Document text
No.)
STATE Massachusetts,
NAME OF WORKER Louise Bassett
ADDRESS Brookfield, Massachusetts
DATE OF INTERVIEig December 19, 1938
SUBJECT Living Lore
NAME ADDRESS OF Ella Bartlett, Brookfield,
INFOREANT Massachusetts
Ella Bartlett, or Miss Bartlett, as she prefers to be
called, canes from one of Brookfield's old-time first families.
In the Victorian days when a few thousand dollars wese.considered
a fortune by small towners, Miss Bartlett's father was a man of
money and power. His daughter was brought up to paint a little,
sing in a thin sweet voice, do fine needlework, keep house, and
above all to be a "lady". Miss Bartlett never forgot her train-
ing. She still paints scraggly pink rosebuds and golden water
lilies on china plates and cups. She gave up singing sons
years ago, but not her "deep interest in musi She keeps
house neatly in one little room in a private home where she
also has the use of the kitchen to prepare her meals. Most
important of all, Miss Bartlett has remembered her training
as a lady. She can not forget the lovely days gone by when
"Father" was a town official and wore a ponderous gold watch
chain and drove through town in a fine carriage drawn by high
stepping horses. She cherishes the thoughts of her girlhood
when she was one of the towns' Four Hundred, admired and envied
by the mill girls and "foreigners". These are the memories
that make little Liss Ella hold her head high, her back
straight, and never complain because money is so scarce
and she is old and lonely. Me- _.den yeags-ave
kefig...aDlaa.4. There are only a few old friends left who
remember "Father" and his money. Modern Brookfield regards
her as "old Ella Bartlett". Her proud little manners and
cool air of superiority have not won friends. A few years
ago when Miss Ella had to leave the little house where she
had lived for years, it took the combined efforts of the
minister anti two selectmen to find a place for her to live.
No one wanted this faded but still proud and haughty little
bit of gentility in their homes.
How Miss Bartlett manages to live is her secret. Probably
the minister shares it, but he does not tell. It may be the
Old Age Pension, for certainly Ella Bartlett is well over eighty,
it may be some private charity whatever it is, Miss Bartlett
makes the most of it. Her clothes are outmoded, but always
neat, dainty and carefully brushed. She never forgets to wear
gloves as a lady should. Her hat is always set perfectly straight,
her gray hairraat and prim. Miss Ella never forgets she must
keep upeppearances and hold her head high. We laugh at her,
but somehow we admire her. She'd probably be offended if we
told her, but we like her because she's such a darned good sport.
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
Ella Bartlett, a tiny woman with snappinglsparkling black,
bird -like eyes, that pierce you through and through, had came to
call or had she? After seating herself and commenting, at great
length, on the weather we had been "enjoying", she seemed restless,
uneasy, unable to settle herself.
"What can she want?" I said to myself, "Maybe if I have some
tea."
"I know you must be cold", I used my most ;hospitable tones,
"I'm going to get you some hot tea."
"Well 1 -$8 she said.
Assuring her that making tea was the easiest thing I did, I
proved my statement by quickly reappearing with a pot of tea and
some cookies. She ate a cookie, she sipped the tea, but, still
something was not quite as it should be.
"Is your tea hot enough, perhaps you like it stronger or
weaker there's plenty of hot.water if you would care for some."
"No thanks, for tea it's all right," was the prim little lady's
reply.
Oh, now we have it "For tea. Oh, I'm so sorry, you don't
care for tea, do you, how about some cocoa?" Oh, yes, I could see
at once that cocoa would be most welcome, so, soon Miss Bartlett was
chatting over ac up of cocoa.
"Were you born in Brookfield, Miss Bartlett?" I asked. It was
a lucky question for the little figure lost some of its straightness
and settled back rather comfortably in the stiff cane seated chair
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Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
she had insisted upon. using.
"Yes, indeed, I was born in Brookfield. I won't tell you how
many years ago, I want to forget the number if I can. I was born
in the 'Over the River District', in the house Mark Wilson lives in
now. I'm what they call a 'native son'. Brookfield was a busy
thrivin, little town when I was a girl and it had many worthwhile
citizens then. You can't believe how many superior people lived in
Brookfield back in the old days. We had, oh, so many really nice
people. Things are very different now, people are so different,"
and Ella Bartlett sighed, a real, deep, deep sigh.
"And they do different things, of course. Do tell me about the
days in Brookfield when you were a young girl. They were fascinating
times, weren't they?"
"Oh, my good woman, fascinating is hardly a strong enough word.
The young folks of today with their automobiles, movies, drinks and
cigarettes don't know what good times are." Miss Bartlett's black
eyes were brighter than ever,• as, with a contemptuous toss of her head
she continued, "In winter we had skatint, sleigh rides) taffy pulls,
sugarin, off, church socials, dances of course, charades they were
more fun than these plays they put on now -a -days and cleverer, too,
quiltin' bee, though there didn't seem to be any set season for
quiltin'. It always seemed as though most of the girls got engaged
in the spring, I suppose the winter did that."
