Stories of Our Lives

The Story of My Life

By

Righetta Vitali Pagliacetti

In 1908 there was a big fire that burned down almost all of Chisholm. We then moved from Hibbing to Pillsbury Location in an old tarpaper shack home. We had two bedrooms, a large livingroom and a large kitchen. Every two years my mom gave birth to a newborn baby. I had my work cut out for me taking care of the little ones and feeding them. On rainy days we had to put pans on the beds to catch the drips and in the evening it would rain real hard and we would have to take turns holding the umbrella over us. One night there was a lot of thunder and lightening and the wind was so strong it blew the door open and we had water all over the livingroom floor. My dad got out of bed and started to sweep the water out and all of a sudden the whole ceiling wallpaper came down. My dad was covered with it and you never heard such cussing going on all the while he was trying to sweep the water out! We started to laugh, but he didn't think it was so funny. That brought on another job, helping mom put up all new wallpaper.

On weekends my mom and dad would invite friends over and they would all get together and have a good time. My dad played the accordion, Mr. Cianni played the concertina, and John Sordi played the piano accordion. They would dance all night Friday and Saturday till Sunday afternoon. Our two beds were full of kids lined up like cordwood. At night they would leave at about 2 a.m. and come back the next day. One lady forgot to take her little one and had to come back from Chisholm to pick the baby up. My mom said she didn't even notice the baby because she had so many of us.

Being the oldest child I had a lot of other chores to do and so did my brother Alex. We had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to get all the animals fed, the cow milked, the wood box and coal pails had to be filled so mother wouldn't have to do it. By six o'clock breakfast was ready, we ate and cleaned up before leaving the house to catch our ride to the Glen School. After the fourth grade we then had to go to Hibbing Schools.

The year I started fifth grade I left for school one day in the wintertime. When I got to school and out of the bus to go to class, I couldn't use my legs. The bus driver carried me to the principal's office and I stayed till the classes were over at 3:30 p.m. It was a very stormy afternoon and on the way home the bus stalled in Alexandria Location, which was between Pillsbury and Glen. I couldn't walk and I had to stay in the bus till some of the men from our location came to get their children. Two men had to carry me all the way home. The snow was so high that it made it hard for them to get me home. My dad didn't have much money because in those days they worked underground for $1.00 per day.

In the summer months my dad had a lot of property and he made use of all of it. One half an acre was all potatoes and on one lot he planted beans and all kinds of vegetables: green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, peanuts, watermelons, and cantaloupes. In another were three different types of lettuce, celery, phinochio, garlic, onions, beets, turnips, rutabagas, parsley, peas and carrots and fave?? My mom canned all the vegetables.

Then there was berry picking time and we picked pails of blueberries, black berries, and hazelnuts and hickory nuts by the gunny sack full and put them up on the hay loft to dry. Mom used them in baking instead of walnuts. We picked strawberries, raspberries, and mushrooms (white ones and brown ones). Mom made the best antipasto with them.

We also picked dandelion greens. My mom made us pick tubs of dandelion flowers, which she used to make wine. She also made rootbeer and regular beer. My dad made choke cherry and pin cherry wine. In 1917 my dad made moonshine. He had a copper still which he had on our wood stove. And we had to take care of it. He told my brother and I to test it and we thought he said to taste it. We got pretty well lit up from it. I being the oldest had to deliver it to a family in Chisholm. He would put the five-gallon jug in the baby buggy and cover it with a blanket. As I pushed the buggy the jug would go glug, glug, glug.

At the age of twelve, my mom had me washing clothes. I couldn't reach the tubs so she put a box there for me to stand on. I had t o scrub them so hard that my knuckles would get very sore and blister. The white clothes had to be boiled first and rinsed in two waters. I had seven clotheslines strung from poles and trees, 12 feet long. I had to have three poles to each clothesline to hold them up so they wouldn't touch the ground.

The next day was ironing day. We didn't have electric irons and we had what they called flat irons. We had to warm them up on the kitchen stove. It took all day to iron. By the time I got from the kitchen to the living room the iron would cool off. We didn't have inside toilets or bathtubs. Saturday night was bath time. My mom gave the children their baths. We had to go outdoors to throw the water out. The outhouse had to be scrubbed down every two days. For toilet paper we used the wrappers from peaches, apples, and oranges. We would sit down and flatten them out and take them out to the outhouse. We also used the Montgomery Ward and Sears Catalogues.

My brother Alex and I worked hard in those days. There was never any end to work. The wood had to be sawed, chopped, and piled up in the wood shed. If it wasn't piled up right we had to do it all over again. In the summer we had to go one half mile to get water from the well and in the winter we took the team of horses and six barrels and rode to Glen Location for water. Some we used for home use and some for the animals.

Then we had a very bad flu epidemic. People were dying like flies. My mom, my brother Alex, and I had it very bad. We couldn't even lift our heads off the pillow or move around. We were very, very ill. My dad never got sick. He drank a lot of wine and would go riding up and down the dumps like a Rough Rider. Our clothes were put into a bundle and put out in the shed and my mom's best friend, Mrs. Coggoli, would pick them up and wash them and bring them back to us.

The holidays, like Christmas, our mom told us to hang our stockings up. Santa would be coming. The stockings were hung. That night we all went to bed real early, so excited we thought, oh, boy are we going to get something nice! My sisters and I thought we were going to get a doll and my brother thought he was going to get some toys. Five o'clock in the morning we all got out of bed to see what Santa brought. We stood there and looked at the stockings and they looked empty. We looked at on another and not a word was spoken. We took the stockings down and guess what was in them? A piece of coal, a stick, and an orange. We hung them back up and quickly went back to bed. We all muttered at one time and said, "Is that what we hung the stockings up for?"

