North Jersey

I was surprised at the beauty of North Jersey the first time we went up there. It was loaded with lakes and streams with beautiful valley's along the mountain ranges. I especially liked the cool mountain air right in the middle of Summer. The view from High Top is spectacular.
We took a side trip to Princeton on the way home and that is one place I wouldn't mind living in. It's about as pretty a place as any I've ever seen.

Hot Dog Roasts

We didn't have BBQ's, we called them hot dog roasts. We would build a fire and get a green branch for everyone to cook their own hot dogs. Afterward, we would use the same branch for roasting the marsh mellows. I feel that the charcoal and gas grills ruined the fun.
I always liked to burn everything so that it would have a black crust covering it, both hot dogs and marsh mellows. I also liked having them after dark. It just wasn't the same during the day.

Old Higbe's Grave

Our boy scout troupe went camping down at the beach behind the old magnacite plant. One of the older boys told us about old Higbe's grave and he would take us to see it. We all got our flashlights and took a little hike to see this thing. Shore enough, there it was, very eerie looking with a black metal fence around it.
One of the older boys had gotten there before us that we didn't know about and was standing in the dark just a few feet on the other side of the grave. He started moaning and stamping his feet, then he turned his flashlight on his face which was covered with ashes and scared the living daylights out of us. We ran all the way back to the camp site and told the scout master about it and he was going along with the gag. He said we would post 2 guards all night to make sure it didn't raid our camp. I think most of stayed awake all night.

Weeks Landing

We used to go over to Weeks Landing to go crabbing. It was a lot different in those days, the parkway wasn't built yet. Thompson's had a little marina there and some of the local people had cabins on stilts built through out the marshes. Old Charlie Hand had a nice one not too far from where the parkway is now. It was right on the creek and he had his own little dock.

Losing A Wheel.

Dad was driving his Dodge truck up to visit Mother in the hospital and when he got to Erma Park, his rear wheel came off. He said that he felt the back end go down and suddenly he saw a wheel rolling across the field next to him. Good thing no other cars were on the road. It turned out that old Ben Prichard put new bearings on the axles and pressed them on backwards. It didn't hurt the truck any, he used it for years after that.

The Evening Bulletin

Every day about dinner time, they would deliver the Evening Bulletin. You knew when it was coming because they would be laying on the car horn to let everyone know their paper was here. Just about every house got it.
Just as exciting was the mosquito fogging jeep. During the Summer they would run up and down our street fogging us with DDT. We didn't know any better and would run through the fog. Sometimes I wonder why I'm still here.

Wash Day

I remember when every Monday was wash day in the neighborhood and there were clothes lines in every back yard. Keeping clothes looking good in those days was a very hard job. There were no stay-pressed or wash and wear clothes and everything had to be ironed. If it rained on Monday, your schedule was messed up. Quite a few things were starched. There was no spray starch so it had to be mixed up and the clothes dipped in it, then ironed. Things have really changed.

The Trash

In the early fifties everyone burned their trash behind their house. It was common to smell burning trash after work at 5pm. People would take a 55 gallon drum, cut the bottom out of it and punch some air holes in the side and there was your incinerator. They didn't start trash collection in Lower Township until we lived there quite a few years.

Camp Kimble

I joined the boy scouts when I was eleven and it was a great experience for me. We learned a lot at those meetings every week. The whole troupe went to camp kimble for a week and it was the first time I went somewhere without a single member of the family there. That was a great place with more food then I ever saw before and it was really good. The full size viking ship was my favorite thing there. We had trouble with the oars at first getting tangled up, but we finally got moving up the river. I believe scouting is one of the best things for a young boy.

Cleaning the Chicken Coup

One job we hated was cleaning the chicken coup which happened to be on the second floor of the barn. What a nasty job that was. We would throw the stuff out the window and try to hit the truck below. Jim said it reminded him of a giant dinosaur having a bowel movement. Anything to make life interesting.

Firewood

We spent a good part of our time cutting firewood when we were young. We didn't have any power equipment like chainsaws. Everything was done with an ax and a two man saw. The woodshed was connected to the barn, so at least we were out of the cold wind. Two of us would cut off 16 inch pieces of a log on the saw horse with the two man saw and one would split the wood. The whole time Dad would be talking about something or other. That's probably why we were so quiet, we never got a chance to practice.

Learning to Drive

Dad wanted me to drive the 36 Plymouth to help dig the potato crop. The plan was to use it like a horse to pull a plow that he was going to steer. I was only eleven years old and wasn't too keen on this idea. He said get behind the wheel and lets go. It was after dark and I got out on the road and headed south on Old Shore Road. We got down to the school and came back. We made it, but driving on the road was a lot easier than driving in a soft field so we gave up on that idea and dug the potatoes by hand.

The Old White Oak

Right inside the woods was a huge white oak tree that was so big that three of us together couldn't get our arms around it. That tree must of been around when the Indians were still in the area. There was one branch that swung up and down about ten feet and was better than a see saw. The last time I was out there, I saw that the tree had died and fell over. I often looked at that tree and thought it would be nice if we lived as long as a tree.

One Steep Hill

One day Bobby Phaff and I were riding our bikes around the back sections of the airport and came to this hill out in the middle of nowhere. We pushed our bikes up to the top and were planning to coast down. When we got to the top it turned out to be much steeper than we thought and we chickened out. As we were looking for the best way down, I started heading down because my brakes gave way. It was so steep that I thought I would start tumbling head over heals. It only took seconds to reach the bottom, but that was enough time to scare the wits out of me. Just as I reached bottom, I heard a loud groan and looked up to see Phaffey picking up speed as he was coming down. It was so funny, his legs were straight out to his sides and his eyes were big as golf balls and his mouth looked like he wanted to scream but nothing was coming out. We left that place, relieved that we were still alive.

The Airport

We were fascinated with the county airport and we would walk through the apple orchard to get there. We usually stayed there longer than we intended and figured it was worth any punishment that would come later. The prisoner of war barracks were still there and made nice places to explore.

The owner of Young's Flying Service was very nice to us, he even would let us sit in one of his planes if we promised not to touch anything. I once wanted to be a professional golfer and have my own plane to fly between matches.

The Old Brick Church Cemetary

One day we boys took a walk along the stream that flowed in the back and side of the cemetery at the Cold Spring Church. It was eerie for us and there were some strange things we came across that day. We saw some dragon flies that had florescent blue dots on their wings and it looked like blue dots flying around. We named them the flying dots. The place was like a jungle and we had to walk in the water to get out or else go all the way back the way we came. It didn't help that we were talking about maybe the water went through some of the caskets. We came to a stretch of the stream that had red stones on the bottom. That was scary and we were sure glad to get out of that place.

Shot At

Jim and I were walking along on the edge of the woods and found an overgrown strawberry patch that was full of overripe strawberries. We were picking away and suddenly we were shot at. I heard the pellets land around us just as the man that shot started laughing. We took off into the woods like a couple of rabbits and I won't incriminate myself be telling how I got even with him.

The Ducks

A friend of Dad's gave him a few ducks, there was one drake in the bunch. These ducks multiplied to a dozen very quickly and they were great flyer's. More than one driver was startled by a flying duck crossing in front of their windshield. The drake was king of the barnyard for 6 or 7 years and then one of his own beat him in a fight and it was over for him. He spent his last days running for his life.

Lye Soap

Aunt Wilda sent this.

Here is the recipe for that soap:
9 Pounds of grease
4 boxes or cans of lye
13 Gallons of water

Put into kettle all at one time.
Boil for 3 hours.
Let cool.
Cut into pieces.
I found this at an old Farm Show in Florida.

Soap and Roses

On the south side of the house, there was a room that was all windows and we called it the shed. This was the room where the laundry was done and it had a sink that was leaking for many years before we even moved into this house. There was a bunch of homemade soap there that the Hand's made from animal fat and ashes. It worked really good, but Mother didn't want to use it and it was thrown out. She used to buy some big brownish yellow bars of soap that were so strong that you thought your eyes and skin were ruined. We switched to Ivory after a while.

There was a beautiful climbing red rose on the side of the shed that was so big people used to stop by and take pictures of it. Well, it got so big from all the years it was getting fed soap from the leaking sink. I know this, because after we fixed the leak, the rose got a little smaller each year.

