Big Grandma, my maternal grandmother Stella Schipp, wasn’t
really very big, not much more than 5 feet tall; but she was bigger than Little
Grandma, my father’s mother, Telkla Dachtera, who was a tiny woman.
After WWII my parents and I moved from St. Paul, MN to the
Chicago area, and when we’d visit St. Paul, we’d stay with Big Grandma. To a little girl who visited only once a
year, her house was full of places I longed to explore but I wasn’t allowed to
investigate - places that must surely contain all manner fascinating things.
The house was one of the earliest built in that part of St.
Paul. MN. Additions had been made by the time my
grandparents bought it in 1920. It still
sits on Goodhue Street on
the limestone bluff at the lower end of the old High
Bridge. The basement had been carved or blasted out
of the limestone. There was a coal fired
furnace down there; and probably storage for meat and vegetables. I’m sure that the limestone kept the
temperature more or less constant summer or winter.
Early photo – before my time
The High Bridge
connected the high bluffs of the wide gorge carved from the stone by the Mississippi
river. At the river’s level
were still some homes, some industry, and a railroad yard.
The house itself was quite unremarkable. It was green painted stucco. There were large
shade trees in the front yard. Around
the side was a pretty plot of lily of the valley. I loved those tiny fragrant white flowers.
The back yard included a chicken coop that was empty by the time I saw it. When she was raising her family, Grandma
raised chickens and ducks. She used duck
eggs in her baking because they were richer than chicken eggs. Also in the backyard was Grandpa’s shed!
How I longed to investigate all the wonderful things stashed
away in that shed! Grandpa died before I was born so I never knew him. He’d been a teamster with his own team of
horses; and the shed had housed his horses, his wagon, and all his tack and
tools. I was actually inside the shed a
few times but never let loose to explore.
There were horse collars and other tack hanging on one wall. There was a
grinding wheel for sharpening tools. There were nooks and crannies. I loved its
smell of old wood and old leather.
The interior of the house was plain, functional, and felt
very comfortable to me. Nothing fancy, but
I sure wish I had photos of its old fashioned furnishings. There was a player piano with at least a
dozen music rolls. I couldn’t play the rolls, but I was allowed to occasionally
play the piano.
Hanging on the wall above the piano were portraits of two
beautiful young women – 1920’s glamour portraits of two of my aunts.
There was a small room that had a toilet but had no other
plumbing. Bathing was done in the
kitchen in a big, round galvanized tub that was brought out for baths and for
laundry.
The kitchen had a sink with a drainboard and single faucet
for cold water. Hot water for
dishwashing, bathing and laundry was heated on the cook stove. It was a huge black coal fired iron
stove. Grandma cooked and baked for her
family and taught her seven daughters to cook on that stove. There was a large pantry that excited my
curiosity because the upper shelves held lots of interesting looking things. I
never got to explore it. A room to the left of the stove held a large ice box.
The long wide dining room was a huge table that would seat
the whole family: parents and their 11 kids.
On one wall was a big old clock
with a brass pendulum and a pretty loud tick. Its chime struck every quarter
hour and tolled the hour. Off to one side was a nook with a small table and a
chair. On the table was a candlestick
phone.
I’d fall asleep to the ticking of the dining room clock and
then, in the darkness, the whole house would begin to vibrate as a train pulled
by a chugging steam engine would resonate through the limestone. I can still feel it. The rail yard at the
base of the bluff was probably always pretty busy but I only noticed the trains
at night.
I remember being upstairs at Grandma’s house only once. As usual, I wasn’t allowed to explore. There
were chests full of things that Grandma had kept and that aunts and uncles had
left behind. Imagine what treasures were
tucked away just waiting for a little girl to find them.
Our annual visits stopped in 1953 after my first brother was
born; and when Grandma died in 1954, the house was emptied and sold. To this day I still wonder what amazing
things I might have found in the forbidden (to a little girl) spaces of Big
Grandma’s house.