Melody

Growing Up in Mid-Twentieth Century America Chapter Seven: The Way It Was/The Way We Were (At time of posting I was unable to include exterior photo of the First EUB Church) Today my wife and I live in an organized California retirement community where folks mostly live in attached duplex ranch homes with garages and small front porches facing streets often devoid of sidewalks. Every house has central air conditioning so that occupants rarely go outside but stay in to communicate with others electronically. Garages in our neighborhood are attached so you drive right into your house. Outside maintenance is performed by contractors and staff paid by the HOA. The atmosphere this creates is not really conducive to becoming acquainted with your neighbors. Any social interaction with neighbors is generally more formal and seems to be planned ahead. In the cozy neighborhoods of my youth most folks lived in fairly large two story homes with large front porches facing the street and side...

Growing Up in Mid-20th Century America Chapter - Six: Family Life at 3 Tremont Street Please bear in mind that the narrative is built around photos that appear either at the beginning or end of this posting instead of interspersed throughout which would be my intention if I could figure out how to do it on Facebook but so far that has been unsuccessful. My local world was as is shown on the neighborhood map. The Allegheny River made a horseshoe shape right around the area known as “The South Side” of Warren, Pennsylvania. During mid-century America the town had more than 15,000 residents in a rural northwest Pennsylvania county that had only 40,000 inhabitants. We were surrounded by the Allegheny National Forest and the area had been developed in the 19th century on the basis of oil and lumber. Tremont Street where we lived was only two blocks back from the river. We lived at the west end of Tremont in a large size block bordered by Onondaga Avenue on the east, St. Clair Avenue to...

Growing Up in Mid 20th Century America Chapter Five - Family Heritage To set the stage for the rest of my story I must relate some information about our parents and their parents to help you the reader to understand our heritage. Our dad, Ted Prichard, worked at Struthers Wells Corp. designing Heat Exchangers, Boilers, Evaporators, and other chemical process equipment that was used in heavy industry such as oil refineries, metal working plants, and even universities. Sometimes he would travel to distant cities to solve equipment problems or provide operator training. He was of Welsh and British descent and as such was very calm, laid back with a finely cultured sense of humor as long as it was properly clean humor. No uncouth words, dirty jokes, or curse words would ever leave his lips. Ted practiced christian living to the ultimate degree though I never knew him to read the bible or outwardly espouse religion. There will be more about religion in a later chapter. He was a frien...

Growing Up in Mid 20th Century America: Chapter Four - The 1949 California Vacation Trip Our family was scheduled to leave on a three week vacation to California early in June 1949. Our parents had lots of planning and packing to do but the first item on the agenda was the purchase of a new car. The Studebaker that was ordered was held up so dad decided to cancel that order and purchase a new Kaiser. Kaisers were new to the market in 1947 and the local dealer, Hannah Motor Sales, had a good supply in stock ready for purchase in 1949. I remember vividly the whole family going to the showroom and my sister and I crawling into the huge and luxurious back seat of the very car we would buy while our parents signed papers to make the purchase. I was very excited because I had always loved autos and I understood we would be taking a long journey in this one. There was only a very small, gradual transmission hump on the rear floor plus limousine like width and legroom so kids could actual...

Growing Up in Mid 20th Century America: Chapter Three - CARS At the time I was born our family did not have a car. After graduating from Tri-State College in 1937 at the age of 25 (now Tri-State University of course) my dad returned to western Pennsylvania and found employment as a beginning engineer with the Struthers Wells Corporation in Titusville. This was quite convenient as his aging father lived just down the road from Titusville on the family farm. Apparently his father was entering a state of dementia and had to be placed at the North Warren State Hospital. My grandfather Will Prichard passed away in 1938 at the age of 68. The farm was sold and the proceeds split amongst the three surviving sons. The two younger boys went to California and began their new lives in the aircraft industry after having had some training in the Civilian Conservation Corps initiated by President Franklin Roosevelt. Reno was a machinist and Arnold was a tool and die designer, skills sorely needed ...

Growing Up In Mid 20th Century America: Chapter Two - Family Life Our backyard was a kind of wonderland with beautiful stone fireplace and room for a tent, sliding board, teeter totter, and clothes line for hanging the laundry. There were plenty of kids in the neighborhood so always something going on. Just a block away we had Mr. Johnson’s Red and White store where mom would send us to pick up a loaf of bread or the occasional bottle of soda for an impromptu picnic at Crescent Park along the Allegheny River. We would often go there for lunch with a few friends. Next door to the grocery store was Khure’s Meat Market where mom would often purchase cuts of meat for dinner. Across the street was a beer distributor but of course we didn’t go near that because our parents were not inclined to drink alcoholic beverages. We were often visited by mom’s sisters who lived in surrounding towns. Aunt Hazel is pictured standing on our front porch on one such visit. Hazel was one year younger t...