February 28, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Thuds Partly cloudy -4to 20. I cut out my stripe dress and sewed on it. Clifton worked on David's car in afternoon and David finished at night. Girls and I went to prayer meeting with Lybs? At Leonards.

Comment: David's car appears to be a never-ending saga and we have not heard the last of it yet. Prayer meeting must have been at Leonard Reynolds, the father of Paul Reynolds, and grandfather to Mark and Steven Reynolds, Susan's children. Leonard Reynolds was probably the first person I ever saw play the guitar live. I remember that he stopped in at the house for some reason and somebody mentioned a guitar or song and Leonard went out to his car, got his guitar and played a couple of songs for us. He played some old country-western song, probably Hank Williams, and I remember how loud it seemed and also how "hickish" since I was in the throes of the first inklings of rock and roll coming through on late night car radio stations. We could never keep a radio working in the house because of the destructive kids so we went out and listened to music on the car radio. I also remember Leonard telling us about his war experiences in Europe and how one day he watched as the sky was completely filled with our bombers heading for Germany and that this went on all day, an endless stream of airplanes. My taste in music changed when I started trying to play guitar. The three, easy-chord country and western songs were the only ones I could play; unfortunately, that's still pretty much true.

One time at Tom O'Hara's gas station, I heard Leonard accompany Donald Cornell as Donald sang the Lovesick Blues by Hank Williams and that has stuck with me my whole life. Donny was a helluva singer and also one of the best cross country runners in the school. Below is a video of Hand singing the song. Donald mimicked it exactly with all the voice breaks and intonations.

February 27, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 27, 1963

Wed Bright sunny day Cold. Clifton went after Davids's motor with Ronnie and Roberta in the afternoon. I wrote to Marilyn and Dougie and sent other mail.

Comment:  So David's car still not fixed.   Not sure who Ronnie is but might be Ronnie Schermerhorn who was the son of Wild Bill Schermerhorn who live at the top of Bull or Haskin hill on the way to West Conesville.  Wild Bill was a construction superintendent on some jobs that our Dad worked on.  He had one of the first televisions in the area.  Looking back there was an odd behavior that developed during that period.  I remember Dad taking us kids over to watch television at Wild Bill's and just dropping in without invitation or letting them know we were coming.  We usually watched "rassling" with the likes of Gorgeous George or "Strangler Lewis".  Wild Bill would serve popcorn and drinks and it was almost like going to a movie.  The house was dark and everyone watched very intently.....Gorgeous George

From Wikipedia:  "Following the advent of television, professional wrestling matches began to be aired nationally during the 1950s.... This was called a "Golden Age" for the wrestling industry. It was also a time of great change in both the character and professionalism of wrestlers as a result of the appeal of television. Wrestling fit naturally with television because it was easy to understand, had drama, comedy, and colorful characters, and was inexpensive for production.  From 1948 to 1955, each of the three major television networks broadcasted wrestling shows; the largest supporter being the DuMont Television Network."

February 26, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 26, 1963

Tues. Bright sunny day but cold -8 to 15 above. Sold a calf to Paul (The Calf Man Rickenburg). In am went to Cobleskill by Franklinton and paid Palmer for motor for David's car. Went to mother's for dinner stopped at Billies (Margaret, Bessie's sister) a minute. Bought 1 lbs potatoes at Fultonham. Clifton took David to work (at Timberland) and picked him up.

Comment: To let the calf man know we had a calf to sell, we hung a feed bag over the mail box and he would stop. Not sure why they sold the calf but probably needed the money...Again it's Tuesday and they went to Cobleskill for Dad to sign up for unemployment.....Here is a SongPoemStory about The Calf Man:

The Calf Man

The Calf Man 

A feed bag on the mail box meant we had a calf to sell
And Paul “The Calf Man” Rickenburg, who always drove like hell

Would stop by in the morning to try and buy the calf
And he always started dickering at market price by half

He drove a dusty pick up truck with a high wood body box
On the left side was a small hinged door with a rusty old hasp lock

He always had ‘bout six or eight small calves there in his truck
That he sold to the Prattsville slaughter house just trying to make a buck

The deal all done he’d throw the calf real roughly through the door
It wound up sprawled & bruised & bleating on the hard truck floor

One time my Dad gave me a calf to buy a baseball glove
A Rawlings “Marty Marion” Coach Everett Hubbard loved

“Hub” could buy gloves through the school at just about half price
For a young farm boy without a dime that deal seemed pretty nice

I was singing in the milk house, washing out the milk machines
When Paul stopped in to buy the calf , I was barely in my teens

He poked and pinched & weighed that calf and then he sadly said
“If I don’t take this off your hands, by night time he’ll be dead.

