Since some of you are interested in how people lived way back when, I thought I'd pass along some family history. My grandma, who is sharp as a tack at 100 yrs. old, came from the Ukraine with her family in 1903, at the age of 3. They lived in a sod house to begin with, and if anyone is interested, I'll tell about that in another post. But I would like to relate one of her working experiences at the age of 17..... "Until the fall of 1917, I was working for a family in Leith (North Dakota). They owned a store, the man and his wife ran the store and I did their housework (the family lived above the store). I did all the cooking, baking, washing, and ironing, and that was the hardest of all. THe well was behind the store. I had to pump the water, carry it upstairs with 2 buckets, fill the large boiler (set on the stove),heat te water, then carry it downstairs with buckets again, pour it into an old wooden washing machine. It had a handle on top, which I had to pull back and forth. There was a thing inside, with 4 little legs, just like a small footstool, that would move the machine full of wash, back and forth, at least 20 minutes each load, then wring it through the attached wringer, all by hand too. Then each load was put in a washtub about half full of rinsing water, wring it out again, then hang it on the wash lines in the back yard to dry. These people had 3 children, twin girls and a boy. THe children went to school, came home at noon for a big dinner, then back to school, and if one of the girls had a spot on her dress, they made both girls change, so there was always a large washing. All the dresses had to be starched and ironed, some had pleated skirts and had to be pressed just so. On wash day I had several loads on the line before they got up. Then everything had to be stopped and a fancy breakfast fixed and served. At noon I fixed a big dinner, sometimes it was suppertime before I got the last load on the line. All this for $5 a week." And we think we have it rough! : )

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), December 14, 2000

Answers

She probably didn't mention part of the wash water would have been used to scrub up the outhouse also.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 14, 2000.

Hi Lenette, My Grandmother is 104 and still living in North Dakota, She was married in 1912 in Minot and lived on a farm outside Ryder for forty years before moving into town (300 people). I read your post to her and she said "those city folk always had it easy. All we had was a scrub board and wrung out by hand." They did not get electricity until moveing into town in '51 and one of the first electric appliances purchased was a wringer type washing machine.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), December 14, 2000.

Women here used to gather down at the creek at what is a low water crossing for the county road, with their laundry and washboards.Guess that would have made it the laundromat. Now,we call it Kellacey Car Wash, bc neighbors use it to wash their cars.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 14, 2000.

Ah, but my grandma was not "city folk" by any means. Her family came from near Odessa (South Russia) and settled near Carson, N.Dak. They and 2 other families jointly purchased a team of horses, harness, plow, and a wagon. Each family had 1 bundle of bedding, and a small amount of cookware. All 3 families (6 or 7 adults, and either 7 or 9 children - can't remember) lived in 1 sod hut that first year, until they were able to build sod homes for the other 2 families on the adjoining homesteads. No furniture for a long time, just threw bedding on the floor at night and rolled it up and piled it in a corner during the day.

The first year they planted flax, which provided an income to live on. They bought flour for bread, and had watermelon, cantaloupe and onions from the garden. No meat that first year other than the occasional jackrabbit or prairie chicken. The following years they were able to add radishes, carrots, beets, rutabaga and turnips to their diet, and finally bought a cow. They drank the skimmed milk, sold the butter made from the cream and used the money to buy salt, sugar and yeast. Bedding and much of their clothing was made from floursacks, 4 for a sheet and 1 for a pillowcase. Underwear, bras, etc. all from floursacks. Laundry done by hand, hung out till it froze, then brought in and thawed, and ironed with flat-irons. Water was drawn with a bucket and rope from the well outside. When they did get furniture, (made by her dad) there was no upholstered furniture, just tables, benches and a couple chairs. Entertainment was singing and reading (the Bible, Ben-Hur, Uncle Tom's Cabin, etc.) The girls knitted, crocheted, tatted, embroidered,and mended while their dad read aloud - no one was allowed to sit idle.

