Authors A-D - Aging Services

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Title: The Early Years
Name: Anonymous
I was born in Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on September
2, 1937. The hospital is still there but I think the original building is gone. I
was the first of four children with two sisters and one brother yet to come.
We lived in the southwest quadrant of the city for a time when I was
young. It was known as the Shakespeare house after the landlord, I think.
Occasionally Dad would rent a Cushman scooter and give us rides
around the neighborhood. We had a neat alley that ran behind the
house. My friends and I would make regular sweeps of the ally and its
garbage cans looking for treasures. I remember the many hollyhock
flowers in the alley behind the house next to us.
I remember walking down the alley taking lard to the local A&P on
3rd Avenue to support the war effort. I remember the war ration stamps. I
remember the air raid drills with the large sirens screaming away. Kind of
makes you wonder who would want to bomb Iowa. We would sit in the
house with the shades drawn and the lights out. I remember the Kate
Smith radio show. I remember listening to the radio with news of the
German’s march through Europe. Those were scary days for a kid. Not
knowing when Hitler would be knocking on the front door.
One particular thing I liked to do as a kid was to go on bus rides. I
would take two nickels, walk up to across the street from the Police station
and catch the city bus for downtown. There I would transfer to any of the
eight or so bus routes about the city. I would sit in the rear of the bus, at a
window and just watch the sites. I ran the buses for several years. I would
remember telling my mother, “I’m going on a bus ride.” I still remember
some of the routes: Ellis Park, Bever Park, Mound Farm, Vernon Heights,
and so on.
One of the great places we used to visit occasionally was the
Maidrite burger stand on 1st Avenue across from St. Patrick’s Church and
just down from Floyd’s store. They sold the best hamburgers that were
made with loose hamburger meat. There is a Maidrite store in Marion that
we visited on the Iowa road trip. It was like taking a trip 50 years back.
Without air conditioning and with consideration of the hot and
humid summers of the midlands, we did partake in some swimming, really
wading, at the small wading pool on City Island between the Memorial
Coliseum and the Court House. It was only 4-5 blocks from home and was
a way to stay cool. When we were a little older, we would go to Ellis Park
to swim and get wet. When I later moved to 1st Avenue we would go to
Marion pool in Thomas Park.
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We would also go to Bever Park and enjoy the shade and the
animal park. They had a dozen or so cages with animals in each. They
had only a wading pool in those days. We would also go and sit and
stand on the “big rock” in Bever Park. I do not know its history, but playing
on it was a big treat for a kid. It was maybe 10 feet or so in diameter. It
was also interesting to visit Ellis Park and tour the houseboats moored on
the Cedar River. During the summer, they would cruise the river as a way
to stay cool.
I recall going to several of the July 4th fireworks with the family. It
was held at the city dump. This was great scenery. Back in those days
before fireworks got popular, that was the only place I remember where
they were held in our area.
My grandfather had bought a large plot of land across the street
from Cedar Memorial Cemetery and had it divided into four parcels. He
and grandma would build nearest 1st Avenue and the remaining three lots
were given to the daughters, one being my mother. Mom and Dad
decided to build. It took a while for the house to be completed, and when
it was there were several major exceptions. The walls were still dry wall,
actually 2 feet by 4 feet lathe panels. We also did not have a bathroom or
sewer hookup. Not even a septic tank at that time. We had an actual
outhouse in the backyard build with contractor’s forms. We used a shower
in the basement complete with a sump pump that always screwed up.
Needless to say we did not entertain many visitors in those early days of
homeownership.
Another fine feature of the house was that the furnace was an old
coal furnace. You did not have heat in the morning until someone went
down to the cold basement and shoveled several scoops of coal into the
furnace. Even then the heat was not instant. I used to get dressed in front
of the living room register to keep a little warm. We had to carry the coal
from the end of the driveway and feed it down the basement window to a
stall in the basement.
We also did not have a refrigerator in those days. We had an
icebox. Two or three times a week we would put up the ice card on the
mailbox with the top of the card telling the iceman how much ice we
needed. It was usually 75 pounds.
