Windhorse Honors a Courageous Woman

My Mother

89 years old today!

(she's actually 89 years young.

(almost 90 at this update, January 27, 2011)

MY HER-O

My Mother has shown her courage and abilities in so many ways.

She taught herSELF how to drive; because she needed to.  To this

day I marvel at her ability to follow a map; backtrack if lost,

sit by the side of the road reading road maps...the kind from

 Cave Man days...lol.  There were no signs, no traffic lights most

places...when we got to upstate there were few landmarks,

fewer gas stations...no supermarkets; they weren't invented yet.

As a little kid, I was too much in awe to feel frightened that

we didn't know exactly where we were going...though once in

awhile it felt a bit scary.

My Mom handled a business alone while Dad served overseas.

She took better than excellent care of him in his illness.

Mom taught me, and repeated many times:

"NO one is better than another person."

THE SILENT WARRIORS

WWII HER-Os

We've heard of Josephine and Rosie, the Factory Workers, 

and many tales of Nurses who saved Spirits as much as bodies.

This story talks about the Women who stayed at home and 

learned all kinds of work formerly considered only for men...

Mom became a Butcher and Bookkeeper; Store Manager and 

sandwich maker, icecream scooper.  

She opened and closed the store, closed out the daily earnings 

records, reported them, swept, went to market for meat, ordered 

vegetables, fruit and staples (staples used to mean the basics: 

milk, butter, eggs and flour for baking, beans ... and Spam ... )  

Mom stacked the shelves ... and even voted for 

Miss Rheingold.  

Mom had to keep track of tokens and ration stamps ... 

and sometimes say no to neighbors, and exercise integrity.

Aunt Ronnie helped Mom in those days.

[aunt and mom picture]

this page is about the Women who worked, supported and helped

each other, and watched out for each other; kept the 

Home Fires Burning, and Candle in the Window...

at the Front called HOME, in WWII. 　

Mainly, it's about YOU, Mom.

I remember when Hill's Supermarket came to town, and business

fell off for Dad and you...but the comments were steady:  Pete's

the best butcher with the best meats.  And Ethel makes the most

amazing potato salad! ... and serves the best icecream!!

So I remember around that time you enrolled yourself in Secretarial

School and learned to use the Comptometer.  Then you got

yourself a job at Parks and Recreation.  I don't know 

whether you taught yourself the computer in DOS before 

your job or after?

You are amazing, brilliant and gutsy!!!
I love you,
Irene

February 15, 2010

Here's a real live modern Rosie, January, 2011

She's a Rosie in our modern day,

Helping Veterans along the way,

Adept in business since her teens

Multi-skilled and talented, that's Irene!

Whether riding the wind,

Supporting some cause...

Directing a work force

Or partying with friends and kin;

She's always so cute

Whether fancy dress or denim and boot!

She's a Military Mom,

and Her-O in her own right!

Here's a fun thing I got in email from Arlene:  I know

you will get them all correct, as Arlene did, Mom!

1. In the 1940s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?
a. On the floor shift knob.
b. On the floor board, to the left of the  clutch...
c. Next to the horn.

2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it.. For what was it used?
a. Capture lightning bugs.
b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing.
c. Large salt shaker.

3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters?
a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milk.
b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled.
c.. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze, expanding and pushing up the cardboard bottle top.

4. What was the popular chewing gum  named  for a game of chance?
a.. Blackjack
b. Gin
c. Craps

5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during WW II.
a. Suntan
b. Leg painting
c. Wearing slacks

6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn't tell whether it was com ing or going?
a. Studebaker
b. Nash Metro
c. Tucker

7.. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
a . Strips of dried peanut butter.
b. Chocolate licorice bars.
c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.

8. How was Butch wax used?
a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up.
b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing.
c On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust.

9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key.
b. Woven straps that crossed the foot.
c. Long pieces of twine.

10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
a. Consider all the facts.
b. Ask Mom.
c. Eeny-meeny-miney-MO.

11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s?
a. Smallpox
b. AIDS
c. Polio

12. 'I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey'
a. SUV
b. Taxi
c. Streetcar

13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pony?
a. Old Blue
b. Paint
c Macaroni

14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
a. Part of the game of hide and seek.
b. What you did when your  Mom called you in to do chores.
c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.
 
 
15 . What was the name of the Indian Princess in the Howdy Doody Show?
a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
b. Princess Sacajawea
c Princess Moonshadow

16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?
a.. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you high.
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window.
c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid their failure.

17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?
a.. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum.
b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items.
c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos.

18. Praise the Lord , & pass the _________?
a.. Meatballs
b. Dames
c. Ammunition

19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song 'Cabdriver' a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The  Esquires

20. Who left his heart in San Francisco ?
a. Tony Bennett
b. Xavier Cugat
c. George Gershwin


ANSWERS

1. (b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in Europe, took till the late '60's to catch on.

2. (b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing...Who had a steam iron?

3.. (c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand, popping the bottle top...

4 . (a) Blackjack Gum.

5. (b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.

6. (a) 1946 Studebaker.

7. (c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water.

8. (a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.
 
9. (a) With clamps, tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a shoestring around your neck.

10.. (c) Eeny-meeny-miney-mo.    (lol .. Windhorse thinks this is a valid way, too; it gets the ego out of the decision-process!!  lol; it worked for us!)

11. (c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed, movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.

12. (b) Taxi , Better be ready by half-past eight!

13. (c) Macaroni ...

14. (c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.

15. (a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.

16... (a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.

17. (b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household items at the Green Stamp store.

18. (c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free.

19. (a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots.  

20. (a) Tony Bennett, and he sounds just as good today.

SCORING

17- 20 correct : You are older than dirt, and obviously gifted with mental abilities. Now if you could only find your glasses. Definitely someone who should share your wisdom!

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