Anecdotes

Mother was a woman of many talents. She was an excellent cook; not a gourmet cook, but a cook that would make the plainest food tasty. For Sunday dinners we could count on fried chicken with good ol’ mashed potatoes and chicken gravy or a roast with vegetables roasted along with it. Another Sunday dinner was a specialty of Mother’s called “Seven Layer Dinner.” The first layer was slices of potatoes followed by slices of onions, next carrots, peas, meat (usually hamburger) and a couple other items, which I’ve forgotten. At any rate it was delicious and would be done by the time we arrived home from Sunday school which was held Sunday mornings. Desserts were usually quite simple. We usually had fruit, which Mother had bottled, and a cookie, or we had Mother’s famous “Poor Man’s Cake.” We all loved that cake, especially without frosting. Mother had a hard time keeping the cake where Frank couldn’t find it. One day after having made a Poor Man’s Cake, Mother said, “I know where I’ll hide it where Frank won’t be able to find it.” So she put the cake down in a cupboard behind the pots and pans. Later when Frank came home he walked into the house, stopped, looked around, obviously making smelling twitches with his nose. He said, “Ahh, Poor Man’s Cake.” He walked directly to the cupboard and took out the cake. Mother decided it was useless to try to fool Frank so didn’t bother to hide the cake from then on.

Mother was meticulous. She took care of whatever she had and was neat and comely in her grooming and kept her house neat and clean. She was never seen in public but what she was clean, hair combed, clothes presentable. She liked to brag about how little she had paid for an article of clothing or shoes. She rarely paid more than 50 cents for a pair of shoes. Once I bought her a lovely teal-colored knit dress with a scarf pin and earrings to go with it. She sent them back to me telling me, “They are too rich for my blood.” I should have told her I found them at a second-hand store, as that’s where Mother did he shopping.

Mother told me about one time she deliberately went out in public in less than a comely appearance. It seems Dad wanted to buy or buy into a dance hall. Mother was dead set against it. She was supposed to go with Dad to meet the people who were selling the dance hall. Mother told me she wore a sloppy, dirty house dress, worn-out shoes, didn’t comb her hair or put on make-up. I’m sure her appearance wasn’t the deciding factor in the dance hall deal failing to materialize, though.

Grocery shopping with Mother was a well-detailed map of the best buy in each store. It amazed me how she would list the things she needed or wanted then ascertain which store had the best price. She would come home with the back seat loaded. A trip to the grocery store was once a week or less. Mother wasn’t one to run to the store for one or two items. She knew how to substitute or do without.

Mother was a good neighbor wherever we lived. More than once she has left us to fare for ourselves while she has gone to care for a neighbor who was ill or needed help in some way. When I turned nine years old Mother gave me a birthday party. Just after the party started a neighbor came to get Mother to go help someone who was ill. Without Mother to supervise my party deteriorated rapidly because the older ones, especially my older brothers took over and created havoc.

The road from Rexburg west and north to Plano crosses the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River just before a short uphill climb to the “Egin Bench.” The river branches near there, thus making an island. The large pasture on the island was a fun gathering place for young people for their picnics and ball games. Mother and Dad met at one of the ball games. They were married the following year on August 24, 1916 in Salt Lake City, Utah in the Temple. They rode down to Salt Lake City from Rexburg on the train. They stayed at our great-grandmother Julia Berry’s home which was located at about 7th south and 3rd east. Their first home was a shack situated on Grandpa Nat & Grandma Net Robertson’s farm. The first thing Dad bought for Mother was a White Rotary pedal sewing machine. Ritta J. inherited the sewing machine and eventually gave it to her granddaughter Kaye Lynn Landerman-Warner, daughter of Jim and Susan Landerman.

Mother wasn’t a great seamstress, but she could sew well. It wasn’t one of her priorities. She did use the sewing machine more for mending than anything else. It was her nature to be quite frugal, so clothing got mended quite a bit.