The nights were very cold. We had one barrel stove in the living room and we would sit around it to keep warm. In the evening before bedtime my dad would put three or four bricks into the hot coals to warm them up. Then he would put each one on a woolen sock and put them under the blanket so the bed would get warm. On weekends after all the chores were done we would think of something to do. Our mother came up with an idea for all of us. She gave the girls each an old-fashioned clothespin, those with the head on them and she told us we could make a face on it and that would be our doll. She gave us scraps of left over material and we made clothes out of it. My brother would make us doll furniture with those stick matchboxes. Mom would make paste out of flour and water and he would put the furniture together for us. That kept us busy for quite a while.

Our outdoor activities were hopscotch, jump rope, dock on the rock, tin can alley, hide and seek, and tag. Sunday we would dance while my dad played the concertina. We danced the saltarello and quadrillia. That was a Sunday ritual.

When the Pillsbury Mine closed down my dad got a job delivering groceries for John Sartori and Mr. Maturi. The stores were located on the Main Street of Chisholm. In October of 1922, my mom gave birth to another baby girl, my sister Elvira. The day of her birth a man knocked at our door and asked to talk to my dad. At the time my dad was not home so he asked for mom. I told him that she had just given birth to a baby girl. He went into the bedroom and said, "Mrs. Vitali, I have papers here for everyone living in this location that they will have to move. My mom told him you made me the happiest person on earth. She thanked him over and over. So we were one of the last ones to move. My dad bought lots across the road from the Lincoln school. We moved down the hill to Eight Street NW

Before moving to Chisholm, they had a big party at Mr. Gilardi's house. My mom couldn't go with my dad to the dance so he took me. He bought me a beautiful lavender dress and hi-top shoes that had about sixteen or seventeen buttons to button. That is where I met John Pagliacetti. He asked me for a dance. After the dance was over I was talking with my Aunt Francis Pancheri and I was walking backwards to go sit down and not looking back. I sat down and crushed a straw hat. All of a sudden the fellow I danced with came over and said to my aunt, "Do you see that girl over there, she is going to pay for that hat." My aunt told me and I was so scared. So when we did move I bumped into him at the Candy Kitchen which was owned by Mr. Palmer and Mr. Pappas. I was there looking for a job. He came up to me and said, "Do you remember me?" I said, "No". He said, "You're the one that sat on my straw hat and you will pay for it some day!"

I got a job as a waitress at the Candy Kitchen and one night he came in to have an ice cream Sundae. He asked me for a date. I accepted and the following evening he took me to the Chisholm Theater to see a movie. My dad didn't like the idea of me going out with men. He said I was too young. I was sixteen and one half then. The following year John asked me to marry him and I said yes. I told my dad that I was going to get married and he said that I couldn't. I pestered him so much that he finally gave in. On December 15, 1924 we got married in Hibbing by a Judge. My Aunt Francis and Dominic Seranzio stood up for us.

The wedding dinner was held at my Aunt and Uncle Eli Corradi's home. That night John left me there because he went to receive a diploma to become an American citizen. He also had to sing a solo. I surprised him and I went to the school and sat up in the balcony all by my lonesome. He had the most beautiful singing voice. He sang just beautifully. And that day I became Mrs. John Pagliacetti.

In 1925 we had our first born, a little girl, nine and one half pounds. John named her Vera. One year later I had another little girl that only weighed five and one half pounds and John named her Lydia. The following year another girl at nine and one half pounds. He named her Doris. Then five years later, I finally had a little baby boy who weighed eight and one half pounds. Dr. Jacobson delivered him. He was born in Bruce Location, 1932, the day the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped. My children were all born at home. I couldn't afford to have them at the hospital so, Mom was my mid wife and she assisted the doctor. My husband John wanted to name our little boy Hercules, and the doctor asked if it was OK to put it down in writing. I said, "NO, I will name John Jr. after his dad".

John started to walk before his first birthday. One morning, not too long after at about 2 a.m., I heard him cry. I went to see if he wanted a bottle or a diaper change. He started to cry louder. I turned the light on and there he was with arms stretched out in the bars of the crib and I couldn't get them out to pick him up. I quickly called my doctor and he was there inside of twenty minutes. He took one look and said to me, I think he has polio. I had to get my wash boiler and heat up water and fill it one half full as hot as I could stand it. Then he took the baby and put him in the water and kept hem there and massaged him, but he still couldn't move his arms or legs. I then had to do this twice a day. I couldn't lay him in his crib so I sat in my rocker day and night with him. My mom helped me; we took turns holding him. We didn't own a car so the neighbors took turns taking me to the Adams Clinic in Hibbing every other day for Violet Ray treatments. It took almost a year before he got better. Then he had to learn how to walk all over again.

We had more things happen to us in our married years. We moved so many times in our married life that I felt like a gypsy. We made eleven moves till the twelfth time we finally bought our own place on First Street North. John was injured in the mines and couldn't work for quite a while. The years we lived near the Junior High I was taking in washing from teachers and I also did washing for the Valentini City Café and Hotel. I did all the hotels, her boys and her laundry every week. I had to go and get the laundry, wash and iron it and bring it back. I used a wagon in the summer and a sled in the winter. My girls helped me get it and bring it back. Plus doing my own chores and taking care of my family. I even went out to do house work. My days were all taken up and I didn't have much rest in between. Sometimes I sit and wonder how I did all of that and not go bezerk!

The home we bought had 14 rooms and, in fact, there were two renters living in it. And they paid me eight dollars a month and I did all the cleaning, plus I had taken a job in a grocery store. I thought I would just go part time. But not even a week went by and my boss asked me if I would consider working full time. My take home pay was $32 a month. I took the steady job and worked hard for 20 years.

My husband passed away at the age of 63 and I was left a widow at the age of 57. Between working 8 hours at the store and taking care of my roomers it sure kept me on my toes; like the proverb says, "no rest for the wicked". I lived in my home for three years and then decided to sell. I sold my home practically for a song and went to live with my daughter, Vera and family on Eighth Street Northeast. I lived there for seven years and helped with the cooking and cleaning and with the food bills. Then my mom needed someone to take care of her so I moved to the housing project on the South side of town. I lived with my sister, Catherine, and Mom. There I did the cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing, grocery shopping, and taking care of my mom. We lived three years together till I wasn't able to take care of her any more as it was too hard for me to lift her. We had to put her in the nursing home. That hurt me more than ever because my mom didn't last too long there. She sure was bitter about going there.