'The winter did that'? What do you mean?" I asked.
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Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
"Well, you see the sleigh rides were sort of conducive to
well you know how young folks are, sittint close to each other and
all that. We used to call it tsparkint, it's what they call
tneckin', these days. You know what I mean, don't you?"
I said I did.
"I remember one spring", she continued, "there was a lot of the
girls that had got engaged and we did nothin' but make quilts for tem.
I was an awful quick sewer, so, of course I was always one of the
first to be asked. we would think we'd got everybody quilted up,
when some mornin' there'd be a knock at the front door and some boy
or girl would be there to say that 'Ma sent her compliments' and
would I came to her quiltin' bee, and then we'd know another of the
girls had got engaged. I declare sometimes I'd be so fair worn out
that the mere thought of doin' another quilt would make me feel jest
like droppint."
"Well, I don't see why you couldn't have found some reason for
not going when you were so tired."
"Oh, my goodness sakes, not Why, I'd never think of doin, such
a thing. If we was asked, we went, even if we was sick. We went if
we c ould stand on our two feet. Of course in winter we didn't mind,
the evenin's were long and we had more chance for a good time after
we'd finished our quiltin' then we wa'n't so tired as we were in
summer, quiltin's awful hard work, let me tell you."
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Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
"Didn't you ever have any men at these 'bees'?"
"Land sakes, I should say so, I don't believe there'd been any
quiltin', if we hadn't known the men was camint. They was always
invited for the evenin' and then we'd all roast apples and chestnuts
and pop cornland lots of times they'd be a fiddler in and we'd dance.
Then if the sleighin' was good, and it's queer but there used to be
lots more snow those days then there is now.- Well, as I say, if the
sleighin' was good we'd have a long bob sleigh or a wood sled and
we'd drive home the longest way. My, my2 but it was fun, such as the
young folks know nothing about these days."
Seeing that Miss Ella's cup was empty and anxious to keep her
talking, I insisted upon filling it. She refused at first, but her
refusal had no strength back of it, so she had more cocoa --r=wiwiehr.0'
"What about the summer, what did you do summer nights?"
"Well, of course, we had good times in summer too. We went
boatin' and swimming, we'd go buggy drivin' and have church suppers,
strawberry festivals, you know, and plenty of dances. Young folks
will always dance I guess, and of course we would play croquet day
after day. They didn't have golf those days."
"You didn't quilt much in summer, I don't suppose."
"No, not so awful much, it wa'n't much sport, let me tell you,
for when it was hot we'd be so tired quiltin' all we'd want to do was
to go home and go to bed. I remember one awful time it was when
Henrietta Daggett had got engaged it was in July, and it was the
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
"But, oh dear me, how our hearts sank when we saw the size of
the quilt Henrietta was goint to have us do. Later on I guessed it
wa'n't as big as it looked to us that day but talkint it over with
some of the girls long afterwards, I guess it was about the biggest
one we ever did, and my sakes you ought totve seen the pattern it
was the sunflower pattern. You've seen the sunflower pattern, airit
you?"
"Oh, yes, many times but it's supposed to be a simple one isn't
it?"
"Well, yes, it's supposed to be but this one wa'n't, I never saw
so many pieces in a pattern, before or after. The calico pieces were
bright and pretty and that helped. Some of the pieces were from dresses.
he older women could tell you jest who had 'em, how they was made and
everything about tem. One woman found a piece of her wedding dress
that she'd given Mrs. Daggett long years before. She was dreadful
excited when sne saw it.
"Mrs. Daggett and Henrietta was busy all afternoon gettinl supper
ready. J really believe those good smells from the kitchen kept us
goint, anyway we finished the quilt and had it all rolled up by the time
the men came. .ietd all brought some things to put on to make us look
sort of dressed up after we had got finished sewinl. I had crimped my
hair and hadn't combed it out hopinl it might look kinda good when the
evenin' came, but my sakes alive, it wa'n't nothin' but a string and a
straight string at that, but I didn't mind much for I didn't have a
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
e'N
beau like most of -t he girls.
"I never cared much for men, I think they're conceited, don't
you?"
I agreed with her that they are, as a general rule, very "con—
ceited".
"Tell me what did you have for supper. Was it as good as you
hoped it would be?"
"Well, now jest wait and let me tell you. As soon as the men
had come, Mrs. Daggett asked us all to walk out to have some tea and
it was a tea that a body wouldn't mind welkin' a mile or two for, even
in the hot sun. There was cake five or six kinds cookies, ginger
snaps, she was noted for her ginger snaps, doughnuts, I don't jest
remember how many different kinds of pies they had, I declare it was
eight or nine. There was all kinds of canned stuff peaches, pears
and different berries, all kinds of james and jells and cold meats,
three or four kinds of meats and pickles, Mrs. Daggett always made
the best pickle a body could think of. Nobody ever gave such an
elegant quiltin' party as that one. After the dishes was washed and
cleared away we played games."
