Memories of Helen K. Davis
(Daughter of Viola Ina [Anstine] Smith)
Submitted by Helen's daughter, Diana Cook (4 April 2000)
 
My Nebraska Memories
 
Our public library in Albion held a lot of interest for me--I think I read every book there at least five times. My favorite was the "Oz" book series--"Wizard of Oz", "Dorothy of Oz", etc. When I visited 50 years later the same books were on the shelf but so dilapidated I wondered why they hadn't discarded them. A while afterwards I was given the opportunity to purchase them.
I remember the goose given to Papa for Christmas dinner by a family on his mail route; the little white rabbit that we found dead in my Papa's old shoe back in the closet; the bouncing 8" ball which I took to school and bounced against the school wall and yard and on the sidewalk all the way home.
Sometimes on Saturday nights we would go to Uncle Walt and Aunt Dorothy Smith's for a square dance. The adults would dance all night while Uncle Walt would play his old hand-peddled organ and Papa would play his fiddle. We would stay overnight and on Sunday would have a big pot of fresh oyster stew (I have often wondered where in heaven the oysters came from). Aunt Dorothy would heat up a huge kettle of milk to boiling and throw in the oysters and when they started to float on top, the soup was ready to eat. Funny thing was that she popped a raw one into her mouth then four in the kettle, one in her mouth and maybe six in the kettle. It's a wonder there were ever any oysters in that stew for us to eat. No wonder she was a woman weighing 240 lbs. Uncle Walt weighed exactly the same. But they made an interesting couple---especially when they danced together. They were so light on their feet the floor never shook.
We would spend many Sundays at Uncle Walt & Aunt Dorothy's place on their farm outside of Albion. They would make homemade ice cream and have a big feast.
Papa played his fiddle many times for neighborhood dances but finally gave it up when he noticed that the men liked to dance with Mama---so out of jealousy he quit playing. The violin he used was a very old one given to him by an old man. The violin is still in the family. It was dropped once when my sister Bea used it in a high school program. Papa repaired it by pounding in a metal nail. Later my daughter, Diana, played it for a number of years and then my niece Michele borrowed it for a while. It was returned to Diana and she had it repaired. I am hoping she will play it again. She did practice in 1989 and on Percy's 80th birthday she played "Happy Birthday" to him---he was so proud of her.
In the wintertime after the second or third big snow storm and the snow was nice and clean, Mama would take a large pan and go and collect some. She would then add cream, sugar and vanilla to it and make us some homemade ice cream.
Almost every day that we kids came home from school Mama would have a large bowl on the dining room table filled with dark brown karo syrup with some peanut butter gently folded into it. Then with fresh homemade bread and butter we would scoop up this mixture and put it on the bread.
We had a special little routine we followed quite often---on cold winter nights Mama would have me make up some chocolate fudge and she would pop corn. We would put popcorn in separate bowls, add a couple pieces of fudge and would pass them around.
In the wintertime when Beaver Creek froze and Papa would get home early from his rural mail route before dark set in, he would gather up all of us kids and neighbor kids and our ice skates and we would skate until it was too dark to see. Then when we returned home Mama always had hot chocolate or some goodies for us to eat.
Usually every summer I would spend one week vacation at Uncle Elmer Smith's place with my cousins Hazel and Walter. I would help gather eggs, pick berries, clean the milk separator disks, ride horses & picnic. I also spent one week every summer at Uncle Walt's & Aunt Dorothy's farm with my cousin Thelma and her brothers.
Since Albion was the county seat of Boone County, we had the big Boone County Fair every summer. Each year I would crochet doilies, embroider dish towels and scarfs and make candy, cookies and cakes to take to the Fair. I won many prizes of money---that was the only extra money I ever had to spend.
Almost every Saturday evening the entire family would go into the center of town to the Courthouse for a band concert. While the adults sat around visiting and listening to music, we kids would play around. And almost every Saturday afternoon we kids would all go to the movie theater in town. There were serials playing and we never dared miss one or we would miss out on the story.
One day Papa surprised us by bringing home a new Victorola that played the round disks. It was so exciting.
To this day I have felt guilty of something I did when I was young. Mama would order milk from the store. It was in glass bottles and not pasteurized so the cream always settled on top. I was always the one to go around the table and pour the milk before the meal. I always planned it so I got all the cream and the others the milk. I don't know if my plot was every discovered or not.
My sister, Bea (Beatrice), was very close friends with a gal down the street by the name of Mildred Potter. Mrs. Potter didn't do any sewing but my mother did so, since Bea & Mildred insisted on dressing in identical dresses, Mrs. Potter furnished all the material and Mama did all the sewing. Bea always had plenty of beautiful dresses to wear.
