Reflections on the Table, 1: Setting the Table

I learned to set a table from a book called The Non-Com’s Guide. I almost thought I had imagined it but Google did come up with three hits, one a citation in a militaria forum (for collectors of military stuff) and two ratings in French for someone who sold a copy on eBay a while back. No listing in WorldCat or Bookfinder. As I recall the book was a paperback and surely fell apart or was discarded somewhere along the way.

Either of my parents could surely have showed me how to set the table, but I’m sure they already knew me well enough by the time I was 7 or 8 to know that learning things from books was my preferred method. It worked – to this day I feel compelled to rearrange the silverware at a restaurant or church supper if it’s not set out correctly.

It’s rather curious to me that The Non-Com’s Guide (a compendium of information thought to be useful to non-commissioned officers, i.e. sergeants, in the U. S. Army) felt it necessary and advisable to alert its readers on proper table setting. I’m actually not too surprised that there may have been plenty of sergeants who came from backgrounds where such niceties were not observed, but in the 1950s, I don’t think most men expected to be required to know how to set a table.

With what did I set the table? At some point I suppose we must have had stainless steel forks, knives and spoons, but I can’t remember any of them. What I do remember are the two sets of silverplate, still in the family, that we had when I was growing up. The first one, which was somewhat battered and missing pieces even when I started tablesetting, was this one, 1881 Rogers Bros. Capri. I did not know its name until several years ago and always thought the pattern was one of pine trees, but now I think it’s supposed to suggest waves. By making use of online auctions I was able to fill out the service for eight and give it to one of my nieces a few years ago.

The second set, which I still have, is called First Love, by 1847 Rogers Bros., and was their best-selling pattern for many years. Here’s a picture because I’m too lazy to get the camera and go photograph my own:

This pattern had a nice heaviness to it. It is a bit more ornate than I would choose for myself, probably, but I cherish it because it was my mother’s and the silverware we used on many occasions.

I wish I could show you a picture of the everyday dishes we had growing up. They were Melmac – I think either Texasware or Boontonware. Before Corelle, Melmac was the miracle dishware for 50s families with children who might break other, more fragile dishes. It was virtually indestructible and for all I know one of my siblings may still have a cup or saucer from the set. The thing that stands out about my family dishes is the color scheme. Some Melmac was white or cream with a pattern such as roses or wheat, but ours was resolutely solid colored, half in a very dark green and half in a deep dusty rose. The green stood the test of time better than the rose, considering my parents’ love of coffee, which tended to stain the rose cups. I never asked about it, but I think this was a very modern choice for my mother to have made.

I could go on about table setting and probably will, but it’s late and I’m very tired after a day at the church fair selling books.

Memories of Sartoriusstrasse

In Friday’s post I talked a little about our family’s sojourn on Sartoriusstrasse in Wiesbaden, Germany. Today I’m going to tell some more of what I remember; hoping that perhaps, through the magic of Google, someone else with memories of those days will be in touch.

We arrived, as I mentioned before, in late October or early November of 1955. The American, British and French occupation of West Germany had officially ended only in May of that year, and Germany was still rebuilding from the war. Probably because we had a large family of five children, we were assigned quarters in a requisitioned town house in the center of Wiesbaden, on Sartoriusstrasse. I did not realize until I looked at this map that we were only a few blocks from the main train station in Wiesbaden! In my researches, I’ve been hampered by not knowing the exact address where we lived; of course all our mail came to the APO address and was picked up by my father at work. A nearby hospital has been enlarged since we lived there, so it’s possible the building has been torn down; but I did find this photo of 29 Sartoriusstrasse, which looks very similar to what I remember. Our quarters, as best I recall, was the middle house of five. My parents later reminded me that the basement was common to all five houses, so that all the children could play there on rainy or cold days. The back yards had, I think, stone fences separating them, but that did not stop us either.

For the six months preceding our trip to Germany, my mother and we children had been living in our little house in Maine – four rooms and an attic, with an outdoor privy. I know that at one of the times we lived there,  we also got water from the neighbor’s well, but possibly we had some kind of running water, at least from a pump, by this time. In any case, living in this rather fancy house in Wiesbaden was a big difference. There were three floors, with a bathroom on each. At first, I had my own room on the third floor, but at 7 I was a little too young to appreciate that so I soon moved in with my 3-year-old sister on the second floor. In addition to a living room and dining room, we had a playroom, I think on the first floor, which must have saved my mother a few steps when we needed supervision.  The house came furnished with heavy, dark furniture and even china – Brother #1, I believe, has the slightly chipped gravy boat that we had to buy from the Army when we moved because we had chipped it. It’s white with a dark red stripe like some church dinnerware, but more delicate. My sister has a souvenir of the furniture – a tiny scar on her forehead where she slid under my parents’ bed during a chase.

Our previous homes had certainly had no more than three bedrooms or two stories, and there were still many Germans looking for work. So, for the first and only time in her life, my mother had household help. Our first maid was Magda, who was younger (well, under 40 anyway) and skinny. We children thought she was mean, too. I’m not sure if she quit or was fired, but then we got Hilda, who was stout and jolly. She taught my mother to make some German dishes, and was happy to help me with my school German although her dialect was not the Hochdeutsch we were being taught.

