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.ary Anne Meehan was siqk with the grippe.
6he hau Peen very sick out was on the road to
recovery although still nursing a Pad cough and
a nair-triggertemper. e were inviteu to help
"cheer her up." We wanted an interview for it
nau peen aiilicult to get interviews in the last
few weeks with the town suffering a siege of grippe
so we. went to offer 1,arry Anne a little cheer. It
14.U61-, nave workeu fur 1,,.ry .Anne Lskeu us to come
pack wnicn we intenu to do.
Name Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
Mary Anne Meehan has the grippe and Mary Anne resents that fact
with her whole heart and soul. And when Mary Anne puts her whole
heart and soul into anything, she makes a magnificent job of it.
I had been asked to came in and "cheer" her up, which, upon my
arrival at her home, I realized was to be no easy task.
However) after having asked all about, AND HEARING ALL about the
numberless aches and pains that Mary Anne, at the present time) is heir
to, I ventured to ask, hoping to divert her mind, "How did you ever
happen to become a cook, Mary Anne?"
"I didn't happen," snapped Mary Anne) "I always was. I can't
remember hardly when rcouldn't cook. My mother was a corker 'round
a stove. She could boil a ten penny nail ant make it taste good) an,
I jest aorta took after her.
"I was 'specially good at pastry an' cakes. Tarts, pies) biscuits
an' short cakes. Things like that I could whip up in no time ant they
was good, too, an' I could always make good coffee. I always had to
make it when there was anythin' big goinl on."
"Oh, do tell me how you make it. I've never been able to make
decent coffee?"
"Any fool should be able to make good coffee", says Mary Anne to
me.
I ducked.
"I make it exactly like everybody else makes it, only mine is
always good. There's nothin' better than a good cup of coffee. Haven't
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Name Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
you often wished you could get a cup of coffee that would taste as
good as th' aroma from a big coffee roastin' plant a couple ot blocks
away?
"Yes," she mused, settling in her wide bed, "I always could cook,
I hired out as a cook when I was about fourteen."
"Fourteen good heavens, Mary Anne, how did you dare?"
"Well) I could cook) couldn't I? An' T was big an, strong. Why
shouldn't I have?"
To be honest I saw no reason why she "shouldn't have" and even if
I had) I doubt if I would have ventured to argue the point) for Mary
Anne was undoubtedly feeling better AND a bit belligerent.
"Jane hatea work an' she was awful clever 'bout gettin' out of
doin' anythin' an' Gussie was never strong. Youh know she was sick
a long time before she died. So youh see I was elected to help with
th' cookint, but I didn't mind I liked to do it."
"Tell me about your first position) if you feel up to it," I
coaxed.
"Heavens, ttwan't a position) I was th' hired girl, or th' help,
though in those days th' help or hired girl whatever you want to
call her, was more or less a member of th' family. 'More', if th'
family was real people 'less' if they was tryin' to be swells.
"I always et at the same table ant after th' supper dishes was
done washed an' put away if I wasn't goin' anywhere, I'd set in
with th' family, usually around th' dinin' table) in th' dinin' room.
Name Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
We'd all be do in' somethinl, makin' patches for quilts or sewin' carpet
rags.
"There was what was called a thangint lamp' in that room. It was
a coal oil lamp ant could be pulled up an' down on brass chains, 'twas
real handy. There was one in th' parlor, too, but that one was mcre
elegant, it had crystals hang in' down.
"Th' first folks I worked for was tryinl to break into th' upper
crust. Youh see, everybody went with everybody else at times. Still
there was some folks whose houses youh didn't prance into unless youh
was asked, ant some of us never got asked.
"That was nothin' against youh, of course, only there was always
jesta little difference an' these folks, while they had money, was
jestkincta on th edge of th' outside lookin' in.
"Th' lady of th' house, I'll call her La's. Smith. Youh wouldn't
KhOU her, probably never heard of her, anyway. Well, she wasn't sure
of her husband, I guess. She kept herself dressed to th' nines and
she spent a quarter of her time curlin' her hair.