I also had a close girl friend in school in Albion by the name of Mollie Morgan. She was a twin--her mother died when she was very young. So Mollie was taken in to live with an elderly couple by the name of Shapland. They lived one block from the Methodist Church. Someone also took her twin brother to raise. Many times after school Mollie would invite me over to play. She had her own bedroom and beautiful dolls and doll furniture. I used to dream and hope some day I would have some like hers but she was very generous and let me play with them. They had an indoor toilet which always fascinated me because our toilet was an old outdoor one at the back of the lot. One afternoon when I was playing with her she went into the house and made us some peanut butter sandwiches. We sat on the back porch eating them when she suddenly pushed mine into my face. We giggled over the incident.
As I was saying our toilet was outside at the back of the lot. It backed up to a cow pen that our neighbors had. It had two holes and was always supplied with dried corn cobs and old Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs to use for toilet tissue. We also had a chamber pot at the top of the stairs to be used at night when it was too cold to go outside. Only problem was I usually was the one to empty it and clean it every morning.
We only had two small bedrooms on the top floor---Mama and Papa had one---Bea, Eva, Betty Mae and I slept in the other. There was a tiny room off from the dining room that was used by my brothers, Joe and Bob.
One day Bob, who was only about 5 years old, was playing on the stairs when he fell down them and knocked a lot of his front teeth loose. Papa grabbed him and shoved each tooth back in place and Bob kept them the rest of his life even though they were a little discolored.
My sister, Bea, took a few violin lessons on Papa's old violin and became so expert that she started giving lessons when only fifteen years old. She had several pupils. She also played in the school orchestra and also in a private band playing for dances up in the Odd Fellows Hall. Their band was called "The Blue Jays"---they dressed in blue uniforms.
When my sister, Bea, was about 15 years old and my sister, Eva, was about 5 years old, Bea had bought a beautiful set of earrings. One day she couldn't find them. We looked everywhere for them but couldn't find them. Then several months later when she had gotten down to the bottom of her Pond's Cold Cream jar she found the earrings. Eva admitted that she had hidden them there.
 
Our Move to California (excerpts from my diary)
June 19 On Friday afternoon, June 19, 1927, papa shocked us all by selling our house in Albion. At two o'clock he and Bernard Holmes came to the house to have the papers signed.
June 20 Then we packed the rest of the day and Saturday! On Saturday afternoon at 2:00 o'clock we had our sale at the feed barn. We got $115.00 from the sale. Our $82.00 washing machine went for $12.00, our $40.00 ice box for $12.00 or $13.00 and our $30.00 davenport and phonograph for $11.00 or $13.00 We lost terribly.
June 21 Saturday night we stayed at Grandmas and Sunday for breakfast and dinner. In the afternoon we went out to Elmers. Had a big chicken and noodle dinner. Sure was swell.
June 22 Monday we came back to Albion and finished up all the business and said good-bye. Mrs. Giffen gave Bee and I a large box of chocolates and 12 large bars for us all. Then we went to Pearls (Oscar Perl Anstine). Arrived there at suppertime. I saw Jay that night. The next afternoon we started on the big trip.
Albion to Horace -- 53 miles
June 23 Grand Island
Kearney--Saw Lucille Foltz and Ada Anderson.
Industrial School
State Normal
Stopped at first tourist camp out of Kearney. It was 7:00 a.m. There was a
big fireplace and swimming pool there.
Horace to Kearney -- 107 miles
June 24 Left Kearney at about 6:30 a.m. Ate dinner at Buffalo Bill Camp, North Platte at 11:30 (10:30). This adds to 90 miles. Left at 12:20. Rested at Big Springs and got some spring water there. Adds 71 miles. Wednesday evening we camped at Kimball, Nebraska at 7:30. Joe and Bea went 13 blocks to get something to eat.
June 25 Awoke at 4:30 Thursday morning. Had a flat tire for a reception. Went
through Potter, Nebraska. Gypsys were in camp. Traveled 89 miles from Big Springs. A day of 250 miles, "60 per" following a Chevrolet. Elevation 4,706 ft.
Kearney to Kimball -- 250 miles
June 26 Left Kimball at 7:30 Thursday morning. First Wyoming town was Pine Bluffs, 22 miles from Kimball. A few miles before we reached Burns, Wyoming, we saw mountains. On the other side of Burns we were treated to a flat tire. Lunched at Granite, fixed tire and tightened brakes. I got sick there. Nearly toppled off a cliff. Saw some real mountains from there on. Rode on a winding road between two large mountains covered with pines. Camped for night at Sunset Cabins, Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Elevation 8,835 ft. At Laramie there was an abundance of oil. Saw large stone houses and buildings.
Kimball to Medicine Bow -- 180 miles
June 27 Friday morning - flat tire. Left about 7:00. Had a flat tire near Fort Steele.
Ate dinner in Rawlins at De Luxe Camp. We passed Parco, a little oil town. All buildings were brown stucco. Traveled 181 miles. Camped at Point of Rocks.