Every once in a while, we would go to Marion and visit Mike’s Drug
Store on the main drag. Mike made something called a lollypop that was
two scoops of great, creamy, real vanilla ice cream on a stick and dipped
in thick dark chocolate. They were a dime each, so pretty expensive and
good. A real treat every once in a while. We also splurged occasionally
by getting a gallon of A & W root beer from the stand on 1st Avenue and
40th Street.
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One neat thing about Cedar Rapids in the fifties was that two of the
main streets, 2nd and 3rd Avenue were crowned with hundreds of elm trees.
They were so thick you could not see the sky in some places. Sometime
in the sixties, Dutch elm disease hit the trees and the canopy was gone. It
looked like a different city although an effort has been made to replace
them with a different type.
Down the road from us was the Cemar, a mix of Cedar Rapids and
Marion, Amusement Park that was open during the spring, summer and
fall. It featured many rides and lots of junk food. My cousins and I would
go there several times a year.
My friends Wayne and Bill both worked at the Me Too Supermarket
downtown and recommended me when a vacancy came up in the
produce department. I got the job and held it for several years until I
graduated from Franklin. My initial jobs at the Me Too were to stock the
produce shelves, stock the frozen cases and pack potatoes into 10 pound
bags. It was a great job for a kid. Occasionally, if things got too busy at
the front registers, I had to bag and carry groceries to cars. I eventually
got to wait on customers in the produce section also. I liked that. I
remember I ended up making 50 cents an hour. It doesn’t seem like
much today but it got me to my first year of college at Iowa State.
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Title: Saturday for a Farm Girl in the 50s
Name: Elaine Boes
It was Saturday on the farm and time to get the eggs ready to sell at
the grocery store. My younger sister and I were to clean the eggs and
make sure none were broken. We would hold them up to the light to
make sure there were no cracks. Then we would line them up in a large
egg crate in layers. My, they looked nice when we had the case full!
We had to be ready early because we headed to “Catechism”
which started at 9:00 am. This was religious education at St. Wenceslaus
School, which was often taught by the nuns. After our class, we could not
wait to get down 16th Avenue Southwest to get our nickel ice cream cone
at the soda shop. But first we went with Mother to the Me Too grocery
store to sell the eggs and get groceries for the week. Then the ice cream
cone was the treat that was savored. Once in a while we could even get
a double dipper with two scoops of delicious vanilla ice cream! Some of
the other children were getting sodas or floats but we stuck to our favorite
cones. Soon it was time to get back to the farm and complete our
Saturday jobs.
Saturday jobs consisted of helping clean the house, waxing the
floors with paste wax and polishing them with the Kirby polisher. We also
polished everyone’s shoes so they would be clean and shiny for church
on Sunday morning. There were eight in our family, so we had plenty of
shoes to shine! Often we would help Mom make a batch of kolaches. We
would roll and fill them. Dad also hoped there would be a prune kolache
“throw out” for him to sample. There was nothing that smelled better than
Mom’s fragrant kolaches just out of the oven. With the cleaning, polishing,
and baking done, we were ready for a day of church and relaxation on
Sunday. It was a well deserved rest, as lots of hard work had been
accomplished on the farm during the week!
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Title: Life Has Been Fun
Name: Edna Caldwell Cashett
Looking at today’s children, I think I might have had more fun than
them. Growing up on a farm near Troy Mills in the 20’s and 30’s, my five
siblings and I entertained ourselves by inventing games using things
around the house. Long before any of us heard of a bungee jump, we
were tripping over forks and falling into the hay. If we weren’t doing that
we enjoyed watching our playful goats as they filed across our hay
loader.
One summer my brother made a bicycle out of discarded parts that
he found behind the Independence sale barn. According to my parents
he was suppose to share the bike but because he had thought it up and
built it he had different ideas. None of us kids could get him off the bike so
one day when he was smugly riding by us I stuck a broom handle into the
spokes of his front wheel. Needless to say he went flying. Unfortunately
that put the bicycle out of commission and none of us were able to ride.
When summer ended we walked two and a half miles to school.
Childhood obesity was as foreign as a hay fork might be to a child today.
Fearful parents who might be worried about abductions were unheard of
and a ride to school had not entered anyone’s head, least of all ours.
