My Childhood Home

Discussion in 'Other Reminiscences' started by Frank Sanoica, Jun 30, 2018.

  1. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    Brick bungalow on a special wide lot, 35 feet, instead of 30, as it had a "side-drive", covetted by my Dad. Bought I think 2 years before my birth. I have but few pictures from there, wish I had more. The wonderful 3-BR brick house was my world from day one until age 30.

    Not ours, but typical of most there:
    [​IMG]

    Note how close the neighbor's house is. I think 10 feet was the minimum. Ours was built in 1923, had electrical wiring consisting of asphalt-coated predecessors to Romex.

    We had coal-fired heat via a boiler in the basement, which heated water circulated to radiators in each room. Early on, my Dad stoked up that boiler with coal, then left for work. Can't remember if my Mother added any during the day. Back from work, he removed the "clinkers" into a metal trash can and added coal for the night.

    Life back then was both simpler and more difficult. I like to think that it was more worthy of human existence then, compared to now, but risk flak on that one!
    Frank
     
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  2. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    Is that in Chicago?

    Very typical...back when I lived there it was all apartments or houses that looked like that.

    My grandparents lived in a similar one. My aunt still lives there on the north side.
     
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  3. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    The house where I grew up was probably about the same vintage, but not nearly as nice as yours was, @Frank Sanoica . It had those little light bulbs that dangled on grey cords from the ceiling, and you clicked the little lever on the side of the bulb to turn it on and off. Our house had once had a wood heating stove and a wood cook stove; but when my folks bought it, there was an oil-burning stove for heat (with a huge oil tank out in the side yard) and no stove at all in the kitchen.
    That was where the refrigerator went, so we didn’t have a regular stove for cooking. The house didn’t have 220 wiring for an electric stove, so we used an electric frying pan and an electric pot that was similar to a crockpot, except that it had an actual heat control on it and could also be used as a deep fryer.
    The property had at least two lots with it, and had apple, plum, pear, Concord grapes, raspberries , blackberries, and rhubarb in the little backyard orchard. Plus there was a large yard with flowers and a big garden space out back; so what the house lacked was more than made up by the wonderful yard and fruit trees.
    Out behind the house was a sawdust-insulated cellar, a chicken coop, and a barn; so it had been kind of a small farmette at one time.
    We had a little front porch with a swing and often sat out there in the summer in the evenings. It wasn’t an expensive house; but it was a great place to grow up, and I loved living there.

    This is me posing out in the yard with my doll, side of house in the background. C6ACB154-9FE4-482D-A271-A66ED820D9DF.jpeg
     
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