The John and Gertrude Milder Story continued...
Social
activities for the family were school programs, box socials, picnics,
and visiting the neighbors. Recreational activities included playing together,
sledding down the hill in the snow or ice and fishing in the creek near
their home. Also, there was time for walking on stilts, swinging in the
board and rope swings or a hammock which was made for the children from
a barrel. The children went bicycling, listened to the phonograph, and
played under the large front porch. The children also played on the large,
slanted roof of the hog shed when their parents were not at home. They
carried water to drown out ground squirrels from their holes and then
killed them, and hunted sparrow nests in the rafters of the hog shed.
A
special treat was to make fudge, which was as about all the candy the
children had. Sometimes it was the grocer's custom to give a sack of candy
when the grocery bill was paid. Of course the candy didn't last long.
Another treat was homemade ice cream. Gertrude and John made it quite
often during the winter months when the snow and ice were available.
Gertrude
holding Joseph in front of the Nebraska House
John
and Gertrude did the very best with what they had at Christmas. The children
always had special treats of fruit, cranberries and celery. Usually, the
gifts were laid out on the table where each child sat. Gifts were needed
things, such as tablets, pencils, crayons, paints, toothbrushes and games.
Then there was a Christmas box from Grandmother and Grandfather Smith
with a wrapped gift for each child.
There
were very special days when John purchased his first car, a Reo. It had
to be cranked and sometime was hard to start. One day the crank slipped
off the car and hit John between the nose and mouth, splitting his lip.
It was quite an accident in those days!
Besides
all of John's building and improving the farm, he installed his own Delco
electric system in the basement of the house. The children vividly remember
seeing the rows of batteries.
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