Party Line

We got a telephone and it was crazy, there were to other houses on the same line. You had to listen to the rings to know if the call was for your number. Our's was 2 quick rings a pause then 2 more. It would keep going like that until someone answered it. You could listen to the other people on the party line when they got a call and you never knew if someone was listening in on you. One man on the party line was a fisherman and he would get calls at 4am to go to work, but he was a heavy sleeper and it would keep on ringing.

The Weather Vane

There was an old weather vane on the garage that was pretty neat. It was a model of a sailing ship and it was hand made by someone. Grandpop Miles liked it so much that he made a replica of it. Quite a few people offered to buy it, but Dad never agreed to sell it. A few years later, A man stopped by when Dad wasn't home and Mother sold it to him. Dad was really pissed, especially after he found out how little she got it for.

Our First TV

In the early 50's we got our first TV. It was an Admiral and had a whopping 7 inch screen measured diagonally. Dad bought it used from a guy named Lukey who he worked with. Cresse and his father helped put the antenna on the roof. There were only 3 channels in those days, NBC, CBS, and ABC, but they had really great shows. My favorites were Amos-N-Andy, Rocky King Detective, the Colgate Comedy Hour, Sid Ceasar and Imogene Coca, and Mr. Peepers.

During the Summer, we had to put a fan behind it to cool it off. We got a lot of use out of it before we moved up to a 14 inch Motorola.

The Old Pear Tree

The old pear tree was always loaded with fruit every September, but they were very hard and not good eating pears. They made good pear sauce and drew lot's of hornets and wasps. The best part of that tree was the shade it provided in just the right spot, between the house and the cabin. There was always some chairs under it and most of the time there would be at least one person getting some shade.

Whenever I think of the pear tree, I picture Grandpop Miles under it. He spent a lot of time there waiting for the mailman or just reading the paper and things like that. He had a rocking chair and he would hang his cane on the back of it. He liked to grab you by the neck with that cane if you didn't watch as you were walking by. That pear tree finally blew over in a storm and it was very sad to see the old friend go.

Mother

The things that Mother did without to raise 15 kids is almost beyond belief. I don't know how she kept her sanity with all the hard times that really outnumbered the easy times. And she had chances to have had a different life altogether when she was young. I know she turned away Ernie Kovac's who later became a TV star when she was working at that diner in Trenton.

I'm glad she lived a long life and got to see how big her family was becoming.

The Feed Store

Another of my favorite stores was Robbin's feed store in Rio Grand. It had an odor of all the animal feeds and hay that wasn't bad at all. We used to get the baby chicks there and it was always fun to start a new generation of laying hens. We always had lot's of eggs to eat and sell.

We used to sell chickens to Flacco's Market in Wildwood. The first time we got an order from him, we cut the heads off and he had a fit. His customers wanted to see the heads to make sure the chicken was fresh. He used to pay us 30 cents a pound for the chickens and we got 60 cents a dozen for the eggs.

Mary's Store

We had a general store in Erma and it was a real old fashion one with pot belly stove and a bunch of old men around it talking about everything under the Sun. Old Mary Mathews owned it and we were always going there for penny candy and ice cream cones, which were only 10 cents. She sold dipped ice cream by the pound and it was really good. Mother used to send us for that quite often. She would dip it out on a paper take-out tray and cover it with wax paper.

Her old meat slicer had to be cranked by hand. It was a fascinating place and I never got tired of going in there.

The Chicken Coup

While we were still at Grandpop's, we helped Uncle Emil redo the roof on the chicken coup. We were promised a big dinner of pierogies and blackberry pie. At that time I had no idea what a pierogie was, but everyone was talking about how good they were, so I was looking forward to getting done and trying them.

They were better than I expected, and I ate so many that I didn't want any pie. Grandpop showed Mother how to make them and I was really happy about that.

The Cows

Once when we were visiting Grandpop Demusz, I watched Uncle Emil bring in the cows at the end of their day in the pasture. They were eager to get to their stalls to get their treat of hay. They had a new young cow and she got in Bossy's stall by mistake. Bossy wasted no time in kicking her out and chasing her down to the end of the barn.
When they were all settled in and eating their hay, Uncle Emil started milking Bossy. I moved up to see what he was doing and Bossy kicked me in the knee and slapped my face with her tail. Uncle Emil laughed and said "you're on the wrong side, come over on this side of her." It wasn't hard to see why she was named Bossy.
I decided to go out and crack some corn for the ducks, it was safer.

South Cape May

One day when we going down to find a place to swim, we came across what was left of South Cape May. It was destroyed in a hurricane, but the wrecked houses and the streets were still there. It was a real ghost town. We had a ball going through the houses, some of them still had dishes and stuff like that. There was even a jar of peanut butter in one. After a few years, it all washed away.

The Ditch

One of the first things Dad did at the place in Erma was to extend the ditch out to a swamp that was halfway out to the woods. That helped control some of the mosquito's. The first Summer there was a little dry and one day Dad saw some clouds and started saying, "come on rain, give us some rain." Well, Mother was scared-to-death of lightning and she would say, "go away rain, we want the Sun." Then Dad would say, "you're silly, you can't talk to the clouds." I don't know how many times they went through that routine.

Mr. Hands Daughter

Mr. Hands daughter came down from Philadelphia to visit us and gave us a little of the house's history. She said it was over 100 years old and her father moved it from Weeks Landing Road across the field. She said that she was born in the front bedroom. There was a hidden room behind a closet that went under the stairway and I never did find out what that was for.

The Cabin Chimney

After we moved to Erma, a bunch of Dad's family came down from PA to visit. There was this one old Ukrainian man that was in the cabin staring at the chimney. He laughed and said "I've been all over the world, but I never saw a chimney built on air before." We hadn't noticed it before, but the chimney didn't reach the floor. Old mister Hand had his own way of doing things.

The Second Grade

My first day of school at Lower Township was a disaster. As the teacher was giving us our reading books, I said "we had this same book for reading in the first grade in North Wildwood, last year." Well, the teacher got real indignant and said "OK, if you're so smart, you can be the teacher and I'll just watch." That one incident set the tone for my whole year in the second grade.

The School Bus

At Lower Township, we had to ride the school bus and it was a dilly. It must of been 20 years old and sounded like it was going to rattle itself to pieces. They didn't worry about safety in those days. Our driver was Yohn Thomson, spelled with a Y. We were the last to enter the bus and we had to push our way in just to stand in the aisle. On the way home from school, we were on the second load, so we had to wait at the school until the bus got back from it's first run.

Some of my best memories occurred waiting for the bus after school. There were no teachers out on the school grounds and we did pretty much anything we pleased. The big thing for boys in those days was marbles, every boy had a bag of marbles.

Easter Eggs by Aunt Wilda

I will always remember Easter egg hunts and good food. Food and Holidays seem to go together no matter what one it is. I remember Grandmom always told me about why we have Easter and one thing I never did get in my head is WHY DO WE HAVE EASTER EGGS? I guess it is because eggs are the beginning of new life. I always liked the smell of cooking in the house on Holidays as a child, and My children always said the same about growing up. They would say,"Open the windows and make the neighbours hungry!

Easter Meal

This is what I always remember as an Easter Sunday meal. Ham, kielbasa, pierogies, hard boiled eggs, steamed cabbage, beets mashed with horseradish, and apple pie. Anything else would be an extra, but those things are necessary.

Dashboards

Jim and I used to check out the dashboards of every car we came across. I don't know why we were so fascinated with them, but we could tell what kind of car it was and the model year just by seeing the dash. I think the neatest one of all was on the 34 La Salle. It had a row of lights along the bottom of it that told you what was working and what wasn't. We were in our glory when we went over to the airport and started looking at the airplane dashboards. They were something else.

I still like a good looking dashboard and don't think I would buy a car that had a plain one. I want gauges and lights for everything, keeps me on my toes so I don't forget anything.

The Concrete Ship

This is what the concrete ship looked like the first time I saw it in the late 40s. I don't know who the people are in the picture. I was amazed at the time that they made a boat out of the same stuff our sidewalk was made of. We liked the beach here because of the Cape May diamonds there for the taking.