We talked and haggled for a while then he said “What the heck”
And quickly wrote in scraggly hand a blue twelve dollar check.

I bought the glove and nurtured it with lots of Neat’s Foot Oil
And played a little second base for the baseball team that fall

Then Reggie Haskin borrowed it & I never got it back
He said somebody took it while he ran on the school track.

So now that glove’s been gone for years and probably so has Paul
But I can still remember back and clearly see it all

A young farm boy with lot’s of dreams alone there on that farm
And Paul “The Calf Man” Rickenburg walking slowly to the barn.

February 25, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 25, 1963

Monday, mostly sunny, -5 to 15 windy.  I washed, kids went back to school.  David went to Grand Gorge bank to borrow $175 for motor for his car.  He worked on it in the afternoon.  He went to Roxbury at night.  Had letter from Marilyn and Dougie.

Comment:  Those were the days when the banker knew you and your family and the loan was approved on the spot.  When I got my student loans from the Middleburg bank, the loan officer was also the manager and typed up (on a typewriter) the notes and the checks immediately and also gave me a handwritten payment book.  David probably had to first get the old engine out of the car and probably did it in the haymow where he could have rigged up a block and tackle to lift the engine out and also lower the new one in.  Doug must be in the throes of Navy boot camp and probably not having a lot of fun...and it's still pretty cold, windy and about zero, that's not a lot of fun either....

February 24, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 24, 1963

Sun cloudy light snow 20’s LaVerne and Roberta here for dinner. We went to mother’s in the afternoon for supper. Evelyn and Clifford were here but we didn’t see them. Girls and I went to church and Sunday School.

Comment:  Again, the noon meal was dinner and the evening meal supper.  Many times relatives would drop in at just about any time.  Because of the remoteness, people who knew us would stop by if they were driving by to go somewhere else.  I think Evelyn was one of Dad's favorites and I remember Marilyn telling me about talking to Evelyn and she told Marilyn how well Dad treated her and Winifred, buying them jewelry and other stuff.  Here is a picture of the Taylor family and of Evelyn.

Evelyn was born on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1915 and had 4 children by Clifford Taylor who died in 1968 of diabetes:   James Barry, Glenn Clifford, Yvonne "Bonnie", and infant David.  Glenn died at 22 of kidney failure in 1964.  Baby David was born in 1954 and died in 1955, a "blue baby" with a congenital heart defect.  Bonnie died of cancer  May 17, 1998.  Evelyn died March 8, 2005, 90 years old.  She was the last survivor of the eight children of Elmer and Agnes Hubbard. She had the great misfortune of seeing her husband and three of her four children die..and with the death of James Barry Taylor earlier this year, this generation of the family is gone.....

Evelyn Glenn Hubbard Taylor

The Last Of The Original Eight Children Of Agnes & Elmer Hubbard

February 23, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries.

February 23, 1963

Sat mostly sunny-10 to 12 windy. Clifton and Wayne did a load of wood in the a.m. I cut Carol's hair and set it. David had to work in the a.m. Robert (Segeritz)? and he were here for dinner and they brought Davids car home in the p.m. Sue went for music lesson.

Comment:  Another load of wood in the bitter cold.  David's car still not running right.  The highlight of the day probably was coming in from the cold and standing in front of the wood stove in the living room and maybe watching a little tv that night.  Here is a picture of most of the family doing just that probably in the summertime....

February 22, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February, 22 1963

Fri. Very cold -10 to 2. David started at Timberland.  Wayne and David went to dance at school. Davids car knocked worse and he left it at the corner and Wayne brought him home. I did some ironing and mending.

