Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2019 i Reminisce Extra

Several months ago, I came across a submission by Linda Jenista Smith that immediately captured my imagination. She told a remarkable tale about how an article her father, Eugene, wrote for Reminisce about his World War II service unlocked the mystery of another man’s military experience—and brought a son, Charles Micheals, closer to the father he missed and longed to know more about. Linda and Charles are so grateful for their newfound connection that we wanted to offer the same chance to others. Their story inspired us to bring back a beloved Reminisce feature that has been dormant for a few years: military Roll Call. You’ll find Linda’s article, along with the hopeful pleas of others who’d like to find service members, in “Roll Call Reunions,” beginning on page 30.…

GOTTA DANCE! Each year of the 1950s offered movie musicals filled with catchy songs and spectacular dancing—with 1954 being especially tuneful. Tap your memory of the melodic delights that graced screens that year. 1 Vincente Minnelli directed this story of two Americans who find a mystical Scottish town. 2 This star revolutionized the movie musical in the 1950s with innovative choreography and complex dance sequences. 3 Judy Garland starred in this remake of a 1937 drama about an actress who becomes more famous than her mentor. 4 Michael Kidd put dancers through their paces in this musical set in the wilds of Oregon. 5 This seasonal favorite has Bing Crosby singing the top-selling holiday song of all time. 6 Can you name the redheaded comedian who was Bing’s co-star in…

FOR THE NEATNIK Make doing laundry an indulgent event with lavender-scented soap infused with Fels-Naptha. One jar does about 75 loads. $12 brightonwoolandhoney.com FOR THE GARDENER Cut flowers last only so long. Costa Farms’ indoor plants clean the air and thrive with little care. We love the leafy ZZ plant and midcentury-style planter. $15 and up. amazon.com FOR THE SELFIE SET Chronicle your visit with this Kodak Smile Instant Print Digital Camera, which prints with Zink—zero ink—technology onto sticky-backed, 2-by-3-inch paper. A micro SD card preserves your memories. $100 amazon.com FOR THE COOK Taste of Home Holiday & Celebrations 2019 is packed with family classics for entertaining, from Aunt Grace’s Eggnog to Tuxedo Strawberries. $20, with free 30-day preview. tasteofhomebooks.com/ HDAY9…

IN JANUARY 2002, CHARLES Micheals read an article in Reminisce magazine about a World War II artillery mechanic who rigged up a makeshift hot shower for all 130 men in his unit. He was amazed to see that the story involved the 553rd Antiaircraft Battalion—the same unit that his late father, Franklin Charles Micheals, had served in. Until then, Charles had never heard of anyone else who’d served in the 553rd. The writer of that article was my father, Eugene Jenista, of Racine, Wisconsin. The discovery of my dad’s story was a special moment for Charles, who had searched in vain for years for details about the 553rd and his father’s time in the service. Franklin’s record was among the millions of Army documents lost in the 1973 fire at…

Gordon-Van Tine, in Davenport, IA, sold lumber and pre-cut houses until 1947. Aladdin, one of several Bay City, MI, manufacturers, streamlined the ordering process and, in 1906, became the first to offer pre-cut lumber. It sold houses until 1981. Sears was late to the game, but name recognition helped the division grow quickly. Selling mortgages was a gamble that led to many foreclosures in the Depression. The company sold its last houses in 1940. Montgomery Ward & Co. traded on its catalog name to compete with Sears. Its mail-order home unit lasted only 21 years, but models came with a twist: Builders could alter the plans. Lewis Manufacturing, another Bay City, MI, lumber company, shipped cost-effective Liberty Homes kits until 1973, when the company went bankrupt.…

TELL US HOW TO FIND YOU Whether you send your submission via mail or email or post it online, include your full name, daytime phone number, email address and mailing address. If you have a post office box, tell us your street address too. HELP US SORT THINGS OUT Include the name of the department your submission is for (Motoring Memories, Growing Up, etc.) on the first page of your submission or in the email subject line. For any photos you submit, please identify the people, city, state and year the photo was taken. We reserve the right to use submissions in any section of our magazine, or elsewhere. We do not return unsolicited materials. Send quality photo reprints or email high-resolution JPEG files (300 dpi at 8x10) so you…

ANIMALS ON SCREEN Pets are often the stars of the family—and animals have been big stars on TV and in movies. From Lassie to Flipper to Harry Potter’s Hedwig, animals bring soul and dimension to stories. Who was your favorite and why? Label your story and pictures “Screen Animals.” HALL OF STORIES Do you remember getting your own library card? For many kids, it was a pass to independence and discovery at the biggest building in town. We’d love to hear about your favorite library when you were growing up and your adventures there. Label your story and pictures “Libraries.” THE GREAT OUTDOORS What are your memories of cool-weather hobbies? Did you hunt every fall, hike along trails crispy with fallen leaves, or ski? Tell us how much these activities…

LOTTIE GRAVES was our neighbor and my mother’s good friend. She was also our Tupperware lady. The ladies enjoyed Tupperware parties because they could get dressed up and giggle a lot. We teen girls were allowed to attend as long as we stayed in the background. There was always a clever door prize. And the party ended with another woman volunteering to host the next one. My mother bought Tupperware pieces one by one at these parties. My favorite was the ice-pop maker. I had the freedom to make new batches whenever I wanted because I was an only child and both of my parents worked. I’d pour Kool-Aid or fruit juice into the molds, freeze, then enjoy the cold, delicious goodie off the plastic stick. Grape was my favorite.…

