Grandma I's "Tell Me Your Memories"

For Christmas 1995 I gave both of my grandmas a booklet that I picked up at a Hallmark store. It was called "Tell Me Your Memories". There was a page in the booklet for every day of the year and neither grandma fully completed their books for me but they did a great job for their ages at the time. Grandma Isler reached a point where she didn't like to write because her hand was so shaky but some of my relatives would ask her questions when they went to visit and would help fill in the blanks. Both of my grandmas have passed away and we still have some of their memories because of these neat little booklets. I love reading their handwritten responses and remembering times spent with them.

Here are Grandma I's responses:

Grandma I.

What was your day and date of birth?
Dec 22, 1913

Where were you born?
At home, County Line Rd, Marion-Crawford, Grand Prairie Twp.

Do you know any other circumstances of your birth (who was present, who delivered, etc.)?
My twin brother was born 8 hrs. before me. The doctor was Dr. Baker (Kirkpatrick). My great-aunt Lizzie Kelly - a nurse (Grandma Mapes' sister) was there.

Name your brothers and sisters and their years of birth.
Frederick, Howard F. Lusch (Feb. 25, 1912), Charles Donald Lusch (Dec. 22, 1913), Janet Ruth Lusch Lawrence (Oct. 13, 1917) {Grandpa Mapes - Charles W. M, Aunt Jeanette Marble, Howard Mapes}

What was your mother's full name?
Gladis Emma Mapes Lusch, born May 25, 1886

What was your father's full name?
Fred Jacob Lusch, born June 18, 1888 (?) in Marion

What was your mother's date and place of birth?
I think Grand Prairie Twp. They lived near the Brush Ridge Cemetery.

What was your father's date and place of birth?
June 18, 1888 in Marion, Ohio.


Tell a family nickname that you had.
None - just Dorothy.

Tell of any other nicknames in your family.Charles was called Chuck by school friends.

What did your father do for a living?
Dad was a bookkeeper and farmer. Kept books for Farm Bureau and later managed in Marion also sold F.B. Insurance. Moved to Upper Sandusky (1935-36). Managed F.B. Landmark and sold Nationwide Insurance.

Name the towns you lived in before you were 20.
We lived on a farm in Claridon Twp. and visited grandparents and cousins in Marion.


Name the childhood addresses you remember.
Mud Pike - Marion Ohio
R.F.D. 6
Columbus-Sandusky Rd. (*Note: apparently all were known as ST. RT. 98)

Tell a fond memory of your Grandpa.
Grandpa Mapes wanted us to sit quiet and listen. Don't run in the house. Keep hands off well (stairways). Don't sit on arms of furniture. Sit. Sit. Clean up your plate. He was a good guy but not much for fun.


Tell a fond memory of your Grandma.
Grandma Lusch was quiet and nice. She liked to stay home. Grandma Mapes taught us a lot of good things. I spent some vacations at their house. Also got to help her "clean house". She made it a good time to talk and learn how to clean. They had a big house in Marion, "modern" plumbing. 254 S. State St., Marion, Ohio.


Tell about a favorite Aunt.
Aunt Jeannette (Mapes) Marble - We spent summer vacations at their house. They had 3 girls. Aunt Hester (Lusch) Harraman, Aunt Kathryn Lusch. They all lived in Marion so that was different and fun.

Tell about a favorite Uncle.
Dad's brothers - Oscar, Harold, and Eddie Lusch. They talked and teased a lot.


Did any relatives ever live with you?
No.


When you needed punishment as a child, which parent corrected you?
Mostly just "talked to". Either Mother or Dad. Mother was more often available.

What type of punishment was dealt you?
"A talking to"


Tell about the naughtiest thing you ever did.
Who me??


If you got caught, describe the consequences.

A promise for the next time.

Relate an experience or memory of a cousin.
Betty Mapes Garver (Uncle Ralph) moved here from Nebraska. She came to visit at our house. She was Janet's age. She watched milk the cows.


Did your mother work outside the home?
Chores and garden


What did you and your brothers or sisters fight about the most?
Whose turn it is to do certain chores.


Do you remember the first movie you ever saw and who starred in it?I was told it was Mrs. Wigga in the Cabbage Patch.

What was your favorite meal as a child?
Ham, browned potatoes, coleslaw, escalloped corn, devil's food cake and peaches (home canned)

What were you doing to first smash a finger?

Car door was shut on it.

Tell about a big fib you told. Not me!!

Did you ever hop a freight train? Explain.
No. I rode a passenger train to Chicago World's Fair (1933?) from Marion. We got on at the station.

Tell of a nickname given to you by friends or classmates.
"Dot". Girls on basketball team. We all had nicknames.


How did you get the nickname?
Dot - short for Dorothy, I guess.


Who was your first girlfriend?
Girls in my class and Vera Mae (Smith) Seckel, Marguirita Eichhorn (Speir)


Tell about the Valentine Day festivities at your school.
We made valentines for almost all in our room. Teachers made or covered a box like mailbox. Valentines were drawn out and delivered.


Tell about a special valentine you once gave.
We made most of our valentines from art paper. Cut out flowers and hearts and put on with homemade paste.

