Things I miss in my part of the 20th century. Back to Molly's home page

I miss mostly the years that I grew up. I was born on East 41st street at home in a house that we rented.
I spent my very young years on east 40th street in Cleveland. This was up till I was 9 years old. Below are some memories of this time.

On 40th Street
I went to Case Elementary School, which was my educational start. Our home on E. 40th St. was a big house built in the late 1800's. Incidentally I still remember the address it was 1627. There were two houses on the lot - one in front, and one in the back. We had big parlor and a little parlor (where we had our Angelus upright piano). The dining room was in the center. It was also huge. We had big kitchen, pantry, and two bedrooms and a bath.
E. 40th St. was a main street that went from St. Clair Ave. to Euclid Ave. At the corner of Euclid there were many famous old mansions, including the John D. Rockefeller estate.
My father used to take my brother and I for a walk up to Euclid Ave. It was good long walk and sometimes he would carry me home. Enough reminiscing about 40th street.

Huntmere Ave Then I moved to 15814 Huntmere Ave. That was in 1923. Huntmere at that time was still a dirt road as it was a newer neighborhood. We got along very well at Huntmere. Our house was a duplex and we lived downstairs. I married my husband Joe in 1940 and we moved into the upstairs apartment at 15812 Huntmere Ave. We had a very nice home in the upstairs apartment. Joe and my children Tom and Barbara, and I had a very fulfilling 15 years. We lived there untill 1955, when we moved to Skyline Drive in Richmond Hts.

Fun Times

We seemed to have a lot more fun than the young people of today. There were fascinating places like Euclid Beach Amusement Park.

Since we lived only a few blocks from the 'beach' (as we called it) we could go there every day. It was the main attraction of our neighborhood. You learn a little about Euclid Beach and its history by clicking this link to Euclid Beach Nuts, a page dedicated to preserving memories about the 'beach'

I always remember dancing at the Euclid Beach ballroom that had a beautiful crystal ball in the center of the dance floor.

There were many great dance bands that played there like Ozzie Nelson's Band with his his wife Harriet as the singer. Others were the Dorsey Brothers band, and later the Tommy Dorsey band, the George Duffy band, and Frankie Carl the pianist and singer. Another pianist was Eddie Duchin. There were many more that I can not remember.
It was such a great time to grow up, I did love to dance and listen to the bands. It cost 10 cents a dance (2 tickets) to dance but in the upper balcony people could watch the dancers and listen to the music for free. So many people really enjoyed the wonderful music of the big bands.

My brother Joe worked on the "Dodgem" a bumper car ride at the 'beach'. We used to get free rides on the Dodgem.

Things I don't miss in my part of the 20th century
The depression, World War II, the Korean war, and the Vietnam war.

World War II
World War II years were very hard on most everyone. Everyone was affected in some way. The rationing which many screamed about wasn't all that bad, we learned to live with it.
I think the weirdest thing was Allsweet Margarine. It was all white and you got a piece of coloring (a cube of yellow) and mixed it in so it would look like butter.
Many of my friends lost loved ones in the war. That was heartbreaking. Too bad - but I think we all got stronger and a little wiser.

We were lucky. Joe (my husband) was in the navy but fortunately never went overseas. He was an Aviation Mechanic stationed in Norman, Okla. His brothers Charles, and John, both in the army went across, but both came home safely.

I miss my husband, and I miss my parents, I seem to be a survivor, all in all it was a rewarding experience. Hope the new century is good to all - especially to those I love.
These are some of the things in my part of the 20th century - I am sure there were more. But, we will go on no matter how we started, to the century ahead! Good Luck to us ALL !! Be good to each other always. Molly Feb. 2000. Back to Molly's home page