Chickens By Aunt Wilda

We use to sell chickens. One day we had an order for several chickens. Aunt Edith and Uncle Furman came to visit while the chickens were being prepared. Furman stepped right in to get them ready. We always cut the heads off on a tree stump with two nails hammered in the top to stick the neck through. Up goes the ax , down it comes, and off goes the head. Edith said," I want to try it." Furman gave her the ax and said "Now don't cut your leg off." she had him to put the head on the stump and then she put the ax up a little and down it came.The neck got cut, but not off. The chicken jumped up and ran off. Edith started yelling,"Get him, get him." Furman ran and got the chicken,Grand pop stood there laughing and the poor chicken was hurting. Furman cut the chicken's head off, and off it ran again,tripping and running some more. Edith yelled,"See Furman, you can't do any better than me." She didn't know that they do that sometime because of the nerves. She went into the house and the rest of the chickens got their turn.

The Late 40's

Everyone had a job in the late 40's, there was no TV or electronics and hardly anyone had a telephone, but life was good. An occasional movie downtown, the beach, the boardwalk, and our friends was all we needed. It was a simpler way of living and I miss it.

If I was starting over again, I would buy myself a small farm and just sell vegetables at a roadside stand. I did many things in my lifetime, but none were as satisfying as watching animals and vegetables grow.

Roof Slide

After Grand mom and Grand pop,Lois and I moved from the lock house,we moved to Hanes road in Edgley, which later became a part of Levittown,Pa.. My job at that house was to clean the Chicken coop every Saturday. One Saturday after I finished my job I thought it would be a good idea to get up on the slanted roof and slide down. Well, when I did that, I got my pants caught on a nail and put a large L shaped tear in them. The first thing I thought was,( Mother will be so mad about this) I waited until she wasn't in sight, and I went to my room and sewed them.The L was very large and I sewed it with about four stitches. Later I heard Mother laughing out loud and said to Daddy,"Look at this." and when I walked into the room, there she was holding my pants up and laughing. I was then told that (I should never do anything like that again.)( That was the same as telling a lie.)(You should never Sneak.) Etc, etc.She at least didn't tell me never to slide on the roof again, So Guess What? The next week I took the hammer with me and got rid of that nail. I didn't only slide once, I went down again.

Boy From NY City

A family from NY City rented a house on our street for the Summer. They had a boy about 5 years old that talked so strange, I barely understood him. He always tried to sound tough, I guess he was from a tough neighborhood or something. He would say something like "I don't want to hurt you, but don't came on my porch." He wasn't big enough to hurt anyone, that's what made it so strange sounding. Even though we didn't really like him, we would go over to his yard, because he had the neatest toy trucks, tractors, and other dirt moving toys.

Selling Fruit Trees

Dad started selling fruit trees from the stark catalog for extra money. He would take the orders and send them in for the people. This was before we moved to Erma and he actually sold some to Mrs. Sirrus who would later be our neighbor. When I got out of the army, she gave me two of the fig trees she bought from him and I moved them to the yard in Erma. I put one by the cabin door, so that fig tree stayed in the family for a long time.

Sand Dunes

The sand dunes in North Wildwood were like the dunes that are in Avalon now. They pushed them down to make a clear view of the ocean for the motels they were building. So, then they decided it was better to have the dunes to protect against hurricanes. They planted dune grass and let the sand make new dunes, but they are nowhere near as big as the old ones were.

The Rat Trap

I was watching our neighbor lady and her grandson clean their yard one day and she told him to reach in the hole under their house and get the rat trap so she could put new bait on it. Well he did and I bet it really hurt from the sound of his scream. That's when I found out I could laugh at other people's trouble's.

I felt guilty about laughing, but I still laugh when I think about it. She started blaming her husband for putting the trap in the hole, that is the most comical part of the whole thing.

Our Fort

We found a dry spot in the middle of a swamp and decided to build a fort. It turned out pretty nice and it was well hidden with all the cattails around it. We had a place that even the older boys on the street didn't know about.

One day one of the guys said that dry cattail stems were good to smoke and they tasted like cigars. Well we had to try them so we got some matches and lit up a few. Boy, I thought I was going to die, my head started spinning and I had the dry heaves for about an hour. After that I got a severe headache. Live and learn!

The Gas Co.

Before natural gas was piped in from out west, they used to make it from coal right in Wildwood. The coal was brought in from PA by train and there was always a mountain of it. The plant had a high chimney and there always was a large flame shooting up from it. It seemed to me that they were burning the gas as fast as they were making it.

There was plenty of cinders left over from burning the coal and several places were using them to make cinder blocks. Half the motels in Wildwood were made with them.

The Bomb

One day the neighbor boy brought over a bomb that he found on the beach. We thought it was neat and were really checking it out. He finally said he would show it to Dad and see what he thought of it. He took it in our house and I could hear Dad yelling at him. He ran off with the bomb and Dad came out after him and wanted to know where he went. He said the bomb was probably live and the kid was going to kill himself. I spent the rest of the day listening for an explosion.

I hated Liver and Onions

There were two meals popular in our house, liver and onions and mashed potatoes with buttermilk. I couldn't stand either one of them. I was threatened with everything short of horse whipping if I didn't eat them and even that would not have worked on me. They finally gave up trying and Mother would let me eat something else on those days.

One day Dad brought home some Chinese food and Dad and I were the only ones that would eat it. I loved that stuff. One of Dad's friends gave us some wild cherry jelly that he made and I was the only one that liked that, so I had all of it to myself.

The Farm House In Erma

We went over to Erma to see the farm that we would be moving to. The first thing to hit us was the mosquitoes. It was noontime and they were out in force. We had to go buy some 612, which was the only repellent at that time. It was a liquid that you rubbed on and it smelled terrible.

The mosquito problem lasted a few years until the county dug all the drainage ditches in the marshes. That made a tremendous difference.

We had a great time exploring the farm with all it's buildings and antiques.

The Townhouse 5&10

The townhouse 5&10 store was always a good place to see the latest toys for sale. The owner was a very nice man. He let us look as much as we wanted even though we rarely bought anything. The sears Christmas catalog was the only better place to do this. When the sears Christmas catalog came, it was an exciting day. We would wear the thing out by the time Christmas came along.

The Old Plymouth

The old Plymouth always got us to where we wanted to go, but an impatient person would never have been able to drive it. Forty miles an hour seemed to be it's top speed and Dad rarely went above thirty-five. He always had a large following, of cars that is. We looked like the engine of a long train plugging along. It's a good thing no one thought of road rage in those days.

Dad was always looking at the temperature gauge and if it got too high, he would take the car out of gear and we would coast for a couple hundred yards and then continue on for another few miles until it got hot again. One time the brake line broke and we finished the last thirty miles to Grandpop's farm with just the emergency brake. That was fun on the hills.

Drumfish

Our next door neighbor caught a large drumfish. I never saw such a big fish, it must of weighed about 70 pounds. He gave us some and it was really good the way Mother cooked it. I liked it made into a potpie. I always liked all of Mother's potpies, especially the chicken with the thick crust.

It seemed like every Friday we had baked cod with mashed potatoes and stewed tomatoes. I haven't had that in years and I think I'll go buy some codfish.

Repairs

Dad used to repair our shoes at home. He had all of the tools that a cobbler had and at that time all shoes were made of leather with leather soles and heels. No one had sneakers in those days. We all had to shine our shoes, mainly to make them last longer. The wax kept the leather from cracking.

He also had to be good at fixing flat tires. On a trip to PA, we usually had at least one flat and sometimes more. He never had a spare tire, he always took the tire off the rim and patched the inner tube. Air was pumped in with a hand pump and we would be on our way again.

The Twins

Don and Shirl were born before we moved to Erma. The little house we were living in was getting pretty crowded. There were seven of us kids now. The twins would be the last of our family to be born at Margaret Mace hospital. Sharon would be born at Burdette. Burdette was just built and it was very small at that time.

I had mixed feelings about moving, our 4th street gang was a big part of my life and I would miss the kids. I don't think any other street in North Wildwood had as many kids as our street did.

