Last summer was a season I knew we had to revel in because it was a summer that would be hard to beat. As a family, we spent seven weeks in California and all over Utah. Amidst trips to the cabin, playing in waves, "cliff" jumping, swimming in St. George, backyard BBQs, and late nights with family and friends, little blogging was accomplished. Now that the kids are back in school and the late nights are over, I have a bit of catching up to do.
In June, my sister-in-law, Carolyn, shared one of her great ideas with me. She had structured her summer around American Girl themes. Each week she focused her family activities on a time period from American History. Cute Gaby was privy to such activities as "Hustle" dance lessons from the seventies, taught by her own parents, and an outing to This is the Place Monument for a covered wagon ride, straight out of the Pioneer Era. I figured I would slip a little more meaning into our activities while in Utah and borrowed her brilliant idea, with some tweaking, out of respect for Jonathan and his masculinity.
One of our first days in Salt Lake was dedicated to the Depression Era. The girls had just seen the Kit Kittredge American Girl movie about life in the 1930's, so the topic was fresh on their minds. Our agenda was as follows:
Morning: We perused the non-fiction book, Welcome to Kit's World. It introduced politics, lifestyles and events from throughout the Depression. Since Kit is a journalist, the kids came up with questions based on what we read in the book. They saved them to use during an interview with their 95 year old great-grandmother who remembers the Depression well.
Lunch: I gave the kids five dollars and took them to Smith's Grocery Store. Their task was to buy lunch for our entire family. It was so much fun watching them negotiate with each other whether or not they would spend their money on flavoring for the water or dessert and if they should splurge on lemon sugar cookies or stick with the less expensive wafers. They discovered that Kruger brand was the least expensive and by the end of their shopping experience, that is what they scanned the shelves for.
Afternoon: We took our bargains up Millcreek Canyon so that we could appreciate the picnic areas that were built by the CCC, an agency that provided jobs to young men through FDR's New Deal.
Evening: Later, we returned home to make a Depression Era dinner for Grandma Rose. We invited Grandpa David and Grandma Gretta to join us as well and sat in their backyard enjoying ambrosia salad, Cincinnati chili, glazed carrots, sour cream biscuits and banana fritters, all recipes from the 1930's. Grandma pointed out that she cleaned her entire plate, something she learned to do during these hard times in her youth.
Night: Emilie, Jonathan and Annelise sat around their Great-Grandmother Rose and were so proud to ask her the questions that they had created. They were equally interested in her answers. We were astounded to find that her experience was so similar to the unfamiliar lifestyle that we had been learning about through studying the Kit book and seeing the movie.
Here is life in the '30's in her words:
Did you have to wear chicken feed dresses? "Oh my yes! One dress even had the brand of the feed printed right across my bottom in big black letters!"
Did you see hobos? "The hobos visited our house often. They knew mother would feed them so they would go in the back and start chopping wood. Soon mother would come out with a plate of food for them."
Did you know any boys in the CCC? "Of course. My friend Milly had a boy she was courting who left to work in another state, building something I think."
This dinner was one of the most memorable nights of the summer. I know that I will never forget sitting in my parents' back yard with my children interviewing Grandma Rose about Herbert Hoover, the New Deal and Black Tuesday over banana fritters that they helped make.
Late Night: We ended the day by watching the Wizard of Oz, which was created during the Depression. Half of the population of America went to the movies on the weekends to escape their worries. My grandma was no exception. At only a nickel a show, she could still afford it.
The next day we stopped at the stone pillars marking the entrance to Lower Federal Heights. A plaque credited the CCC workers who helped "moderinze" the area during the Depression. It was interesting to learn that the Depression era workers built the structures and ammenities that we still enjoy today, almost in our own back yards.
The only event on our agenda that we were not able to fit in, was an evening feeding the homeless people in the soup kitchen. I got approval to bring the kids down to St. Vincent's De Paul's and I knew it would be a great experience for them but we couldn't quite fit it in. Next time . . .
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