1947 • Larry’s diary (age 13) Dec 1 Bought Daisy air pistol. It is 117 caliber and shoots small sized BB’s. Bought some stamps among them a block of some airmail Dec 2 Was sick today and missed a day of school. I may have the flu mom has just gotten well from. Rained today. Dec 3 … [Read more...]
1.23 Larry’s Diary, Nov 1947
1947 • Larry’s diary (age 13) Nov 1 Was very busy washing windows today. All windows in town were washed and cleaned before noon hour. Nov 2 Sunday: Raked up half of the leaves in the front yard and also mowed lawn. Tore down grape arbor in back yard Nov 3 Had three Russian … [Read more...]
1.22 Brusha, Brusha, Brusha …
Late 1940s • Sonora ~ Lorna Harrington, Betty’s best friend since kindergarten, was unusually shy. My sister took her under her wing from the beginning, and as birds-of-a-feather they flew everywhere together. Betty saw no reason why she and Lorna shouldn’t participate in all camp activities and … [Read more...]
1.21 Larry’s Diary, Oct 1947
1947 • Larry’s diary (age 13) Oct 1 Went to Mrs. Rossoci's house to see her about some stamps but she was busy and I will come up to her house again in the near future. Oct 2 Had a scout meeting tonight. Got our Spanish textbooks in class, I got a book in very bad condition. Oct 3 … [Read more...]
1.20 Larry’s Diary, Aug-Sep 1947
Aug 1947 • Larry’s diary (age 13) Aug 1 Got paid for morning route and paid off my $15 clothing bill at Baers Store Aug 2 Paid dad $5 and I still owe him $10 for my radio Aug 3 Went swimming nearly all day at Phoenix Lake's Plunge. Sorted out some more stamps and hope to be through … [Read more...]
1.19 Larry’s Diary, Jun-Jul 1947
1947 • Larry’s diary (age 13) Jun 4 Graduated from 8th grade elementary school. I got a wristwatch and binder as gifts. Went to graduation party and danced with Barbara Miles Jun 5 At 2 PM left for 3 week vacation to stay at George and Verda Day‘s home in Redwood City as Mom and Dad … [Read more...]
1.18 We Love Milkshakes!
June 1947 • Charlie and Velma ~ The three weeks Mom and Dad were in Minnesota for the funeral, Betty and Claudia stayed with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Velma, Mom’s oldest brother and his wife. It didn’t go well. Charlie and Velma had no children of their own (which never inhibited them from telling Mom … [Read more...]
1.17 A California Thistle
Jun 1947 • Minnesota ~ Dad’s first trip back to the family farm was in 1937 for his mother’s funeral ten years earlier. He and Mom took the long train trip to the Midwest, bringing Larry who was almost four, and Carleen who was two years younger. Farm kids were seldom catered to, and this woman … [Read more...]
1.16 Missive to Marceline
When our cousin Marceline turned seventeen (the same age Mom was when she married Dad), she became engaged to a young man named Roy. She wrote my mother of her wedding plans; Mom penned back a four-page letter in her cursive handwriting: May 2, 1947 Dear Marceline: Received your letter when I got … [Read more...]
1.15 Larry’s Diary, Apr-May 1947
1947 • Larry’s diary (age 13) Apr 1 Received pay of five dollars and paid father on radio Apr 2 Bought hatchet and knife. Chopped down a small bush for my paper route. Bought some stamps and took book from library about stamps Apr 3 There was no Boy Scouts meeting tonight. Got … [Read more...]
1.14 Heathens and Hellions
1947 • Sonora, California ~They tore through the house like heathens and hellions. The kids not only had the run of the house, they had the run of the town. Most summer days the three older ones were off exploring and swimming, roller skating the cracked sidewalks, and riding their bikes up and down … [Read more...]
1.13 Larry’s Diary, Feb-Mar 1947
1947 • Larry’s Diary (age 13) Feb 1 Today I took both routes again for Mr. Mouron. I also went and looked at some bikes as I am hoping to buy one. Bought some more stamps for collection. Feb 2 Today I went for a short walk. I also took a bath the day before yesterday and one today. Pat … [Read more...]