High Water

Late one afternoon I noticed water coming out of the street drain. It started running down the street and neighbors started coming out and talking about it. I looked out towards the meadows and they were completely flooded. It was strange because there was no wind and the Sun was out. It kept rising and soon the sidewalks were under water. I started to worry, because it started coming faster and now it was heading towards our front door. It looked like we were in Venice.

It finally stopped and after a while it started to recede. Some of the older people said they lived there all their life and never saw the water come so high.

Changing Grades

In Margaret Mace school, every grade had a skit to do on the last day of school. So I was graduating from the 1st grade and I wasn't too happy about it. It meant going into the 2nd grade that was taught by a very grouchy woman that everyone was afraid of.

Well I thought my luck was turning for the better when Dad said we were moving to a farm in Erma. I wouldn't have that teacher after all, little did I know that I was getting a worse teacher in Lower Township.


Diet Help

Our Dog

The collie we got as a pup grew up and became a car chaser. We couldn't break him of the habit and he finally got killed by a car. I had a feeling that the neighbors were not too sorry to see him go. At the time I was too sick to think much about the dog, I had the chicken pox and was really feeling terrible.

Mother believed in fresh air for any illness and she made me go outside and stay in the sun. It was very windy and cold that week and the cold made my rash itch like crazy. I can still see some of the scars on my face.

How Different It Was

One day the man living in the house in front of ours got sick and his wife called an ambulance. Everyone on the street came out to see if they could help, there must have been 50 people there. Even the lady from New York, that everyone thought was stuck-up was there holding the man's hand as he was being put in the ambulance.

When they called the ambulance for me a couple of years age, people watched from their windows, but no one even asked what happened to this day. It's a far different world from the forties.

If you live in St. Augustine

One Big Typewriter

This typewriter on the Atlantic City boardwalk actually worked. They scrapped it during world war 11 for the metal. What a shame!

Cape May's Elephant

This is a drawing of the elephant made in Cape May in 1884. It was over 40 feet high and the owner charged 10 cents to go inside and up to the pavilion. It was located in South Cape May. It was left to rot and the city tore it down around the turn of the century.

Interesting family history from Aunt Wilda

A long time ago Lucy the elephant was a Coffee Shop. That is where Grandmom's Mother worked,her name was Ida Bacon. She was my Grandmother. My great Grandfather worked at the Barniget Light house, his name was Sam Leamon. Grandmom Miles told me that when she was a little girl, she would visit and play in the Light house.

Lucy is now restored and in Margate, NJ.

Grandmom

We went up to PA to bring Grandmom down for a stay. We came back to NJ by way of Atlantic City along the white horse pike {rte. 30}. We were all fascinated by all the signs on the way into Atlantic City. There were signs made like full size castles, dinosaurs, fish, and just about anything you could think of. It was great fun seeing the sites in Atlantic City, like Lucy the elephant and the tall hotels along the boardwalk.

Dad's Burnt Elbow

Dad was the only person I ever knew that could sleep while sitting in a straight back chair. One night he was doing this and leaned back a little, just enough for his elbow to touch the heater. That woke him up right quick and he ended up with a very large blister.

He always used to read his paper, sleep awhile, then read his paper some more until late in the night. I never could read at night unless I was in bed.

Hamburgers

When Don and Shirl were born, Mother had to stay in the hospital for a week. Dad asked us kids every day what we wanted for supper and we always said hamburgers and ketchup on buns. He did it, every day he went to the market and got fresh hamburger and buns and we all helped cook and fix them. Everyone on 4th ave. was joking about it. Dad said that we would start eating right when Mother got home.

Aunt Wilda Also Liked The Railroad

I liked the railroad also. I would run across the field and wait for the train to come, because I knew I was going to get candy thrown to me. The Engineer got use to me coming out there to wave at the train, so he started bringing me candy and yelling "How are you today?" I told Albert and Margaret Parr about this, and they started coming with me. Who would have known then that one day I would marry an Engineer that would buy me boxes of candy. One thing for sure, He didn't throw them at me.

They Are Taking Black Hill Away

They started hauling away our beloved black hill. Loaders and dump trucks worked on it day and night until it was gone. They built that furniture store "NJ Warehouse" where it once stood. We were all sick about that.

There was a building boom in Wildwood, because the war was over and and people were making up for the 5 years lost. All the empty blocks where there were shrubs and swamps were being cleared and houses were being built on them. I didn't like the change at all.

NJ Ave.

NJ ave. had railroad tracks running down the middle of it when we lived there. They still had passenger service in to the center of Wildwood. Those old steam engines used to put out a whole lot of smoke. Sometimes you could get yourself covered with black soot if the fire wasn't burning right in the engine.

I was fascinated by them and the railroad workers were always friendly and talked to us kids. I asked for an electric train for Christmas so I could have my own train. I had that train for years and kept adding to it each Christmas.

I never wanted to be an engineer like a lot of the other boys, I wanted a ranch like Roy Rogers. Aunt Mary's father was a real cowboy from the west. When he was young, he rounded up cattle and all of that and I thought he was a special person, above everyone else.

The Dentist

My trip to the dentist in Wildwood was an experience I'll never forget. He was as big as Paul Bunyan and his fingers were so big and fat that I couldn't see how he could work on any one's teeth with them. The hardest part of the whole thing was there were about 12 kids in front of me and they were screaming like they were being chopped to pieces. If the big nurse wasn't blocking the door I would have taken off.

They didn't have fluoride in those days, so dentists were pretty busy filling cavities. I finally got to the big chair and couldn't believe how much torture equipment was around that thing. The drill is what I didn't like, something about the sound it made is what turned my bones cold. It's funny, but the drilling didn't hurt at all and I was surprised that the other kids screamed about it. The dentist thanked me for being good and off I went.

The Gullies

When the tide started going out in the ocean off North Wildwood, it would form gullies or sand bars under the water. These made safe places to swim where you wouldn't get taken out in the undertow. The water also was a little warmer in them from the Sun hitting the still water. We spent a lot of time at the beach when we lived there. After we moved to Erma, it was only a few times each Summer.

No one used sunblock in those days, I wonder why skin cancer is on the rise now. Our skin used to peel off every June and we would be tan until school started again.

Roy Rogers

Jim and I each had a dime and Mother said we could go to the newsstand and buy 2 comic books. We each bought the Roy Rogers comic, because he was the was the king of the cowboys and there was no 2nd place. Well Mother said we were crazy and made us take one back and exchange it for another comic. So Jim exchanged his for a capt. Marvell.

I recently saw that same Roy Rogers comic at a card show and it was listed for $10,000. Boy, if we only knew what things were going to be worth.

Long Nights

I used to think nights were weeks long compared to days. It was because I used to wake up during the night and it would seem like a very long time before I went to sleep again. I didn't like nights at all.

When the Sunday school teacher told us that bad people get tormented forever after they die, I figured they were put in a pitch black place where they never saw anything again. They were all alone with nothing to do, see, or hear for the rest of time. What a horrible thought.

Blackberry Pie

One day Dad loaded us in the car and said we are going to go blackberry picking. We rode offshore to an abandoned railroad track bed and overpass just west of Court House. There was loads of ripe blackberries and blueberries all free for the taking. We had a good time filling our pots with berries and eating as many as we could.

When we got home, Mother made two large pies in her baking pans and they were really good. I still have never tasted a berry pie as good as the ones Mother used to make. Somehow you could taste both the blackberries and blueberries that she mixed in the pies.

Two Pretty Girls

Two pretty girls moved into a house across the street and "good grief," I was in love again. They were twins, I think and they were always smiling. Now I was in love with 3 girls and my teacher. I wondered if anyone else had the same problem, I never asked.

A girl from up the street started coming around and she would always sneak up behind me and give me a good shove. I mentioned it to Mother one day and she said it's because she likes you. What a strange world, I didn't think it would be wise for me to start pushing the girls I liked around.

One day the girl invited me to go on a picnic with her to black hill. I went expecting some good sandwiches, but the sandwich was white bread and ketchup. As soon as I got the chance, when she wasn't looking, I buried it in the sand. She was so happy that I ate the whole thing.