My father, who was a Master Sergeant at the time, was First Sergeant of A Battery, 63rd AAA Missile/Gun Battalion. (I’m not sure exactly when it changed from Gun to Missile.)  As a First Sergeant, he had some responsibilities for the men in his battery, beyond simply their work performance. I benefited from this responsibility when one of his men came to him for help – he had signed up to buy the Book of Knowledge for his infant child and couldn’t really afford the payments. My father bought this great children’s encyclopedia from him and I (and quite a few other family members) got years of enjoyment and education from it.  I remember too that we did a lot more entertaining of people from work than at any other time in my memory – extra people at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, for example. 

In the house two doors to the right of us lived the Larsens. Larsen Sr. was some kind of Naval officer (I don’t remember his rank but probably a Lt. Commander), who was most likely attached to the Rhine River Patrol. My memory is that he was actually from Norway, but I wasn’t then as knowledgeable about Scandinavian-Americans as I am now. His wife, however, was Swiss and was my Brownie leader. Their two elder daughters, Karen and Esther, were in the troop as well. There was one son, Larry (Lars or Lawrence?) and two smaller girls –- I think one was named Astrid.

Right next door to us were the Mellingers, an Air Force family. They had a lot of children – maybe as many as eight? More than five, anyway. The eldest, Yvonne, was about 14 and I think Butch, the oldest boy, was a couple of years older than I, but still young enough to join our play.

For some reason I can’t recall the name of the family who lived on the other side of us or really anything about them. Perhaps one of my siblings will remember. The last house was inhabited by the Toms family, and I think Mr. Toms was a civilian employee of one of the services. There were two older boys and a girl, Rae Liz, who was my age. She had a fantastic dollhouse. The other thing that I think I recall from the Toms household was that they put angel hair on their Christmas tree. Angel hair was, I think, made from fiberglass (ouch!) – it looked really pretty, though. (I’ve linked to a site where you can actually still buy it, which claims that the angel hair it sells is not like the rough, scratchy kind I remember. I still wouldn’t use it around pets or small children, though.)

For some reason we don’t seem to have any photographs of those years in Germany.  This seems odd to me, as we have photos and even slides from the years immediately preceding them. My hope is that photos were taken and sent home to Maine, and that perhaps there are some in an album or shoebox at the home of one of my relatives. Later this week, after a visit from SonShineIn’s inlaws, I’ll write a bit more about our time in Wiesbaden.

Friday Five: PJs

Sophia at RevGalBlogPals posted a cute video and suggested:

"Without going to TMI land, share with us your sleepwear memories and preferences...." Well, I wanted to post a cute video too, but the song that came to mind was Anne Hills' One Thousand Pairs of Pajamas, from the wonderful Priscilla Herdman album Moondreamer. You can acquire it here, or if you just want to hear the song, you can go here, scroll down to Friday, November 19, 2004, and either listen to a lot of other good stuff or skip ahead to about 7:40. So, without further ado and whilst listening to Garrison Keillor (get well soon Gar!) talking about the Gettysburg Address (Nov. 19, 1863), here are my answers on the topic of nightwear:

1. What was your favorite sleeping attire as a child? And did you call them pjs, pajamas (to rhyme with llamas), pajamas (to sort of rhyme with bananas), jammies, or ???
I think I have one or two pictures of myself in pajamas as a small child, but my memory is that by the time I went to school I normally wore a nightgown. I don't recall calling it a nightie either. I think maybe my brothers had pajamas, to rhyme with llamas.

2. Favorite sleepwear put on your own little ones, or perhaps those you babysat? (Bonus points if you made it).
Well, I certainly don't get any bonus points here. My mother made a lot of our clothes, but I actually can't recall whether she made nightwear. I'd say my favorites for my kids were the feety pajamas (we did live in Minnesota after all) -- for some years at Christmas they got matching or coordinating ones. The last time for that was when SonShineIn was about 11 and the girls were 5 and 10 years younger -- he got a "manly" dark brown like a teddy bear and the girls' pajamas were pink.

3. How about today-do you prefer nightgown, pajamas, undies, or au naturel?
Still nightgown, although I do have a few pairs of pajamas.


4. Silky smooth or flannel-y cozy?
In winter, flannel or that brushed stuff that's a little lighter than flannel is my favorite. In summer, my preference is for light, smooth cotton, but that's not always easy to find so lightweight jersey has to be part of the mix.


5. Socks or bare feet?

After nearly 60 years of sleeping in bare feet, I've occasionally worn socks in winter, since the dog ate my slippers. It still feels wrong, though.

And, since this is the song that comes to mind whenever I hear "Pajamas," here's a short clip from someone's high school production of The Pajama Game, with the opening song:

Friday Five: Games!

Jan, at RevGalBlogPals, writes:
"In less than three weeks, my family, including children and their partners, will be gathering in Seattle, WA for 12 days. After various days in Seattle sightseeing and in Bellingham seeing family, we will travel to the coast of Washington State to spend three nights in a large rented house. With nine adults (from almost 20 years old and up), I am thinking that we need to have some activities pre-planned--like GAMES! (Any ideas will be appreciated.)