1.12 Larry’s New Diary, Jan 1947
My mother, brother, and sisters loved to read. They regularly checked out books from the local library, and in every room at home someone would be sprawled somewhere with their nose buried in one. Larry’s favorites were historical adventures, dog stories, and biographies. He'd buy books when he … [Read more...]
1.11 Nothing But the Best
1946 • Sonora ~ Mom decided life would be easier if Claudia, the youngest at the time and the only one still at home, went to school. Dressed in her netted hat to set off her pinned-up hair, a pastel polka-dotted shoulder-padded two-piece outfit, pearls, silk stockings, and white open-toed wedge … [Read more...]
1.10 Wolf at the Door
1946 • Sonora ~ Squatting on the front stoop in the low afternoon sun, Betty, all of six, and Claudia, just four, sat wondering what kind of trouble they could get into when their plans were cut short. An eerie howl, like from a trapped animal with its foot caught in a snare, floated through the … [Read more...]
1.09 Brandi’s and Bingo
1946 • Sonora ~ Sundays were family days that were spent reading the newspaper comics, going to church, and calling on relatives. The adults played canasta and bridge; the kids, Monopoly and Chinese checkers. They went for drives and had picnics in the country with Aunt Verda’s family. Our cousins, … [Read more...]
1.08 Might as Well be Hung for a Sheep
No Sunday or Holy Day passed without Dad taking the children to Mass. Some Sundays they attended St. Anne's in Columbia, other Sundays they went to Mass in Jamestown. Sometimes they drove to Tuolumne, during summer camping trips they heard Mass sitting on the hard benches at the outdoor theatre in … [Read more...]
1.07 Itty-Bitty Balls of Fluff
1946 • Sonora ~ On a sunny Saturday, Mom brought home six dozen chicks from the feed store and enclosed them in the safety of the chicken coop. The next day, Carleen, Betty, and Claudia gently carried them from the pen to the front yard, cradling the soft chicks inside their tops, smelling their … [Read more...]
1.06 Chico and Grandma Chatfield
1940s • Chico ~ Every summer Mom took the kids to visit her mother, Nellie Chatfield, who still lived in the two-story house on Boucher where my mother grew up. Chico was even hotter than Sonora during the summer, in the 100s every day. To cool off the family took daily picnics to Bidwell Park … [Read more...]
1.05 Summer Camping
1945 • Pinecrest ~ Every summer the family spent a couple of weeks camping in Pinecrest, pitching a tent and sleeping under the stars at night, boating, swimming, and fishing for perch and bluegill all day. Dad came up on weekends. The kids were free as wild finches from dawn until dusk, Larry and … [Read more...]
1.04 Lucky Strike Girl
1945 • Sonora ~ At five, Betty opened her first business. She admired the ads of the Lucky Strike girls wearing long gloves, short skirts, high heels, and satin pillbox caps. She particularly applauded the ingenuity of the lacquered trays they carried like a personal shelf supported by a strap … [Read more...]
1.03 A Chicken Named Blackie
Mid 1940s • Sonora, California ~ Larry and Carleen went everywhere together. They were a year apart (he was born in 1934, she in '35) with the same dark brown hair and brown eyes. When he was four Larry wore an eye patch, and in first grade, glasses. He had a lazy eye, the only thing ever lazy about … [Read more...]
1.02 104 Green Street
1943 • Sonora, California ~ My father first took a job as manager of the Sprouse-Reitz on Washington Street. Mom came in and helped out. Ten years younger, with jet-black hair like her mother’s and grandmother’s, she wore red lipstick and a wide smile. He was the boss, quiet-spoken, good … [Read more...]
1.01 Part I, Faded Snapshots, Sonora
1943 • Sonora, California ~ Emerging from the crown of Highway 49 and a mile from end to end, the town of Sonora is tucked into the foothills and ravines of the Sierra Nevada, the gateway to California’s gold mining region. In the mid 1800s it was a whirlwind of change, a booming and often … [Read more...]