The civic parade in Chester 1963.
The circus coming through Wilmington, Delaware, 1930.
Mother insisted I take a bath weekly. We never thought of nor were expected to wash every day. Those baths always left a ring of dirt around the tub, and I could never take a long bath because somebody was always waiting to use the bathroom. As a kid, I scratched a name on the back of the bathroom mirror leaving for all to see the girl I was in love with as a teenager, Evelyn Boyle. I guess this was my first infatuation. Her mother was Jewish, but her father was not. My mother was very prejudiced at mixed marriages and kept reminding me, but I was deeply, hopelessly in love with her at 13 years of age and didn’t give any thought to moth- er’s wishes. Funny thing, I never even spoke to Evelyn. I was just too shy and embarrassed to simply say hello.
Mother was always working, if you didn’t find her cleaning or cooking, she would be in the basement washing clothes. In those days, a washing machine was an uncommon luxury. We certainly did not have one. She cleaned our clothes the old-fashioned way with a washtub and ribbed metal plate washboard. I remem- ber the large blocks of harsh, yellow soap that she used. Cleaning clothing was not an easy job back then. There was never any ending to the cleaning mother could do. When the Jewish holidays approached every year, Mother would buy a live carp [gefilte fish] and let it swim around in that washtub in the basement until it was time to prepare it for the feast. When I sat at the table with that gefilte fish sitting on a plate in front of me, I felt revolted. I hated it for years. The busiest room in the house was the upstairs bathroom. In the hallway, across from the radiator, just outside the bathroom there was a step on the floor. That is where I sat and waited for my turn. It seemed to take an eternity. To while away the time, I stared at a 1939 N.Y. World’s Fair medal on a key chain that I hung on the knob of the radiator. My brother Izzy bought it for me.
High School crush - Evelyn Boyle
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