My Mother said, "We'll just put them on the dresser till tomorrow". She was always joking. (sounds familiar) DTC

When we lived on Ferry St., the lady who rented the upstairs flat wanted me to go up to St. Mary's Church on Eastern Ave., to get Holy Water. She gave me a nickel to go up and get the first Holy Water, early in the morning. My mother said to a friend, "Does she think I'm crazy? To wake up that child at 5 in the morning to go all the way up there to get the first Holy Water?" Her friend said, "Don't worry about it, and don't wake her." So she took the bottle, went to the sink and filled it with water and put the bottle on the table for the other woman to pick up. She never knew the difference, but I was so embarrassed I couldn't stay in the room.

Eddie had a funny experience when he was 12 or 13 years old. There was a Fair going on, down by the Van Curler Hotel, like a circus, (now Schenectady Community College)DJC. They had different games and things you could do to win prizes, and one was a pair of new shoes. He needed shoes badly, and all he had to do to win a pair, was eat a pie, in a contest. I thought it was terrible for one person to eat a whole pie ... but he did it, and he WON !! He was so excited, he jumped off the table and ran all the way up from Washington Ave., to Ferry St., without even getting his ticket. "I won a pair of shoes, I won a pair of shoes!!", he hollered, all the way. He went crazy about it! He had to go to Endicott Johnson's, on Broadway near State St., to be fitted for his new shoes. He was so proud of them, and kept them so nice, and he was glad that his mother didn't have to pay for them.

He wasn't afraid of anything, yet he was so shy sometimes. When we moved from Dunkirk to Schenectady, my father was already here, and had started his job as a machinist at the Locomotive Works. My sister Julia, (Alma's mother), had a farewell dinner for us, and then took us to the train. My father met us at the train in Schenectady, and took us all to Josie's for supper. Eddie, who would do almost anything, suddenly turned shy! Do you think he'd sit down and eat with his family? He stood behind my mother's chair and wouldn't budge. My sisters, and mother and I, were all trying to coax him to eat with us. He wouldn't sit down to eat with us, but he'd do all those other things ... and win a new pair of shoes by eating more pie than anyone else!!

We grew and preserved most of our own food. If you worked for GE, you could have a garden plot down by the Van Curler Hotel, and they were each marked by names or initials. No one ever disturbed anyone else's plot, and they were all well taken care of. This is where we grew food crops, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, peas and beans. In the city, most of the houses were two story, with not much of a yard. There were high wooden gates between the houses, and you went through the gate and down an alley, to the back door, (the front door was rarely used except for company). Even at the back door you made sure your shoes were wiped, and you kept the steps clean. If you had a flower garden it would be in this small backyard.