| I was born in 1932 in Mount Carmel, PA, a town of about 10,000 people in the heart of the Pennsylvania anthracite coal fields. It must have been difficult for my parents striving to raise a family in the midst of the great depression and worrying about war prospects increasing in Europe. I remember many of the streets of our town were unpaved until President Roosevelt s WPA program to create jobs changed that. There were plenty of outhouses around but most homes had indoor plumbing, although raw sewage was destined for a creek that ran through the North end of town. |
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| 1934 We were not poor but it sure looks that way in this picture |
1939 I don t remember this at all |
1940 Me in the middle with brother Pete and sister Marie |
1942 This picture is really beat up. I m 2nd from the right |
1943 My classmates. I m in the middle with a + aside my head |
| My mother gave birth to nine children, four boys and five girls. One child died at birth and another in infancy. I was next to the youngest. My parents both worked in a cigar factory all their working lives. We were never hungry but did without many things, including a car. In my younger years World War II dominated everything with food and fuel rationing, periodic blackouts, neighbors losing sons and fathers, backyards being turned into war gardens to raise vegetables, persistent shortages of many items, scrap metal collections, and patriotism reigned supreme. |
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| 1943 Part of my bang years |
1944 Me with my cousins David and Ethel |
1945 A school picture |
1946 Don t know why I got dolled up for this photograph |
1947 My sister Evelyn s wedding. Her husband Pete is on the right |
| Our community could not afford playgrounds, so as kids we occupied ourselves in the woods and coal strip mines that surrounded the town. The mountainous refuse banks from the deep coal mines contained a residue of coal that would inevitably catch fire, burn underground and emit a sulfurous rotten egg odor that smothered the town on rainy days. Leaf burning was a common practice in the Fall and the acrid smoke often embraced the town like a shroud. Why on earth do I miss those things? But, all in all, I remember childhood with fondness and especially the enormous freedom we enjoyed. |
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| 1948 The clothing factory where I worked. I'm on the left/TD> | 1949 Trying to be glamorous |
1953 Washing dishes at my mother-in-law s home. We got along so well |
1954 Admiring my mother-in-law s roses |
1955 I really don t have red hair, it s lighting and film in this case |
| In my teenage years we lived in a three bedroom home in an alley. It had no hot water or bathroom. The toilet was in the basement that had a dirt floor. Bath water was heated in a huge copper vat on top of the kitchen coal stove and bathing was done on the kitchen floor in a metal tub. Heat was provided by a coal fired Heaterola in the dining room with minimal heat getting upstairs through a 10 inch hole in the ceiling. I was married 1n 1950. My husband and I eloped so there are no wedding pictures. I am blessed with a good marriage of more than 50 years, though it wasn t always easy raising four daughters. |
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| 1956 Contemplating an all day rain |
1957 My husband s favorite picture |
I958 Although it doesn t seem like it in these pictures, I really do smile a lot |
1960 The end of a hectic Christmas day with 3 young kids |
1964 Under the influence of the 60 s in White Plains, New York |
| I had 3 daughters within the first four years of my marriage. Our first home was above a garage in an alley in Harrisburg, PA just a few blocks from the capital buildings. Within a year or so we moved into a federal housing project in Harrisburg. My husband was then transferred to White Plains, NY where we spent several years. Following that it was off to Williamsport, PA, then State College, PA., Utica, NY, Wheeling, WV, Woodsboro, MD, and finally my present home in Pennsylvania again. |
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| 1966 Christmas day |
1975 At the home of my daughter, Judy |
1980 Looking over some stuff in my daughter Nancy s bedroom |
1985 Removing tree stumps at my home in Maryland |
1990 I love horses but do not own any |
| As the years went by, my husband, the photographer in the family, lost interest in taking pictures. Consequently, there is not much available our latter years to include here. I didn t work outside the home for the first 15 years of my marriage. After that, I usually worked in school cafeterias. Life has been full and I can truthfully say that I can t ever remember being bored. |
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| 2002 I m in the center of these girls I work with in a school cafeteria |
2003 In our breezeway, my favorite place to relax |
1949 My husband to be and I Listen to "Our Song" |
| Most of my interests are outdoors. Our current home is on a seven-acre lot so it takes a lot of time to tend to it. I enjoy walking with my husband at every opportunity and typically walk 6-8 miles each time. Reading consists of magazines and newspapers with little time available for books. I seldom go to movies or sporting events because of the boorish behavior of fans and audiences that no one seems to want to correct. I contemplate retiring but haven t done it yet. It will be interesting to see what interests emerge when I finally do retire. My husband selected the pictures to include here and I particularly dislike the 1960 photograph. |