COMPANY COMES TO GILBERT, 1933

Shirley Jean with her mother, Ethel

Ina has already told us that the spring of 1933 was cold and wet. The cold stymied fruit development and delayed the planting of crops.

But, if farm prospects were dull, visitors brightened Ina’s mood. Of course, son Earle, a high school teacher in Idaho Falls, spent his summer vacation at the farm as usual to help his dad with chores – planting, harvesting, and maintenance. Then, granddaughter Shirley Jean arrived early in June for a visit, and it’s plain that in Ina’s eyes her granddaughter’s halo shone brightly. Ina writes: “She is quite some child. She reads well and read the Wizard of Oz book through while here as well as part of another Oz book, and Shirley [Ina’s youngest daughter] let her take the Wizard home with her. She was so fond of it. She got the mail while here and did various errands, always with Dick [the dog] at her heels. She remembers you all right. She had a great time feeding little chickens and training the kittens, riding on old Taft as Dad came from work, going after wood and hay with them and driving the team after it was unhitched. She has a good ear for music and a sweet true little voice. She can play America with one hand and seems to have a sense of rhythm and harmony, when she is trying to pick out little school tunes on the piano.”

Early in July, daughter Pearl arrived with her husband Al and 13-year-old son Stanley. “Stanley is much improved,” wrote Ina, “but there’s still room for lots more.” (Stan was evidently spoiled in Ina’s opinion. Hence, his halo was somewhat tarnished.)

Pearl and Al planned their return trip through Glacier Park over the new “Going to the Sun” Highway. Since they were going into Montana, and since Shirley Jean’s parents lived in Havre, someone had the bright idea that Al and Pearl could take Shirley Jean home, which curtailed her visit to the farm. I don’t know how Shirley Jean’s parents intended to retrieve her, but Ina’s words indicate to me that it was not part of the original plan.

“Shirley Jean went back with Al and Pearl,” wrote Ina. “She wanted to go but when the time drew near hated badly to leave and cried and cried over it. Of course, she soon recovered her spirits on the road. Ernest and Ethel [Shirley Jean’s parents] met them at St. Mary’s Lake Camp at the eastern side of the Park. They spent one day together at Babb.” [Pearl and Ethel were sisters.] KW

SUMMER OF 1933

Ina took this picture, probably in the '30s. Jack is feeding the chickens.

So far, this summer of 2018 has not been hot, and this past week we’ve had several days of unseasonably cool temps – lows in the mid 50s, highs in the 75- to 85-degree range. “This wouldn’t be so good on the farm,” remarked Mike, “but here in town it’s rather pleasant.” (We are, of course,  confined to town this summer while the farmhouse undergoes repair and remodeling.)

The summer of 1933 was evidently a cold one. Early in June, Ina wrote:

Dad [Jack] finished seeding last week and would have been done weeks ago if the weather hadn’t been so bad. As it is he won’t get to planting before Monday and probably won’t finish till the middle of the month. June [Jack’s twin brother on the adjoining farm] is still working his ground. …. We are very busy now with gardening, the lawn, flowers and chickens. I have 135 chicks, all I’ll need and then some. The hens hatched good so that job is over, and we are so glad. Our garden is late and fruit will be scarce.

On June 3 she wrote:

This is the second nice, warm day we’ve had in a long time. Dad has finished preparing the ground and will plant tomorrow or next day.

On July 30:

If your paper still comes, you know that we have had very hot weather the past week, but before [the week was out], it turned so cool that Dad built fire in the heater two A.M.s (Friday and Saturday). Today is lovely and cool with little fleecy clouds roaming through the sky.

The hot weather ripened the grain and hay, so Earle is cutting hay today.

We are canning string beans, peas and beets now. Today we had young fried chicken and cherry pie for dinner. Fruit is very scarce here, no cherries or prunes to speak of, apples scarce and poor, no currants or gooseberries, and only a few raspberries. It was too wet and cold this spring. We had a good crop of strawberries and Al and Pearl surely enjoyed them, both eating and picking them. [Remember – daughter Pearl visited from Canada in July 1933.] We bought three boxes of apricots the other day, and are getting Loganberries of Bill Mussers, $1.50 per crate.

