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.