Greetings to my wonderful family, from California to Indiana to Houston and everyone in between.   I would like to share a few memories of my early childhood that I hope you will find interesting.

When we moved to our home on Eureka I remember how Mama loved her new home.  I have a memory of a cool, sunny, spring day. Mama loved to have all the windows open so breezes were filling our house with the freshness of spring.  Mama would clean the house from top to bottom, inside and out.   You know that feeling we get in the spring.   Well I remember white sheets and diapers on the line, all the windows getting scrubbed and the hardwood floors are a story of their own.  Mama would get old sweaters and flannel shirts and we got on our knees with old Johnson's paste wax and it seemed like we spent hours buffing that floor until the shine was perfect for her.   One of my jobs was folding all those bright white diapers.   That was an easy job.   I must try to tell you what Mama went through on wash day.

I remember because I had to help.  There was this washing machine, which was sitting just at the bottom of the back steps.   We didn't have hot water at the time.  I believe there was a hose that was connected to run the cold water in.   There also were two large metal tubs for rinsing.   Hot water was heated on the stove and then carried to the washing machine.   Of course, Mama started with the white clothes because I don't think she changed the water with every load.  But since she put "bluing" into the water as a whitening agent she had to change the water for colored clothes.   This was a ringer type washer, so you took the clothes from the hot water; Mama had an old broom handle cut about three feet long to help get the clothes from this hot water.  Then you put each piece through the ringer and put them into the first tub of cold water.   You ring the clothes by hand and put them into the second rinse.   Then the clothes were hung on the clothes line. Wash day was a very hard day, but to Mama the washer was a blessing because she remembered doing it all by hand on a wash board.   Of all the inventions since 1950 and boy there were many to help around the house, I would say the electric washer and dryer are the most helpful.  Just think we now just sort the clothes, put a load into the washer and walk away to do something else until the washer is through then we put the clothes into the dryer and again do something else until the dryer bell goes off.   It's no wonder we hate to fold clothes these days.   It's the hardest thing we do on wash day.

Another fond memory was sitting on the front steps waiting for Daddy to come home.  Until 1949 there were no houses going up the hill to Fair Ave.   So you could see all the way up the hill. Daddy was working at Handy Andy on Highland Blvd. at the time.   There weren't many cars coming down the hill. Mama would tell us to go watch for Daddy.  Recently it hit me!  What a perfect way to get kids out of your hair while you are making dinner.  To us it was a very special time of the day.

Jane Ann Kruse