My Own Little Business

When Lois and I went home from Wildwood each year, we had a few weeks to do what we had to do at home, and then it was time to go back to school. I use to go to the farm down the street with Grandpop (My Dad) We would help clean the horseradish. That smell went up my nose, burnt my eyes and made me want to get out of there, and still I went back. Mr. Green always had his radio on. I think it only had one station. Right after we got there each day, the man on the radio said, "This is singing Sam, your sunny smiling man." Daddy and Mr. Green would talk man talk as they worked And I would wonder off to the corner in the hay to play with the little kittens.
Lois and I would walk through the Corn Field to go to the store with Mother's list
of groceries . I had a Goat cart with two large wheels. It had two handles that looked like sticks to pull it with.
One day a lady asked me it I could take her groceries home for her. I did, and she gave me money. Wow, That gave me an Idea. I could do that more often , So I started my first little business.

The Boy Next Door

The boy living next door to us on 4th ave. was named George Darnell and when Aunt's Lois and Wilda were down for 2 weeks, they teased him by playing a popular song at that time. I believe it started out like this, "georgie porgie pumpkin pie, kissed the girls and made them cry." There was as old piano in the garage and they played that song over and over. I heard him saying, "I'll be glad when they go home, I'm sick and tired of that dumb song."

Crabbing

There used to be so little traffic on the road leading into North Wildwood, that it was a pleasure to crab and fish from the small bridges. We used to get quite a few crabs off them. I guess Dad didn't know about all the clams about there, because he never took us clamming. There were no closed waters in those days.

I liked the salt water fish much better than the fresh water fish we used to get in PA. They didn't have that strong fish taste. My favorite was flounder. Fried flounder on rye bread with coleslaw and tarter sauce was my pick of all fish. Add fries and it's fit for a king.

A Peck of Dirt

Uncle John was down visiting us and had to get some work done on his car at the garage. He took Jim and I with him and while we were waiting, he took us into a bar to get sodas for us and a beer for him. He also got me a little box of hard candy which I spilled all over the floor when I was trying to open it. A lady at the bar said "don't worry kid, you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die." I didn't know what a peck was, but I figured I was safe and put them all back in the box for later.

We got a lot of visitors from PA in those days, I guess they all wanted to see what Wildwood was like.

Our Church

Mother and Dad made an agreement that we would go to the church nearest to our house. It happened to be a Methodist church, so that is why we became Methodists. I liked it and our Sunday school teacher was very nice. I also got to see my girl Cookie more often, she also was a member.

It was getting close to Christmas and the church gave each of us a great big stocking filled with all kinds of good things. Mother made a chalk drawing of Santa Claus and we took it to school. The teacher was thrilled with it and hung it up in front of the class.

Our Teacher

We got a new teacher, fresh out of college and she was the only pretty teacher in the whole school. I don't know if she was aware of it, but every boy in the class was in love with her. I saw in the newspaper a few years ago that she died and she never got married. That was very surprising to me.

She actually spoiled me, because I thought all teachers would be as nice as her. I didn't have a nice teacher again until the 7th grade. That's one of the reasons I never cared for school.

Spaghetti Dinner

Can you remember the first time you had spaghetti, I can, Mother sent me over to the little store on the next street and said, "tell the lady you want the spaghetti dinner in a box," and gave me the money. The lady took a long time in trying to understand what I was saying, but she finally figured it out. I had spaghetti from a can before, but this was a whole new thing and I was hooked. I could eat this stuff for every meal and never complain. I even made spaghetti sandwiches from the leftovers.

The Starlight Ballroom.

This is where Dad and Mother went ballroom dancing. It must have been great, because I heard Mother talk about it many times. We had our boyscout shows in this same building and it was still very neat inside with all the stars and mirrors.

There were a great many things on the boardwalk that always made it a fun place. I used to feel sorry for the kids that didn't live near it.

Our Walk to School

It's really a wonder that we ever made it to school. We always took the woods route and passed through 3 swamps on the way. Naturally we had to check out the frogs, birds, rabbits, and even some gold fish. During the Winter we even had ice to skid around on and make our trip interesting. There was one spot that had frozen gold fish and we chipped them out and put them in deeper water to watch them thaw out and start swimming again.

After about 6 months of school, I found out that a girl named Cookie liked me, so I started walking her home on the NJ ave route and forgot all about the woods route with the wildlife. That's what a girl will do to you.

Margie Got Lost Again

One day Mother suddenly realized that Margie wasn't in the yard and we all started looking for her. After quite a while someone finally found her several blocks away by the town house 5 and 10 store. We were all keeping a more watchful eye on her after that. It was strange that she got that far, because everyone knew each other in the neighborhood and not one person saw her leaving.

It was actually a dangerous place for little kids, because there was a creek on one side and 3 swamps close by. North Wildwood was not built up on every block in those days.

Margie's Trip to Canada by Aunt Wilda

The year the DeMusz family moved to North Wildwood, Aunt Lois and myself were invited to spend a couple of weeks with the family. One day Margie was out playing, and I was watching her, and John was working around. Margie had something in her hand. She went up to John and said,"Daddy, what's this?" John said,"That is a quarter from Canada." Margie said,"Where is Canada?" John just pointed and said,"Down that way." He went back to what he was doing, and I went in the house to see why Margaret was calling. When I came back I said "Where is Margie?" John said,"I don't know, I thought she was with you." I started looking all around and John went in to the house to see if she was there. Everyone came out yelling for Margie, and I ran up to the corner and looked up the road. There she was Pedaling her tricycle as fast as she could. I ran and caught up to her and said,"Where are you going?" She said, with that cute little baby voice,"To canada to spend my quarter."

The Collie

One day when we were walking home from school, a lady and man stopped us on the sidewalk and asked us if we wanted a puppy. The lady handed me a little collie puppy and said we could have it if we wanted it. We said okay, we were looking for a dog.

We started home with the puppy and tried to think of something to tell Mother, because we didn't think she would believe someone just gave it to us. Well, we got home and before we could say a word, Mother fell in love with it right away. So, we had ourselves a puppy.

We got a red wagon called the "atomic flyer," and we used it for just about everything. Jim and I used to take it down to the ice house to buy ice for our icebox, then take the oil can to the gas station to buy kerosene for the heater in the house. Sometimes we would take it around and collect newspapers to sell. In the Christmas Season we used it to sell holly. We got 10 cents a bunch for the holly and I was surprised at how picky some people were for a dime.

One time there was a bad ice storm up in North Jersey and Dad got sent up there for a week. So we had to use the wagon to go to the food market for that week. The market was owned by a father and son partnership and they were very friendly and helpful to us. Mother would give us a list and they would pick out the stuff and get us on our way.

The Fog Horn

We were not too far from the Anglesea lighthouse and on foggy nights we could hear the fog horn blow every few minutes. It was a mournful sound in the middle of the night and it used to keep me awake. I would lay there in bed and wonder if there were any boats out there lost and trying to hear the horn.

We had a lot of neighbors that were fishermen and that song "shrimp boats are coming, there will be dancing tonight" was very popular with them. Mary Shivers, our neighbor was always singing it. I'll never forget her, she was always over our house. She took us to see our first movie, it was Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein and it scared the wits out of us.

Tomatoes on the Roof

The place we were living in had no yard, so Dad got some 5 gallon buckets and put them on the roof to grow some tomato plants. They turned out pretty good. So, he had some kind of garden going every year, even when he had no ground.

Jim and I started school at the Margaret Mace school and we had to walk the 16 blocks. We also had to walk home for lunch and walk back, so that made 4 trips a day, rain or shine. They never heard of snow days and it snowed plenty that year. We were just like the kids in the "Christmas Story."

Black Hill

Between 5th and 6th street there was a hill that filled a whole city block. You could see all of Wildwood from the top of it. It was there for many years because it had pretty big trees growing all over. It was our favorite playground. We had a cave made on one part with a secrete path leading to it. No grown-ups knew about that.

Electric Company

Dad got called to work for the Atlantic City Electric Co. in their Wildwood plant. We then moved to 4th ave. in N. Wildwood. I really liked it there because there were so many kids living on the street. There were 9 families of kids within 3 blocks of us. It was getting close to Summer and the beach was close by, life was great.