Grandma was herding cows by age 7 (it was years before they had money for fencing) to keep them out of the grainfields. This was in the summer. From the age of 6 she hired out to different families as a babysitter for months at a time. SHe and her siblings could only go to school after all the fall farm work was done and until the spring work started, so it was a short school year. A one-room schoolhouse of course, and they walked to school, often in -40 degree weather. It was a real treat when their dad hitched the horse to the wooden sled and took them to school.

Living in a sod house was something else - I could tell lots more but this is way too long already.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), December 14, 2000.

Please keep these coming. I find them extremely interesting. The more details the better. I hope you are documenting your grandmother's memories for your grandchildren and beyond.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 14, 2000.

Lenette,I was not referring to your grandmother, but the merchant family she worked for in town that owned the washing machine. Growing up in the country just north of the Knife River in the 40's and early 50's was a lot as you describe. We had more material things, like furniture, then but the entertainment was much the same. We only listened to the radio Sunday afternoons and the news at noon during the weekdays (I think the news was at noon). Game and fish were an important part of our diet as well as chickens.

Then town folks were referred to as city folk, even though the town near us was about 200 or so people. Now it has changed up there and city folks are usually from much larger places, like 5000 people. Ken is correct, please relate more of your memories.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), December 14, 2000.

Thankyou Lenette! I always loved hearing stories of life from my grandmother and great grandmother. Especially courting and sparking stories. Great grandma in a buggy-not a flatbed-only fast girls rode in those! And then courting stories from Grandma and Grandpa-driving in his Dad's car and having to drive the car into the river to soak the wooden wheels before they could drive into town to share a bowl of chili and one coke. Grandpa's graduation present to Grandma (highschool) was a pair of shoes. She didn't have any! Please, please share more with us. Grandma, Grandpa and Great Grandma are in heaven now so I eat up your memories with relish!! Q.

-- queen (queenbuffness@hotmail.com), December 14, 2000.

P.S. I was also very humbled by your Grandma's hard work. Hubby bought me a brand new dryer yesterday. How blessed I am!! Q.

-- queen (queenbuffness@hotmail.com), December 14, 2000.

Thank you so much for these wonderful stories. They are so interesting and humbling. I always love the "heritage" stories my relatives tell. I think it makes genealogy "real" when its more than names and dates. Save them for the future generations! Then perhaps they can see how hard their forefathers worked and how blessed they really are. It's a personal history lesson! God bless, Nancy

-- Nancy in CA (sonflower25@icqmail.com), December 15, 2000.

Submit them as a series to Countryside? I think they make for a very interesting read.All the history buffs and reinactors will esp. like them, I think.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 15, 2000.

Lenette, I loved your stories, too. My great-grandmother came over from Ireland during the famine when she was 16 and she came alone. She also worked as a housekeeper. It seems like alot of the immigrant women did this kind of work. Sharon, good idea about having these kind of stories in Countryside.

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), December 15, 2000.

I'm glad everyone is enjoying the stories. I will try to add some more info on Monday. (or sooner if I can find time.)

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), December 15, 2000.

Wonderful story!. Are you getting this all recorded some how? What a great heritage to pass on. Or publish. As stated above a series in CS would be neat. I will buy a copy of the book when you get it ready! John

-- John in S. IN (jsmengel@hotmail.com), December 16, 2000.

There is a story in my family about a relative that got her breast caught in a washer wringer and ended up dying from it. Ouch....

I like that saying "housework done properly can kill you".

My paternal grandmother is dead and my maternal grandmother is half paralyed from a stroke and is about 1000 literal miles away from me. I miss them both and the stories they had.

My Grandma Osborne was born in upstate NY and used to tell me how she was the first girl in their area to "bob" her hair and of her first taste of peanutbutter. I have a wool blanket that we believe was spun and loomed on their farm.

I tried asking my dad about when he was growing up and he clammed up. Wouldn't tell us much of anything.

