OOps, 9 (not 10) Good Years

Happy 9th Anniversary to my dearly beloved husband, Edmond Angelil (my "Angel Man").

Life with Ed is always "interesting"!

 .....and we're still on our honeymoon!

Fond Memory Photos

 
Granddaddy May was known to be a ladies' man -- meaning handsome, a real looker, and easy on the eyes.  He was 18 in this picture in 1915.

Grandmother surely was pretty at age 17.  This was about 1918.

When Uncle Clarence (Granddaddy's brother) and Aunt Nellie came to visit, I used to ask permission to just sit in the room.  They laughed and told such funny stories about their lives.  Here are Grandmother and Granddaddy in that room in the 1950s.

I'll bet Grandmother made the drapes and matching pillows.  She was quite an accomplished seamstress.

Grandmother Freeman was a Southern Lady, as was Mother.  This was in the early 1960s.

 Grandaddy Robert Alexander Freeman as a young man.

 We always wondered why Aunt Lib looked away from the camera 99% of the time.  It looks like she might have learned that from her father.

Mary Elizabeth May, the little lass with red ringlets.  About 1949 at age two.

A Four Generation Picture
Great Grandfather Eli Bowman, Grandmother Ruth Bowman May, Walker May, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth.  1948

Mary E. rocking her new "doll baby".  1950

Such innocence!  Oh, the hours we spent on those swings that Daddy built.  About 1953.

The height of femininity -- my sister, Anita Frances May in 1959.

 Anita was always known to have a soft and caring nature.

Is this precious or what?  Anita made this in second grade.

Anita in the "hatching jacket" that I made for her in 1980.

Philip loved to be with Daddy.

Granddaddy spent a lot of time with him, too.

 This is how I remember my Grandparents.  Grandmother's probably working a crossword puzzle.  1960

Grandaddy had a heart attack in his fifties so went into semi-retirement.  Most of the time he had young Philip on his lap instead of kittens.  Philip told his first grade teacher that he didn't need to go to school because his grandfather could teach him everything!

Family picnics were always fun.  1953

We always took family photos at Christmas.  1972

Going to Grandmother's for Christmas was fun. 1996

Anita, April, and Ellen Krull wearing the dresses I made for them.

I think this is the only photo I have of Aunt Lib where she looked at the camera.  1999

Aunt Mary, another Southern Lady

We thought cousin Bill was hot stuff when he owned a horse and let us ride it.  This was Saxon, a Tennessee walking horse.

Cousin Bobz treated his dogs like children.  He and Marilyn tucked them in their beds each night.  They even had pillows, which they used!  1995

Cousin Marilyn Freeman, yet another Southern Lady in 2011.

Christmas at the Condo in Greensboro in 1999. Bill and Corty, Aunt Lib, Mother, Aunt Ruth, Aunt Mary, and me.

Maribeth May collects dolls.  A gal who was a former nun helped me make this authentic nun doll.  It made my day that Maribeth was so happy with it.

Mother and her best friend, Lois Swank Myers in 1994.

Mother always loved babies, especially her grandchildren.  This was April at the Freeman reunion in 1987.

The title of this photo would surely be:

JOY!

A Treasure Trove

We kidded Mother and Grandmother for being pack-rats but, as I discovered the memorabilia that gave glimpses into our family's history, I came to appreciate their efforts in keeping all these treasures.

Valedictory speech by Grandmother May from 1917. 

Someone, probably Mother, typed it out for her.

Ledgers

A Ledger from 1917, which was started on Grandaddy May's 21st birthday, showed Expense items such as:

Suitcase for $3.50, 
Pair of overalls for $1.75
Haircut for $.40 
Horse shoeing for $5.35
6 chairs for $19.00
Looking glass for $2.00
On May 10, 1919, he bought a "License to get married" for $1.00.  (They got married May 11, 1919.)

Under Income in 1917, Grandaddy documented: 2 rabbits for $.32
2 muscrats, 1 polecat (skunk) for $2.50 
Sold horse I bought of Uncle Charlie for $125.00
Sold turtle to W.J. Hollar for $.25, 
Took Bob Swope to town for $2.00
24 lb. wool to Don Ruddle for $10.35
In Sept. 1918 first pay in army for $18.50
Sold 67 doz. eggs to E.P.Lee for $14.71
Sold 25 pounds wool for $9.25 

I remember that Grandmother and Grandaddy lived in D.C. for a year or so and these entries reminded me that one job he had was driving a street car:
Bought Motorman's cap for $1.00, 
First pay at Street Car Co. for $1.00
Run 7th Pa. Ave. for $4.86
Run 14th St. $4.32

Daddy with his cig in hand

The other Ledger in 1947 
was from my parents, the year I was born. They went to the "show" (movies) most every week and usually put the name of the movie.  The price was $1.00 and some weeks it said "Show and Eats" for $1.25.  A haircut was $.50, "cigs" were $.35 (Daddy always smoked Lucky Strikes until he quit years later at the persistent  requests of his 3 children), baby shoes (for me!) $1.19, a wooden high chair (which is still intact) for $16.50, and  sweater for M.E. (Mary Elizabeth, that's me) for $2.29.

