Big Grandma's House

 

Big Grandma, my maternal grandmother Stella Schipp, wasn’t really very big, not much more than 5 feet tall; but she was bigger than Little Grandma, my father’s mother, Telkla Dachtera, who was a tiny woman.

After WWII my parents and I moved from St. Paul, MN to the Chicago area, and when we’d visit St. Paul, we’d stay with Big Grandma.  To a little girl who visited only once a year, her house was full of places I longed to explore but I wasn’t allowed to investigate - places that must surely contain all manner fascinating things.

The house was one of the earliest built in that part of St. Paul. MN. Additions had been made by the time my grandparents bought it in 1920.  It still sits on Goodhue Street on the limestone bluff at the lower end of the old High Bridge.  The basement had been carved or blasted out of the limestone.  There was a coal fired furnace down there; and probably storage for meat and vegetables.  I’m sure that the limestone kept the temperature more or less constant summer or winter.

Early photo – before my time

The High Bridge connected the high bluffs of the wide gorge carved from the stone by the Mississippi river.  At the river’s level were still some homes, some industry, and a railroad yard.

The house itself was quite unremarkable.  It was green painted stucco. There were large shade trees in the front yard.  Around the side was a pretty plot of lily of the valley.  I loved those tiny fragrant white flowers. The back yard included a chicken coop that was empty by the time I saw it.  When she was raising her family, Grandma raised chickens and ducks.  She used duck eggs in her baking because they were richer than chicken eggs.  Also in the backyard was Grandpa’s shed!

How I longed to investigate all the wonderful things stashed away in that shed! Grandpa died before I was born so I never knew him.  He’d been a teamster with his own team of horses; and the shed had housed his horses, his wagon, and all his tack and tools.  I was actually inside the shed a few times but never let loose to explore.  There were horse collars and other tack hanging on one wall. There was a grinding wheel for sharpening tools. There were nooks and crannies. I loved its smell of old wood and old leather.

The interior of the house was plain, functional, and felt very comfortable to me.  Nothing fancy, but I sure wish I had photos of its old fashioned furnishings.  There was a player piano with at least a dozen music rolls. I couldn’t play the rolls, but I was allowed to occasionally play the piano. 

Hanging on the wall above the piano were portraits of two beautiful young women – 1920’s glamour portraits of two of my aunts.

There was a small room that had a toilet but had no other plumbing.  Bathing was done in the kitchen in a big, round galvanized tub that was brought out for baths and for laundry.

The kitchen had a sink with a drainboard and single faucet for cold water.  Hot water for dishwashing, bathing and laundry was heated on the cook stove.  It was a huge black coal fired iron stove.  Grandma cooked and baked for her family and taught her seven daughters to cook on that stove.  There was a large pantry that excited my curiosity because the upper shelves held lots of interesting looking things. I never got to explore it. A room to the left of the stove held a large ice box.

The long wide dining room had a huge table that would seat the whole family: parents and their 11 kids.   On one wall was a big old clock with a brass pendulum and a pretty loud tick. Its chime struck every quarter hour and tolled the hour. Off to one side was a nook with a small table and a chair.  On the table was a candlestick phone. 

I’d fall asleep to the ticking of the dining room clock and then, in the darkness, the whole house would begin to vibrate as a train pulled by a chugging steam engine would resonate through the limestone.  I can still feel it. The rail yard at the base of the bluff was probably always pretty busy but I only noticed the trains at night. 

I remember being upstairs at Grandma’s house only once.  As usual, I wasn’t allowed to explore. There were chests full of things that Grandma had kept and that aunts and uncles had left behind.  Imagine what treasures were tucked away just waiting for a little girl to find them.

Our annual visits stopped in 1953 after my first brother was born; and when Grandma died in 1954, the house was emptied and sold.  To this day I still wonder what amazing things I might have found in the forbidden (to a little girl) spaces of Big Grandma’s house.

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Ambrose and Emily

 

It took a lot of love, courage and optimism to get married in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1936. My parents had all of those attributes.

In the 1930’s St. Paul was a haven for gangsters. As long as they paid off the local authorities, they could operate untouched in St. Paul as long as they did not commit their crimes within city limits.  John Dillinger and “Baby Face” Nelson frequented the city along with Alvin Karpis.

Although prohibition was repealed in 1933, bootleggers continued their trade for some years after that.

The Great Depression was still a major problem in 1936, but was being eased by the New Deal programs instituted by President Frankin D. Roosevelt.

1936 was a year of transition for St. Paul. It was recovering from it’s infamous gangster reputation. New Deal programs were providing some new job opportunities.