Medicine Bow to Point of Rocks -- 181 miles
June 28 Saturday, started at 6:00 o'clock. Went thru Rock Springs, a mining town.
Wound around in a mountain gorge. Ate dinner in Lyman. Camped at Coalville,Utah, along the river.
Point of Rocks to Coalville -- 182 miles
June 29 Left Coalville Sunday morning at 7:30. Ate dinner in Salt Lake City. Took
a shower bath. Camped at Nephi.
Coalville to Nephi -- 109 miles
June 30 Left Nephi at 7:00, Monday. At Holder saw a monument erected by
Escalante October 2, 1776. He was first white man to explore Utah. Stopped at Fort Cove. Went in to see fort. I went into a little cabin being escorted by a pure-bred Mexican. Saw preserved rattlesnakes, coyotes, eagle, etc. Oh was it interesting! The fort was built around in a "Court." An old oaken bucket was in the center. Saw Mt. Holly up in the clouds. Ate dinner at Beaver. Camped at St. George about nine o'clock.
Nephi to St. George -- 223 miles
June 31 Left St. George Tuesday morning at five o'clock. At Mesquite were very high mountains. Here we lunched. Camped at Las Vegas.
St. George to Law Vegas -- 136 miles
July 1 Left Wednesday morning at 5:00 o'clock. Went over about 5 miles of dry
lake bed. Stopped at a small place about 30 or 40 miles from Grover [and Grace Anstine's] place in Los Angeles. We were afraid we couldn't find their place when it was dark.
Las Vegas to Los Angeles -- 270 miles
July 2 Arrived at last! at about 6:00 o'clock. Took 24 pictures on the way. All were good except one. Total cost for gas and oil -- $63.25. Expense for car repairing - 25 cents.
 
 
My California Memories
When we got to California we rented a small house on 88th Street in Los Angeles. Papa needed a job so some friends of Grace and Grover Anstine suggested that Papa apply at the Gas Company in Van Nuys. Papa got a job there doing office work and we moved to Van Nuys in September 1927. We rented a tiny little house at 14206 Erwin Street (south side of street between Tyrone & Hazeltine) close to the Methodist Church, Van Nuys, California. Soon after we moved to Van Nuys, Papa got the job at the post office in Los Angeles that he had applied for before the move. I was a junior at Van Nuys High School and my sister, Bea, was a senior. I was taking sewing as one of my classes and, as we knew Bea would be graduating the next June and we couldn't afford to buy a ready-made dress for her, Mama suggested I make her graduation dress at school. My teacher thought it was a good idea. So Mama bought a pattern and some white taffeta and white lace. Every girl was to wear white. Bea had to come to my class a couple of times to try it on as it was progressing but it was finally finished for the great event in June of that year of 1928. It turned out beautifully.
In 1928 when we lived in Van Nuys I met Percy Davis at the Van Nuys First Methodist Church. He was attending USC and we dated quite regularly until our marriage in 1931.
Then after Bea's graduation Papa decided the ride into Los Angeles every night to the post office to work was too hard to do so we moved to Los Angeles (on 92nd Street near Main Street). Bea worked at the Perfection Bakery close to where we lived. During the summer vacation and after I graduated from high school, I worked there also. My job was to frost large cakes and chocolate cup cakes with chocolate frosting and pump cream into cream puffs. Bea worked at the counter as sales clerk.
In September of 1928 I enrolled at John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles and graduated in June of 1929. Bea bought my graduation dress made of pale yellow moire taffeta with yards and yards of matching grosgrain ribbon sewed into scrolls on the skirt. It had a basque waist, gathered skirt with bone hip forms to make it stand out on the sides of the hips. I still have the beautiful dress.
Mama & Papa were separated at this time--but Mama gave me a diary and Papa gave me a fountain pen for graduation. I also received a bouquet of beautiful red roses from a guy named Red, a friend my cousin Millie Anstine had dated. Percy (my future husband) gave me $10.00 with which I bought a pretty white crepe, unlined coat.
In September of that year (1929) Bea had trouble with her tonsils and decided to have surgery. She and Mama walked to the doctor's office and right home again causing Bea to get a bad cold and causing hemorrhage. One morning she was dressed in a flimsy gown and robe that a friend in Albion had sent her. She stood with her back to a small floor heater and the gown caught on fire. She rushed to our small front porch and rolled up in an old throw rug to put out the flames. But the burns were so bad she laid on her tummy in a bed for two weeks, blisters the size of a fist---not being able to put covers on to keep warm. She developed pneumonia and asked Mama to phone for an ambulance. As they were carrying her out on a stretcher she reached out to me and said in a very weak voice "Good-bye Helen." Papa followed the ambulance in his car but before they reached the hospital she had died (Oct. 3, 1929). Papa bought a plot of six places at Valhalla Cemetery in North Hollywood and we put her there. We wondered what to bury her in. We remembered her graduation dress that I had made for her so that is what she was buried in.