"She'd put her curlin' iron down in th' lamp ant get it hot that
way an, of course, it got smutty an' she'd use it that way ant that
kept her hair lookin' dark. But there was some white in it when she
washed it but I don't think her husband ever knew it.
"We all curled our hair that way only most of us wiped off till
smut. In those days girls wore lots of ribbons we'd have ribbons
an, ribbons all over us ant this lady of mine, while she wa'nt a girl,
Name Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
had a ribbon everywhere she could put it. An' was she a fluffy person
she was) dearie) she was. She used to tell me what to ao an' most of
th' time she was wrong) ant kid that I was) I knew it, too) so) I'd do
as I pleased an, she never seemed to know th' difference.
"It was a set rule that youh washed Monaay) no matter if it rained
cats an' dogs youh ironed on Tuesday I'd put everything that needed
mendinl in a big wash basket an' i.-ednesday I mended. Thursday I cleaned
house) Friday) I aired th' beas an' cleaned special things Saturday
was bakin, day. I'd bake a big crock full of cookies) at least a dozen
pies) lots more sometimes) three or four cakes) a big crock full of
doughnuts) I made bread twice a week ant I'd always make raised biscuits
th' days I made bread.
"I hated Sunaay most) we always had a big dinner an' we always
used th' best china) ant did I dread that th' doggone stuff was some
th' boss's father or mother had had handed down to then an, was they
fussy."
"You must have worked hard in those days) Mary Anne) I ventured.
'Course I dia) but it didn't do me no hurt. as good for me and
don't forget .e had our good times too in those days. My goodness how
times have changed. My) but people were awful narrow those days. My
my wouldn't we shock 'em now? They was really funny they didn't
trust anybody's morals. Take th' time I was cookinl for those people
I've been -Lenin* youh about. After I'd been workin' there a few
months maybe eight) nine) Yrs. Smith °led.
"There were four children) th' oldest girl was only a bit younger
than me) but do youh spose my mother would let me stay there at night?
Name
Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
Not by a jugful) she ,,ouldn't. Right after my supper dishes was done
I made tracks for home ant if I was later than she thought I ha6 ought
to be) maybe I didn't get a tongue lashing.
"My reputation would have been absolutely ruined if I had slept
in that house one night can you imagine? An' th' poor man) I don't
believe he knew if I was black or white or if I was around half th'
time.
"An' when I got to be twenty-one an, two an'awasn't married ant
no signs of beint) my gracious) how upset my mother was. You see that
made ma an, ola maid) which was a disgrace. Fact is 'disgrace' ain't
hardly big enough a word. Mother woula pretend she didn't want me to
marry until I was older ant many's th' time I've seen her raise her eye-
brows ant look at a neighbor real wise like) actin' like I'd had a beau
that I'd turned down. Of course th' neighbor would know it wa'n't so
for int hose days everybody knew everybody's business.
"When I see girls turn down real nice lads nowadays) jest because
they want to ue independent) it makes me anile) when I look back an'
think now most girls then would take anybody rather than be a oId maid.
"-vie girls kept my mother in hot water most of th' time) an' yet
we didn't do one really bad thing. Take th' time Mother caught rue
puttint flour on my face for powder) my) how she carried on. I suppose
I should have felt wicked) but I didn't.
"She wa'n't different from any th' other mothers. They was all
alike in th' whole town. They all worried about nothin'. All th' girls
Name Louise Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
put powder or flour on their faces on th' sly. What do youh suppose
they'd have done if they'd seen a girl pull out a vanity case right
before 'em an' begin to make up? They'd have died jest died."
"Mary Anne, now did Brookfield, when you were a girl, compare with
the Brookfield of today?" I asked.
"Well, it was lots better in many ways ant again it wa'n't. There
was very little what youh call class distinction least wise not so
youh could notice it much. Everybody went to th' same dances an' socials,
folks was friendly an' neighborly. If any one was sick we knew it right
away ant took 'em soup or somethint, or we'd offer to set up with 'em ant
do things like that. Course there was a few who just didn't have much to
do with any but Yankees like themselves. They was a little set of them.
