Antique Memories - I Remember When

I love this "memory" sent in by a visitor to my antique shop website. Being a Texan myself I recall the days of getting the "switch" to the old buttocks area. It was really bad if you were asked to go cut your own switch, the child mind thinks smaller is better but in actuality it was like a little whip. When you are getting a whoopin' the bigger the better when it came to switches.

No, we were not abused children. Simply everyday kids who were disciplined when we broke the rules and yes we knew what the rules were. We got in trouble and got a spanking when we misbehaved. I can't speak for everyone but I don't have any traumatic emotional scars from getting a butt whipping I grew up to be a pretty decent adult who raised amazing children and used discipline appropriate to the incident including "the switch."

I also remember seeing many dog trot homes and wanting to live in one. The little breezeway between the buildings was a welcome respite from the Texas heat.

To this very day I call the refrigerator the icebox

Please read this special memory and try to visualize it if you can. Thank you for sharing and bringing memories back for me.

year_born: 1952

memory: A "dog trot" style house. There was no running water or electricity. Water came from the well on the backporch (leaning over the well and spitting into it got one an instant whipping with a switch).

There was a BIG black woodburning cookstove that never went out, and was in
a kitchen WAY at the back of the house, near the well. You went "out the
back"and up a trail, past the chicken coops, to an outhouse that had two holes,
but only in the daytime, because a chamber pot at night that neatly tucked under
the bed or the wooden "throne" with the chamber pot hidden in a cabinet
underneath was used at night.

In really cold weather, one slept between two featherbeds for warmth.
Kerosene lamps were used for lighting and candles were a terrible fire hazard
and rarely used at all. The "icebox" was just that, a wooden box on the
outside, metal inside, with a big chunk of ice inside. There was a "drip
pan" underneath that HAD to be emptied regularly, or there would be a stream of
icy water running across the kitchen floor. Fire extinguishers were sealed glass
containers, with water (or some clear liquid)inside mounted in heavy metal
brackets above doorways. They theoretically would explode in case of a
fire, and allow the water to make a wet spot where one could escape.

location: Country
state_lived_in: Texas

Please feel free to share your memories by emailing them to me or posting them as a comment and I will post them for you.

To read more about Dog Trot houses please visit this website http://northbysouth.kenyon.edu/2002/Space/Evans%20Dogtrot%20Page.htm

year_born: 1948

memory: I have a white platter with with sprays of yellow flowers at N. S. E. and West. There is a faint gold border around the edge of the oval slightly scalloped edge. I have dated it from your site as Feb of 1938.

My dear grandmother was a simple woman who took extraordinary pains as a supurb homemaker. As a small child, I remember her pouring hot syrup that we had carefully boiled to almost the "hardball" stage into this special platter. Then we would wait until it had cooled enough to start pulling for taffy.

I also remember that this was her Fried Chicken platter. The chickens came from her yard and were small and not like the monster birds in the grocery today. The entire chicken fit perfectly on the platter...she fried the back, gizzards and liver also.

Nothing was wasted. Feathers were saved for feather beds and pillows. I have only this one small platter but I treasure it. It is worth more than gold to me.

location: Arkansas

year_born: 1962

memory: I had just traveled to Oregon for the Portland show. I said to a friend "I will never be able to add to my Vintage Barbie collection, the prices are so high.

"When I got back, I was on my way to visit the Cleminsons and stopped at a rundown Antique mall. There were many repro. #1 anniversary Barbies. I got all the way through the mall and looked in a dirty jewelry counter 50 ft from the cashier.There was a naked Barbie doll in the bottom. I looked at the tag it said old Barbie $5000. I looked closer at the dolls face. Something was strange about it. I thought it was a repro, then I suspiciously looked at the bottom of the feet. There were holes with copper tubes!! This was the REAL #1 doll! I looked closer at the price, it said $50.00. I almost died!!

I got the cashier to bring it out and went right to the checkstand. A lady next to me was very curious, I played it down. I put an extra $250.00 in an envelope for the dealer with a note thanking her for the opportunity to add to my collection.

Who said God doesnt care about the small stuff? He is a good Father who knows what touches our hearts. I was truly blessed and my faith has increased. My lesson is "never say never", all things are possible with God!

My dad worked at Wagner's for over 40 years and we had about every piece of ware they had from the kettle to some larger pieces that never made it to market .

I remember when the cubaloads blew and there was black dust every where wow what a mess seeing as we lived right across from the factory and parking lot .

My mom cooked in nothing but Wagner ware she loved and it and as a matter of fact that's what I use also handed down pieces from my grandmother .

My father is gone now for 5 years but I can still see him coming home from the shop hot, black and wore out from a hard days work.

Location: Sidney, Ohio

year_born: 1959

memory_description: It is a doll her name is Chatty Cathy. She has blond hair and a pink dress, lord only knows what happened to her underwear and socks and shoes. I still have her .
Wish I could find someone to make her talk again.

location: Small town
state_lived_in: Georgia