So this Friday Five is about games, so play on ahead. . . ."

1. Childhood games?
Indoors, we played Go Fish and War with cards, and later on Monopoly; I also remember playing Careers and The Game of Life at other kids' houses.
Outdoor games? Hide and seek (we said "Ally ally in free" if I recall), dodgeball, Red Rover are some of the more formal games I remember. But what I remember best are the numerous "forts" we had when I was 8 and 9. There were some vacant spaces still in the Hainerberg housing area in Wiesbaden, Germany. In spring we made clod forts (and threw clods); in summer, grass forts with cut grass (not sure what the missile was there); in fall leaf forts and in winter snow forts. I don't think it was all war games, the building of the forts was great fun.
2. Favorite and/or most hated board games?
I like Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, CatchPhrase, and two terrific but not as well-known games, Compatibility and Twenty-Five Words or Less. The former is fun whether you play it with someone you know well or the reverse; the latter is good for teams as well as smaller partnerships. I also like a game called Encore but I can hardly ever get anyone to play it with me. Maybe because it involves me singing?
3. Card games?
I am, very slowly, learning bridge now. Hitherto, cribbage, gin rummy, hearts and Oh Hell! have been much played. Oh, and 21 -- I think that's the non-gamblers' version of blackjack.
4. Travel/car games?
Counting cows -- person on each side of car counts cows they see, but if you pass a cemetery all your cows are dead and you have to start over. Also not exactly a game, but license plate watching is fun, and probably more challenging now that many states have multiple charity license plates. In Maine, watching for vanity plates is fun too -- they are a little cheaper here than some places so lots of folks have them. I saw one once that read "XEGSIS", always wondered whose it was!
5. Adult pastimes that are not video games?
Charades, of course. Some of my extended family are great at coming up with obscure and difficult titles to act out. Also Botticelli or Twenty Questions are fun.
Bonus: Any ideas for family vacations or gatherings?
Putting on my genealogist's hat for a moment (and what would that look like?), spend some time collecting family/childhood stories on tape or video or, if it's an off-the-grid type holiday, write them down. Take pictures -- candids and posed. Take along some pedigree or family group sheets (there are numerous places to download and print blank ones for free on the Interwebs) and get them filled out -- don't neglect the in-laws and outlaws, and get some of their family stories too. And, of course, introvert me says: leave some time for solo walks on the beach, reading, running, or whatever people like to do alone. Unless you have a whole family full of extroverts -- eek!

Friday Five: Coin Toss Edition

Songbird at RevGalBlog Pals posts:

Well, Gals and Pals, this weekend we'll be rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and that has me thinking about coinage.

(Songbird lives in the same state and country I do, and I'm not quite sure what she means by this. Oh wait -- self-employed clergy paying quarterly income tax, perhaps?)

1) When was the last time you flipped a coin or even saw one flipped in person?

I can't recall. I'm sure I've done it in the past; and it has been reported to have been done before the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, but they didn't show it happening. The closest I can come is the Scrabble challenge we entered a couple of weeks ago, when we drew letters to see who would play first. Since the Challenge pits two teams against each other over each board, a coin toss would have worked equally well, but in games with more than two players or teams per board, the traditional letter draw is the better solution.

2) Do you have any foreign coins in your house? If so, where are they from?

If we look hard enough we would probably find a Canadian coin, and I know there used to be some pfennigs. I think Onkel Hankie Pants gave away the Iraqi money and possibly Euros that he brought back from his sojourn in Baghdad and Amsterdam a few years ago. I did unearth a box recently, probably one that belonged to my late father-in-law, with several old silver dollars, Kennedy halfs, and an old quarter and nickel. They were all US coinage though.

3) A penny saved is a penny earned, they say. But let's get serious. Is there a special place in heaven for pennies, or do you think they'll find a special place in, well, the other place? 

I have not always been respectful of pennies. But Teddy Gross is. Here's an article about how he tries to help charity through penny collecting. Teddy (or Theodore as he is now known) was my co-editor on our college newspaper many years ago. We had many artistic differences (he was more the artistic type and I was more for straight journalism) but it's nice to see that he carries on the finest traditions of A Host at Last University as well as continuing his creative work.

4) How much did you get from the tooth fairy when you were a child? and if you have children of your own, do they get coins, or paper money? (I hear there may be some inflation.)

I got a dime. A dime was a lot in those days; it bought two candy bars, for example (which probably didn't do the new tooth any good!)  My children may have clearer memories than I, but I think we probably started out with quarters and ended up with a dollar bill. The last candy bar I bought cost about $2.50, then again it was one of those Endangered Species, organic fair trade chocolate ones; but I rather think even one of the traditional ones costs about 69 cents now.

5) Did anyone in your household collect the state quarters? And did anyone in your household manage to sustain the interest required to stick with it?

Not that I know of.  We certainly took note of them and were mildly excited when our two states' quarters came out. But we're more stamp collectors in our house. We did get a solicitation in the mail for a state quarter collection that included some sort of philatelic tie-in, but were too frugal to bite on it.