Coming to another Depression-Era Christmas, the Dobson family living in remote Idaho continues to struggle. Ina notes that they pay as they go at the grocery store by means of ba
rter, trading cream, eggs, and chickens for the groceries they need. Apparently Ina had established the chicken and egg business in order that she might have some independence with her household budget. No one told me this; I learned it through her sister Bertha's letters. Now I feel a real connection to those "egg money quilts" that Eleanor Burns, the quilting guru, writes about.
On December 21, 1933, Ina wrote to her sisters in Drain, Oregon (Ida and Mabel): "I can't write much but do want to write a lot. I'll answer your good big letter later on, but now Shirley keeps after me to not write too much. It is bad for my nerves tho they are much stronger as is my heart and stomach and general strength. [She stru
ggled for a while with some health issues, but don't worry about her. She'll live another 25 years!] You and Idy exchange letters about Xmas. I put in my blue silk for you as I think it nearer your size than Idy's. I've had it five years and can't stand it any longer, for I've a cheap one to wear instead and can use pretty prints for common. The dress is washable. I use a little --- Arabic in the last rinse. The same applies to the blue suit we sent Edny (Ida's daughter, Edna) but forgot to say so. It has been washed. Well, anyway, you needn't keep them if you don't like. Pearl gave me a pretty green voile too small for her this summer. The blue silk is the first silk dress I ever had. I have a black crepe-back satin. Ethel got the goods on sale in '30 and I've never worn it till last November. It's been made a year. I wore it to church first and then Thanksgiving Day. They are very serviceable. I'm going to get me a 19-cent wool crepe effect dress for my other dress is now more than two years old and has seen service, also cheap. Well anyway – you see how extravagant I am. I made the two-year-old to wear to P[ortland] in '31 when B[ertha] went to Drain. Didn't have time to make the black for I made one for her to go in instead.
"Well, for Xmas, getting the things we need and calling them Xmas gifts. For Julian, cap and leather-faced gloves. Ethel is sending him a pull-over sweater to wear under his coat about his work; for Shirley, a suit of flannelette pajamas to eke out her supply and a pretty dust cap – and five-year diary she has long wanted – and this I treated myself to getting. It is green-padded cover and gold stamped. For Earl & Bernice a copy of the Rubiayat (can't spell); for Myrtle Pepys Diary (long wanted) and Shirley is making a box of candy and stuffed dates for her. We sent also a small bag of fresh beans to her good friend where she stays and Shirley sent her little boy a little bag of pop
corn. To Shirley Jean a game Uncle Wiggly that Doris and Shirley used to play and I made a doll outfit for the rag doll Ethel is making her. We had great fun doing it and trying it onto Ethel's old big doll who lies here. Jack sent them a small bag of beans and B—put in a bag of popcorn and a toy book for Shirley Jean. To Pearl and Al a pair of embroidered pillowslips; to Stan Tom Sawyer and a paper knife I had on hand, never used but boys always find some use for such. To Vance, who is keeping house, a small inexpensive tho very pretty rug. I know Ethel is sending him a very pretty cut-work table scarf. I mustn't write more tho I'd like to. Love to all, Iny"
I had also never known that Grandma Ina was apparently a rather accomplished sewist. Can't you just see her treadling away? She would be sitting near a window for the natural light, and when that waned, she would have to stop her sewing until the morrow. KW
[Top photo is of the chicken coop -- long gone. "Why does the grass grow so well in this part of the yard?" Mike asks. Photo 2 is of Aunt Ida Dickson Patchen, Grandma Ina's sister, taken in 1939. Bottom photo is of the farmhouse, Christmas 1933 -- not a good picture to begin with.]
Unlcle Wiggly! That was still a favorite when I was a kid in the early 70's. Wonder if the the game is still published?
ReplyDeleteYou know I can't resist a trip to the "information highway," Murray. Wikipedia says that the Uncle Wiggily track board game was based on a character in a children's book series by American author Howard Roger Garis. The game was published by Milton Bradley in 1916 and is considered a classic. Hasbro now owns the rights. And yes, the game is available. I found it at the Vermont Country Store for $24.95. The write-up there says that the game is for children 4 to 8 years old and was first published in the 1940s. But we have it on good authority -- Ina and Wikipedia -- that the game was actually older than that.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the letter and pictures. I recognized the chicken coop, but what is the dark building on the right? The old house had a shed built onto the back (west side) and it doesn't show in the picture.
ReplyDeleteThe Uncle Wiggily is widely available on line. Just Google "Uncle Wiggily Game".
On line, it is from $12 to about $19.
ReplyDeleteYou and I were commenting at almost the same time, Chuck. I'll try to find a more expanded photo of the yard in that era so that we can get a better view of that building.
ReplyDeleteSo -- I guess we don't have to buy the Uncle Wiggily game from the expensive nostalgia site. That's good!