Under Hunts Pier

This is the 36 plymouth that Dad owned. It has 1945 PA tags on it. That was a very reliable car for many years.

That first Winter in Wildwood, we spent a lot of time under the boardwalk, especially under hunts pier and around that area. The place was more deserted than a ghost town. It was like we landed on some planet that lost all it's people. We had no idea of what it was like in the Summer when all the people returned.

A girl our age lived in our apartment building and we became good friends until one day we started a bonfire next to the garage. Lucky for us a neighbor saw it and put it out before the whole thing went up in flames. But the girl was never allowed to go near us again.

The Coke Box

This is the only picture I have of the beach with Mike in it. He is looking over the edge and Margie is looking down at him.

Dad's Job

Dad got a job with a contractor that was building the new bell telephone office on Pacific Ave. in Wildwood. It's still there as far as I know. He also put in an application with the electric co. We move into an apartment in the center of town that was only available for the Winter months.

I was supposed to have started school in the Fall, but we were moving around so much that I was missing a whole year of it. I would have started in the 1st grade in PA, but in NJ they start you in kindergarten, so I was behind 2 years from what I could have been. This bothered me all through my school years, because teachers were always asking me which year I flunked and I don't think they believed me when I told them I never flunked any year.

The 36 Plymouth

After all the animals were sold and gone, all the belongings that would fit in the old Plymouth were packed in and we were off to NJ. We arrived in Wildwood and stayed a few days in a man's house that Dad knew from somewhere.

That's where I got my first look at the ocean. It was a cold windy day, so all we could do was look at the shells and starfish. I believe it was in March when we got there. One thing I remember was the globs of thick crude oil that you had to watch out for. I think these were from a Norwegian tanker that was torpedoed 5 miles off Wildwood.

There were many old cars left on the beach in those days. They were neat to play in.

The Bikes

Jim and I had bikes that needed welding on the handle bars. We went with Dad when he took them to a welder. The men were talking about how everyone was losing their job at fleetwings now that the war ended in Europe. One man told Dad he ought to go to Wildwood, NJ, he said the electric company was hiring there.

The next thing we knew, all the animals were being sold and we were packing to move to NJ. A man came in a big red truck to take the animals. Dad didn't know if he would even get hired, but I guess he thought it was worth a try. He did work for the Philadelphia electric co. for a while.

Sweet Snowballs

I don't think I would try this now days, but we used to eat fresh snow all the time. Dad had this big bag of brown sugar he got somewhere, I don't know how because sugar was rationed at the time. His idea was to make candied popcorn to sell near the movie theater. Well this bag of sugar had a hole in it and I would grab some to snack on every so often. One day when we had fresh snow I sprinkled some brown sugar on a snow ball and found something as good as ice cream.

We moved to NJ before Dad ever got to sell any candied popcorn, but he made some and it was really good. I liked it better than cracker jacks.

The Good Old Days

How far did we come and what did we do to our selves? I can remember when a doctor came to your house and only charged $5. You didn't need health insurance, because a hospital stay was less than $20. a day. You didn't worry about diets, because it was hard to get fat on what we ate.

Gas was only 16 cents a gallon and the same for a loaf of bread. We had radios which you didn't have to stay still and watch. A good story told on the radio will stimulate your imagination. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed to know each other and people took care of their own. You would dress up to go visit someone.

The Lizards

One day Aunt's Lois and Wilda got a box of green and orange lizards from some place. I was really fascinated by them, especially the little orange ones. No one was around so I picked up one of the lizards and was checking out it's little eyes and nose and stuff and it separated from its tail. It fell to the ground and a chicken ran over and ate it. It's tail started wiggling in my fingers and I dropped that too and the chicken got it.

I couldn't believe it, now I was in real trouble, I put the cover back on the box of lizards and left to see what kind of punishment I was in for. Well nothing ever came of it so I guess the chicken did me a favor by eating the evidence.

So Peacefull

The lockhouse was so peaceful, all you could hear most of the time were the animals going about their business. It would be nice to be able to go back to that lifestyle.

The bread man used to deliver bread and whatever else you wanted, like pies or cakes. We never seemed to get anything good like Grandmom did. I'll never forget the coconut custard pie she got one day, I could not get over how good it was. We always got the whole wheat bread which tasted like dried cardboard to me, but she got the Italian bread which I loved.

We were lucky to have lived on the little farm in those days, because meat was rationed, but we had all we ever wanted.

Ducks in the Canal

This is the only good picture of the lockhouse. The house was to the right on the higher ground.

Good Sandwiches

One of my favorite lunch sandwiches was make from Campbell's bean soup. Mother would spoon the cold beans right on the bread. I thought they were much better than a peanut butter sandwich. I still make them once in a while.

Another sandwich I loved was made with fried spam and mustard with a slice of tomato on it. No amount of money could buy anything better.

The Feed Store

The feed store was right on the main street in Bristol. That was always a fun trip to get feed for the animals. They had so many interesting things in there like boxes of rat poison with a picture of a really ugly rat on them.

After Dad paid for the feed, we had to back down a very steep driveway that used to scare Mother, she never liked steep hills. That old 36 Plymouth was a workhorse, we still had it several years after we moved to NJ. It carried everything from feed, animals, people, and even scrap iron.

The Food Market

I always liked going to this little market where Dad used to buy lunch meat and cheese. I would get close to where they were slicing the cold cuts just to smell the American cheese. It was really strong smelling compared to what it is today.

We would almost always get an ice cream sandwich to eat on the way home. They seemed so big, but I guess it was because I was so small.

Fleetwings

Aunt Wilda sent me this website. It's about the airport we lived next to in the lockhouse where Dad worked in the fleetwings factory.

The airport

Calling a Dr.

Things have really changed since I was a kid. I remember when I was in the 3rd grade I was running around the Lower Township grammar school and bumped into someone. I glanced off them and hit the brick school head first. This was on the lunch break and the next thing I remembered, the teacher was asking me if I was feeling better. I looked around and here I was at my desk and the clock said 3:15, time for school to end for the day. I had a terrible headache and when I moved my head, everything would spin.

Here I had sat in class all afternoon with a concussion and the teacher didn't call a doctor. Some of the other students said I was talking crazy, but I don't remember.

Dr's by Aunt Wilda

Back in the 40's, Doctors use to come to your house. Our family Dr. was Dr.Webb. When I was going to start School, Dr. Webb came to the lockhouse to give me my vaccination.( I liked him until then.) Our family was so use to him, because he delivered about half of the family back then. His name was James Doyle Webb, so now you know where Jim got his name. Back at that time we borrowed names, now we make them up.

Ice Skaters

One cold day a group of ice skaters were coming down the canal from Bristol. I thought it was the neatest thing the way they just glided along so smoothly and fast.

I couldn't skate, but I had a lot of fun just sliding from one bank to the other. I used to fall a lot and I still remember how my hands used to sting from the cold hard ice. We used to hear the ice cracking from our weight, good thing it held.

It was always great to go in and stand in front of the stove after a time in the cold. I liked to stand there until my clothes started steaming.

The Fire by Aunt Wilda

One night the woods next to the house was on fire? The dogs were barking, and it woke me up. I saw flickering light in my room and I got up and looked out the window and the woods was on fire. I yelled for everyone to get up,there was a fire. We all got up and jumped into our clothes and Grandmom was grabbing anything that would hold water and told us to get water out of the canal and throw it onto the house. Someone that lived near by called the Fire Co; but while they were working on the wood fire, we kept throwing the water on the house. It was coming closer and closer to the house,but they finally got it under control. They told us later that because of our hard work, we saved the house. I remember that I didn't sleep the rest of the night. For many years I had to check everything that could cause fire before I went to bed. If a car went by the house and the headlights cast a light, I would get up to check for fire. I finally got over that,but it took a long time.

My Swimming Root

The part of the canal where we did our swimming was in front of the barn. There was a large flat rock at the edge of the bank and it was a good step into the water. There also was a tree root that was under water and about tree feet long right next to the rock. I spent a lot of time hanging on to it and just floating, knowing I was not going to float away.

The canal seemed a lot bigger in those days. It actually was pretty narrow where the locks were.