Comment:  We always were messing with the used cars we bought.  I do not remember my Dad ever buying a new car.  I did not buy a new car until 1967 and then the damn thing came in the wrong color.  I'd ordered a blue 1966 Ford Fairlane 500 XL  Hardtop Convertible and it came in green.  A red one is below.  When we did have a car problem, we usually tried to fix it our selves and if it required more than taking it apart and putting it back together, we usually went to Raymond Brown's in Broom Center and sometimes to Tom O'Hara in Prattsville.  Tom helped me fix a Ford Falcon when I burned the valves out driving from Niagara Falls where Mary Ann and I lived when we first got married  in 1965.  Tom let me use his bay and tools and supervised me while I took the head off the engine and removed the valves.  He then took a look and said they had to be "ground" and arranged for that at a machine shop close by.  I took the valves there and returned to have Tom guide me in grinding the valve seats and then when the valves were done, he supervised the re-assembly.  He only charged me for the valve grinding and nothing for his labor or facilities......

February 21, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 21, 1963

Thurs. Fair and very cold windy 2 above hi. I washed in am. The girls and I went to Maude’s in the afternoon to Stanley party. Roberta called for David to come to work Fri am.

Comment:  A Stanley party is where pots, pans, and kitchenware are sold by the person holding the party.  Kinda like Tupperware parties but everything was made of metal.  Roberta must have called David to help draw the mail.  LaVerne had a contract mail route that involved trucking mail from post office to post office and also house to house delivery.  And they seemed to live by the statement:   "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"..., but there is no official creed or motto for the Post office:  See below from Wikipedia...

  The United States Postal Service has no official creed or motto.

Often falsely cited as such, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is an inscription on the James Farley Post Office in New York City,^[1] derived from a quote from Herodotus' Histories (8.98), referring to the courier service of the ancient Persian Empire:

It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed. (trans. A.D. Godley 1924)

In

February 20, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 20, 1963

Wed. 8 in of new snow hard snow squalls in am rest of the day mostly fair. The men cut wood for the parsonage in afternoon. Had a Sunday School staff meeting here at night. Dreadful windy around midnight.

Comment:  Must have been a tough day cutting wood for the church parsonage.  The Minister of the church did not get paid very much but did get his housing and quite a lot of free labor from the church members.  There were a lot of social events at the parsonage, including wedding receptions, anniversaries, ice cream socials and an event at Young Peoples Meeting where the girls would bring a box dinner and an auction would be held and the boys would bid on the dinner of the girl they liked best.   I just barely remember the auctions but sure do remember the incredible taste of the home-made ice cream.  I've never had better.  The ice cream was made with a crank freezer.  I think the taste must have come from the incredibly rich cream from the local dairy farms and probably a whole bunch of eggs.  I remember the kids would get to clean off the beaters and also got to turn the cranks.  Below is a collage of old crank ice cream makers.  I think I'm gonna get one and treat the kids and grandkids to some of the real stuff.....

February 19, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 19, 1963

Tuesday. Cloudy hi 40 snow started about 2:30pm and colder 30. David went to Windham in am to see if that job had started yet. Clifton, the girls, and boys, and I went to Cobleskill. In afternoon. David and Wayne went to Timberland after we got home. I wrote to Dougie and sent him the Middleburg News.

Comment:  Timberland was the charcoal plant in Stamford where LaVerne was the general manager.  David worked there for a while and got his hand caught in a briquet press and injured it pretty bad.  His hand was caught until LaVerne went into the control panel and re-wired it to reverse the press.  I used to draw bark for the factory out of the paper mills in Mechanicville, NY getting paid 8 cents a mile.  I got fired when the trailer brakes blew out on a steep hill just outside of Schoharie and complained about the poorly maintained equipment.  That was an exciting ride.

They probably went to Cobleskill for Dad to sign up for unemployment which was always scheduled for a Tuesday....

February 18, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 18, 1963

Mon mostly sunny warmer hi 36 real windy. Kids home for mid winter vacation all week. Clifton and David went to Bartholomew’s and bought a calf. Had a letter from Doug. Clifton called Orville Slutzky about David. He said he told David he could go to work Jan 14.