I stayed with my sister Catherine for a while and one day Catherine came home from work and said, "Righetta, you will have to find a place to live. I am moving out of here." And from that day she would avoid talking to me. I asked what was wrong, she wouldn't say. I didn't have much time to find a place. So I went to the housing office to ask if it was possible to get into a place in that area. Well, I was lucky. Mr. Praszich said if you can wait on week there will be a unit empty and you can have it. I told my sister I can't have it till a week from now and would like to stay till then. It was hard to live with her not talking to me and she would not and to this day, I still don't know why. I had to leave. The day finally came that I moved and it was just across from where we lived. I could see her from my kitchen window. Well, after I moved, she did not move. So I took it upon myself to go and ask here why she made me go. I knocked at the back door but she wouldn't answer. I stayed for about 20 minutes and still no answer. I said, "I'm not leaving." Finally she let me in. She was making jelly and I just thought I would give her a hand. I kept on asking what was bugging her, but no answer. She lived there for a whole year before she moved. She finally moved on the coldest day and I went and packed all her things, helped her, and I cleaned her apartment. After she left she still wouldn't tell me why she had asked me to move. She had a hard time breathing, she wasn't very well. So one day I called her to see if she wanted me to come and clean for her.

The month of February 1995, I was pretty sick. I didn't go to the doctor right away. I stayed one week at home and I just couldn't do anything or even walk around. My son called me on Sunday morning and he said, "You get dressed, I am taking you to the hospital." He took me to Hibbing to the emergency room. The doctor told him, "We will have to keep her here, she is too sick to go home." I stayed two days at the hospital and then I was transferred to the Virginia Hospital. I couldn't stay in Hibbing because with Share, which is now Medica, you can't go where you want, you have to go to the designated hospital. I was there for six days, eight days in all. I was released on Wednesday and the doctor said not to do anything for a while till I get good and well. My son would bring me some of my meals. He made the best chicken soup with his homemade noodles. I sure enjoyed it and then one day I had the best pasty. He sure can make them very good and tasty.

After a week, I was able to do for myself. It took a good month to get back to normal. Each day I got stronger and was able to cook meals and I even baked. I hope and pray I will be able to take care of myself. I also do my own cleaning, washing, and ironing. Thank God for that!

I do hope that when I leave this earth and go to my resting-place that my family will not grieve for me. I want you all to go on as usual. By then my work and worries will be over. I love each and every one of you very much and hope that you all get along and try and get together at times. Life is too short, so you should do things together and love on another. I was the luckiest Mom to have such a beautiful family!

With all my love,

Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, and Great, Great Grandma

Of

Josephine Vitali-Carpenter

The things I remember growing up on Ash Street and with our family were pleasant memories. We may not have thought that at the time but looking back I think how fortunate we were. We all had our jobs to do and you. Wouldn't dare go off without completing them. Grandpa had a whistle that one could hear from Ash Street all the way up to the Lincoln school playground where I spent quite a bit of time. I don't think I realized I had older sisters and brother until I was about 5 years old. Righetta, Alex, Minnie, and Tillie were already out of the house and having their families. I vaguely remember Catherine and Mary around the house. I believe Catherine was working in Bemidji or Brainerd. You know we had quite a small house with two bedrooms a large living room and a kitchen with a wood stove for a while then we modernized and upgraded to a gas stove. In the living room was our heating system. A Pot Bellied stove. It needed to be fed quite a bit and summers we would get wood and it also took coal. We had a coal bin in the basement and talk about messy when the coal man came. We had no hot water tanks, bath tubs, or many of the luxuries we enjoy today. Grandpa and Grandma would get up early each morning to heat water for washing and other needs. We didn't have much in the way of closets. We couldn't afford a big wardrobe. I do remember the quadaroba. It was a good sized one. Anita always liked to play school and we used the doors for a blackboard. That was if we didn't get caught. What the heck, a bit of chalk dust is nothing. Food was one of the good things we had. Of course I wasn't much of an eater. Grandpa would buy the gallon cans of black olives and they were on top of the cupboard in the kitchen and we had a small window like opening in the wall going into the bedroom. At night we would pile stuff up so we could get up through the window and grab the olives. Oh, if I only cared for that food. Most of the food Grandpa raised. We had chickens,Pigs, cows, rabbits, pigeons (Squab); I think that is the sophisticated name for them. Not to mention all the vacant lots Grandpa would plant. He kept Mr. Giminski busy hauling the manure and plowing the land with his horses. Thenwe would have to go help weed, hoe potatoes, stake the beans and the tomatoes. We had enough vegetables to can that lasted us throughout the winter. We also bought fruit by the crates and canned. We would can about 100 to 200 jars of each fruit and vegetable. We canned chicken and rabbit also. With the pig we made sausage and proscuito. Our basement was lined with shelves and shelves of canned fruit and veggies. We didn't can potatoes but they stayed quite well in that dirt basement. As soon as the snow started melting Grandpa would go buy a baby goat. We sometimes kept it in the basement and some one told me they eat cans so Iwould find cans and try to see if it would eat them. The goat was fed prettygood as it was going to be our Easter dinner. Each day of the week we knew just what was going to go on around the house. One day was for washing clothes and little side jobs. Washing clothes was a real project in those days. Remember we had to heat the water up. The washing machine was a wringer and you had to turn the handle and have a place for the clothes to drop in when they came through. All of this equipment had to be set up. Grandma had a wash tub with some luke warm water and one with cold water so they went through a couple of rinses. Well those tubs of water had to be changed every so often so the soap wouldn't build up. In the winter time if it wasn't too cold they hung the clothes outside and then we also strung clothesline in the living room. They had to be dry before we could have supper or you would have clothes in your face sitting at the table. Twice a week was breadmaking day. No one heard of pizza then but we always had a version of pizza. Sometimes it would be with tomatoes and sometimes with onions. They put everything but the kitchen sink on them today. Oh, we could smell that bread a block or two away and it was ready for our after school treat with homemade jelly. There was a day for pasta making and the big table used for drying it before putting it away. Most of the time we ate right away. Sunday was visitor day. We had company for dinner every Sunday. Sometimes some uninvited guests. LOL The biggest complaint was from us kids who had to do the dishes. Some people would help us though. We always said

Grandma used every pot and pan she owned because we had a lot to do.

