Scrubbing the Playroom Floor

SCRUBBING THE PLAYROOM FLOOR

On one side of the house we had a large rectangular room that was used as a playroom when we were quite small, and then later partitioned and turned into a doctor’s office.

When it was a playroom, there was linoleum all over the floor. I remember my friend, Priscilla and I, probably pre-school age, deciding to be helpful one day and “washing” the floor. We somehow got it all soaped up, and then had the challenge of how to rinse off the soap and water.

I had watched my mother wash the front porch; when she needed to rinse, she would simply get a hose or bucket of water and throw it on the porch. Of course in that situation the water would just run off the sides of the porch and onto the ground. But in my young mind I didn’t go that far in my thinking.

So Priscilla and I got a bucket and emptied several bucketsful of water onto the playroom floor. But, ah hah, since this was in indoor room and not an open porch, we now had an inch or more of water going nowhere. So in my further wisdom, we collected all the newspapers we could find, and lay them all over the floor to absorb the water. Needless to say it was quite a soggy mess. And Priscilla and I probably didn’t look so hot by then either.

It was about this time that my mother turned up. I can’t remember where she was during all this. Needless to say, she was not too happy about the mess that she found…soaking newspapers all over the place, an inch or so of water, and whatever.

To her credit--and this shows what a great mother she was--I have no memory of her yelling at us, and I have no horrible feelings about this incident. I know that I felt bad that I had goofed up, but our intentions were noble and she seemed to have understood this. I remember her explaining that one doesn’t throw buckets of water in the house, and to now to leave the room so she could take care of this.

I can only assume that she cleaned it all up herself…probably with a mop, but we were long gone by then.

SADIE, THE TELEPHONE OPERATOR

SADIE, THE TELEPHONE OPERATOR

When I was growing up in Jerome in the 1940’s, we had a “party line” in the house. Our ring was: two longs and a short. There was someone else on our line, but I never did know who that was. But sometimes when we were on the phone that person would pick up their receiver, hang it up with a big click. This would happen a few times to annoy us, so we’d hang up and let him or her use the phone. Sometimes I’d hear my mother saying: Hang up the receiver” in an annoyed tone, as the mysterious other was listening in on her conversation.

The party line was probably a bit much for my father, who was the town doctor, as sometimes when he needed to make a call, the other person would be on the line. There were times when he’d ask the person to hang up. (Our father was not known to be shy.)

What I always remember about our phone service was Sadie, the telephone operator, who operated out of a little shack or tiny wooden building outside of town. She would listen in and sometimes tell my parents things that they might want to know. My father sort of used her as an answering service, which wasn’t something one had in those days. If we were going away for a day to see our relatives over the mountain, he’d tell Sadie that if anyone called to tell them he’d be back by 9 or whatever. She in turn might tell him who called and even give him messages.

I don’t know exactly what Sadie’s job was. Did all incoming calls go through her or only long distance ones? How did it work? Maybe my brother can add something to this.

I remember going down and actually seeing Sadie once or twice. I have only a vague memory of the building and her sitting inside. I think she had white hair. I’m sure she looked old, but was probably middle aged or younger.

As time went on, I think our father got a bit tired of the party line, particularly as it affected his business. So we eventually had a private line, possibly the only one at that time in Jerome.