One of my best memories of school was when we were dismissed for
lunch. We walked either to my Grandma Jenny Curtis’s house or my Aunt
Nina Carson’s. Warm food rather than a cold lunch was welcoming to
kids who had gotten up early to help with chores and who had made the
long trip to school.
I loved softball and was good at it. I was not as good at math but a
handsome boy with wavy brown hair helped me each day. Later in life,
while visiting my uncle in the hospital, I met up with the boy who had
gotten me through my math lessons. His name was Doctor Paul Orcutt.
We had both come a long way in life but fondly remembered our humble
beginnings.
As we grew older, we began to go to barn and house dances.
When a dance was held in someone’s house the people moved their
furniture and a family called The Stattons struck up the band. If the dance
was in the barn there were usually steps leading into the hay mow. We
girls always had to watch for mischievous boys who waited under the
steps hoping to see up our skirts.
When I was in my late teens my family moved to Traer. My brother,
who could not give up playing baseball on the Troy Mills team, stayed
behind. Missing us, he hauled out the old bicycle. He fashioned a bench
for it, put a Maytag washing machine motor on it and had himself a motor
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bike. It usually took all day to get to Traer but what a welcome he always
got.
Can you imagine a contraption like my brothers on the highway
today? I do not know how much fuel it took but I do know that gas was
selling for eleven cents a gallon. Compare that to today’s fuel prices!
Yes, things have changed a lot in the past eighty-seven years but I am
happy to say that no matter what, I had a lot of fun in my life.
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Title: Starting Out
Name: Lavern and Norma Chapman
Lavern and Norma Chapman began their married life in 1955.
Lavern describes himself as a twenty-one year old farm boy who was just
starting out in life. Norma had worked at Iowa Manufacturing since high
school graduation, but gave the job up to join her new groom. Their first
home was a duplex on the land that is now Hunter’s Ridge Golf Course.
Lavern got a job working on a Witwer farm. As a new employee of
a large number of farms ran by Weaver Witwer, Lavern was promised milk,
eggs and two liver roosters per week. Being able to deduct these items
from their grocery budget was a boost so they hated to admit that two
kids raised on farms did not know how to butcher a chicken. The first two
roosters must have felt like turkeys getting the presidential reprieve on
Thanksgiving Day when they were taken to the basement because the
young couple couldn’t decide what else to do with them. Warm and
pampered they were happy to do the job of crowing loudly so the
newlyweds were up bright and early.
After another week passed by, two more live roosters were
obtained and they also headed down the steps. Acquittal from the frying
pan was starting to feel normal.
By week three six roosters were trying to outdo each other by doing
what roosters do best. That was it. Lavern and Norma had to pool their
knowledge and give it their best. Norma admits that the final product of
cut up chicken did not look anything like her mothers.
Luckily turkeys were not on the weekly benefit list, but Lavern did
have to help catch them and take them to a slaughter house and then on
to Witwer groceries. He also picked sweet corn for all the area stores.
Even though Lavern’s duties on his assigned farm were the production of
hogs, feeder cattle, hay and corn, it was not uncommon for him to be
asked to work on other Witwer owned farms.
No matter which farm he was at, Lavern and the other Witwer
employees were subject to surprise visit from their boss, Weaver Witwer
and his foreman, Harry Simonson. Lavern describes Mr. Witwer as a man
who always wore khaki colored trousers with large hip pockets and
insisted on a neat operation. If feed was scattered on the floor the
employees were reprimanded later by Mr. Simonson. Although the rules
were strict, Lavern’s knowledge and experience that he acquired was a
good training for future work.
Lavern and Norma stayed on the Witwer farm for two years before
moving on to other jobs. Married more than fifty years, they raised their
family in Linn County and now reside in Waubeek.
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Title: The Old Buildings
Name: Dorothy Chester
I remember going to the old Taylor School which was next to the
new one. There was a large house on the center of 7th Avenue and 6th
Street Southwest that belonged to the Reed Family. I believe it was called
Reed’s Park after the house was torn down and a new school was built.