Comment:  David was going to work at Hunter Mountain.  Our Dad probably worked for Orville at one time or another.  From Wikipedia: "During the mid-50's a group of local businessmen, including Orville and Israel Slutzky, developed plans to revive the area's economy after the Great Depression.   World War II and the decline of Catskills tourism had caused long-term economic distress. The sport of skiing was becoming popular, and the group considered developing Hunter Mountain as a ski resort.This group created the Hunter Mountain Development Corp., which was the first operator of Hunter Mountain. Headed by James Hammerstein,  the son of Oscar Hammerstein II,  the group included many Hollywood and Broadway stars of the time. With Orville and Izzy Slutzky providing most of the land and their firm I. & O.A. Slutzky providing the construction, ground was broken to develop the ski area in the summer of 1959. The area was given to the group to operate with two stipulations: that it be called “Hunter Mountain Ski Bowl” and that it have snowmaking capabilities, which was a relatively new technology at the time..... In the summer of 1963, Hunter opened for summer skiing on plastic chips. Summer skiing lasted only a few years. During the winter of 1963/64, Hunter Mountain opened for night skiing for the first time.

I seem to recall David commenting on how miserable it was working there but they paid pretty good wages.

Happy Birthday Betty Hubbard

February 17, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 17, 1963

Sun mostly sunny and warm high 25. Girls and I went to Sunday School and church. Carol was sick in church. Wayne brought Linda home in p.m.

Comment:  There is an old country song with the line "we raise Cain on Saturday's but we go to church on Sunday."  The boys and Dad did not always go to church on Sundays except when we were preteens, but we also never worked on Sundays other than the required chores to milk and feed the cattle, pig and chickens.  Not sure where it came from but the family superstition was that if we worked unnecessarily on Sunday, any thing you accomplished would be countered by something bad happening in the near future.  I recall mowing hay on Thursday or Friday, raking it into windrows to get it ready for baling on Saturday, then not bailing it on Sunday even with the threat of rain on Monday.  And it did rain on that Monday. We then had to wait till the rain stopped and the hay partially dried then, laboriously "ted" the hay and re-rake it for bailing.  A "tedder" is below.  We would haul the tedder down the windrows and the tines on the back would kick the hay up in loose piles to hasten the drying process.  We then had to rake it again for baling.  Of course, if you did not have tedder, the hay fluffing would have to be done by hand with a pitchfork and that made some long days.  I remember once when LaVerne and I were haying Kandora's place, (the Elmer Hubbard farm after it sold), we had a field cut and raked and the rain kept on until the hay molded in the windrows and we wound up burning it to get rid of it......

February 16, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 16, 1963

Sat -10 to 5 above. Bright sunny day Cold and Windy.  Girls cleaned up the house I had headache. The girls went to the (basketball) game at night with David and came home on the bus. Had a letter from Doug.

Comment:  Again a cold day.  Mom had a lot of headaches, probably migraine, that people on the hill called "poor spells".  "Poor spell" could apply to most any sickness that was obviously not a cold or the flu and/or did not have a fever.  I think several of the Hubbard men, my father and grandfather included,  suffered from mild and sometimes acute depression that left them in a funk for days and family said they were having a "poor spell".  Mom would sometimes stay in bed all day when the episodes hit.

Again, a big social event of the week during the winters, were the basketball games held at the Gilboa Central School.  The buses would run to pick up kids who wanted to go, probably because if they didn't, most kids would not go.  I know I would have never played any of the sports unless the school provided transportation.  Families were either working, broke, or running a dairy farm, any of which did not allow for a lot of running kids around to events.  Below is a picture of Carol and Susan on Susan's first day of school.  They are waiting for the bus. 

 In the back ground are the legs of a cow walking up the road...we might have been bringing the cows in to change pasture, milk or maybe the cow was just "out".

February 15, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 15, 1963

Fri high, 8 above.  Blustery day with intervals of sunshine,  cold and very windy. Clifton and David started the bookcase in afternoon they had trouble starting Davids car in the a.m. David went out at night and stayed at LaVernes because of drifting snow. LaVerne was sick with bad cold. Clifton and Wayne finished book case at night.