And as Ina was closing her letter, she noted that it was again cool enough for a fire in the heater this a.m.

Some summers are like that. KW

A FOURTH OF JULY PICNIC, 1933

My mother is center front holding her first child, 3-year-old Harriet Lee.

I’ve posted about this event before. It’s such a complicated little story because of all the players, but it speaks to me in so many ways. And it’s vintage Fourth of July, so why not revisit it?

I first found the pictures when I was a teenager among some memorabilia of Mother’s. “Oh yes,” she said, “we all got together for a picnic.” She didn’t offer details, but I was fascinated because my mother is front and center in a picture that includes her parents and my dad’s many years before they were married.

But – I had no particulars as to what had drawn the Portfors and Dobson families together until Grandma Ina’s letters came my way. Then I learned that the occasion was the visit of Al and Pearl Sanders and son Stanley from their home near Stettler, Alberta, Canada. Al was my Grandmother Nina Portfors' brother; Pearl was Ina and Jack Dobson's daughter.

Alice Sanders with her children

Uncle Al and Aunt Pearl arrived at the Portfors’ home in Orofino on Monday, July 3. At Gilbert, just south of Orofino, the Dobsons were also anticipating this visit. That Monday afternoon, Ina was busy with laundry and baking when the phone rang. It was Pearl, calling from the Portfors’ home. Yes, they had just arrived and would spend the night at the Portfors’. “But listen, Mama,” Pearl probably said, “there’s a picnic tomorrow at Al’s aunt's place near Melrose. Al and I will come for you and Dad tomorrow morning. See you then!”

And Ina went back to her baking with renewed energy. She would spend tomorrow with family and friends, and she was looking forward to it.

Gown made by Aunt Naomi

So, the Fourth of July picnic of 1933 happened in a meadow at the home of Uncle Bud and Aunt Naomi Long near Melrose, Idaho. (My great-grandmother Alice Sanders and Aunt Naomi were sisters.) Ina relates that the meadow was a lovely place.

During the afternoon, someone – probably Aunt Pearl – brought out a camera and took pictures. Front and center is my mother, Dorothy Portfors Walrath, holding her daughter and eldest child, Harriet Lee. My mother was widowed in 1945, and in 1947, she married Jack and Ina’s son Vance, and they had me. From my perspective, the picture includes both sets of grandparents and a great-grandmother as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins from both sides of the family  – years before I was born. Naturally, as the years passed, so did the people. Sister Harriet (sitting on Mother's lap) was three years old in 1933. She passed on in 2016.

Comfortable attire for a casual picture?

I wish I knew what food was carried to that picnic. Today, a Fourth of July picnic brings to mind hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, soda pop, potato salad – well, you know. But they didn’t have any of that, and I think it’s a little too soon for fresh veggies from the garden, especially in the upper country. So, what did they eat? Any ideas? KW


Photo identification:
#1 --  Back row, l-r: Stanley Sanders, Fairly Walrath, Jack Dobson, Bud Long, Al Sanders, Clifford Reed (Aunt Naomi's son), and Earle Dobson. Next row, l-r: Ina Dobson, Naomi Stinson Reed Long, Berniece Dryden Dobson, Alice Mary Stinson Sanders. Front, l-r: Nina Sanders Portfors sits behind Charlie Portfors; "little girl" Reed, Shirley Jean Robinson, Lois Reed; Dorothy Portfors Walrath holding 3-year-old Harriet Lee Walrath; and Muriel Sanders German.

#2 -- I think this picture might well have been taken in the same timeframe. My great-grandmother Alice Mary Stinson Sanders sits in the center. Her brother stands behind her. The others are Alice's children: Muriel German on left; Nina Portfors standing on right; Albert Sanders, kneeling. (Another daughter, Bessie Wood, is not present.)

#3 -- Mother made this rag doll for me, and Aunt Naomi (my great-great aunt) made her some clothes. I also am a great-great aunt making doll clothes.

#4 -- Another photo of the picnic. Note the way they are dressed -- women in dresses, nice shoes, and hats with brims; men in white shirts and ties. They're sitting on blankets (possibly old quilts) -- no lawn furniture.