There was a wooden bridge that crossed the Cedar on 4th Avenue
Southwest. It went in front of the city jail and behind the court house and
then continued on across the river behind Smulekoff’s store. Smulekoff’s
was not always in its’ present location. At one time it was located on the
west side of the river which is now part of Wells Fargo Bank. The bridge at
one time was for the Crandie Interurban Line that ran from Cedar Rapids
and Iowa City. I remember riding from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City to the
University Hospital. On the corner of 4th Avenue and 2nd Street was the
Grey Hound Bus Station and where you caught the Interurban. There is
now a parking ramp that was a part of Killian’s Department Store. I
remember going to the Union Train Depot to meet someone coming to
visit and I rode the train myself from Omaha. It was an awesome place.
I attended Roosevelt High School. We used to go ice skating and
sledding behind the school on the large hill. People still go there for
sledding.
They used to have this big parade downtown the day after
Thanksgiving. There were free movies at the Paramount Theater for the
kids. This officially started the Christmas season and everyone started
Christmas shopping. The stores played holiday music and Armstrong’s
and Killian’s had their windows all decorated.
Years later when I was married, we shopped downtown at the Me
Too store. It was in the Witwer Building which was used for Seniors and
their programs until the flood. Then we would have dinner at the
American Legion Hall which was on 3rd Avenue down about three stores
from the Guaranty Bank.
They have lost so much of our history and not just from the flood.
We are losing so many old homes and churches to build a medical mall.
They certainly did not learn anything from tearing down the Union Train
Depot!
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Title: My Recollections of Growing Up
Name: Helenka Claypool
I was born December 27, 1928 at Mercy Hospital and my family
lived at 1330 1st Avenue Northwest. I believe at the time it was on the
Lincoln Highway. The old Cleveland School I attended from kindergarten
through sixth grade was formerly the Chandler mansion. It occupied the
entire 1500 block of 1st Avenue through A Avenue Northwest.
We had aunts, uncles, and cousins living in the Czech Village area
and we visited them frequently. My grandfather, John Kubolck, had a dry
goods store in the early 1930s in the building which is now the temporary
home of the Czech and Slovak museum.
The United State Bank was nearby at the corner of 16th Avenue and
C Street. Above the bank were offices among which were Dr. Hruska, a
dentist and I think the Slovia Realty Company. Across the Street was the
Palekna Meat Market and in later years the Maytag appliance store
owned and run by my uncle, Charles Bortunek and his son Rick. Sykora’s
Bakery was a few doors away and nearer the river, as I recall, a
Studebaker dealer, named Schomberger Motors.
Downtown Cedar Rapids included the department stores Killian’s,
Armstrong’s, Craemer’s and Newman’s plus the “dime” stores Kresge’s,
Wollworth’s and Neisener’s. Jewelry stores included Boysen’s, Siebke’s
and Ginsberg’s. Jack Yager had an upstairs clothing store on the
northeast corner of 2nd Avenue and 3rd Street East. He did a lot of his own
advertising on the radio station WMT. May’s drug store and Sandford’s
book and camera store were also downtown. Smaller shops such as
Three Sisters women’s clothing and Ford’s shoe store were around too.
Luberger’s Furniture was on 3rd Avenue Southeast between 2nd and 3rd
streets and Smulekoff’s Furniture was across the river on 3rd Avenue
between 1st and 2nd Street. On 1st Street East across from the new post
office was a little tavern called Fox, where Nat “King” Cole played
frequently. Lawrence Welk and other “big bands” played at Danceland
ballroom in town.
My father, Vincent Bartunek, emigrated from Bohemia in 1914,
learned English and became a pharmacist. He had his own drug store in
the early 1930s on 3rd Avenue Southeast behind the First Presbyterian
Church. The Paris Beauty Academy was above his store, the Gazette
Building was across the street and Rude’s Ford Dealership was next to the
Gazette. Other automobile dealers were in this area as well.
Later, during and after World War II, my father had a drug store in
the CSPS building at 1105 3rd Street Southeast. Service Press was at 1101,
the entrance to the CSPS hall with its upstairs dance floor, stage, bar and
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meeting room, was at 1103. There was Brosh Funeral Chapel at 1107, then
a fire station. The Salvation Army was near 12th Avenue.