Comment:  The hills up out of Flat Creek and up around Earl's pond were always a problem in bad weather.  They are quite steep and have several blind, sharp corners.  Many's the time I've had to back down the hill almost to the Five Points intersection to get a running start at the hills.  The toughest one was the one just beyond the Clarence Ellis or Huber's place and just before Earl;s pond.  The fifty-one Ford we used to have had a straight transmission and the problem was you could not get it going fast enough in second gear to make the hills.  And in third gear, you had to go up so fast that is was a major driving challenge to keep it on the road around the curves.  And if you let off the gas for a second to keep it on the road, it did not have enough power in high to continue so, you had to shift to second and the tires would start spinning from the lost momentum.  Then you had to back down the hill and try it again and even backing down in the windy dark was quite a risky proposition.  We usually made it, but the "bail-out" was going down to LaVerne's to stay the night.  All the kids drove like demons and passengers not used to the narrow roads would be terrified at our driving...and most of the us kids had wrecked a car at one time or another.  Here is the fifty-one Ford  I used to drive.  I think it is Doug and Wayne in the background and we were working on the garage.

The Pick Up Truck Song, Live, David Hubbard, 1995

The Pickup Truck Song, CW McCall, recorded live by David Hubbard in 1995.

February 14, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 14, 1963

Thursday,  20 Cloudy,  snow in the afternoon. Clifton and David finished the divider in afternoon. I cleaned up the house and went to Madalyn's (Blakesley) to Missionary Meeting in afternoon.  Finished letters to Doug and wrote Marilyn. Clifton still didn’t feel very good.  Had prayer meeting here at night.  Evelyn’s (Baily) birthday.

Comment:  A tooth ache on the hill could mean lots of pain for days.  Mostly treated with aspirin, we would also us sprigs of cloves to rub on the gum around the tooth.  I also remember Dad dipping his finger in whiskey and rubbing the gums of a teething baby at one time or another.  I do not remember ever going to a dentist as a child and believe my first dental exam was during my Army induction.  I know my first extraction was on Guam when I awakened a military dentist at 300am to end an agonizing tooth ache that had plagued me for about 24 hours flying across the Pacific.


Church and Sunday School on Sunday, Missionary Meetings, Prayer Meetings during the week, Youth Fellowship Meetings, Summer Bible School, Mom's life and that of the girl's was one of a continuous involvement in the church.  The boys were involved when younger but we seemed to "backslide" as we became teenagers.   The Flat Creek Baptist Church was focused on the New Testament  while Dad held greater stock in the old testament, especially Psalms and Proverbs and many a discussion ensued because of this.  Here is most of the family in front of the church with Aunt Ella.  Missing are my son Craig, he might have been in the Peace Corp, and I think Wayne is taking the picture.   I think we were at a family reunion and all attended church out of respect to Mom.....that was the last time I was in a church......If you click on the picture it will enlarge....

The Wonderful Soup Stone

 http://hubbardfamilymusic.tumblr.com/     Take a listen....

The Soup Stone 

There is an ancient folktale about a wanderer who pulls a magical soup stone out of his pack and shows it to the astonished villagers.

Asked to demonstrate it, he has an onlooker fetch a cauldron, into which he places the stone, with appropriate ceremony and gestures.

Now, he requisitions a bunch of carrots and several large onions from the village storehouse.

Eager volunteers contribute beans, scraps of meat, and various spices, all of which goes into the pot.

Two strapping young peasants fill the pot with water from the nearby well and hang it over the communal hearth.

The water begins to bubble, and soon a tantalizing aroma fills the air. The wanderer sniffs at the soup, tastes it, then nods sagely.

He reaches in with a ladle, removes the stone, and returns it to his pack after letting it cool.

The grateful villagers fill a large wooden bowl with the delicious soup for him, and he eats until his belly can hold no more.

His hunger satisfied, he departs, leaving behind him a wondrous tale of a magical stone that conjures up the best soup that anyone can remember.

I've played and sung this song for years but do not have any very good recordings of it. Charlotte Haskin heard me sing this at a family reunion a long time ago and wanted the lyrics.  Somewhere in my head is a blurry memory of an actual soup stone hanging in some dimly lit kitchen and I think it might have been in Grover Haner's place on South Mountain.  I remember when my mother and the Hubbard Aunt's went there to clean his house for him.  He lived alone, almost like a mountain man, and I remember Mom commenting on the greasy sheets from his bed that they had to wash....

Here are the lyrics by Shel Silverstein.

Enjoy Gerry


I swear you could taste the chicken and tomatoes
The noodles and the marrow bone,
But it really wasn't nothing but some water and potatoes
And the wonderful wonderful soup stone.

