Text 9949, 172 rader
Skriven 2014-02-15 20:36:50 av Dave Drum (1:261/38)
Kommentar till text 9893 av Nancy Backus (1:261/1381.0)
Ärende: Houses
==============
-=> Nancy Backus wrote to Dave Drum <=-
NB>> I did take a peek. It looks quite similar on the outside (except
NB>> for the full porch) as our next-door neighbor's house. Hers also
NB>> has the three bedrooms and bath upstairs and the living
NB>> room/dining/kitchen downstairs with the wide archways to living and
NB>> dining rooms... but arranged a little differently. I don't know if
NB>> hers was a Sears house, or just a nice example of an American
DD> Probably might have been a Sears - I sorted through a lot of pictures
DD> and floor plans on a number of sites before I found the exact one that
DD> my grandparents had. There are a lot of minor variations with
DD> different names. Bv)=
NB> The builder might have used the plans... as I understand it, though, it
NB> was a father and son that were both builders in the area, and built
NB> their own houses next door to each other on what then was one plot of
NB> land... the larger house on the other side was the son's, the
NB> foursquare was the father's... they shared a driveway between the
NB> houses, and a garage at the end of it... Needless to say, that has
NB> caused some grief now that the two are on separate plots and owned/sold
NB> independently... the lot line goes down the middle of the garage... ;)
NB> Or, more precisely, down the middle of the son's side of the garage...
NB> the driveway is mostly on the father's side... but there are easements
NB> to either side for use... :)
My parents second house in Springfield was a big ol' four square of 2 1/2
stories that was built in 1917. I know that because when I was stripping the
multiple layers of wallpaper from the upstairs hallway I found where Albert
Rechner and crew had signed the plaster work on August 18, 1917. The house,
which my dad bought for $10K had but a single circuit of wiring for the whole
house - with both legs fused. The lights were originally gas - so, they ran the
cloth insulated wires through the old gas pipes for the room lights. Wheeeeee.
Turning on or off an individual wall light was an adventure - never knew if
you'd get tingled or not. One of the first things me and the old man did was
re-wire the whole place with 200 Amp service. Anyway - a lot of work went into
the place - and it was on an arrangement such as you describe. A split lot of
35 feet in width. Which, according to the zoning restrictions in place could
not have a replacement structure built in it should the original burn to a
crisp. We had a shared driveway also. But, Dad solved that by building a new
garage that was entered from the east-west street to the south of the property.
Being friends with the General Superintendent of the street department who was
also our precinct committeeman and the Republican County Chairman didn't hurt
with getting permits to "break the curb" and run the driveway across the
city-owned boulevard strip between the sidewalk and the street. When the folks
moved to Bloomington they sold the place for upwards of 90K (in 1971).
NB>> Four-Square. It was built very early 1900's. Most of the other
NB>> houses on our block are quite different from hers, too. From what
NB>> I've read, the Sears houses were quite popular in the mid-west...
NB>> maybe not so much here in the east... :)
DD> Well, freight from Chicago to central Illinois was probably a lot less
DD> than freight to Outstate New York. And Sears was a Chicago company
NB> Quite.
DD> until K-Mart bought them. Their main competitor was Montgomery Ward -
DD> also a Chicago firm until they went totally tits-up.
NB> I remember the catalogs for both being in our house, growing up...
DD> When they built our maul on the outskirts of town Monkey Wards
DD> anchored one end and Serious and Blowback the other. Wards is long
DD> gone and their auto-service centre is currently a Longhorn Steak
DD> House. Seriously Getback still has the north end of the building ...
DD> for now. K-Mart is making noise about building a Meijer-style Super
DD> K-Mart across the street from the mall. Which will close one Big
DD> K-Mart and move the Sears operations into the resulting operation.
DD> We'll see what eventuates.
NB> The changing scene of business... :) So far Sears is still anchoring
NB> all the local malls, I think... their original location in the city has
NB> long been used for other things... although it was still Sears when I
NB> was in high school just down the road.. :) People still refer to it
NB> as the Sears building, of course... ;)
I used to shop at our local Sears when it was a stand-alone (and near to my
home) as it was easy to nip down the Sears, park fairly near to the entrance I
needed, get what I wanted and go back to what I was doing. Now that they are in
the maul, parking is problematic, they're clear across town and traffic is
horrendous anywhere around the maul area. So, I go more to their parent company
(K-Mart) these days - for the same reason(s) that I went to the stand-alone
Sears.
NB> DD>> Almost - I dated one of the daughters until her brothers
NB> DD>> ratted me out.
NB> NB>> Because they didn't think you good enough for them...? Too
NB> NB>> bad for them... ;0
NB> DD> Wrong religion. Her family was very stiff-necked religious of
NB> DD> the German Catholic persuasion and (at the time) I was a pretty
NB> DD> relaxed low-church Episcopalian.
NB> Ah. Probably even high-church Episcopalian/Anglican wouldn't have
NB> met their qualifications, although that might have almost... ;) I
NB> know, back then the lines were strongly drawn. I remember the
NB> hassle my Latin teacher had to take her (Protestant) class to a
NB> Latin mass, just so that we could hear it actually spoken/chanted...
NB> :)
DD> I was an altar boy in a high church Episcopal (St. Paul's Cathedral)
DD> congregation -- if you can picture me as wearing a red cassock and
DD> white surplice -- but, the incense literally turned my stomach ... so
DD> I gave that up.
NB> It takes a little imagination... ;) But not much to believe that the
NB> incense turned your stomach... that can be quite strong... Don't blame
NB> you for giving that up... :)
Now that the Romans have begun having their services in American (other than
one hold-out parish which is still all Latin) I can (but usually don't) attend
services in either Anglican Catholic or Roman Catholic chapels and know what is
going on and when to bob up and down, etc.
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
Title: St. Steven's Fruitcake Cookies
Categories: Cookies, Fruits, Nuts, Booze
Yield: 2 dozen
1 c Butter
2 c Sugar; all white or all
- brown or one cup of each
3 c Sifted all-purpose flour
2 lg Eggs
3 tb Baking powder
1/2 es (ea) salt, ground cloves,
- and nutmeg
2 ts Cinnamon
1/4 c Brandy, rum, sherry, port,
- red wine or fruit juice
1 c Raisins
1 c Coarse chopped walnuts,
- pecans, filberts, or
- un-blanched almonds
2 c (1 lb) chopped candied fruit
Cream the butter, cream in the sugar, and beat in the
eggs. Stir in the flour sifted with the baking soda, salt,
and spices. Add the liquid and then the raisins, nuts, and
fruit cake fruits.
With a greased tablespoon dip up 3/4 teaspoon of dough,
push from the spoon with another greased teaspoon onto a
well-buttered or oiled cookie sheet.
Bake in a pre-heated 350øF/175øC oven for 10 minutes or
until the edges are a delicate brown. Do not over-bake or
the fruit will become hard. Remove from the pans while
still warm. Cool on a rack to room temperature and store
in airtight containers.
These freeze well and are better if aged for a week before
eating.
Makes 24 or more
From the newsletter of St Stephen's Anglican Church
A parish in the classical Anglican tradition
From: http://www.ststeve.com
Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
MMMMM
... When you are eight years old nothing is any of your business - Lenny Bruce
--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-1
* Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)
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