I can hardly stop reading these ledgers....they're just mesmerizing!

Hair

Some folks might think this creepy, but I was thrilled to discover hair from Daddy, my sister, and me.  The round ringlets are from when I was very young.  It was interesting to note that Daddy's hair was a brighter red than mine.  Anita really was a bright blonde and her hairdresser knew for sure!

Millions of Cats book

I was so excited that I had to call my sister when I found this book.  I didn't remember that this old version even existed.  The copyright is 1928 and it came from Dobson School Library, which means it was from Mother's childhood. 

We always loved hearing Millions of Cats and looking at the beautiful black and white drawings over and over.  Learning place value in math was easy because of this story.

Report cards

How many people do you know who have all their report cards?  

I found grades one through 12 for Anita, Phil, and me.  Plus, most of the grades for Daddy and Mother.

If you enlarge this photo, you can see who my teachers were in grades 1-7 at Mt. Clinton Elementary School.

Mother even saved my grades from Madison College (now known as James Madison University in Harrisonburg) and from my master's work at the University of Virginia.

Rocking Horse
Some family member made this rocking horse but I don't know who.  It was used when Daddy and Uncle Bob were little and for the grandchildren and great grandchildren.  This was my niece, April, when she was small.  Mother repainted it some years ago.

If this sled could talk, it would have some tales to tell!

We had some big snows when we were young and it got a real work out.  What great memories of night sledding parties with a big bonfire. 

A couple of times snow drifts closed the roads and the milkman had to bring cans to the foot of the hill to be hauled up with a tractor.  

Ask any of the six May grandchildren about the night we each had to drag a milkcan up the hill.  It wasn't too bad for the 4 small kids but Stashia and I broke through the crust into waist high snow at each step!  I remember there was a full moon because Stashia and I looked at it as we laid on our backs several times to rest during that long climb.

THE Brown Chair

     Mother always hated brown.  When it was time for school, they got Aunt Mary the prettiest little blue raincoat with red lining, trim and buttons.  They got Mother a BROWN raincoat.   

     When they were young, people who sold baskets and other handmade items came from down in the country in the summer .  Mother's parents got Aunt Mary a little green chair.  It was sooo pretty and it had flowers on it!  They got Mom a BROWN chair. 

Here is that famous BROWN chair with one of Mother's first dolls.

********************************************
This next item is one of my very favorite pieces of our family's history and it has fascinated me since I was a child.

"This molasses pitcher belonged to my mother's parents, David and Catherine Hollar.  During the Civil War, they buried their best dishes so that the Yankees would not destroy them as they passed through the (Shenandoah) Valley of Virginia.  When the war was over, they dug up the dishes and in so doing, the handle of the pitcher was broken off.  It was repaired with white lead."   --Ruth Bowman May, Grandmother of Mary May Angelil

I say, "Thank you!" to all the Mays, Bowmans, and Freemans for being pack-rats through the years!

Historical Hats and More

Grandaddy May's hat from World War I
It's amazing what good shape it's in!

 This picture looks like it might have been taken from a calendar and is an antique in itself.

Helmet
We found this out in the workshop and wonder if it was Daddy's from World War II.

Mother's "Going Away" (leaving after the wedding) hat and purse.  Both the velvet hat and the knit purse are in surprisingly good condition.

 We found other hats but realized we just can't keep everything.  So, we donated some of them and gave some to other family members.

Purse
Maybe this belonged Betty Young Hiter Willis, my great grandmother?

Doesn't it look like the purse above went with the dress below?  This is Bessie Willis Freeman, my grandmother, wearing a dress of Betty Hiter Willis, my great grandmother.  Betty Willis wore this when she gave a musical concert.  (She sang, as did Grandmother Freeman.)  

My crown from when I was the Queen of the Prom

Mayday Dress from 2nd Grade.  I think our class did the minuet.

Grandmother May made this as a long dress for the Mayday program.  Then she cut it off for a Sunday-Go-To-Meetin' dress.

 
The organdy fabric is still crisp.  It has a few stains but I am not going to wash it for fear of messing it up.

Below was yours truly entering the festivities.  I think my escort in the background was Don (Feezer) Carver.

Aunt Mary and Aunt Lib sent us muffs for Christmas and we always thought they were so elegant.  They were more fun to wear than gloves and we did treasure them.  I can see I wrote my name on the box to be sure my sister didn't get mine!   A bit of sibling rivalry, maybe?

I think I found a picture of where they got the idea for the muff!
or
Did they use this skin to make the muff?  Sorry, I'm being morbid here!

I've always thought hats and fashion tell so much about culture and about events in a person's life.  What  a fun trip down the memory lane of the May family via hats!