Hanging from a string in my momma's kitchen
Back in the hard time days,
Was a little old stone 'bout the size of an apple.
It was smooth and worn and grey.
There wasn't much food in my momma's kitchen,
So whenever things got tight,
Momma'd boil up some water, put in the stone
Say, "Let's have some soup tonight."

And I swear you could taste the chicken and tomatoes
And the noodles and the marrow bone.
But it really wasn't nothing but some water and potatoes,
And the wonderful wonderful soup stone.

It'd been in the family for a whole lot of years,
So we knew it was a nourishing thing.
And I remember momma as she stirred it in the water,
And we could all hear her sing.
"It's a magical stone and as long as we got it
We'll never have a hungry night.
Just add a little love to the wonderful soup stone,
And everything will be alright."

And I swear we could taste the chicken and tomatoes
And the noodles and the marrow bone.
But it really wasn't nothing but some water and potatoes,
And the wonderful wonderful soup stone.

So it carried us all through the darkening days
'Till finally the sunshine came.
And the soup stone started a'gathering dust,
But it hung there just the same.
Ever since then, Lord, the food's been plenty
But every now and then I find
That momma in the kitchen and the wonderful soup stone
Drifts across my mind.

And again I taste the chicken and tomatoes
And the noodles and the marrow bone.
But it really wasn't nothing but some water and potatoes
And the wonderful wonderful soup stone.
We were nourished by the wonderful soup stone.
Oh, the wonderful wonderful soup stone.

February 13, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 13, 1963
Wed. 15 Cold Windy, Clifton and David worked on divider, went to Middleburg after lumber etc. I finished ironing.  Had 2 letters from Dougie with his address. I wrote to him. Clifton about sick with a bad tooth.

Comment:  Rural Free Delivery or RFD 2, was the name of our postal route for the hill.  The US Postal Service was really a great thing for the remote areas of the country.  We always looked forward the the mail coming and especially if we had ordered something from the Montgomery Ward or Sears and Roebuck catalogs.   I remember ordering "Roebuck" blue jeans for $2.98 a pair and various shirts for a couple of bucks. I always anxiously awaited the mail and checked it every day.  I still do it today and my family thinks I'm kinda weird about the mail.
 Baby chickens were also delivered through the mail and I can still remember the very unique smell of the chickens and the bedding when the box arrived.  The picture above shows the chick box at the post office, but our's came with the regular mail.  Letters were just about the only way that families kept in touch during the sixties and were looked forward to very intensely on the part of the family and service member.

February 12, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 12, 1963

Snowed all day 26 inches.  I wrote to Marilyn and Louise and sent in my social security card for number.  Clifton and David tore out partition between livingroom and dining room.  Sent N.Y.S Income tax.

Comment:  The house on the hill was a continuing project either from a maintenance or a remodel standpoint.  The middle part was constructed first with hand-hewn beams used as foundation plates, floor joists and rafter.  The wood house was added later with an attached out house and you really don't want to know anything about that.  Then, what we called the"new part was added which was also the largest section of the house and included a cellar and a second story story attic.  Then a lean-to type dining room was added to the back of the original portion.  Lots of drafts, sagging floors.  Below is a  picture of the living room opening to the dining room which was what David and Dad were working on.  The hand hewn beams can be seen on the ceiling.

Looking Into Dining Room From Living Room

Hubbard Hill House

February 11, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 11, 1963

Mon. 35  Cloudy but not too cold.  Clifton and I went to Cobleskill and Mothers for dinner.  Had to sign up for unemployment today instead of Tuesday because of  Lincoln's birthday.  (Lincoln's birthday was February 12th in 1963) Rain in afternoon and evening and turned to snow.  I washed in am.  Marilyn called.

Comment:  Unemployment insurance, the construction worker's friend.  Not sure how we would have gotten through the bad times of the fifties and sixties without it.  One had to work 26 weeks then was eligible to draw unemployment if you could show the state that you were ready, willing, and able to work a job that could be found in your occupational field.  You had to report your activities every week to the unemployment board and they would then issue you a check the next week.  Almost all of the construction workers were laid off during the winter months so this was a godsend to those folks. I drew it when I got out of the Army, LaVerne drew it a lot of times, my dad did also.  It was a way of life for many families in the area.  