The Farmers Market

We used to go to this market, I'll call it a farmers market because I don't remember the name of it. It had a big plaster foot at the entrance, I remember that. It was like the cowtown market in NJ. I loved going there because of all the shops and animal auctions they had going on all the time.

We met Grandpop Demusz and Uncle Emil there one night. It was always crowded and one night I looked around and couldn't see anyone I knew, talk about panic, finally one of the store owners recognized me and took me to the rest of the group. That night I had a dream that I got lost and couldn't find my family until I was an old man.

The Goats Went Swimming

I remember one day all the goats were out in the middle of the canal. It was very strange looking because they didn't seem to be doing anything, just staring back at us. Mother was wondering what to do and finally decided to go in and pull them out.

She got all of them out, but we never found out why they went in for a swim in the first place. I always liked to think that a wolf chased them in, but it probably was a dog.

The Bull Again.

Jim reminded me of this story. One day the bull got loose when Jim and I were outside and we had no place to run except in the old outhouse behind the lockhouse. We got in there and pushed the old rusty bolt shut and waited until the bull was gone. The problem then was we couldn't get the bolt to move and we were stuck.

We were in there for quite a while thinking all kind of fates to come about because of this, I was thinking they would have to push the thing over to get us out. Finally Mother came out and found us and reached in the little window at the top of the door and pulled the old rusty bolt open. What a relief that was, we were saved.

Fun loving John by Aunt Wilda

I remember watching John milk the cows every so often. He seemed to always have a lot of patience. One day some of us "kids" went into the barn to watch the milking, and let one of the cats in with us. The cat was going closer and closer to the bucket, and just as he got there, John squirted the milk right in the cat's face. That cat took off yelling, and we all had a big laugh.

Fresh Milk

Dad used to bring the milk from the barn in a large cooking pot. He would then filter it and something had to be done with it pretty quick, because it was not pasteurized and would go sour.
Sometimes it was made into cottage cheese.

When it would set for a while the cream would float to the top and I liked to dip my finger in it and taste it. It was very heavy cream and pretty good.

On Sunday's we always had pancakes and I remember dad would get the milk and start them, he always made them for some reason. I don't remember Mother ever making them, maybe because it was always on a Sunday when Dad was off and he loved making them.

He used to go through the same steps each time he cooked them and explain what he was doing and why. He would have one of us kids stir the sugar in the hot water to make the syrup. They were good.

I always liked mine with butter and cottage cheese, I still eat them that way.

A Special Lady by Aunt Wilda

I asked Grandmom one time how she knew so much if she only had a third grade education, and this is what she told me. "Every time you see a word,read it,spell it, say it to someone. read it again." after that, if we were walking or riding, she would say" See that word? read it, what is it? say it again and spell it."She said ," If there is a loaf of bread on the table, don't just look at it, look at the word and read it." That is how she got her education. She said "If someone says a word you don't understand, look it up." That was Grandmom. She was a special lady.

Aunt Wilda Watching Over Aunt Lois

One day Lois was out on the Ice, skating around and enjoying the new skates and red velvet skirt and jacket she got for Christmas. She was doing a beautiful job at it,and tried to make a figure eight,then down she fell. I went running to her,"Are you ok?" She looked at me and said,"Yes, that is what I was trying to do." I JUST LET HER THINK I BELIEVED HER.

The old fallen tree

There was this big tree laying in back of the lockshouse that probably was blown over in a storm and was soft and pithy. It was like cooked chicken breast. We used to pretend it was food.

One day our cousin Brenda was over and I told her it was good to eat and she took a piece and started chewing on it. I chewed on a piece of it plenty of times and it never bothered me. Well she suddenly got this funny look on her face and let a scream that they probably heard all the way down in Bristol. They heard it in the house and I was in trouble.

I was told that boys aren't supposed to treat girls like that, which I couldn't understand because she was as bad as any boy I knew.

Grandmom Miles

Here is some family history from Aunt Wilda.

I remember Grandmom Miles telling me this about when she was a little girl: When Grandmom was little, they had no way of getting help like we do now. When she was eight years old someone told whoever took care of Child Care then,that her mother had several children in the house, and they were hungry, with no father to take care of them. One day a lady came to the house and took some of the children and put them out on farms to work, and the farmers housed them. Grandmom's Dad was away a lot because he was a traveling Insurance Man, but they didn't have that information. While she was on the farm she would get up about 4:AM to start breakfast for the farmer and the hands. Breakfast was The big meal of the day, so they had things like Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Vegetables, Home baked Bread,etc.to start the day, and all of the hands were fed. For lunch they had a regular lunch, and the last meal of the day was like our Breakfast. She said that was because the farmers worked hard all day and worked off the food and in the evening they didn't have to have all that energy. After she finished with the cleaning up, she went to school, but after a while they put more work on her, so they took her out of school. She only had a third grade education. She said she would run away every so often, because she missed her Mother, and they would come get her and take her back to the farm and give her a hard beating,and give her more work. she said she was always so tired, but they piled more and more on her and told her she wasn't tired, but lazy. She ran away one day and got lost. She said she felt the life going out of her,but she kept going.She saw a little white house with a picket fence and some flowers in the yard. She said she was thinking (this is heaven) and she hurried to the fence and passed out. The next thing she knew was she was in a clean bed and there was an old man setting on a chair next to the bed, and an old lady standing next to him. They asked her where she came from, and she told them her story. They kept her with them for a couple of days and then somehow they sent her back.

5 & 10 Store

One time we walked down to Bristol and it was the first time I remember being inside a dept. store. The little metal airplanes, cars, and trucks were the neatest things I'd ever seen and I was surprised to find out you could buy them. We of course had no money, but it was a thrilling day for me anyway.

Autumn on the canal.

The Lost Boar

One day our boar got out of it's pen and we found out later that a farmer had it. Dad took us with him in the car to go get the boar. It was pretty big and white as I remember. I remember the farmer saying he wanted $2.00 for keeping it, that was like $40.00 in today's money.

They hog tied it and started to lift it to put it in the car trunk and the thing turned and crunched down on Dad's hand. That looked pretty bad to me, but Dad laughed about it and the farmer gave him some iodine and bandages and off we went.

This is added by Aunt Wilda.
I would like to add a little to The Hog. I didn't go to pick up the hog, but I was in the yard when it came back. John had taken out the back seat of the car to make it a truck. That old hog was so heavy that the front of the car was up, and the back was down. We couldn't let that hog get lost, he was our pal. LAZY as could be. Every time he saw anyone coming toward him, he would lay on his side so we could scratch his side. We left a board outside his fence just for that reason.

Canal South of Levittown

This how the canal looked when we lived there.

This is the part of the canal that the lockhouse was on. Aunt Lois and Aunt Wilda used this path to go to school.

A Mothers Love by Aunt Wilda

A Mother's Love....One day while we were playing near the barn, Jim saw a duck egg in the water,so he reached in the Canal edge, and in he went head first. We all started yelling,"Jimmy,Jimmy, Help, Jimmy" Margaret was on the porch talking to Grandmom, and she came running with Mike in her arms, and without realizing it, she jumped in the water. For some reason, Jim was going out to the center of the Canal. Margaret swam out and grabbed him. She came up with Jim under one Arm, and Mike still in the other. Jim was crying, and Mile with a look like(What happened?) and Margaret yelling to all of us,"Get up to the house, don't ever ask to come out again,You are just lucky I was near by. Don't even ask again." Well guess what? WE WERE OUT THE NEXT DAY.

Lock Area

This is something like the locks that were at the number 2 locks. The wooden doors are missing that were under the little bridge. Our house would be on this side of where you see the little red house in the picture. The barn would be behind the tree on the left of the picture. At our place the tree was a black mulberry.

Preserved Lockhouse

Here is a picture of a lockhouse that was preserved further up the canal near New Hope, PA.

I haven't found a picture yet of the one we lived in at the number 2 locks.

Where Lockhouse Used To Be

This is what is left of the canal locks and canal. We lived in the lockhouse that housed the lock keeper that controlled these number 2 locks. It's all filled in now.
Click the link below to see how it is now. Aunt Wilda sent this to me.


http://www.americancanals.org/dc_lock_2.htm

Uncle Bill at the Lockhouse.

