I remember Dad being very happy then. Mom would always tell me at a certain time to go and look out the window and watch for Dad coming. I would patiently look at the street cars coming down Braddock Ave. When he got off the streetcar he would look for me and wave. I thought that this was a great thing.

I would always go the butcher shop with Mom a few blocks away. One day, my mother asked me to go to the Butcher shop on my own. She said, "Now you stay on the sidewalk - and when you cross the street be very careful!" Of course there wasn't the traffic like there is today - a horse and buggy would come along every once in awhile. About the only thing dangerous was losing the money she gave me. I put it in my pocket and kept my hand on it. My clothing consisted of a straw derby style hat, a midi blouse (like a sailor's shirt) and short pants and high shoes with black stockings to the knee. At other times I wore "knickers", they came below the knee. This was my dress - Little Lord Flaunteroy had nothing on me! I went to the Butcher shop negotiated my deal got the change and came home. My Mother was proud of me. Now she had the confidence in me to do errands. As long as there wasn't a lot to carry. There were no bags given in the stores then, everyone had their own bags - we used a type of "net bag".

On Sundays, the German Band used to march down Braddock Ave. They would come down and stop at our place and turn around. Whether Rankin didn't permit them in for some reason or Rankin didn't want them in.

Across from our apartment was Jerry's Barber Shop and Pool Room. Dad was a pretty good pool player and would frequent the place. He was on a pool team - that would travel around Western PA.

As a young man I met some of Dad's friends by being with him at some of the tourneys - Dad was a very good player. Now Jerry was a big fat fellow. He would set out in front of his place in a chair leaning against the building. I always thought that he would fall off because the chair was so small and Jerry was so big - but he never did.

I would sometimes watch the trains out back of our apartment. I remember one time a train came decorated with all kinds of American flags and a lot of people gathered when it stopped. I presume it was some political candidate stumping through. But, I vaguely remember one draped in black and might have been President Warren Harding's train going to Ohio.

Our galvanized tub was the most used item in our apartment. We would bathe in it, wash clothes in it. Dad would fill it up with ice to cool drinks. Mom would make her own bread - I really enjoyed helping her make noodles. I would roll the dough on the ironing board. No matter how well I thought I did it - Mom would put her hand into it to "finish it off". She made delicious chicken noodle soup.

Just before Billy was born, I remember Mom and Dad talking about moving. Dad worked in Homestead Valve Works. This was about a 1/2-hour ride to work by streetcar. Dad never worked more than 8 hours a day with Saturday and Sundays off. He wanted to be near his place of work, even though Mom wanted to stay because he parents lived nearby. When the decision was made to buy a house there were quite a few things to think about. Dad wanted to be close to work - the time spent traveling on streetcars wasted his time. Of course, Mom wanted a good school for the children to go to - she wanted a Catholic school. Dad felt that the Catholic schools spent too much time teaching religion instead of the essentials of learning. If we stayed in Braddock we would go to St. Brendan's in Braddock. Dad said he would search around after work for a place in Homestead where he worked. When he found a place, Dad found that he didn't have enough money for the down payment. In those days, you didn't go into buying a house with $5.00 down and the rest when you catch me. You had to make some kind of commitment to pay off the house in 5 or 6 years with at least 50% down. He then borrowed $1,250 from his Mother and put $500 of his own. I'm pretty sure the home cost $2,650, which was a sizable amount in those days! The house was located at 916 Sarah St. in West Homestead. This house had 2 bedrooms and a nursery on the second floor and on the first floor a living, dining room and kitchen, and a nice narrow staircase. The bad thing about the house that it sat on a hillside - there were some 27 steps up to the front porch and another 5 steps onto the porch to get to the front door. WE MOVED!

CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE…

Page 1