February 10, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 10, 1963

Sunday, Twenties,  Mostly cloudy.  Girls and I went to church and Sunday School.  Mary Ann came with Gerald for dinner.  Laverne and Roberta came in the afternoon and we went to Middleburg and Cobleskill and went with them to look at cars.  Gerald and Mary Ann and us were down there for supper.  Wayne and Linda were here.  David at Sandy’s.

Comment:  Dinner was the noon meal and supper was the evening meal.  Not sure who Lilliane is and why they were looking at cars.  The Flat Creek Baptist Church was a major part of Mom and the girl's lives.  They usually went to church on Sundays, stayed for Sunday school, then went to a prayer meeting sometime during the week.  The oldest three, LaVerne, Marilyn, and I, were "saved" at a young age, Marilyn at 11, me at about the same age, and I don't remember about LaVerne.  These were full immersion baptisms held at a pool at the end of a culvert by Halleck's.  We used to go swimming there quite often in the summer. 

February 9, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 9, 1963

Sat -10 to 26  Bright, sunny day, warmer.  The men cut wood.  Sue was sick with an upset stomach.  The girls went to Awana.  I didn’t feel like going. 

Comment:  Cutting wood was a weekly chore regardless of the weather.......

 In the winter it was cold as hell and every week the boys as well as Dad would go to cut some firewood.

With that old Farmall and Mall chainsaw we’d find a tree and make a fall and cut it up as quickly as we could.
For the winter wind and chill was bearing down,
As we struggled in the that cold and muddy ground,
Then we loaded up a half a cord and shivered while the tractor roared and took us tired half frozen homeward bound.


Here is a picture of the Farmall Tractor in 1976 with Craig and David playing on it:

February 8, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 8, 1963

Friday:  Coldest day -16 to -24 am Very cold -5 high some wind during day.  Mostly sunny.  Electricity was off from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Our water started to feeze in the well.  I washed in the a.m.  Emil and Doris Menuson called in the p.m. about hay.  Martin’s came for their hay in the afternoon.  LaVerne and Roberta were here at night.  Not so cold -10.

Comment:  Wow, 24 below zero without the wind factor.  Probably a tough day on the hill with the power off and the well freezing.  It seems we always had problems with the well running dry in the summer and intermittent problems with the pipes and pumps that brought it to the house.  Not sure when we got running water to the sink in the kitchen and I remember a red hand pump there that we sometimes had to prime.  We did put in a bathroom in the attic when I was seventeen in1955, my junior year in high school.  Before that, in the summer we would take soap and towels and bath in Earl's pond occasionally.  In the winter, we relied on the school showers after gym or athletic events.  We partially solved the supply problem by running a pipe to a very good spring in "The Spring Lot", a 3 acre lot south of the road and creek.  Below is a picture of the bathroom on the hill.  

February 7, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 7, 1963

Thurs, cloudy, 30 in early am, grew colder all day, zero  at night.  Wrote to Marylin.  Clifton and David fixed the pump so it would shut off.  We had about a dozen calls for hay.   Junior Losie bought 68 bales and Martin And Sons from East Meredith bought and also, Wally Stryker.  I didn’t have prayer meeting at night because of my cold.  It was at Madalyn's (Blakesley).   Earl and Lillian stopped for a few minutes in their way home from Cobleskill..  We had a radio gram from Doug.

Comment:  Apparently selling off the hay because they may have sold the cows to head for California.  Not sure.  I think they were having problems with the well water pump that would not shut off and they had to fix it before it burnt out. 

 I think the Navy provided Doug with an opportunity to send a telegraphic message that was decoded from Morse to voice and sent over the phone or a hard copy was printed and mailed.  If anybody can shed more light on the radiogram, please leave a comment on the blog. 

February 6, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

February 6, 1963

Wed 28-40 high cloudiness warm partly sunny no wind.  I was about sick with a cold.  Clifton and David went after Gerald’s Olds in Schenectady.  Doug started basic training.  Had a package from Louise towels, pens and book.  David got the spring fixed in his car at Raymonds.  They had good luck getting the car home.  ($10 Olds.)


Comment:
Verba ipsa loquitur..The words speak for themselves