In the beginning

Emily Ganas and Ambrose Dachtera met in 1^st grade in St. Adalbert’s parochial school. The parishioners were mostly Polish immigrants or their children. Felician nuns taught in both Polish and English languages. Immigrants knew that their children needed an education in English to be able to thrive in the U.S.

Ambrose and Emily were probably looking forward to better times when they married on September 5, 1936 in St. Adalbert’s Catholic church.

 

They were fortunate that they both had jobs. Ambrose worked in a brass factory; Emily decorated cakes in a large commercial bakery.

There is little, if any, information about the early years of their marriage. The only thing of significance is the unfortunate news that there were failed pregnancies during the first six years.

1942 saw the birth of their daughter Mary Catherine. After six years, it is safe to say that they were probably overjoyed.

1942 also saw the US deeply involved in World War II. Military forces were deployed around the world. Factories were converted to produce tanks and planes instead of autos, etc.

Rationing was in place to ensure equitable distribution of scarce resources,

and gave priority to the military's needs. Even newborn babies were issued ration books to ensure that a family’s needs could be met.

Internment camps were instituted for people of Japanese descent.  The 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor had instilled such fear in the US. There were also internment camps for Germans and Italians but on a much smaller scale.

Ambrose entered army service in 1944, but because of his poor eyesight, he was never sent overseas and instead served at several US installations. He’d made the rank of Staff Sergeant by the time of his discharge.

 

Post War Move

1946: The war was over. Soldiers were coming home to the US. Corporations and private employers were required by law to rehire discharged military men who had been employed by them before the war.

Ambrose worked at International Harvester before the war. They gave him a job after the war, but it wasn’t in St. Paul. He was given a job at a factory IH had acquired in Melrose Park, Illinois – a western suburb of Chicago.  With thousands of returning soldiers looking for work, it was an offer he could not refuse.

So, the family moved to the village of Northlake, IL just west of Melrose park. It wasn’t rural or even semi-rural but it was very primitive compared to the relatively sophisticated urban environment of St. Paul.

 

The streets of Northlake were gravel. There was no sewer system – rain and snow runoff was handled by ditches along each street.

Their house had a coal furnace and a water heater fired by kerosene. Water came from a well in the front yard. Waste was collected by a septic tank in the back yard. Emily tried to make the best of it despite her disappointment.

The good news was that there was bus service to get to nearby towns that were more modern and had shopping and entertainment.  One could also ride a bus to the west end of Chicago’s elevated train system in Oak Park, giving easy access to that great city’s wonders.

Over time, Ambrose made some interior modifications and improvements. A modern water heater replaced the original one. The furnace was upgraded to oil and then to gas.

Northlake was incorporated as a city. Residential sewer and water lines eliminated the need for the well and the septic tank.  After a couple of decades, streets were paved and sidewalks installed. It began to feel much more like civilization.

The 1940’s ended quietly for the family.

On into the 1950’s

The 1950’s saw economic boom times, a baby boom and expansion of urban suburbs. But the decade also saw the Korean War and increased pressure of the Cold War. There was the anti-communism hysteria of McCarthyism. Tensions were rising as the Civil Rights movement began in earnest.Emily gave birth to their first son, Mark, in 1953. After ten years of family stability, this was a drastic change in the household. Diapers, baby formula, crib, baby clothes.  It was a bit of an upheaval.

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Twenty-two months later in 1954 another son, David, came into the world. Not as much of a drastic upheaval, but added significant pressure to the family.

But once the boys were out of diapers, things settled down a little. Emily went to work. Ambrose took on a second job. Not easy but they were managing.

Life went along at a steady pace for number of years. Eventually both Ambrose and Emily retired. Mary, Mark and David went their separate ways.

Ambrose died of cancer at the age of 79 in 1993.  Emily died of cancer in 2011 just months before her 99^th birthday.

Since neither Mark nor David had any children, this branch of the Dachtera family will go no further. One branch falls off the tree.

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Pretty Women

 My first memories of my maternal aunts were as middle-aged (at least) women. Perspective: My mother was the 10^th of 11 children. She was 30 when I was born, so her sisters ranged in age at that time from 34 years to 48 years old. For a small child, they seemed “old”.

I had a fresh look at these women when a cousin recently sent me a box of old photos including some of my aunts’ wedding photos. It was wonderful to see my aunts as lovely young women.

I scanned these photos and then took advantage of the colorizing service offered by MyHeritage.  You may need to be a member to take advantage of this service.

They are posted below along with a photo of my maternal grandmother that was probably from the mid 1890’s judging by her dress.

And my maternal Grandmother, Stella Schipp  

I am so glad to be reminded that they were once young, lovely and lively. It would be great to be able to go back in time and know them as they were then.

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