Awful clannish too, but most of us got along real neighborly.
"Now -a -days you could die an' your next door neighbor wouldn't
know it until they saw th' crepe or ferns or what ever gadgets they put
on till doors today."
"How do you account for that?" I inquired.
"Th' automobile jest th' automobile. Folks are jest as nice
today only they have so many other interests outside interests to
keep them busy apt wear 'em out."
"Such as what?" I asked.
"Movies, for one thing, I love 'em, go every time I have a chance
an' th' radio, Lool that's jest as bad as th' automobiles, cane to think
of it. I went to a church bridge till other night, played at one table
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Name Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
with a woman who had lived here over a year ant I'd never heard of her.
That couldn't have happened in till old days.
"Of course, th' town was alive then, a thrivint town) I guess you'd
call it. There was all kinds of stores everybody worked at something.
Some had big wages some small SOMR folks was poor) that is) they
didn't have all they wanted but there was very little real poverty no
one went hungry.
"Of course, there was th' poor farm ant for, years they had a few
folks there old people an' usually there would be three or four simple-
minded folks. Then) by ant by, they got to be so few it didn't pay to
keep up till farm an' th' half dozen that might have been there was sent
to other towns) that had poor farms ant Brookfield paid board for 'em.
An' so th' poor house) which was a nice big farm house, off on a side
road in a sort of woods like) stood anpty for three or four years.
One day some one, who knew about where it was) was drivin, by an' they
couldn't see it. There wa'n't no house there. Well, at first he couldn't
believe ids eyes cut it was a fact th' house was gone burned
down completely. They couldiellProm th' ashes an' all that it had been
some time before it was discovered. That shows how things was in Brook-
field in those days, don't it?
"Talkin' about bein' at a bridge party for a church th' other night
my how times have changed. Why) when I was a girl, playint cards was
a terrible sin. '.;e kids used to sneak ant play out in th barn an' every
little while my mother would run across a pack of our cards ant she'd
tear 'em in little pieces an, forbid us buyint any more) but of course
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Name Louise G., Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
we always did.
"Parents was awful strict, girls 'specially had to walk a chalk
line. It used to be great fun to go down to th' depot an' see th'
trains come in but nice girls wasn't allowed to go men an' boys
always went but we girls dasen't.
"In u hose days we used to have 'travelin' men come to town. We
call 'em salesmen now. A lot of 'em would be real good lookers, too,
but 'twas as much as your life was worth to look al. once, let alone
speak to him.
"When they'd cane on th' train, some man would report that a good
lookin' travelin' man had come to town an' we girls'd hear it. Somehow
we'd always hear it ant we'd be all excited up.
"Brookfield was kind -of a center town then. Th' travelin' men
would COme here ant put up at th' Metropole Hotel that was our best
hotel in those uays, an' then they'd hire a rig from th' livery stable
an, have a man drive 'em to th' North an' th' West an, to Ware ant to
Warren an, to Spencer. That meant they'd be here a whole week.
"Jane an, me was full of th' old Nick ant we took some awful
chances some times, but no matter what we did we hardly ever got caught,
natural born crooks, I suppose.
"But we did get caught up with one time an' that was when we
flirted with a travelin' man my my he was good lookin'. I can
see him now an' he was a nice lad, too. After supper all till men
stopiin' at th' hotel, if it was a nice night, would go set outon th'
Name Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
porch. So, this night was no different an' me an' Jane walked by till
hotel Oh I guess a dozen times an' this lad finally comes an'
speaks. I was so scared I could only giggle but Jane) who wasn't
scared of th' devil himself, wise -cracked an' I remember he laughed
an' laughed at her. She was funny. By an' by, he asked if we'd had
supper. Of course we had, but Jane said 'Nog, so he took us into till
dining room and fed us. Up to then I'd never been in a hotel dining
room before an' I was so scared I honestly couldn't, see but Jane wa'n't
she loved it.