Tell about your first date.A double-date my parents were not to happy with but I never went with him again. We went from my girlfriend's house.

Tell about your first kiss.
Must have been from my mother or dad. I don't remember too many kisses.


Tell about family reunions in your childhood.
Lusch family met every summer at Garfield Park. Sometimes we went to cousins in Tiffin and Marysville Retterer reunion usually at Garfield Park. We took enough lemon for lemonade made there in a big crock. Ice cream was made and a lot of cousins and friends came to help eat it. There was a shelter in the park.

What do you remember as your favorite subject in school?
Reading, spelling, simple math (arithmetic), home economics, history and English.

What do you remember as your least favorite school subject?

Science (biology and physics)

What is the biggest problem you remember having in Grade School?
Fractions. Division.


What is the biggest problem you remember having in Jr. High School?
No jr. high. Just 1-8 and 9-12. We had to take an 8th grade test to get into H.S. We studied for it. Had Mr. Banning for our teacher. I did well.


What is the biggest problem you remember having in Sr. High school?
Physics as a Jr., Latin II - Soph.

Describe a place you liked to go to be alone.
? To our/my bedroom. Walk along the creek. Riffle Creek run through our farm on 98.


Tell of a place that you discovered or built as a "haven" for your gang.

No gangs, just visited some friends, played games like card games, played croquet in our yard.

Tell about a favorite "hang out" place for you and your friends in Jr. or Sr. High.
Farm kids did not do those things. Had chores and plenty to keep busy.


Tell about the best pet you ever had.
We had very nice dogs and cats.


Tell about other pets you had.
We always had cats and dogs. We liked border collies or collie dogs and cats lived at the barn.


Tell about being in a school play or program.
I had parts in a lot of school programs. In high school, junior and senior class plays and played as a "black" maid in Jr. play! Black make up. Can you imagine? Not 1996.

Tell about a school principal you remember.
They were all good to me.


Did you ever pretend to be sick as an excuse to stay home from school?
No.


Do you have a good story about yourself cussing?
We were threatened if we said "darn". That means the same as "Damn", etc. Occasionally I did but not so Mother or Dad heard.


Tell about how you spent your Saturdays during the school year.
Helped with housework. Baked and cleaned. We went to Marion Saturday evenings to get groceries. Stores closed at 9:00.


Tell about how you spent your Sundays.
Sunday School when weather was good. Picnics, ball games, croquet, card games. Visited the grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins.

What was the naughtiest or meanest thing you remember doing in school?
Not me??


What was your favorite radio program?I liked music. Band and vocal. We did not have a radio except one run by battery till we got electricity R.E.A. about 1929?

What was your favorite movie as a youth? Why?
We didn't go to many, no money. - Maybe went w/ Mapes', it was just up State Street. ORPHEUM theater on W. Center St., Grand Theater on N. State.

Tell of a difficult school essay or term paper assignment.In my day, they must have called it something else.

Tell about your first smoke.
No first.


Do you remember your first pizza?
Box mix in the 60's.


If you went to college, tell which college you chose and why.
Marion Business College. We did not have any courses at Claridon to prepare for a job so I took a business course and got a job at Farm Bureau helping my dad. There I was given a job as bookkeeper - until I got married 1937.


Tell your major and how you chose it.
Did you ever hear of Major Bowls (on radio) (amature hour) {I suspect G'ma didn't understand this question....}

Did people wear green on St. Patrick's Day?
Not because I was Irish. Wore whatever we had.

If you ever hitch-hiked, explain. No. In my day we walked to visit neighbor kids or to pick strawberries. Had no bicycle. Just good exercise.

What do you remember as your favorite time of year? Why?
Probably - summer or fall to get back to school or to see the friends.

Describe some household chores you had as a child.
Lots of dishwashing, dusting, sweeping, and bed making...

Describe some outside chores.
Planted sweet peas on St. Patrick's Day or Good Friday -- which ever when it was dry enough.

What bones have your broken and how? None.

Did you ever need stitches?
No.


Tell about an experience at the doctor's.Had to get a small pox shot so I could play basketball (1930). Required in all schools.

Name your best school chums.
Vera Mae (Smith) Seckel
Marjorie (Seckel) Gulliford
Louise George
Ester Haley Tittlebaugh
Hazel Trout Bauer

Tell about a practical joke or prank you played on a person.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you..."

Have you ever hunted or tried to capture a wild animal?
I went with my brother to set and check traps for muskrat, mink, or coon along our creek (Riffle). It runs through our farm. Did not go often.


Did you ever try to adopt a wild animal?
Only stray dogs.

Relate a favorite spring memory."Last day of school" meant you probably wouldn't see most of your friends until next fall.


Did your Mom or Dad ever find something you had hidden?
Maybe a book or 2 I was not supposed to read. They thought it had too much "love stuff" in it. (Sex)


Share a memory of going to church as you were growing up.
We went to church in Marion with Grandma Mapes when we visited her. When weather was good Dad drove us there. We had a good teacher I remember (Aunt Matt Howser, grandma's sister)


Share a memory about a church social activity.
Church was not social.


