Remembrances of the years from 1943-1945.
Since my dad was older and didn’t want to be drafted in to the war he left Virginia, me, grandma Marion and Jimmy in Bozeman Montana and went to Salt Lake City to get work on the Railroads.
Since my dad was older and didn’t want to be drafted in to the war he left Virginia, me, grandma Marion and Jimmy in Bozeman Montana and went to Salt Lake City to get work on the Railroads.
I don’t know when he left exactly but it must have been late 1942 or early 1943. He chose the railroads not only because he liked railroads but it was considered a vital war effort industry and men working on it were exempt from the draft. Dad worked as a fireman shoveling coal into the furnace to make steam to run the steam locomotives. He wanted to become an engineer but never had the chance. His trains ran from Thistle to Helper
and up to Vernal Utah and back it was cold hard wet work and dad was sick a lot of the time but he worked anyway. Virginia was the main reason he avoided the war. She was not very good at living without dad. So instead of taking care of the beautiful home he had built with his own hands she left it to be with dad. He loved her for wanting to be with him but I don’t think he ever really forgave her for leaving that home. They lived in two towns near Salt Lake City Bountiful and Woods Cross. Both were very much rural communities. Mom got a job with the Federal Housing Administration hereafter referred as the FHA. Dad was always looking for a way to make an extra buck. A trait he practiced all of his life. So they raised chickens, turkeys and mink. They had a milk cow. Mom the city gal loved collecting the eggs but her arms and hands became almost paralyzed when she was first learning to milk the cow. She was amazed how far a chicken could run without a head and blood spurting out of the neck.
and up to Vernal Utah and back it was cold hard wet work and dad was sick a lot of the time but he worked anyway. Virginia was the main reason he avoided the war. She was not very good at living without dad. So instead of taking care of the beautiful home he had built with his own hands she left it to be with dad. He loved her for wanting to be with him but I don’t think he ever really forgave her for leaving that home. They lived in two towns near Salt Lake City Bountiful and Woods Cross. Both were very much rural communities. Mom got a job with the Federal Housing Administration hereafter referred as the FHA. Dad was always looking for a way to make an extra buck. A trait he practiced all of his life. So they raised chickens, turkeys and mink. They had a milk cow. Mom the city gal loved collecting the eggs but her arms and hands became almost paralyzed when she was first learning to milk the cow. She was amazed how far a chicken could run without a head and blood spurting out of the neck.
She learned to pluck the feathers off of the chicken a very hard and smelly task and then cook it so it was edible.
Dad only raised mink for a little while because they are very mean and very hungry. He would have to buy old horses scheduled for the glue factory bring them home and shoot them in the head in the side yard and then butcher them to feed the mink. Dad had a real soft heart and finally looking those old horses in the eye before he killed them got the best of him and he gave up raising mink.
During this time there are two stories about me that where handed down from my mom. During this time there was a cough syrup called CHERYCOLE It was a very potent cough syrup. I think that it contained chloroform, alcohol, and an opiate derivative and cherry flavoring.
(Label reads:
4 Ounces Chericol ® With Codine
(UpJohn)
ALCAHOL 3%
Each Fluid ounce Contains:
Chloroform 2mins.
Codeine Phosphate, 1 gr.
Potassium guaiacol Sulphonate , 8 grs.
Ammonium Chloride 8 grs.
Antimony and Potassium Tartrate, 1 ½ gr.
in a cooling vehicle of
White Pine and Wild Cherry Bark
Dose-Adults, 1 to 3 teaspoonfuls. Repeat every 2 to 4
hours pro re nata (Chericol with codine is also
adapted for administration to small children) Infants,
1 month, 2 to 3 drops; 3 months, 4 to 6 drops; 6 months,
6 to 10 drops; children over 1 year, ½ to t teaspoonful
according to age.
Exempt Narcotic, Record Required )
During this time there are two stories about me that where handed down from my mom. During this time there was a cough syrup called CHERYCOLE It was a very potent cough syrup. I think that it contained chloroform, alcohol, and an opiate derivative and cherry flavoring.
(Label reads:
4 Ounces Chericol ® With Codine
(UpJohn)
ALCAHOL 3%
Each Fluid ounce Contains:
Chloroform 2mins.
Codeine Phosphate, 1 gr.
Potassium guaiacol Sulphonate , 8 grs.
Ammonium Chloride 8 grs.
Antimony and Potassium Tartrate, 1 ½ gr.
in a cooling vehicle of
White Pine and Wild Cherry Bark
Dose-Adults, 1 to 3 teaspoonfuls. Repeat every 2 to 4
hours pro re nata (Chericol with codine is also
adapted for administration to small children) Infants,
1 month, 2 to 3 drops; 3 months, 4 to 6 drops; 6 months,
6 to 10 drops; children over 1 year, ½ to t teaspoonful
according to age.
Exempt Narcotic, Record Required )
I loved it. It tasted good and knocked you on your butt. Remember I was only 2-3 years old at this time. Anyway, there was some Cherycole syrup on top of a dressed and I wanted some so I stealthy pulled the drawers out of the dresser and made a stairway to heaven. No one knows how much I drank but I was home and grandma Marion was watching me as I stumbled around the rooms like a drunk and then she found the bottle on the dresser and being concerned called the doctor and he said no matter what you have to keep that baby awake because if he goes to sleep he may never wake up. Terrified she called mom at FHA and mom being likewise terrified left in a rush to get home. They took turns walking me for the next 24 hours. So at that time I didn’t make it to heaven.
In the forties it was not, really not, appropriate to take your children to the office.
The FHA office was in a big building in downtown Salt Lake City. I was only maybe four years old at this time. For some reason mom needed to take care of me at work, maybe I had been with Marion shopping I don’t really know, but I remember being greeted by mom in a waiting area that had a long hard wooden bench and I was wearing a white Eaton suit. I felt very grown up on one side and very much in awe of this big building on the other. I knew this was a special occasion and that I wanted to please my mom. So when she lovingly sat me on that bench and looked straight into my eyes and said “Now Champy you mustn’t move off this bench until I come back in awhile to get you and we can then go home together. OK?” and I said yes! I knew I wouldn’t move and I didn’t. I just sat there and took in the massive building and the people coming and going and was completely entertained. That is not to say that my butt didn’t get tired. And that I didn’t wiggle a little and maybe scoot side to side on the bench but I never got off of that bench. It seemed like hours to me and my mom said it was almost an hour but it was more likely a half an hour at the most. A lot of people say a kid that age would not do that but I swear I did.