At the corner of 3rd Street and 11th Avenue was Matyk’s dry goods
store run by Bill Matyk who lived upstairs. I believe this building is over 100
years old. On the east side of 3rd Street in the 100 block was a second
hand store named the While Elephant store. I believe this is now a
recreation center for young people. The Denver-Chicago Trucking
Company occupied the south half of the 100 block. The Cherry-Burrell
building was east of the trucking company and Iowa Steel and Iron Works
was on 12th Avenue by the railroad tracks.
There were many activities in the Sokol building on 3rd Street
between 4th and 5th Avenue Southeast. Gymnastics classes were held for
all ages. Also there were open gym nights, social events and the like. This
may have been the only fitness center in town.
The ZCBJ organization had a small park outside of the town, possibly
on C Street southwest where they had picnics and other gatherings. Sokol
had a camp by the Cedar River near Center Point where many families
would go on Sunday afternoons to swim and picnic. There was a very
good beach, dressing rooms, a main dining hall and cabins with even
some dormitory style for regular scheduled weeklong camping sessions
for children and youth. Also during the summer, Czech school for children
was held in Hayes Elementary School building on D Street SW.
During World War II my father was on an organization called the
Czech Guard. This was a military-type unit charged with civil defense
duties. I have a photo of them in their army-style uniforms. During the
war, everyone collected aluminum for the war effort. We collected pots,
pans and the like which we took to bin at the fire station. We had “ration
books’ with limited coupons we could use for meat, butter, canned foods,
sugar, gasoline and auto tires. People could trade the coupons away.
Shoes were also rationed.
My mother, Blanche Kubalek Bartunek, took a “war-job” at Collins
Radio during the war years. She worked in a building on 2nd Avenue
Southeast at about 7th Street. Many women went to work during the war.
They were needed and the pay was good.
There were two grocery stores in our neighborhood of the momand-pop types. The stores were Dulin’s Highland grocery and Palumbo’s
grocery in the blocks bordered by 13 and 15th streets and A Avenue and
Hinckley Drive Northwest. These stores bit the dust when supermarkets
came to town. Among the first of these was the A & P, also known as the
Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, on 3rd Avenue near 5th Street.
In my father’s drugstore in the CSPS building there was a mark
labeled “1928 flood” on the wall of the basement. This mark was almost
up to the first floor.
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In the early 1930’s there were streetcars for public transportation.
The line in front of our house at 1330 1st Avenue Northwest ran only to 15th
Street and the fare was 10 cents. City busses took over in about 1937.
They ran longer routes, would pick up passengers at the curb instead of in
the middle of the street and the fare was only 5 cents.
When my brother, Vince Jr., and I were about 9 we would go to a
movie at the Paramount or Iowa Theatre by ourselves every Sunday. We
spent 5 cents on the bus, 10 cents for the movie, 5 cents from the candy
machine and 5 cents for the bus ride home. In total we spent 25 cents
and had a great time. The movies were double-feature in those days. All
three downtown major theatres participated in “Bank Night” on Tuesdays.
Patrons could sign a ticket if they attended the matinee or be there in
person for the drawing at night and have a chance to win cash prizes.
Occasionally my brother and I would go to the Rialto, a small
theatre on 2nd Avenue between 3rd and 4th Street East. On Saturday
mornings the movies were called “Cowboy movies” featuring Hopalong
Cassidy, Gene Autry or the Lone Ranger to name a few. As judged by the
noise level, every kid in town must have been there.
My favorite was any Shirley Temple movie or Andy Hardy movies
starring Mickey Rooney and very often Judy Garland. A very special
occasion for a movie patron of all ages was any time there was a film by
Frank Buck or by Martin and Osa Johnson, all of whom filmed the wild
animals of Africa. The Paramount Theatre lobby would be packed with
people waiting to see the film.
When our family was shopping downtown, lunch at Woolworth’s or
Kresge’s was a treat, especially the hot fudge sundaes. I believe they
were 15 cents. At Kresge’s they sold popular sheet music and a saleslady
would play the songs on an old upright piano so the customers could hear
what the music sounded like.