In the winter when the stove had to be fed we were wakened by the speil of Grandpa. If the fire wouldn't start or the wood was too wet he had his liturgy. Porka Vacca, Vacca thoia, unemale thoia, bruta bestia, bruta anemale. If you didn't want to get up it was too bad. Grandpa always wore long underwear summer and winter. Heavy weight for winter and the lighter weight for summer. He wore the heavy socks in his boots. And yes when it was time for bed he got one of us o pull his boots off for him. Seems I was elected quite a bit.

Our Saturday Night ritual. We started early because there were a few of us that had to take baths. Yes we had to heat the water in the big pans and then the tubs used for laundry we used as a bathtub. This was set up in the kitchen and a sheet was put in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. Anita and I fought over who was going to be first. Remember me telling you about the passage way up on the wall between the kitchen and bedroom. Either Julio or I would climb up and peek at who ever was taking a bath. Never saw anything but it would get the person taking the bath mad as all get out.

About the tell tale chairs. Seemed like Ma would have afternoon visitors once in a while and I somehow got the idea I would be able to tell that she had company by smelling the chairs. I then told her it was Mrs. Santi and everyone thought that funny but she was about the only one that would come by and visit during the day. We sure joked about that a lot.

Skipping school--they did that in those days. I think Julio and Rudolph were pretty good at that. They had truant officers then that would be at your house soon after roll was taken. By nine a.m. Mr. Zobitz would show up at your door. Ma would get so mad and when you showed up you got a whipping.

We had other luxuries in the school system in those days. We had a school

dentist where we had our teeth taken care of by Dr. Jordan. We would never be able to go to a regular dentist. I remember him working on our teeth during summer vacation. I had to take Anita to him because she was having a real problem but I don't think it bothered her as much as sitting in that dental chair. She kicked the hell out of that Doc. He didn't want to see her anymore if she couldn't be more restrained.

We had a school doctor also that looked after all the kids in Chisholm. He did a good job. I know I was sick for some time and seeing Dr. McFarland our regular family doctor and he couldn't find out what was my problem until one day Dr. Graham came by saying I was sick too long and wondering why I wasn't getting better. He did a pretty good examination and then told Ma she should get to that doctor right away with me that I had pneumonia. I had already missed 3 weeks of school. Of course I could have cared less at that time. He also was concerned about me being so skinny. Told Ma I should have a beer each day and the Doctors in Duluth Clinic said I should have a glass of wine with my meals. They believed it to be a tonic.

Our vitamins consisted of Cod Liver Oil. Do you know about having to take that. We had to get in line and Ma had the spoon and jar and one by one she dished it out. We had orange juice or something close by because it was not too good tasting. I always got close to the bathroom so I could dash in real quick.

I had mentioned our games we played as kids. We played jacks. If you couldn't afford to buy the jacks we used pebbles (rocks) and hopscotch we had to search out something flat that would stay pretty much where you threw it. Our jump ropes were taken from the clothesline. We could hardly wait for the clotheslines to break so we could have a jump rope. Jack knife was a popular game in those days. We had different routines, like off your fingers, the point of the knife was on the tip of your finger and you flipped the knife off and try to have it stick up in the grass.

Like I said there were a lot of different things we did, nothing dangerous until I got a bright idea one day to see how good those kids were. There was Irene Lucas, Betty Kotchevar, Jimmy Badovinik, and Bobby Santi. I had them throw their knives while I ran across to see if anyone could hit me. That was the legs they had to aim for. Well they did and I said no one hit me because I didn't feel anything. Everyone found their knives except Jimmy so we are all searching and I feel something on my leg. He was the only one that made a stick. We all got excited and had to get to the hospital.

Another time I wouldn't tell Ma & Pa what happened. I of course had to get a tetanus shot but they never called our house to tell Ma either. We had that mining insurance and they just took you and didn't interrogate you like they do today. When I look back I wonder how I made it this far.

We didn't have electric refrigerators in those days and the ice manwould do the neighbor hood a couple times a week. He was a real popular guyin the summer especially when we had some hot days. Did we hang out and pick up the chips of ice that would be the result of his chopping the blocks. It was so good!

We had a luxury in those days. Groceries that were delivered to your house. You could even charge them in those days. Didn't even need a credit card.

How about Doctors. Do you remember then when they would come to your house. Yes they made house calls. They didn't have any health programs.

We sure have seen some big changes in our days. Some for the good and some for the bad. Grandpa and Grandma used to have parties at the house every so often. All the Italian friends would come and we ate good food and drank good wine and danced and sang until one or two in the morning. Us kids were usually put out of site so they thought. Ask Junior. They had the wine bottles under the table that had a cloth that would almost touch the floor and he and I would sneak under and sample. We over did it a couple times and when Junior had to go home with his parents he couldn't walk a straight line. They had to walk home as they never had a car.

We played Tumbola every so often. Kids and adults. They call it bingo today. Must have had about 15 or twenty people at a time.

Oh yes, I remember the strap. The strap Grandpa used to sharpen his razor for shaving. If you did not behave or did something you shouldn't have done you were in for it. I think Zelinda, Elvira, Rudolph, Julio, Mary, and Catherine used to get their share of it. Anita and I were the good ones. I think some one tried to make it disappear but to no avail. We were happy when he change to the regular single edged razor. No More Strap!