During freshman year at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, my roommate, Eddie, wanted to introduce me to a girl. She went to his church in Houston, and he and I went once or twice that year, but she was never at church the same time we were. The next year, Eddie and I were still roommates, and he gave me the same spiel about this “dream girl,” who was now also attending Baylor. In mid-October 1952, Baylor held a pep rally for the homecoming game against rival Texas A&M. Eddie rode with me to the rally in my new green 1948 Buick convertible, a car that had really upgraded my social activity. A few minutes after we got there, Eddie rushed up to tell me “that girl” was at the…

My dad, Mike Thomson, enlisted in the Army when he was 17, training with the 82nd and 101st Airborne and serving two years in Vietnam. He became a sergeant and fought in many battles. He told us about getting shot in April 1968, and being wounded by a grenade that June. But each year around Memorial Day, Dad became withdrawn and suffered from nightmares, and wouldn’t say why. He told me once that it had to do with a man named Miller, who served with him in the war, but he didn’t go into detail. It wasn’t until 50 years after Vietnam that Dad was ready to talk about Miller and the incident that haunted him. But my mom and I weren’t the first people he told. Dad searched for…

STEP 1: CHOOSE Catalogs sold blueprints, supplies and even financing for an array of models in a range of prices. STEP 2: ORDER Kits arrived via rail with a manual explaining the placement of each of the tens of thousands of pieces of hardware, lumber and shingles. STEP 3: BUILD Customers supplied the lot, foundation, plumbing, heating, electricity and labor, sometimes hiring professionals. These essentials roughly doubled the price of the original kit.…

TV DINNERS hadn’t been on the market long when I got my first taste of the forbidden fare in the early 1960s. My mother wouldn’t let us have them at home. But when my brother Bill and I went to visit my grandparents in Abilene, Texas, we saw our chance. Bill and I loved Mexican food, so he asked our Grandmother McCormick to buy us enchilada TV dinners as a treat. The next morning, I found Bill in the kitchen eating one. And to my delight, there was one for me, too, along with a Dr Pepper and a chocolate-covered ice cream bar. What a wonderful breakfast! She thought she was spoiling her youngest grandchildren, but I also suspect she was secretly proud of her rebellion against the typical healthy…

Years before the world got serious about recycling, my mother considered it a mortal sin to throw away anything that might one day prove useful. The attic of our Victorian house was jammed with three generations’ worth of family discards. I loved admiring myself in Cousin Hazel’s silvery green 1920s evening gown and Grandma Heck’s 1910 horsehair buggy cape. Even after she moved into a smaller house, my mother clung to her saving ways. When she learned a government agency was paying several hundred dollars a pop for ashtrays, she was indignant. “WHY WOULD YOU SAVE ALL THOSE ASHTRAYS? YOU NEVER SMOKED.” “There are dozens of ashtrays in the basement that candidates for something or other gave away at the county fair,” she said. “I’d be happy to donate them…

Born: Elwin Charles Roe, Feb. 16, 1916, Ash Flat, AR. Died: Nov. 9, 2008, West Plains, MO. Nickname: One story was that his family called him that because he looked up to a local preacher. Teammates said he liked to talk. The Dodgers were the first team to integrate in 1947 and Roe, along with Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and the rest, were known as the Boys of Summer for the next buoyant decade. Roe played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1938), Pittsburgh Pirates (1944-47) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1948-54). A five-time All-Star, his best season was 1951, when he went 22-3 with a 3.04 ERA. In the off season, he taught math and coached boys and girls basketball at Hardy High School in Arkansas. “Live every day like it’s your…

My dad, Duard Walker, was attending Milligan College in eastern Tennessee shortly after the U.S. entered World War II. The entire campus became part of the Navy V-12 program, and Dad joined the Navy and shipped off to the Pacific, serving on the USS Newberry. Duard saw action at Iwo Jima and Okinawa before returning to Tennessee after the war. Back in school at Milligan he met Carolyn “Blondie” Roberts. Named homecoming king and queen, Duard and Carolyn were an obvious match: They were both very athletic and loved participating in all sports. Duard lettered in five collegiate sports; Carolyn played basketball and tennis, and was an avid bowler. After graduating, both Duard and Carolyn coached high school sports, and then in 1951, Duard became the athletic director at Milligan.…

Henry Samson survived both the voyage to British America and the first winter. In fact, 45 of the 102 passengers did not survive. Yet the website American Ancestors states that 30 million around the world can claim Mayflower ancestors! An interesting timeline is here at historyofmassachusetts.org. In 2020 we commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing. Lineage societies anticipate an increase in those hoping to join; visitors will come to Plimoth Plantation; and genealogy sites will be busy as descendants trace family histories back to those Pilgrim souls who survived. Some sites to explore include: • americanancestors.org • themayflowersociety.org • plimoth.org • mayflower400uk.org Perhaps Thanksgiving will be even more special should you discover a Mayflower ancestor. PEGGY CLEMENS LAURITZEN, an accredited genealogist, writes and lectures about family history. Visit…

VERSATILE MARKETING This ad shows the secret of Knox’s success, as conceived by the founder’s wife, Rose. After taking over the company, Rose Knox created a test kitchen and published new recipes on gelatin packages to show how adaptable the product was—making Knox a kitchen staple. CORNY KIDS General Foods was marketing its frozen line to busy moms early in the 1950s, as more women were working full time. This ad features commercial artist Jack Welch’s Birds Eye Kids, which were popular throughout the decade. SAVORY GELLED S ALADS In the Depression, home cooks used aspics to preserve foods and make their ingredients go further. Aspics were popular in French cooking—seen as the height of fashionable cuisine in the ’50s—and seemed tailor-made for buffet-style service. GREEN…