Thelen 1940s

My sister Reta sent a CD-ROM of 60 year old pictures. (the current year is 2014)

A little background:

• We were relatively prosperous - my father worked for the county.
• Being prosperous meant - one car, regular food, weather proof home, quiet neighbors,
  ice box, the ice man came every other day, then we got a refrigerator,
  - no - health insurance, TV, GPS, cell phones, PCs, Internet, ... had not been invented yet
• We lived in a small town, the county seat, during the school year
  - had one bath room, no shower, and tended to bathe once a week -
• During the summer we lived on the old non-working Thelen farm
  - where my father had lived and worked as a kid.
  It was 3 miles from my father's office.
• This farm house was built just before my father was born,
  the previous seven kids were born in a more modest house, on this location.
• My mother had also grown up on a farm (raising vegetables and fruits for Minneapolis)
  That farm was now part of a shopping center, after "eminent domain" by the state.
• Both Mother (Reta Shepard) and Father (Edward) had done their share of farm work as kids.
  Both left farms for college and city jobs, mother the school teacher, father the attorney
  Both thought farm life built character, work was good for mind and body
• In 1940, the Thelen farm had running cold water in the kitchen, a party line telephone, outhouse, ...
  no electricity, had kerosene lamps, wood fired kitchen stove and living room pot bellied stove.
  Water was from a tank on the hill east of the house,
  Water was pumped by a windmill, then a gas motor when the windmill gear broke
• During WWII, we had a big "Victory Garden" - Gads what work
  and one year we raised 6 pigs to help with meat rationing
• About 1946, a kerosene hot water heater, indoor toilet & bath were installed in the farm house.
• Ah, I forgot - travel - father had 2 weeks of vacation/year. Every other year, except in WWII,
  we got in the car for a month of travel - eventually most of the states
  of the union and the southern provinces of Canada.
• To help save money for the long trips, we lived quite frugally -
  Mother canned (Mason jars) fruit in season, made bread, ... - no store bought TV dinners for us
  I got thoroughly sick of boiled cracked wheat for breakfast - seemingly EVERY morning.
  We lived a mile from Dad's office and middle & high school - always walked -

Old folks

Aunt Ada? one of maternal grandmother's sisters taken in Nova Scotia?	"Gramma" King We didn't have a handy grandmother so "adopted" one. Father had stayed with her family during highschool	Father, typical weekend clothing and tool	Dad w newspaper in town Bilbo was something else	Mother was chief cook Sister & I washed and wiped the dishes :-((

Kids

sister Reta "field" corn

sister Reta Farm porch in back

Milk House crab & Pine trees background

With Father's rock terrace Sister is 2 years younger

Reta watering from tank on hill

In town

Reta w project

Reta with a favorite doll

Edward & Reta w toys

Miscellaneous

Dog Jack "toy" shepard great dog but tryed dig out wood chucks	Father w 8 mm movie Montana ??	Big Barn pig fence on left	Wood shed after covering "Uncle" Sam & Reta	A family album

In town

Mother w 8mm movie

kids at bird feeder

Father LOVED pingpong Fold up table in office

Vacation and with Matterns

Vacation w Matterns

Silver Bay, Lake Superior on north shore, before the taconite plant

Rita Mattern, now a grandmother

Ferdig, Montana a Texas Jack I stayed there for 6 months before the Army

"These were taken just before the auction." says sister Reta.

	This is Mother, with fly swatter Behind her is the Ice Box, the top compartment can hold maybe 60 # of ice      Some days, after work, Father would buy a block of ice, and refill the ice box      We kids were responsible for emptying the melt water. In the center is the wood burning stove. Fire on the left, hot water "reservoir" on the right.
	Pathe Victrola on the left, wind-up handle hidden on its right On the right is the wood burning stove in the living room, I liked the previous uglier black pot-bellied stove a lot better,      you could make it glow red :-))
	This is the upstairs master bedroom. (It is my impression that grandpa and grandma Thelen lived in the little bedroom off the kitchen.) Through the open door you can see, the ladder to the attic, and the main stairway down to the room with the piano.
	This is the way we washed clothes, using the wood kitchen stove, heat a lot of water!! After filling the washing machine (left) with clothes, hot water, soap,      start moving the top poll left and right to slosh the clothes with two paddles (inside). Lift the clothes into the tub in the middle (for a rinse), using hand cranked wringer in the middle,      squeeze out the water, ... then hang the clothes outside on clothes lines to dry.
	And we did get to explore and play, a lot. There was chicken house, horse barn, several sheds which contained old ignored equipment. Here a buggy has been pulled out, with Lynda, my sister Reta's daughter . The seat of this buggy had a mouse house with mouse babies -

Fun web pages:

• Here is a ten-minute video on the historic Stillwater courthouse: from Edward John
• This is a link to the webcam showing the bridge construction across the St. Croix River near Stillwater from Edward John. Click on the "Live Image View" tab above the photograph.
• from National Registry from Gina
• WISTCROI-L Archives

• 2014 Trip back into history Washington County Historic Courthouse (pdf) sent by Carolyn Phelps Parks Coordinator - Historic Courthouse

If you have comments or suggestions, Send e-mail to Ed Thelen

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