After Bea died I worked at an ice cream parlor in Los Angeles for a short time.
Papa was in such a state of shock after Bea's death that he moved us back to Van Nuys and drove daily to Los Angeles to work at the post office. We rented a house on the corner of Vanowen & Hazeltine. I got a job at Cowdrey's Drug Store (Sylvan & Van Nuys Blvd.) at the fountain and walked all the way to and from work 7 days a week four in the afternoon until midnight for a long time. Finally Papa found a house to rent at 14206 Victory Blvd. and we moved there. It was much closer to my work.
I met a couple who ran a restaurant (Waldorf Cafe) on Van Nuys Boulevard next door to Cowdrey's so I went to work there--the tips were much better. I worked there about a year. The lettuce pickers used to come in to eat--we were very busy. One Christmas I had to work & I guess several customers felt sorry for me. One fellow used to come in a lot and at Christmas time he gave me a beautiful white gold Bulova wristwatch (I still have it). Another guy gave me $3.65 in tips on Christmas day (he said it was a penny a day for the year).
A fellow working for the Maytag Store close by the cafe one day asked me if I would come work for him as secretary and office girl. I couldn't type and had had no experience in that line of work but he didn't care--so I took the job. I collected monthly payments on the machines, did the banking and kept charts on the salesmen in the office. I wrote several articles on "Salesmanship" which were published at the Maytag office headquarters in Los Angeles.
My sister, Eva, was a young girl now and wanted to take piano lessons so I found Carol Cowdrey to give her lessons and I paid for them. Also, my brother, Joe, wanted to join Boy Scouts so I bought his uniform and paid his dues.
Percy and I became engaged in June 1931 and planned to be married in November 1931. Percy had graduated from USC in June. I didn't get to attend the graduation service because I was in bed with the flu--but his parents came by the house and told me all about it.
We were married on November 21, 1931 at home of Percy's parents--14621 Erwin Street, Van Nuys--a Saturday night. Ruby Anstine (my cousin) was maid of honor, Millie Anstine (another cousin) was bridesmaid and Marvin (Millie's future husband) was best man. Leah Davis (Percy's sister) decorated the living room with a lovely arch covered with flowers. My little sister, Betty Mae, was our flower girl.
We rented a small upstairs apartment in town---Father Davis paid the first months rent of $25. After the wedding Percy and I went to the apartment. It was dark. Buster and Harold Anstine and a friend had gone beforehand and pulled the light fuse out and sprinkled a box of All Bran cereal between the wool blankets. When we got there Percy couldn't get any lights to go on and when we got in bed, he let out a roar and a cuss word. I'm sure that was the only cuss word I think I ever heard him utter. And to top it off, I had started my period that morning and was flowing so badly I wouldn't let him touch me. So that is the story of our wedding night.
Early the next morning when we were really sleeping, we heard footsteps coming up to our apartment--and lo and behold here was Mamma, Papa and Betty Mae. Betty Mae had insisted that she would never see me again now that I was married. Mama and Papa had to bring her over to prove to her that I would still be around.
A month after Percy and I were married the stock market "Crash" hit and I was let go from my job at Maytag. During the ensuing years we had three daughters, Diana, Jeanette and Beverly. I was involved in church activities, taking my daughters to music lessons and assisting them in their social activities.
I didn't work again until the year our youngest daughter, Bev, was a senior at Van Nuys High. When Bev entered her senior year at Van Nuys High I realized she would be going on to college soon and, with Percy working day and night for Prudential Insurance, I knew I would be all alone most of the day and night so decided to go out into the world and get a job.
One afternoon I stopped in at Lockheed Missile and applied. They gave me a test on "auditing." I scored 100% and they hired me immediately. I was told to audit "Labor Distribution"--I didn't even know what that was but they trained me and I did well for one year. Then the company decided to move to Sunnyvale, California, and, as I couldn't uproot my family to go there, I said I would have to cancel going with the office workers. But my good luck held out--my boss was a friend of the manager of the Finance Department at Marquardt Corporation in Van Nuys--and got me a job there immediately in the Timekeeping Department. I had worked there about a week when an opening came up in the Payroll Section of the Finance Department and they transferred me there. That is where I remained for 12 years until we were all laid off because Marquardt sold out to an Eastern company. I loved working for Marquardt.
Lastly, after I graduated from high school in Los Angeles, a friend (Leon Tompkins) who lived behind us in Albion, Nebraska, sent me our school annual from Albion High School. I still have it and prize it dearly. I never got to personally thank him for it--he moved away from Albion--no one knew where but some said they thought he had moved to California. He also sent me a beautiful Egyptian type necklace of red cut beads. I located him in Oregon in 1999 and thanked him.