't mean to write a book.

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