In the middle or late 1930's, aunt Esther Blankenburg took a freighter trip to Cuba. There she bought a box of guava paste. The box was of wood, about 2" x 3" x 12". In the middle, running the length of the paste was a section of guava jelly, about 12/" x 1/4". She sent it to me and it was delicious! On the box was the name & address of the source in Cuba, so I wrote them a letter of appreciation to which they responed "con mucho gusto".
My uncle Charlie Blankenburg was the next one born. In those days, boys were required by state law to work at home on the farm until they were 18. But I found out from uncle Arnold in Kansas that Charlie ran away from home prior to age 18, and went to work for a farmer in Maine. Arnold asked me why Charlie ran away from home, but I didn't even know that he had done that, it was the first I had heard of it. I think he laater went to business college. After he was established, he became Sales Manager of the woolen (?) mill in Talcotville. He married Mae McCallum and they and her brother Charlie McCallum lived in a nice house owned by the mill in Talcotville. Uncle Charlie used to come up to our house (the farm house at Skinner Rd & Dart Hill Rd in Vernon) and play checkers with my Dad.
Here is a photo presumably of uncle Charlie Blankenburg as a young man watering a team of horses. In the background you can see a two-story building that had been used to house the hired help. I also have a photo of him with Mae McCallum standing in the middle of Dart Hill Road (a dirt road), and in the background are cows in the pasture and a few chickens. I also have a short movie clip of him with his wife Mae, and later after she passed away, another clip of him with his second wife Eve, whom he met on Price Edward Island in Canada.
Next born was my aunt Florence. She died early from breast cancer. She went to business school and became an accountant. That is probably how she met her husband, my uncle Irving Dodge. He was the owner of C. N. Dodge grocery store on Main Street in Hartford, CT. It was a "high end" grocery. They lived in a fancy neighborhood in maybe Windsor, across from the Pratt's (proabably of Pratt & Whitney). when we visited with aunt Florence and Uncle Irving, I used to play with Aaron Pratt. Irving and Florence had a cottage down at the sea shore, and they had my sister and I come with them one week. We were very poor, but I didn't know it. Irving and Florence used to mail me the "Funnies" from the Sunday paper every week.
Aunt Florence had her own car, a 2-door coupe, and used to come over to visit us. I remember she used to call my mother "Em". Later, when Aunt Florence passed away, Uncle Irving used to come over on Sunday afternoons and take us all on very long rides through the country. He also was attracted to my Aunt Cora, but nothing came of it; I think he liked her better than she liked him. He later married a close friend of Cora and Florences, Louise Rau. When I was born, she sent us a congratulations card which I still have.
Next born was my aunt Cora Hattie Blankenburg. She hated her middle name and changed it to Harriet. She went to Port Chester, NY, and with training became a Registered Nurse. She was very pretty, and I should have pictures of her. I believe at one time she worked in the same hospital as Dr. Hepburn, father of the movie star Katherine Hepburn. Dr. Hepburn had a terrible temper, and was known to have thrown things at the nurses. After my parents got the Blankenburg farm, sometimes Aunt Cora used to come over, go up to the hayloft where her trunk was stored, read old letters, come back down and you could tell she had been crying. She married very very late in life. Her intention was to wait until my mother passed away and then marry my Dad, but it never happened. My Mother was still alive, and went to Cora's wedding to Jim Moraio, who was a widower, and I believe a commercial greenhouse flower grower. I visited them once, stayed for dinner and stayed over night, while working as a consultant for Regent Controls in Stamford, CT, not so terribly far from Rye, NY.
Next in 1901 came my Uncle Fred Blankenburg. He was quite ambitious and wanted to do everything for his Mom. I think I have a photo of him as a young boy with a long stick, fishing in Bolton Pond. My parents bought the Blankenburg farm in 1927. In the 1920's there was no electricity within nearly a mile of the place. But Uncle Fred got some second-hand Edison batteries, a D.C. generator, and an old Model T Ford engine, and created a 32 volt d.c. source for the place, wiring up the kitchen, dining room, and the barn. The lights were not so very bright, but they worked, except when the batteries were down and had to be re-charged. They even had a Hinnman milking machine for the barn. But it didn't work all that wonderfully either. while I was growing up, the batteries were about at the end of their life and we had no money to replace them, so we reverted to kerosine lamps.
Uncle Fred was very mechanically oriented, and was always working with his brother Arnold on cars and other things. They strung a big, long antenna from the Norway spruce tree way over to the top of the big maple tree on Skinner Road, and did short wave sending and receiving via Morse code. I have a photo of Fred sitting next to his Mom in an open Model T car. She is sitting behind the steering wheel (as a joke, because she never drove). Fred worked for Socony Vacuum in Hartford as a mechanic. Fred was always very frugal and never threw anything of any value away. He collected things. He once married a divorcee with children. But the marriage only lasted partway thr
ough the honeymoon to Florida. I never heard the details.
