May • 2010 • NEWSLETTER

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Life in the Fabulous
50s book »

Check Out Reminisce's 1940s DVD Set »

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Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

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We hope Mother’s Day over the weekend brought about special celebrations or special memories honoring all of the wonderful things our moms have done for us through the years. In that regard, we’ve dug out some items from our files that we hope will start you reminiscing about your mom.

—John Burlingham at Reminisce

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In this issue:

• Unforgettable Fashions
• Every Day Was Ladies’ Day for Mother
• Stirring Up Memories
• Time Capsule Trivia
• Over the Back Fence
• A Thought to Remember

Unforgettable Fashions

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Every Day was Ladies’ Day for Mother

By Dorothy Sidney Smith
Madison, Indiana

My mother was a baseball nut—a Chicago Cubs baseball nut, to be exact. She would set up the ironing board in our Chicago home and let the radio play-by-play blast next to her basket of dampened clothes. Or she would bake in the kitchen or dust the living room with her radio going throughout the game.

A couple of times a year in the 1930s, she took us to see the Cubs. We would mark the date on the calendar and start counting the days. How those days dragged by until it was Ladies’ Day.

Women from all over Chicago flocked to Wrigley Field, where they were admitted free—and so was I.

Since we lived on the far south side, we had to take a streetcar to the Illinois Central station, ride the IC to Randolph Street and walk to Michigan Avenue to catch a bus to Wrigley. I was always amazed that Mother knew exactly which bus to board.

Usually she looked for a game with the St. Louis Cardinals, because their rivalry brought her fierce competitive spirit to the fore. We would get as close to the plate on the first-base line as we could, then we would watch every pitch, hit and out as well as cheer for the Cubs and dispute the ump’s calls.

The grandstand was always filled, and many of the fans were kids who looked forward to these outings much of the summer. The cheers, while somewhat more falsetto, were just as sincere.

The Cubs won the National League pennant in 1938, and it was so exciting in Chicago. I was in the fifth grade, and our teacher brought a radio to school so we could hear the final game of the World Series. We were mighty downhearted when they lost.

Stan Hack, Billy Jurges, manager-player Gabby Hartnett and others have always been heroes in my memory.

My mother later moved to Indiana and listened daily to the Cubs’ games, drawing her shades and taking her phone off the hook if they played on television. She grew fond of another generation of players up to the Ernie Banks era, when this staunch Cubbies fan died.

The Ladies Day tradition at the ballpark ended after the Depression era, but it sure was great in its time.

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Stirring Up Memories

Flounder With Shrimp Stuffing

We hope you enjoy the following story of a World War II soldier’s attempt at an improvised fish fry in the Pacific—what a GI won’t go through for a tasty meal! During your Memorial Day cookout this month, please take a moment to think about what our service personnel have gone through over the years to maintain freedom. And check out this fish recipe you may want to try.

After fighting had ended on Betio Island on the Tarawa Atoll in 1943, my outfit from the 2nd Marine Division waited on Bairiki for transports to take us back to Hawaii.

One day during low tide I noticed a 20-by-20-foot wall about 2 feet high constructed from coral by the native islanders. I was not surprised to see several species of fish entrapped. Having been born and raised along the New England shores, I recognized some of the fish as similar to our flat fish or flounder.

With the help of a few buddies and our shoes and K-bars, we captured a few fish, and I volunteered for a work detail and obtained some lard. With my helmet full of lard, some ground-up salt tablets and a roaring fire fed by handfuls of gunpowder, we had a fish fry.

—William Hokkanen
Cape Cod, Massachusetts

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Over the Back Fence

GOTTA GO! Mothers can be willful when taking care of their children. This fun 1956 postcard was sent to us by Agnes Thorden from Closter, New Jersey.

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Amusing morsels and bits of wisdom overheard and read here and there.

Daffy Definitions
Peacemaker: Spat remover.
Urban renewal: Shack absorber.
Laryngitis: Conversation peace.
Birth-control pill: What a wife who wants children calls a husband who doesn’t.
A bore: A man in a rut who thinks he’s in the groove.

My Mother: Ed Jeronczyk of Greenfield, Massachusetts shares this 1916 verse by Tom Dillon in honor of Mother’s Day this month.

For the body you gave me, the bone and the sinew, the heart and the brain that are yours, my mother, I thank you. I thank you for the light in my eyes, the blood in my veins, for my speech, for my life, for my being. All that I am is from you, who bore me.

For all the love that you gave me, unmeasured from the beginning, my mother, I thank you. I thank you for the hand that led me, the voice that directed me, the breast that nestled me, the arm that shielded me, the lap that rested me. All that I am is by you, who nursed me.

For your smile in the morning and your kiss at night, my mother, I thank you. I thank you for the tears you shed over me, the songs that you sung to me, the prayers you said for me, for your vigils and ministering. All that I am is by you, who reared me.

For the faith you had in me, the hope you had for me, for your trust and your pride, my mother, I thank you. I thank you for your praise and your chiding, for the justice you bred into me, and the honor you made mine. All that I am, you taught me.

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Time Capsule Trivia

In celebration of Mother’s Day, try to guess the famous mothers or mothers of famous people from these descriptions. Click the Web link below for the answers, but no peeking!

1. She was a dedicated suffragette and an early crusader for birth control. A. Actress Katharine Hepburn’s mother, Katharine Houghton Hepburn. B. Actress Mae West’s mother, Matilda “Tillie” Doelger. C. Dancer/actress Cyd Charisse’s mother, Lena.

2. Along with Barbara Bush, which other 20th-century first lady produced the most children with six. A. Mamie Eisenhower. B. Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson. C. Eleanor Roosevelt.
   

3. She played a mother superior in two movies with the word “angels” in the title. A. Ingrid Bergman. B. Rosalind Russell. C. Debbie Reynolds.
   

4. The TV husband of this TV mom said in one episode, “The kids are gone. We can do anything we want. We can even watch TV naked.” This TV mom replied, “Oh, not that again.” A. Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham (Happy Days). B. Florence Henderson as Carol Brady (The Brady Bunch). C. Esther Rolle as Florida Evans (Good Times).
   

5. Which mother did not have her actual son play her TV son regularly on her show. A. Mary Tyler Moore on The Dick Van Dyke Show. B. Lucille Ball on I Love Lucy. C. Harriet Nelson on Ozzie and Harriet.
   

Click here for the answer to Time Capsule Trivia.

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A Thought to Remember

One good turn gets most of the blanket.

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