Grandma should have been the place kicker for the Vikings. She wore Grandma shoes and they were never tied. She couldn't run very fast but she was right on the money when she would flip that shoe off her foot and hit you right where you least expected it. Ask Julio, he was the recipient of her shoes and Rudolph. Then she asked them to bring her shoe back to her and they were very reluctant in doing so because they would get another one.

There was a special time of year for winemaking. Joe Vitali, Joe Santi, Marchetti, Valentini, Pete Fedrizzi, and I know I'm leaving some one out but they all would get together and order a car of grapes. Some were red and some were white. When I say a car I mean a boxcar if you are at all familiar with trains. They competed for who had the best wine. Must have been Pa's as they all came to the house to drink it.

Did you ever have lightning strike you house? It isn't a very pleasant thought. Well there was a period in time called the prohibition. I think that's what it was called. Some of those stills and boilers etc. were a part of our possessions. They were stored in the attic of our house. When the lightning struck a bit of a fire started and your first reaction was call the fire department. Not Here. Grandpa held them off. He said he didn't want them chopping his roof. We then would have rain coming in.

Well that was a part of the problem but the biggest one was all the booze apparatus stored up there. He won out of course and took care of the fire himself.

Tillie remembers sleeping two in a bed. I remember sleeping three in a bed. I know Julio and Rudolph had one bed to themselves but there was Mary, Zelinda, Elvira, Anita and I. Where and how did we sleep in that one room? We got into fights because someone was touching one another or you were facing the wrong way. The nights we got into the laughing jags. I wet my pants all the time. I think they did that to make me wet my pants. Ma would say shut up and go to sleep or I'm coming in there. We'd be quiet real fast and then some one would start it all over again.

We had a pretty exciting life. I remember the whole family going to pick blue berries. The whole family. Packed our lunch for the day and we picked a couple of bushels a day. Julio and Anita ate them instead of picking them. After that is was cleaning the berries washing them and then get them canned. I would get so mad at Julio and Anita because what they did pick they had so much dirt in theirs.

How about the strawberry picking and raspberry picking. Mushrooms. Pa made his special tool for finding them without bending over. We had some good antipasto with those babies.

We did have time for fun. Played a lot around the barn. We would climb up on the roof of the barn and jump off. I remember Rudolph jumping right in the middle of the pile of manure. It was about five feet tall. Now that was something getting cleaned. I shutter thinking of it. We had a good game that we played. Swing someone on the clothesline and have them let go and see how far they can fly through the air. Julio and Elvira were the two who would swing me. Boy it was fun. Then I was able to fly so far I landed up

against the house and somehow hit with a force hard enough to break my arm.

They didn't want me to say anything because they would catch holy hell. They tried appeasing me and trying to get my mind off of the hurt. They then went to play tin can alley. A game played with four people, two on a team. You need a bat and a ball four cans (empty) and at that time our roads were dirt so we could play in the street because you had to dig a little hole to rest the end of the bat in. Anyway we also had wooden sidewalks. Those that didn't play sat on the sidewalk. I went to sit down and I heard my arm crack and the pain was getting worse. They just kept telling me to be quiet.

Suppertime. When you came to the table you also had to bring your manners with. Grandpa was very manner conscious at the table. You are familiar with them I'm sure. You also better know how to set the table. You ate with your right hand, at least at our house you did. Ask Babe about that. Had a hard time convincing Grandpa that some people eat with their left hand. I think he got over that after several years.

Anyway, I was in a lot of pain and I had to lift my left arm up and set it on the table and He and Grandma saw that and they knew something was wrong with my arm by the time we finished eating. They ended up taking me to the hospital and wanted to know how it happened. I sure wasn't going to tell them. They didn't know until after I got married how I broke it. I didn't want Julio and Elvira to get in trouble. I remember the doctor's look on his face when I said I got hit by the bat playing tin can alley. I know he didn't believe me.

We didn't have toys like these kids have today. What toys we had we made - most of them. We made sling shots, rubber guns, (some sophisticated ones), kites. We played games that didn't involve much in the way of equipment. Anita will attest to that. She got a doll for some occasion. First and last. She didn't have the doll for too long as we needed a ball to play baseball. I had the perfect solution. I took the head off the doll, snuck out of the house and ran to the empty lot where we played ball. One pitch of the head and it was smashed into hundreds of pieces. Anita has never let me forget it either.

Allowances, we never had allowances. We had to find ways to earn our money. Now here are some things we did. Collected copper, zinc, and aluminum. We picked berries in the summer and sold them for 15 cents a quart. With this money we were able to buy our candy, ice cream or popcorn. The ash street kids would pool their money on the weekend so we could all go to the movies together. I remember the kids always would want to see the Frankenstein movies. I never watched any of them as I was so scared I sat with my hands over my face the whole time.

We were never given a birthday party. Our birthdays were celebrated with our family and we were given a special meal and a birthday cake. Anita decided that she was going to have a party for herself and invited all the girls in her room and when Grandma was confronted with these girls coming for a birthday party I think she about flipped. I think she took care of it in a very cool way.

I had a neat party given by my sister Catherine. She was such a good cook and she showed off her love for it in the tea party she hosted for the girls of my senior class for graduation. I really felt special and I think that was the first party or big event held in our new house. I think so. I remember helping Pa and Anita would help Ma. That is why Anita knows how to cook so well and I know how to fish. I helped taking care of the animals. Feed them, clean their pens and learned how to kill a chicken and rabbit and clean them. Had to go out and cut fresh clover for the rabbits and I got to drive the model A a little. I didn't get to drive the model T. But I remember you had to crank it to start it. I also helped Pa in the gardens he planted all over town and out at Long Lake. I don't know how Pa got to know Iver Oman but he had a cabin at Long Lake where he let Pa plant and when we finished our work we fished. That was a fun time. Pa used to do the cooking out there and he too was a good cook. The part I liked of course was fishing. He knew how to catch them. He hardly ever got skunked. To this day I'm not much for animals because I remember not being able to go anywhere because we had to take care of the animals. We did go to McCarthy beach once a year about the 4th of July. I don't know if any one remembers we packed that thing and had kids hanging out the windows and riding on the running boards. We stopped for a picnic on the way I think.