Last to be born was Uncle Arnold. Here is a photo of him as a little boy playing in the sand pile in the back yard just outside the kitchen window. In the background are posts where we put the milk pails, and you can see the pump on the well, and further in the background is the barn. It is nearly identical to where I used to play at the same age. Unlike Fred, Arnold liked to "dress up" and look real fine. I believe he was, as it were, a "lady's man". When I was little, Fred and / or Arnold used to go "out west" for fairly long periods. Eventually, Arnold settled in Herndon, Kansas and married my Aunt Edna. Later they moved to Oakley, and he established "Blankenburg Chevrolet", and was a very successful business man. He was able to sell the business and retire quite comfortably. They had two daughters, Judith and Lila. Both died before their parents. Judith never married, but died in Backsburg, VA, teaching at, I believe, the university there, and working on a Doctor's degree. Lila did marry, but they had no children except two adopted ones in Texas. Arnold and Edna, with kids, visited us after the 1938 hurricane, and helped up with the restorations.
Years later, on occasion we (my wife and our kids) would visit Arnold and Edna in Kansas. Also, once, Arnold took a trip around the world on a Dutch liner, by himself because Edna didn't want to go. They called at Tahiti, and many other exotic places. He got off the ship on the east coast of Australia, took the trans-continental railway, and caught the ship again on the west coast at Perth. My attic is full of 5,000 of his slides, covering maybe 15 or 20 years. What shall I do with them?
Well, let's move on to my Dad. As a boy, he and his family at least once rode trolly cars and went to Nantasket beach in Boston. He remembered seeing sailing vessel gradually disappear over the horizon there. He went through 8th grade, and then had to go to work to help support the family by working in the woolen mill. He told me once that the teacher wanted to teach them music, but none of the kids were interested. She said "You will be sorry". Later, yes, he was sorry. As a young man he first left home and went to upper New York state apple-picking. Then later still, he went to the wheat fields of North Dakota for work on the harvest. There he got a wheat chaff in his eye that caused him considerable trouble for some days until it finally came out. His biggest first main experience was when he went to St. Louis during the World's Fair in 1904, and worked as a bell hop at the Christian Endeavor Hotel there for 6 months. It gave him time to take in the whole fair in detail. One impressive exhibit was a full-sized locomotive going at full speed on an endless track. Another exhibit was a man in one room writing with an electrical instrument connected by wire to another instrument in another room, reproducing the same writing.
One story of his bell hop experience: A lady came with a complaint that her room light didn't work. She turned on the thing, but nothing happened. (It was a gas light). He told her, "You have to use a match!"
Some time later my Dad went to art school in NYC, and later also the Lockwood Art School in Duluth, MN.
Time to quit, I need to go somewhere with my wife Lydia.
My uncle Charlie Blankenburg was the next one born. In those days, boys were required by state law to work at home on the farm until they were 18. But I found out from uncle Arnold in Kansas that Charlie ran away from home prior to age 18, and went to work for a farmer in Maine. Arnold asked me why Charlie ran away from home, but I didn't even know that he had done that, it was the first I had heard of it. I think he laater went to business college. After he was established, he became Sales Manager of the woolen (?) mill in Talcotville. He married Mae McCallum and they and her brother Charlie McCallum lived in a nice house owned by the mill in Talcotville. Uncle Charlie used to come up to our house (the farm house at Skinner Rd & Dart Hill Rd in Vernon) and play checkers with my Dad.
Here is a photo presumably of uncle Charlie Blankenburg as a young man watering a team of horses. In the background you can see a two-story building that had been used to house the hired help. I also have a photo of him with Mae McCallum standing in the middle of Dart Hill Road (a dirt road), and in the background are cows in the pasture and a few chickens. I also have a short movie clip of him with his wife Mae, and later after she passed away, another clip of him with his second wife Eve, whom he met on Price Edward Island in Canada.
Next born was my aunt Florence. She died early from breast cancer. She went to business school and became an accountant. That is probably how she met her husband, my uncle Irving Dodge. He was the owner of C. N. Dodge grocery store on Main Street in Hartford, CT. It was a "high end" grocery. They lived in a fancy neighborhood in maybe Windsor, across from the Pratt's (proabably of Pratt & Whitney). when we visited with aunt Florence and Uncle Irving, I used to play with Aaron Pratt. Irving and Florence had a cottage down at the sea shore, and they had my sister and I come with them one week. We were very poor, but I didn't know it. Irving and Florence used to mail me the "Funnies" from the Sunday paper every week.
Aunt Florence had her own car, a 2-door coupe, and used to come over to visit us. I remember she used to call my mother "Em". Later, when Aunt Florence passed away, Uncle Irving used to come over on Sunday afternoons and take us all on very long rides through the country. He also was attracted to my Aunt Cora, but nothing came of it; I think he liked her better than she liked him. He later married a close friend of Cora and Florences, Louise Rau. When I was born, she sent us a congratulations card which I still have.