The Butterfly Café, run by the Varvaris family, was a very popular
eating spot for many years. It was located next to the Guaranty Bank
building on 3rd Avenue East. In the same vicinity was the Flame Room, an
elegant restaurant one went to on a special occasion. Mrs. Wurster had a
tea room in a big old house, in the B Avenue to 17th Street area, for parties
and gatherings. There was a popular seafood restaurant called the Hot
Fish Shop on Ellis Boulevard and about G Avenue Northwest. People did
not eat out much during the Depression years, so any restaurant that did a
good business had to be good.
We sometimes rode the Crandie railroad to Iowa City. It was also
known as the vomit comet for its ability to shake up and down and
sideways at the same time. Nevertheless, it provided convenient
transportation to Iowa City and many stops in between. It was cheap
transportation for many University students who lived in or near Cedar
Rapids and commuted to their classes.
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The arts were alive and well in the “Corridor”. The University
attracted many famous artists on concert tours as did Coe College and
Cornell College. I remember hearing Isaac Stern, Roland Hayes, The
Minneapolis Symphony and others at either the Coe Chapel or the
Paramount Theater. Cedar Rapids had, and still has, an outstanding
symphony orchestra, under the baton of Professor Joseph Kitchen in
earlier years.
At the time, concerts were also held at the Veterans Memorial
Coliseum. It was thrilling to hear the municipal organ, especial on the
Star-Spangled Banner. In these days not only every ball game but every
concert began with the playing of the national anthem and everyone in
the audience always sang it.
I remember the old Union Station on 4th Street downtown. I thought
it was one of the ugliest buildings in the state of Iowa. When the
“streamliner” trains came along it was quite an event. President Roosevelt
came through Cedar Rapids on a train once and people gathered along
the railroad right-of-way to catch a glimpse of him waving to the crowd.
Ellis Park was quite an attraction with its Duck Pond, baseball
diamond, bandstand, Shakespeare garden, new swimming and wading
pools and lots of room for picnics. As kids, we sometimes would hike to
Ellis Park, then on to Robbins Lake and several miles farther to a cliff we
called High Rock. This rock gave us a great view of the Cedar River as it
came from a slightly westerly direction and crossed southeast.
Hill Park, adjacent to Roosevelt High School on the north, was the
home of the minor league baseball team. We had various ties to the
minor leagues over the years. It was also the site of RHS football games.
WMT was the major local radio station, with studios in the Paramount
building. Announcers Howdy Roberts and Bob Leefers and newsman
Douglas Grant were familiar voices. Tom Owens’ Cowboys, an old style
country-western band, was heard regularly on WMT. WHO in Des Moines
provided us with play-by-play coverage of the University of Iowa football
games, with “Dutch” Reagan on the microphone.
There is more in my memory bank but the above is probably more
than what you asked for. I had great fun writing this down. Thank you for
giving me a reason to do this.
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Title: Downtown Memories
Name: Joi Rainbolt Cowell
Some of my favorite memories include downtown Cedar Rapids at
Christmas. The stores would open at night and different stores piped
music for the shoppers to listen to. Killians had a sled with Santa and all
the reindeer on display. This took place after the Christmas parade down
First Avenue.
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Title: Remembering Old Places
Name: Pat Cumberlin
I remember being dropped off at the downtown movie theaters for free
movies with my brothers & sister so my parents could go Christmas
shopping. Of course that was done downtown because there weren't any
malls back then. I remember taking my first escalator ride at the JC
Penney store in the late 50's, I believe.
My parents & siblings and I lived in the Time Check area back then & I
remember walking to Harrison School from 3rd street & M Ave, passing
Igram's grocery store along the way.
Every summer, all of us kids would walk to the Ellis pool by
ourselves. We would stop at Dlask's on Ellis Blvd for a Slo Poke sucker,
Mallo cups, or a Chick-o-stick. We would also walk downtown via the
railroad bridge that ended near the Quaker Oats plant. Speaking of the
Quaker Oats plant, every Christmas, we kids would watch for the annual
Christmas tree that would be put up in the roof. We could see it from our
bedroom window across the river in Time Check neighborhood. My
childhood home is no longer there because it was flooded during the
Flood of 2008 & has since been demolished. You know, the older I get, the
more I appreciate what I had as a child.
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