-- Heather (heathergorden@hotmail.com), December 16, 2000.

Heather, I have my grandmas' diary from the year 1916. She writes about "machines". I asked my dad what she meant and he said that's what they called cars! I don't think she was too sure of them. Never did know either one of my grandmothers, as they both died before I was born, and I envy those who were so blessed.

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), December 16, 2000.

Here's Grandma's memories about sod houses - With a walking plow they plowed up some soil, spading it into pieces about 14 x 20 inches. This they loaded onto their wagon, brought it to the place where the house was to be built, and laid the sod like bricks. This made the wall about 14 inches thick, which made it warm it winter and cool in summer.

They built 2 room houses, quite large rooms. The kitchen had to be kitchen, dining room and had a bed in one corner where the children slept, 3-4 in one bed. The living room also had to be part bedroom, this is where the parents slept. Later, another bed was set up for us girls to sleep in.

The sod house roof was made by laying a heavy beam the length of the house. The beam was either 8x8 or 10x10 inches. Then the rafters and rough boards were nailed on. Instead of shingles, it was covered with sheets of sod, then covered thickly with gumbo, or mud. Now this gumbo was prepared in the following way: Father would haul home several loads of mud, unload it on a pile in the yard, spreading it out about 10 feet wide. He would haul a load of straw, spread it over the mud, then pour barrels of water all over it. Then he would take a team of horses, lead them in a circle, around and around, until the mud and straw was thoroughly mixed by their feet. He would shovel this all together on a big pile, to keep it from drying out. He would put part of the mud on the wagon and pull it alongside the house.

Mother would crawl up on the roof. Father (or when he was not at home, we kids) had to throw it by hands-full on the roof, and Mother would plaster it all over the roof evenly, until every inch was covered. During the summers that would dry real hard. That would keep the rain from coming through. Mother had to do this every spring on the house, barn and all the buildings. At first Father built a room onto the house on the west side, that was the barn for the horses and cow. Later he built large stone buildings for the animals (chickens, hogs, etc.).

One day we had such a hard rain that the roof was soaked after it had rained for several days, so it rained through. Rain was dripping everywhere. So Mother took all the flour she had left, put it into her largest pan and stood under the upper door-sill. As the walls were about 14 inches thick, that was the only place it couldn't rain through, and Mother saved her flour.

The floor of our house was bare dirt. Mother would plaster the walls and floor inside the house the same way. (*note: I'm assuming she means like the roof?) Every Saturday we kids had to get pails of sand. Mother would spread the sand all over the floor, then take a pail of water and a rag, and get down on her knees and smear it all over the floor to get it even. We kids had to stay outside till it was dry. These are the good ol' days people talk about...hard on the women.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), December 17, 2000.

Lenette keep the stories coming. My grandmother was born in Dodge City, Kansas in 1917 and was the 7th child of an Irish immigrant and a Canadian/English immigrant (Canada was still part of Britian then) and they had a dirt floor that my great grandmother swept all the time. My grandma has great stories too.

When she was about 4 in Kansas (1920) she and her cousin Mary Kathleen would play on the front porch (they did tea) and a neighbor boy would bother them and want to play with them. One day they got tired of chasing him off and his pestering them. Mary Kathleen told my grandmother she had a plan to get rid of that nasty boy and grandma said ok. (Mary Kathleen was about 5 or 6) they went into the bathroom and "made tee" which they served this boy. Once he drank it they apparently told him what he drank and he never bothered them again! I have this story on video tape - it's a hoot.

-- Nancy Mills (nancymills_98@yahoo.com), December 17, 2000.

My grandparents on my father's side tried to homestead in the Ozarks from about 1918-1921. I now sure wish I had asked dad more questions about that time.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 19, 2000.

I loved your post. It makes us realize when we want to go back in time with our lives that we probably don't want to go back that far.

-- Darren in Idaho (darrencindy2000@yahoo.com), December 20, 2000.