Tell about an Easter Egg hunt.
The "Easter Bunny" always took care of that but one year after they were carefully hid - some hogs got out and found most of them.


If your family went to Easter Sunrise services, tell about it.
Some friends always had new Easter clothes but we were told that was not what it was all about.


Tell about any other Easter tradition.
Easter eggs and baskets were fixed for us. Sometimes we went to Grandmother Lusch's / Aunt Kathryn and some Lusch cousins were there.


When you played make-believe, what did you pretend?
We played house and I was the boss.


If you could return to your childhood, what would you do differently?
Try to set in the front so I could see the blackboard better.


Is there anything you would do differently as a teenager?
There is quite a difference between 1925 and 1996. We had some fun and were kept busy. We lived on a farm and did a lot of things with our family; played ball, croquet, and card games - Flinch, Muggins, Rook and Euchre.


What is the best book you ever read as a child?
I liked a book when I was a teenager called "A Girl of the Limberlost" G Jean Stratton Porter.

What is the biggest physical problem you had to deal with?
Try to keep our bedroom in order. {At least I "think" that's what it says and I won't speculate on what that means! j.h.}

Did you have any superstitions?
No! Fine a penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck.


Where were your best hide-and-seek places?
Under our (Janet & my) bed.


Tell about the first time you were ever behind the wheel of a car.
Learning to drive in the lot around the (Brooder) house. (Baby chick)


Do you have a story about a big surprise?Having a daughter and having (2) sets of twins.


What childhood fear do you remember?
A Dog.


Tell about a May Day tradition.
Decoration day parade in Marion.


How much do you remember paying for an ice cream cone?.35 / 4 Leaf Clover Isaly, North Prospect St.

Did you have a treehouse?
No, but we did have an "out house". Do you know what that is?


Did your Mother ever make a special gift for you?Mother made most of our dresses.

Tell a favorite memory of your mother.
She could make the best pies, devil's food and angel food cake and she was a very good cook and very particular about housekeeping, laundry and gardening.


Tell about some good advice your mother gave you.
Little children love each other for love is of God.


Relate your family Mother's Day traditions.
Mother's Day must do something for grandmothers.


Do you remember any childhood songs or rhymes?
Home, Home on the Range.


Name some popular hit songs from your youth.
Carolina Moon
Springtime in the Rockies
Tennessee Waltz


What was your favorite singing group or band?
Wayne King
Guy Lombardo
Bing Crosby

Tell a favorite singer and a song that he/she sang.
Kate Smith sang God Bless America.


What kind of dances did you do as a youth?
Charleston, Waltz, Square Dance -- but I didn't dance.


Tell about your first dance you ever went to.
Chrystal Lake Park - north of Marion


Tell about your high school prom or formal dance.
For Jr. Prom we entertained seniors at Harding Hotel ballroom. I don't think dancing was permitted at school (Claridon).

Describe the military experience of someone in your family.
A couple uncles were in 1st World War and 2nd World War. My twin was in the Air Force in 1943-45. I believe a mechanic on planes - mostly England. (Charles D. Lusch)


Share a memory involving a war during your childhood or youth.
World War II - Young people were drafted. Some food rations. Many things were saved to be recycled - to replace rubber and metals for planes, etc.


Share another memory involving a war during childhood or youth.
1st World War - I was too young to understand "why" uncles were going to Army Camp. Food things rationed. 2nd World War - "why" Charles went to England.


Tell about your graduation exercises or traditions.
We had baccalaureates on Sun. before and graduation - we did not wear "gowns" - white dresses. Had a speaker and music.


What year did you graduate from high school?
1932 Claridon High School


How many students were in your graduating class?
11 -- Charles Lusch, Charles Howser, Walter Schwaderer, John Gruber, Georgia Kraner, Louisa George, Ester Haley, Dorothy Lusch, Cecil Palmer, Glen Pallen (?), Harold Smith

How many students attended your high school?
11 in my class - 9th
18 - 10th
4 - 11th
16 - 12th
49 plus or minus


Did you play a musical instrument?
Piano (some)


Tell of the closest friend you had during your childhood.
Vera Mae Smith (Seckel)


Tell about hot dog or marshmallow roasting.
4-H Club meetings

Did you ever go on a snipe hunt?
Yes - a neighbor's party!

What was your first job?
Helping take care of cousins when they were babies - Mostly housework, dishes and diapers.


Tell about going to a circus or chautauqua.
Grandpa Mapes took us to Elks Circus in Marion several times and I went with G'ma to the chautauqua at Garfield Park. She liked to go and I saw a lot of good shows. 1 week each summer on my vacation. I was probably 12-14 years old.

Did you go fishing in your childhood?
No. Just in the creek by our house.

Do you remember having a favorite candy? How much did it cost?
A neighbor Charlie Fetter showed us how he pulled taffy. He had a big hook on the wall doorway. When it got so he could handle it he pulled it over that hook " 'til is was ready".

Do you remember having a favorite snack that you made at home?
Popcorn

Tell about the best Christmas present you ever received.
Roll of pennies every Christmas from Grandpa Mapes.


Tell about the worst Christmas present you ever received.
When I didn't get anything.