Uncle Bill was taking pictures and movies of us kids sliding down the little hill beside the lockhouse. The snow was packed and as hard as ice. This was the first time I can remember seeing him and I was taken by his laugh. He laughed more than anyone I ever knew and I thought it was neat.

We went out on the ice in the canal and I remember he got a big kick out of the round depressions where the ducks spent the night and melted the ice. He was joking about the ducks having cold feet and all that and we all were laughing until our lungs hurt from the cold air.

Winter Memories by Aunt Wilda.

These cold days we have been having takes me back to Winter at the Lockhouse. No electric heat, no furnace heat, no heat at all, so we put in that old Wood Stove. Some times it would heat so well, and other times we would set around that stove and be nice and warm in the front and our backs were freezing. At night, Mother use to warm up the blankets and tell us to jump in bed, then she would throw those warm covers over us and put a brick on the stove. When it got hot, she would wrap it in a towel and place it at our feet to keep the bed warm.
We didn't have electric, so we had no radio, no television, (No one else did either) no refrigerator,(We had an Ice box). What we did have was a lot of time to be a family. We played board games, read, sewed, games outside, Ice games, fun with the animals, and Swimming.
We have lived in other places, but none has been remembered and loved as much as that place.It is a part of history.

Scare in the night told by Aunt Wilda

One night about 11:PM; Grandmom was setting by the lantern reading her Bible when she heard a scream, "MOTHER." Grandmom said, " That's Judy." She jumped up and started to run out the door. We heard her and jumped out of bed, running behind Grandmom. When the moon was shining bright, it would reflect on the Canal, and make it quite light, but this night it was very dark. As Judy walked the path, she bumped into something, and it went EE haw, and turned and hit her with it's head right in her ribs.

There was the mule that belonged to the Dewsnap family. It broke loose and pulled his chain along with him. The chain got caught on the bushes and he couldn't go anywhere. Grandpop followed behind us with his flashlight and got the mule loose. We took him home with us and tied him up. The next day he was taken home, but Judy didn't forget him in any hurry.

The Horse Fly

We were eating lunch and Dad looked out the window at the cow that was out in the pasture and said "wow, look at the size of that horse fly on the cow, I'm going to go out and kill it." We all looked out and sure enough there was a black spot on the side of the cow.

We watched as Dad walked out with the fly swatter and wacked the thing. He brought the dead horse fly in and I was amazed that a fly could get that big.

Mr. Mean

Here is a story from Aunt Wilda.

We had a rooster we called Mr. Mean. He wasn't afraid of anything, And he hated to see the Milk Man come. Every time he came, that old rooster would go after him. One day that Mr. Mean was in wait for that Milk Man, and the Milk Man saw him. The house had a hill on both sides of it, and on one side there were steps, and the other was just the hill. The Milk Man thought he would trick that rooster, so he went around the other side, and when he did, that Mr.Mean came running behind him. There was snow on the hill, and where the water was dripping off the roof, it made ice.That milk Man went running up the hill and the rooster behind him. The Milk Man slid on the ice and down he came with Mr.Mean picking at him all the way down the hill. The Milk Man said he will never come back unless Grandpop locked THAT THING up. Grandpop thought that was really funny. Mr.Mean never bothered any of us, just the Milk Man, but one day I was running, and Mr, Mean came running after me, and bit me on the leg. Grandpop saw him, and guess what we had for dinner that evening? MR. MEAN

Grandpop Demusz's farm

We finally got to visit Grandpop's farm and it was great. He had a huge barn with cows chickens and ducks. There was huge pastures with glumps of blackberries that were big and ripe, more then anyone could pick. A nice stream was going through the pastures and went close to the house.

There was a lot of people there and they had long tables set up on the lawn with all kinds of food. Dad and his brothers and cousins were in one field playing baseball. Us kids had a ball exploring the barn and all the other buildings. There was even a rusting old Model T Ford behind the barn that we could play in.

We even got to ride in the back of Uncle Emil's truck while he took the days milk down to the creamery to sell. He gave us a tour of the mountains and river in that area.

Uncles Mike and Emil

Uncle Emil brought Uncle Mike to visit us one day. He was still in the army air corp at this time and he was in uniform. It was the first time I remember seeing him and I thought the uniform was the neatest thing. He gave both Jim and I a harmonica and said "the next time I see you guys, I want to hear a song."

He came again not long after that, the war in Europe was over and he wasn't in uniform this time. We all went into Bristol to see the people celebrate. People were dancing in the streets and I never saw so many flags. There hasn't been a celebration like that since then.

Uncle Furm's Boat

One day Uncle Furm brought a row boat over and it was strange looking because it had wheels attached to it. You could push it right into the water. It was neat and we had something new to do in the canal. I can still see Uncle Furm and Aunt Edith in that boat with all the white ducks swimming around them.

Mike Joined Us

Mike was born a few months before we moved to NJ. That made 4 of us kids and we used to walk to Grandmom's house with 2 in the coach and Jim and I on each side. Grandmom had moved down the canal a ways.

One time when we were heading that way, Mother said here comes a wild horse. I looked back and sure enough, a horse was running up behind us. Mother started running and I think Jim and I only touched ground about every ten feet or so. You know Mother was on the Bristol High School track team and she could really run in those days.

Well we made it ok, I can't remember which way the horse went.

Mercury Candy

My cousin Georgie and I were looking through some junk in back of the house one day and we found something that we never saw before. After looking it over for a time, we decided it was hard stick candy. I pulled on it and it broke into 5 pieces. I decided to suck on a piece and see what it tasted like. It looked like it was filled with cherry juice.

So, I started to suck real hard on a 4 inch piece and my tongue turned cold and numb right away. I ran to the water pump and tried to wash the taste out of my mouth, but it stayed with me all that day.

I know now that it was a thermometer that the drug store used to give out that was about 2 feet long. I often wonder how that mercury played a part in my health through the years.

My Book House

We got a wonderful 12 volume set of books one day, called "My Book House". They were filled with mostly fairy tales and short stories. We loved them as much as kids do their tv's and games nowdays. We didn't have radio or tv so this was our connection to the world.

Grandpop's fish

Ice fishing was popular

The water in the canal was really clear one day, you could see the bottom. Someone spotted a large fish and Grandpop got his fishing pole. The lure was near the fish but it wouldn't bite. Grandpop slowly started pulling the lure along the bank and the fish followed about a foot behind it. I'll never forget this, us kids were following along and he kept waving us back so we wouldn't scare the fish. We of course didn't listen and stayed right with him and the big fish. Finally after quite some distance, the fish bit and he caught it. I was glad he did catch it, he was so happy with that fish that he forgot all about yelling at us for almost scaring the thing off.

Fishing, but catching turtles

Dad bought us a tin of fishing hooks so we could catch the little sunfish in the canal. We used either bread or worms for bait. It was great fun except when the little snapper turtles were biting. They were very hard to get off the hook and took a lot of the pleasure out of fishing.

The young bull

Jim and I were out on the far side of the barn where the young bull was tied to the barn with a long rope. We heard a very loud crack, looked up and saw that the bull pulled a large hunk of the barn off and was loose. We ran up to the house and Dad came out and grabbed hold of the rope. Dad was in very good condition in those days, but that bull still pulled him down the canal tow path and out of sight around the bend.

Later on we saw that the bull tired out first and was being pulled home. I was disappointed because I thought that we were finally rid of that monster.

Walking Aunt Judy Home

This is from Aunt Wilda.
Aunt Judy,(MY sister) was eighteen years old and worked at the tomato plant. She was getting off from work, and Grandmom always liked to walk, so she said we were going to meet Judy half way. We did, and on the way up the Tow path was something or someone laying near the water. It was starting to get dark so seeing was a little hard. Judy grabbed mother's arm and said,"That's a man laying there". Grandmom said,"Let go of my arm. I can't do anything with you holding my arm." "Just keep walking, he is probably drunk." We kept walking, and just as we got pretty close, a breeze blew the Newspaper, and a frog let out his RRRRRIIBBETT,at the same time. WE all screamed and then laughed, telling each other how silly they looked.