"Oh, do tell me what games you played in those days. Don't the
children of today play a great many of those same games?"
"well, yes, I Ispose they do, though I don't see very much of
them the children I mean nowadays. I think most children in
this town are very rude, I don't know how it is in other places, but
they certainly are here."
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
no tell me about your games, what you played and all about
them."
"We played roll the cover, that was one, and drop the handker-
chief, was another, London Bridge, another, and postoffice all
games I guess they do play today."
"Did the older people play them too?"
"Surely, you see cards was jest mad& in then. Some folks played
casino and euch#re, but lots of folks thought they was wicked, so all
we could do to enjoy ourselves no matter how young or how old was
to dance, play games or spoon and some of the older folks disapproved
of young folks spoonin' in public any way.
"One of the girls that night Lucy Sears who was in love with
Eugene Downs, a nice, good lookin' lad, got so upset because Eugene had
so many letters in the postoffice for another girl named Susan Williams,
that she suddenly said she was afraid she was go in' to faint and she
made so much fuss about it that everybody had to stop playin' and -wait
on her. Of course, as soon as she got the kissin' game stopped, she got
well. Mrs. Daggett had got a fiddler in for us to dance, but, my land,
it was too hot. We all looked like string beans before we even got
started and we wasn't fit tolook at after we'd hopped about a little,
but we didn't hop long, we couldn't, so then we sat around and fanned
ourselves and wished we was home and could get on some clothes that was
cool. Then some one asked Susan Williams to sing. She's the girl
Eugene was havinl all the letters for in the postoffice game."
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Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
"Susan was a real good little singer, I used to like to hear
her. Well, after everybody had coaxed and coaxed you know in those
days folks thought you was forward if, when anybody asked you to sing
or play or recite or something, you did it right off. You'd have to
be coaxed and then of course, after awhile you'd give in and do what
they asked you to do.
I"Well, as I said, after she'd been coaxed enough, she sang1The
Last Rose of Summer' and was singin, it real pretty, too, but right
when she got started, Lucy Sears) if you please) got the hiccoughs.
Maybe she did really have 'em but she wouldn't do anything to stop tem.
Henrietta got her some water, but she wouldn't take it. She said she
was sure it wouldn't do her a bit of good and will you believe it, she
kept hiccoughin' until Susan had got through.
"If I'd been Susan I'd have kept on singing until I had worn her
down. I wish she had done it but I guess she didn't think of it, I
know I didn't. If I had I'd have put her up to it. Well, anyway, the
evenin was nearly over. We went outdoors and set around singin, hymns
and old songs. It was funny to see Eugene Downs sittin' on the steps
of the parch with Lucy on one side and Susan on the other, both makint
an awful set for him, and he settin, there pretendin he didn't know
what they was about.
"We all set around waitin' to see which one he'd take hom, but he
fooled us, ne jest got himself up from the step where he'd been settint
said 'Good ivight, to everybody and went home alone."
"Oh, what fun you must have had but there's one thing more I must
knows aid Henrietta like tier quilt?"
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Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
"She loved it, she kept it for years. I've seen it dozens of
times and every time I've seen it I've always felt like openin/ a
window or something, no matter if it is a cold day I begin to feel
warm all over, it's July again. You know I think it's such a pity
that folks don't quilt any more. When I look back on those days I
know they miss a load of fun, it was really kinda nice."
"I'm sure it was, I'd like to quilt myself," a little shriek
stopped me.
"Good gracious me, is that the time? Why I've been here nearly
two hours. Myt Myt iel1, let me tell you what I come for oh,
dear met I do soaslike solicitint, I don't mind workinl in the
kitchen, or washin' dishes, for the church, I'll do anything but to me
solicitin' is awful."
"Please don't feel that way about it. Tell me, what can I do for
you?"
"Well, the alliance is havin' a small fair, could you would you
give, well, say an apron, or maybe make a pie or a cake. There, it is
out, oh, how I do hate to solicit."
Having my doubts about the goodness of either a pie or cake of my
making, I told Miss Bartlett I would gladly give an apron.
Thanking me most "copiously", Miss Bartlett hastily said her "good-
byes" and away she flew yes2 "flew" might be the word that best
describes Miss Bartlett's exit.
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Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
And, so, at last the cause for Miss Bartlett's uneasiness was
explained she dislikes to "solicit". It wasn't a bad afternoon
Ole
she would have her apron and I had an interview which I had wanted for
sometime. The delivery of the apron might open the way for more con-
versation.