I believe we had gas on one side and coal on the other. We kept
the coal fire going to heat the back part of the house. My mother
would wash my hair by having me lay on the ironing board with my head
hanging over the sink. We took our Saturday night bath in a large
washtub by the kitchen stove. We had no bathtub until I was about
eight years old.
We always had baseball equipment to play with due to my brother's
interest. We would play ball in the street and in a lot at the corner
of Chapin and Thad Chapin Streets. The trees, High banks and uneven
ground helped me to become a good center-fielder when I played on a
flat baseball field. That was easy after running up and down those
hills and I could catch anything. The only toys that Ray and I had
were very simple. We took the wheels off an old baby buggy and nailed
them on the end of a stick. We would run around the house pushing it
by the hour.
At Christmas time we were allowed to open one toy when we got up in
the morning. My favorite, which I asked for every year, was a wind up
tractor with rubber treads which we would try to make climb over
stacks of books on the floor. We would also roll marbles down the
groove in the bottom of skis to knock down houses made of cards. My
older brothers and sisters who were married would arrive around noon
for Christmas dinner and there were usually about twenty there. After
dinner we would open the presents in the parlor.
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