"Then he said, 'Let's go buggy riding. I got up enough courage to
say 'I don't want to go', but Jane dragged me along an' by that time I
could hardly walk I had to be dragged. We got home about eight or a
bit after an' mother
was waiting for US.
parents forbid their
was wait in for us. Oh) yes, dear lady) my mother
Thg whole toun knew about it, of course, an' some
kids to speak to us, we was jest 'fast' an, take
things at home an' people not speaking to us) life was some tough for
1 e,uess about six or eight months.
"Funny thing, till nicest folks in town) we called gem th' karisto-
crats') was fine to us girls, called it 'only a young girl's prank' an'
these same ,people, who'd never called on my mother before) came to see
her ant told her not to let it worry her, we didn't mean any harm.
Youhgve no idea how
"To be honest)
say something' about
it consoled her an' pleased her) too.
she put on airs about it, when one of her pals would
what we'd done she'd quote very haughtily some-
thing Yrs. 'Aristocrat' had said. An' that'd shut her friend up."
Name Louise Louise G. Lassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living•, Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
"Did you ever see your traveling .friend again?" I ventured to
ask.
"Yep, he come to see my mother when he come to town th' next time
ant explained things said he was jest lonesome an' Jane was so
amusin' that there was no harm meant. My mother liked him very much
but she woulun't let him give us some candy he had brought us. She
made him take it away with him. But Jane had gone out th' back door
an, met him at th' side gate took th' candy, sneaked it in th' house
ant we et it. It was th' most delicious candy I ever et it was
SO wICKED.
"Tnere was a lqt more pretense in Brookfiela than there is today$
that's one big thing in Trookfield's favor today. There used to be a
lot of men that was called 'God fearint an' 'upright citizens' an
'Pillars of tilt church'. There's nothing like that now folks are
real themselves
“We kids used to be on to a lot of those old cusses, they had
their fun on th' sly, I could give youh th' names of at least six of
tem but I won't.
"We talked among ourselves about 'em but not to th' older folks)
they wouldn't have believed us an' we might have got a lickin'. Kids
got 'em those days. I don't a,prove of th' way kids are beinl brought
up these days. When I was young it was considered wicked to take
things easy. It was wicked not to work ant everybody did work. Girls
whose parents hau a comfortable livin' didn't go out to work, of course,
but they knew all about keepin' house.
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Name Louise G. Bassett Assignment Brookfield
Title Living Lore Topic Mary Anne Meehan
"I believe lookin back it gave us a sense of well) of security
a feelin' that if we had to we con fight tht world we didn't kick
if we had hard jobs to do, we jest went ahead ant did tem. If I had
anything to wear) I worked for it ant so when I got it I enjoyed it
enjoyed it lots) ant if it was clothes, believe you me, I took care
of tem. Most kids nowadays wear something a couple of times ant then
think it's a told rag'. Folks indulge their young tuns until there's
no livint with tem. They haven't any manners, it jnakes me see red to
hear a mother say) 'Tell Mary Anne, thank you) dear.' My mother didn't
have to tell me to say 'Thank Liou'. I knew enough to do it without
bein' told.
"You can't blame th' young tuns, though. 'Taintt their fault,
tht parents give 'em too much freedom too much leisure an' luxuries
without their havint to work for tem. They'd be nice kids) all right,
if they had half a .chance.
"Our parents knew what they was doin'. Life ain't easy an' nobody
can make it easy for anybody. Folks pet ant pamper kids nowadays
what for? Thetre goint to get more hard knocks than we did we was
sort -of reauy for 'em but these poor little devils ain't."
The room was growing dark with the approach of evening, but Mary
Anne seemed not to notice. She was too absorbed in "the old days" until
a sudden fit of coughing ended the interview in a flurry of excuses,
protests and hastily administered remedies. Mary Anne, brought back to
the presentlremembered the grippe and began to tell of "my back and my
head it fairly swims and so on for the rest of the symptoms.