You know what Ma did with the flour and feed bags? In those days they came in fabric and some had prints. We had dresses made out of them by Ma. She didn't even use a pattern. I was so happy when she made me a pair of pants. She whipped those things up like nothing. We had about two dresses to our name. That is for school. They got washed every other day. We were pretty careful not to get them too soiled. We got a new dress for Easter but we couldn't wear that to school. That was Sunday wear.

Holidays were so much fun and a lot of work. Grandma would start weeks in advance to prepare things at least things that weren't perishable. Boy, I sure miss that. I regret not learning how to prepare some of those things and I have tried to recreate some but it must be the mother thing. We have a lot to be thankful for. Why does it take so long for us to wake up and smell the roses. Thank you Mom and Dad. Thanks for the wonderful brothers and sisters you gave me and I hope I can leave something my children can write about for their children.

Auntie Elvira and Vera Kautto would go out to places like Slovanian Home but I don't remember their names. I think one was The Rainbow or what ever. Anyway, Vera Kautto would come home with Elvira and they never got home when they were told. Grandma always heard when they came in no matter how quiet you tried to be. She got up and went to the bedroom not turning on the lights and knew where Elvira slept in the bed (three to a bed) and this night Elvira slept in a different spot. Grandma started hitting and Vera very politely says "Grandma you are hitting me." Grandma says that's okay you need it too. We laughed so hard about that for a long time.

I remember Grandpa being a pretty good gourmet cook. He could fix every part of the animal. Tripe, liver of course, brains of the animals. My favorite was the brains. I wish I knew how he cooked them but they were quite tasty.

How about the Polenta on the board. That was our favorite. Guess why. We didn't have a whole lot of dishes to do. We had this big board and the polenta was spread out on the board and we would try to make like the Map of the U.S. or anything we felt like trying to create. That was so much fun.

I hated when anyone put my food in my dish because I didn't want different foods to touch one another. I never got over that either until late in life, like long after we were married.

After reading Righetta's memories I have a few other quirks of mine to add. I don't know if I said this before, but I never liked to say goodbye to anyone because I was very sensitive to someone leaving my life. If we had company from out of town if I knew about when they were leaving I disappeared because I would cry and I never wanted anyone to see me cry. I especially remember when Tillie and Rudy were going to the World Fair in New York and we had a sort of going away thing, nothing really planned but they came over to say goodbye and I ran back in the bedroom and hid. I just couldn't t say goodbye to anyone. Another time was when Zelinda and Henry were leaving Minnesota to go live in California. That was a real shocker to me. I never thought I would see them again and would cry every night when I went to bed. I know Ma & Pa really felt bad. I think that made it worse for me. I saw the pain they were in and I guess I shared it with them. Another Sister left Chisholm that made me feel bad too. Mary and Joe left when Joe went on to go to college, in Minominie, WI after discharge from the service so that meant another Sister leaving the home town. Cried my heart out again. Rudolph going into the service. I cried for days. Ma & Pa were devastated. You just know how much they missed him. I remember Rudolph not wanting Ma to know he was going over seas and there was radio program that took requests from the guys in service and Rudolph requested the song for Ma "Over The Waves". Ma heard that and the first thing she said Rudolph is going over seas. She was hard to live with. We all were worried too for our brother.

The happiest day of course was the day it was over. I think it was D-Day. I remember everyone celebrating in the streets for days. Of course our brother wasn't coming home anytime too soon. But when he finally came home he brought with him a beautiful, lovely wife and daughter. How happy we were. I don't think I can explain it but we were overjoyed.

Then Elvira joined the service and she kind of kept it a secret from all of us until it happened. I remember one time she came home and told us she was hypnotized. She was a brave soul. We just were so proud when they came home on furlough. Most of all when they came home for good. What a relief.

Julio, he was drafted too but didn't pass the physical and he wasn't about to let Rudolph out do him so he tried several times, unbenonced to Ma & Pa, to get into the service. Each time he was rejected I was as happy as a lark and he felt so bad. We couldn't tell him how happy we were because he needed to prove it to someone he could help out. We could care less. He proved he was a loved brother.

I don't think anyone knows that Rudolph was a gymnast. I believe Elivira and Julio would and maybe Anita. But they had quite a gymnastics program at the high school then and Rudolph was performing at half time at the basketball games as I recall. I think that is when I became interested in athletics. John Latkovich was the gymnastics coach at that time I think. Anytime Rudy would perform I would try to go watch him. He was great. I tried to do those things he did when I was old enough to get in the gym. John Latkovitch was our neighbor and when he would go to the school on the weekend I would go with him and his kids, Vito & Jerry. Rudolph was good on the rings as I recall. We were so proud of him.

Julio was a baseball and hockey player. Julio was goalie in hockey and played for the City team I believe at that time. He was a very good player. When they played at the Rec Center I would try to go if I could. His baseball was another thing. He was pitcher. That is how I got to be a pitcher in softball. He had to practice throwing and if Rudolph wasn't around he would get me to catch for him. This is baseball and you know how they pitch. He tells me he's throwing a curve, drop, or whatever and I just said "throw it, I'll see if I can catch it". Talk about guts. I think I got a few. I know we tried to be good football players too. Many games played in the empty lots after the gardens were harvested. I think I was the only girl among all the boys and if they didn't let me play I would give them a bad time.