Next born was my aunt Cora Hattie Blankenburg. She hated her middle name and changed it to Harriet. She went to Port Chester, NY, and with training became a Registered Nurse. She was very pretty, and I should have pictures of her. I believe at one time she worked in the same hospital as Dr. Hepburn, father of the movie star Katherine Hepburn. Dr. Hepburn had a terrible temper, and was known to have thrown things at the nurses. After my parents got the Blankenburg farm, sometimes Aunt Cora used to come over, go up to the hayloft where her trunk was stored, read old letters, come back down and you could tell she had been crying. She married very very late in life. Her intention was to wait until my mother passed away and then marry my Dad, but it never happened. My Mother was still alive, and went to Cora's wedding to Jim Moraio, who was a widower, and I believe a commercial greenhouse flower grower. I visited them once, stayed for dinner and stayed over night, while working as a consultant for Regent Controls in Stamford, CT, not so terribly far from Rye, NY.
Next in 1901 came my Uncle Fred Blankenburg. He was quite ambitious and wanted to do everything for his Mom. I think I have a photo of him as a young boy with a long stick, fishing in Bolton Pond. My parents bought the Blankenburg farm in 1927. In the 1920's there was no electricity within nearly a mile of the place. But Uncle Fred got some second-hand Edison batteries, a D.C. generator, and an old Model T Ford engine, and created a 32 volt d.c. source for the place, wiring up the kitchen, dining room, and the barn. The lights were not so very bright, but they worked, except when the batteries were down and had to be re-charged. They even had a Hinnman milking machine for the barn. But it didn't work all that wonderfully either. while I was growing up, the batteries were about at the end of their life and we had no money to replace them, so we reverted to kerosine lamps.
Uncle Fred was very mechanically oriented, and was always working with his brother Arnold on cars and other things. They strung a big, long antenna from the Norway spruce tree way over to the top of the big maple tree on Skinner Road, and did short wave sending and receiving via Morse code. I have a photo of Fred sitting next to his Mom in an open Model T car. She is sitting behind the steering wheel (as a joke, because she never drove). Fred worked for Socony Vacuum in Hartford as a mechanic. Fred was always very frugal and never threw anything of any value away. He collected things. He once married a divorcee with children. But the marriage only lasted partway thr
ough the honeymoon to Florida. I never heard the details.Last to be born was Uncle Arnold. Here is a photo of him as a little boy playing in the sand pile in the back yard just outside the kitchen window. In the background are posts where we put the milk pails, and you can see the pump on the well, and further in the background is the barn. It is nearly identical to where I used to play at the same age. Unlike Fred, Arnold liked to "dress up" and look real fine. I believe he was, as it were, a "lady's man". When I was little, Fred and / or Arnold used to go "out west" for fairly long periods. Eventually, Arnold settled in Herndon, Kansas and married my Aunt Edna. Later they moved to Oakley, and he established "Blankenburg Chevrolet", and was a very successful business man. He was able to sell the business and retire quite comfortably. They had two daughters, Judith and Lila. Both died before their parents. Judith never married, but died in Backsburg, VA, teaching at, I believe, the university there, and working on a Doctor's degree. Lila did marry, but they had no children except two adopted ones in Texas. Arnold and Edna, with kids, visited us after the 1938 hurricane, and helped up with the restorations.
Years later, on occasion we (my wife and our kids) would visit Arnold and Edna in Kansas. Also, once, Arnold took a trip around the world on a Dutch liner, by himself because Edna didn't want to go. They called at Tahiti, and many other exotic places. He got off the ship on the east coast of Australia, took the trans-continental railway, and caught the ship again on the west coast at Perth. My attic is full of 5,000 of his slides, covering maybe 15 or 20 years. What shall I do with them?
Well, let's move on to my Dad. As a boy, he and his family at least once rode trolly cars and went to Nantasket beach in Boston. He remembered seeing sailing vessel gradually disappear over the horizon there. He went through 8th grade, and then had to go to work to help support the family by working in the woolen mill. He told me once that the teacher wanted to teach them music, but none of the kids were interested. She said "You will be sorry". Later, yes, he was sorry. As a young man he first left home and went to upper New York state apple-picking. Then later still, he went to the wheat fields of North Dakota for work on the harvest. There he got a wheat chaff in his eye that caused him considerable trouble for some days until it finally came out. His biggest first main experience was when he went to St. Louis during the World's Fair in 1904, and worked as a bell hop at the Christian Endeavor Hotel there for 6 months. It gave him time to take in the whole fair in detail. One impressive exhibit was a full-sized locomotive going at full speed on an endless track. Another exhibit was a man in one room writing with an electrical instrument connected by wire to another instrument in another room, reproducing the same writing.
One story of his bell hop experience: A lady came with a complaint that her room light didn't work. She turned on the thing, but nothing happened. (It was a gas light). He told her, "You have to use a match!"
Some time later my Dad went to art school in NYC, and later also the Lockwood Art School in Duluth, MN.
Time to quit, I need to go somewhere with my wife Lydia.
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