Each year in the fall we slaughtered the pig we fattened. I remember the food we prepared for that pig. Grandma had some huge pots and all the small potatoes left out in the gardens we gathered up and Ma would boil them and mix some kind of flour with them and fed that to the pigs. Pa would get left over food from the restaurants and grocery stores and that was used to feed he pigs. I can still smell those potatoes cooking and I always wanted to taste them. There were the days ahead of the slaughter Ma & Pa would get all the things lined up that they needed for the kill. It reminded me of a surgery. Someone was elected to stick the pig and then those that had to hold it still so the blood could be gathered because there were some Finish and Slovenian people who came for it for making blood sausage. That is one thing we never ate. To this day I have never tasted it and think I would pass it up if it was around. That pig would squeal when they hog tied it and when you didn't hear it you knew it was all over. Pa never wanted us to see them do this but you know how inquisitive little minds are. I would find a way to get a peek.

What would all those animal activists do then? I don't think they existed in those days because in order to survive you had to know all these things.

Food didn't come so easy then as it does today. In our house and many other homes animals were raised for a purpose. Survival! We had cats but they were to stay outside and make sure no unwanted animals would get around the house or the barn.

Pa would never let us have an animal in the house. They never wanted us to become too attached to animals. Pa didn't think animals in the house was sanitary. Not just for that reason but with Ma and her asthma we knew I think that was another reason.

We used to have a black dog that every so often would come to our house. Ma after a while figured out that the dog came every time it was going to storm. She would let that dog in the porch because she could see how frightened it was. We never knew who the dog belonged to and after Ma let it in the porch during storms it would go to the door and want out when the storm passed. We called the dog Blackie. We could have been the early weather forecasters on the range. That dog was the closest any animal got to come in the house except for the slaughtered chickens and rabbits.

We had what they called the Ash Street Gang. Eighth street was Ash Street before they started giving numbers to the streets. We had the Finish, The Swedes, The Slovenians, Russian, and of course the Italians and Americans. United nations all on one street practically. Oh, yes the Jewish, and the Greeks, and the Norwegians. We had a song we sang that went something like this, "We'll build a little still, Up on Joe Santi's Hill and let the rest of old Ash Street go dry -go dry- and let the rest of old Ash street go dry. Johnny Pag made up a song that he sang about the Italian guys. Scaloni had the Italian bakery and I think the guys hung out upstairs there where they lived. I.m not too sure but the song went something like this.

"Scaloni and Zanoni, Pete Fedrizi and Lautzi, Valentini and Vitali La La La La La LaLa. The men drinking wine and having a good time. And then the women they're madder 'n a sonamagun and they throw them out the door one by one go down the stairs. First comes Vitali and Rialli, Pete Fedrizi and Lautzi, Valentini and Zanoni La La La La La La La.

We had many a good time and I don't think we dwelled on how poor we were because we were so rich with love and family. Family is where it is and what it is.

How about the times us women would get together and discuss the different things Ma made and one said she did it this way and another would say no, she did it this way and it would go round and round. Actually Ma did it all ways as she grew in age she picked up short cuts and I think we still look for short cuts in doing some of those things as we seem too busy for those things today. Microwave Polenta, wouldn't Ma love to have had a microwave then and not have to put up with that big pot of polenta and get all the burns on her hands and arms from that stuff. You know how mad she would get if you would stir that Risotto. Today on these cook shows they tell you have to keep stirring it and watching it.

Home Remedies: I am sure everyone was vixed to the hills. Mustard Plaster if you had a chest cold. Did you ever get burned from it? I know I would like to see how long I could go before I would have it changed. Spring approaching and it was Purga (sp). Now I don't know to this day what it meant but I think it was a potient of some sort made of certain weeds that were dried over the winter and Ma made this drink. The two of them I believe drank it and it cleaned out their system. They may have had diarrhea for a couple days I don't know. Tillie should remember that or Elvira, Zelinda or Rudolph. Garlic necklaces were worn around your neck to keep the flu away. Yes, garlic has quite a few medicinal values. These are just a few of the remedies I remember. They still work.

Well this is what I have remembered so far. Happy memories.

The Walls that Held our Love

By

Anita Vitali Vovk

Of course now I guess I was a bit spoiled, got attention. I was very small and in the high chair and I can still remember them making me sing all the theme songs for all the radio programs on the air. They started with Sunrise Serenade and all programs throughout the day. I remember Grandma Vitali crying as she listened to her soaps on the radio, Portia Faces Life was one of them.

Laundry day started early in the morning making a fire in the woodstove in the basement to boil the water in the big boiler, her whites could blind you on the line. I would sit and play with my paper dolls while she worked. The clothes in winter were hung upstairs; lines strung up all over the house. We'd laugh if Gram hung Grampa's underwear (unionsuit) outside in the winter. They froze stiff and had to be thawed out and hung again in the house.

We did not have central heat, so a pot-bellied coal fed stove sat in the livingroom. You were warm as long as you sat near the stove. The further away from the stove, the colder you got. No fans to distribute the heat. At night if you put a pan of cold water on the top of the stove, you had nice warm water to wash up for school, baths were only on Saturday for church and until the next week it was sponge baths. On Saturday nights Grandma would put a big galvanized wash tub in her bedroom. She'd boil water, put it in the tub and add cold water until it was lukewarm. Well, one night Josephine insisted it was her turn for the first bath and I insisted it was not. I never did make good decisions even back then because as soon as Grandma put in the boiling water, I jumped in. I still feel the pain as I recall this incident and Grandma rubbed my entire body with some Vaseline. Needless to say that was the end of my bathing for awhile.

I don't know how often Gram baked tons of bread, THE BEST, but we could always invite Vito Lathovich in to join us. Later Helen Johnson joined us.

Grandma was involved in helping at the school when I started nursery school at 2 1/2 years old. She helped to sew the quilts for our naps and would come to take a turn to put the children to bed, stroking the heads of those who cried for their parents. She and Mrs. Costel were like room parents. After school sometime Gram and I would go to Costel's for a visit and I could play with Sam, my classmate or Costel's would come to our house. I was proud that she did this. I think that's where a lot of my friends first met my mother and they all fell in love with her.

Grandpa worked very hard as well, he hunted, fished and planted a garden in many spots all over town and Grandma canned all excess meat and food and fish for the winter months. Dad went to pick berries with only the diligent berry pickers of the family and they came home with bushels full! Grandma and her crew had to clean them and can them for winter. Mushrooms, too, were Grandpa's specialty, knowing exactly where to find them. Again they were used to make Grandma's favorite Antipasto and preserve the rest. Grandma did all these chores while suffering from asthma. The priest was always at our house to anoint Grandma in case she did not make it through the night. For me as a little child this was so scary, there was always the chance of losing her.

She never complained about her wifely and motherly duties but she demanded obedience and good behavior from all of us, as well as Grandpa. There were no 'time outs', 'counting to 3', or 'go to your room', you knew that you were to follow their instructions or suffer the consequences. You never got a second chance.

Grandma was very religious; I'd always ask her what she is saying (talking to herself always) and she said, "I'm praying". She did this spontaneously during the day and never went to bed without praying her rosary. She probably had a third grade education, maybe less, but she was a good teacher of life. If you did not learn about God from her, you got a meager teaching from the local lay teachers. There were no excuses for not going to Mass on Sunday (we had no Saturday masses) unless you were sick and if you were too sick to go to mass, you were too sick to do any other thing that day, not even to go out and sit in the yard. And you better have behaved at mass or you were punished when you got home. During the Cannon of the Mass she wanted absolute silence. No talking, no whispering, no laughing or snickering. She lived her religion as well. If I complained about a friend or someone hurting me or my feelings she always said "pray for them and treat them with kindness and they will change how they treat you". She never believed in getting revenge. She and Grandpa were always ready to help someone if they needed it. They shared what ever they had and they did not have much but they were paid by the Lord for these kind deeds.

We had a small home; two bedrooms, kitchen, big livingroom and bathroom but no tub. Julio and Rudolph had a double bed and we girls - Josephine, Elvira, and I in one bed. But I don't recall where Tillie, Zelinda, and Mary slept. Someone tell me. I hope they weren't also in my bed! No wonder my legs hurt now being crushed. Oh yes, then Vera Kauto came to stay with us before she got married and Eino sometimes slept overnight in the boys bed. Do you wonder why we grew up loving each other and wanting to be together?

Every weekend the married ones and their families were to come home for meals, especially Sundays. Oh, the dishes! But if they would not come, we would be sad. We even had company from Iron River, Michigan. I recall giving up my two inches of the bed and sleeping on two chairs put together, a blanket and a pillow. There were no Motel 6's at that time.

At night we'd do our schoolwork, listen to the radio - The Green Hornet, The Squeaky Door, and Horace Height, the comedy shows and then play cards.

Around March we'd watch Grandpa start all his plants and it wasn't long and it looked like a jungle. Also early spring Grandpa came home with baby chicks and he had the nicest place for them on a table with sideboards and warming lights until they could go outside. He also brought home a little lamb and made him a special place in a corner of the basement. He was to become our Easter Sacrifice.

The basement was such a fun place, all the jars of canned goods in an array of colors, the potato bins, the wine barrels and of course the moonshine still, what I thought was a safe haven to store my precious paper dolls. I'd like to know who through them away when the house was being readied to be moved to someone's lake property.

Holidays were always fun but so much work for Grandma. The entire family was expected to be there for meals. Grandma was a good cook and also Grandpa. I still remember Grandpa always making sure that there were 1 or 2 gallons of black olives to serve, his proscutto, you'll never find any as good as his, his sausage and salami and lonza. Now you see we ate like kings and that includes all the roasted chickens with Italian dressing, chicken cacciatore, far superior than mine, polenta on the board and got us in trouble sometime. Ravioli's, pastas and gnocchi's we took for granted that they would just be there. No freezers so everything was made fresh. Garden lettuce loaded with tomatoes, etc. The homemade breads to complete these dishes. I don't know if we ever had deserts. We did have chestnuts.

During these family gatherings while the adults played cards the kids, especially Josephine and Johnny Pagliacetti, would produce and direct a play and they also had premiere parties. They'd sneak in the basement and take a couple sips of wine and moonshine and wound up drunk. That was nipped in the bud by Grandma and Johnny's parents.

I recall that Grandpa, in order to accommodate us all to eat, had set up horses (wooden) and big planks and Grandma covered them with a beautiful white cloth. We all ate together and when we done with cleanup, we all played Tombala for pennies.

I don't recall opening any presents. In those days we all went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve and came to Grandma's for goodies and drinks. Grandpa always made the Tom & Jerry's and we could have one without the liquor. Then we had to get up and go to mass again the next morning.

Lent was always long and we to fast for the entire 40 days, Sundays were exempt. We could not listen to the radio or music at all during the Holy Week and don't even think of going to a dance! We could hardly wait until midnight on Holy Saturday night when the fast would end. Yet when I look back, you were so used to that, that it never seemed that bad, but now since the fast has been revised, it seems worse. I think the old sacrificing was good, now none of us know what sacrifice is especially for Jesus.

Another holiday at our house was March 19, St. Joseph's day. Grandpa came home from work early and prepared castognoli, a big meal, had the wine, beer and brandy ready and chilled and I remember him standing in the doorway waiting for the family to come walking down the hill towards the house. That was always a special celebration for him. He also invited his brother and family to join our holiday celebrations.

Electrical storms were always a scream and I mean a scream! In our sibling bedroom, when a storm started Elvira and Rudolph would try to cover the window, a big streak of lightning would flash and down they came with the blanket in their hands! We'd laugh so hard! I don't recall if that blanket ever did make it attached to the window. One time the lightning struck the house and a small fire started in the attic. They called the fire department but had to scramble up there to hide the moonshine still.

It was a sad day and a happy day when we were told our old house would be taken off the property and a new house, moved in from a location, would be remodeled and we'd have a lot more room. Grandma and Grandpa deserved this and Tillie and Rudy were to be thanked for this kind act. There were no strings attached. Our tarpaper house, I believe cried also because it held all our early memories and love as a family, so rich in family love.