The House of Contradictions

In the summer of 1947 we had to move from our house on Meridian Street after several years of happy living in that location. The Hodsons, who owned the property, had sold the two houses on this corner to an oil company who planned to build a gas station there.
The Hodsons had given ample notice, but Mother and Daddy were having a hard time finding a suitable house to rent. Think about it......7 people, 5 kids, 1 smelly dog.....etc, etc, etc. Our parents were getting desperate.
Dad's friends, the Hudsons, lived on West 13th Street close to down town. Mr. Hudson told Dad about a house on their block. He said the woman who lived there was having a tough time taking care of such a big house and was considering renting it. It had been built and always lived in by the Keltners. Mr Keltner had been an attorney, and at one time the house had been quite lovely, with an expansive lawn. It had been lived in for quite a number of years by one surviving daughter. She had , for some time, been unable to do necessary upkeep and repairs. She was also finding it difficult to pay utilities on such a large house. Yet it had always been her home, and it was filled to overflowing with all the family belongings. And believe me, the family had never parted with a thing.
Mother and Daddy talked to her, looked at the house, and tried to talk her into the notion of renting to them. She was reluctant. She needed to find a small apartment. She had way too much furniture and "stuff" to move, dispose of, or relocate. Besides, there was some much needed work to be done before she could rent.
With our lease nearly up, and the deadline looming, Mother called her and begged! I remember the night that mother made that call, and I remember listening to Mother presenting our case and making concessions as to what needed to be done to make the house livable.
Finally, Miss Keltner agreed, but only if we would allow her to leave belongings stored in the attic, the basement, and a large out building on the property. Also, the only work that she could do to the inside was to re-wallpaper the walls. Mother and Daddy agreed.
In a few weeks we were able to move to 322 W. 13th Street, a big grey wooden house with peeling paint that sat right on the corner right across from Central Junior High School, and diagonally from Anderson High School. Thus began the next four years that were built around a house full of contradictions, and my life full of contradictions.
First the house. It had large rooms and plenty of them. But it had no real kitchen. The room that was the only room available to be a kitchen was really a back porch with a small mop sink.
The walls in the rest of the house had been papered with basic, generic wallpaper. The floors were nice hardwood, and the woodwork and light fixtures were nice but from another era.
The house had a beautiful stairway with a stained glass window at the landing. And the dining had a dumb waiter (No, not Daddy. It was an opening with a sliding door and a sort of tray that could be raised to the second floor.) Now, how is that for elegance and a constant source of fascination to kids who were not supposed to touch this, according to Miss Keltner.
Contrast the elegant woodwork and dining room, to the peeling exterior paint and the wildly-overgrown shrubbery. And then let's look from the elegant dining room with the lovely built-in cabinetry in its bay window into the the really awful back porch that poor mother was to use for cooking. Well, Daddy located a rather nice section of white lower cabinets with a double sink that could replace the mop sink on the west wall. The stove and a small side cabinet sat on the south wall that was really an outdoor exterior wall of the house. The refrigerator sat on the east wall beside the door into what I suppose was a laundry area. This laundry area had more of Miss Keltner's belongings and a door to the off-limits basement (also full of Keltner belongings (junk).
The north wall was all windows starting half way up and going to the ceiling. Beneath the windows was bead board. Mr. Contos (I think) gave Daddy a large metal bread display shelving unit, that stood down the middle of the room. This served to store all the dishes, pans, and food that could not fit into the almost non-existent cabinet space. Actually, the bread shelf worked like magic and conveniently held a lot of equipment with wonderful work space on top. I think today's kitchen islands are copies of our bread rack. Mother and Daddy painted the kitchen either white or yellow (I'm not sure.) Then mother painted a picket fence under all the windows. Behind the picket fence were hollyhocks. She even painted a tiny mouse peeking out from behind the fence right by the back door. It was for the amusement of the milk man who left the milk bottles in that spot. Mother made ruffly white curtains for the windows. You know, other than being cold in the winter, it was a pretty cute kitchen.
Now let's consider that expansive lawn. Expansive? Yes. Overgrown and wild? Definitely.
I think it was Daddy's hope that , with four sons, one of them would decide to be a gardener. Sadly, this never worked out. Other than mowing when they really HAD to, the boys never found any interest in yard work. I think there might have been some shrub pruning ( a very minimum.) Oh, but we did have that requisite line of peony plants, so yea rah for Memorial Day.
Outbuildings? Yes, there was that one dark red shed full of the Keltner belongings safely locked to keep out curious kids. And, oh my , were we curious. Then there was a very ugly crumbling and dangerous brick and block foundation from a demolished barn. It was a lovely, picturesque addition to the back yard right off the alley.
The location itself made for a lot of contradictions. It seemed like it should be just ideal since it was a close, walking distance to down town and shopping. It was right across from the schools.
But, at the same time it was a good distance from any bus stop, so difficult for Daddy's commute to work. So he bought a used Packard. Finally we had a car! However, it was always gone with Daddy, and he worked all the time. Remember, he worked for General Motors. That Packard must have made him very popular at work. His point was that used Packards sold at a real bargain in a General Motors town. Also the house was in such a highly traveled and highly visible area. And, as a kid, I wasn't always proud to say that I lived in that house with the grey, peeling paint and the overgrown shrubs.
You see, I lived in that house throughout the MOST contradictory years of a girl's life - from
6th grade through 9th grade - eleven to fourteen - right when a girl is changing from child to teen and is absolutely a crazy mess of changing hormones. I had to leave all my lifelong friends and go to a new school where I knew no one. My folks did get permission for me to finish my sixth grade year at Central Avenue School. However, I had to walk to town each morning and catch the city bus to school, then eat at Grandma Lininger's at noon (like that was a hardship), and then Daddy usually picked me up after work or I caught the bus back home. Oh, and I took music lessons at school. I was learning to play the marching band chimes (those vertical things called the glockenspiel). And I had to carry them back and forth each day. Needless to say, I never aspired to marching band in high school. Then, in seventh grade I went to Central Jr. High, right across the street, and knew not one person there. I hated junior high!
But, those years did have a bright side. I had a bedroom of my own! For the very first time in my life! Not only that, but Miss Keltner had papered it in pink floral paper. And the Canaday's gave me their daughter's bedroom furnishings. She had married and they were turning her room into a den. I had a twin bed with a rose sateen ruffled spread, a long mirrored vanity with a matching rose sateen skirt, and rose matching curtains. There were two large windows that looked out at the tops of leafy, green trees. I felt like a princess!
So you see, sometimes I loved the 13th St. house, and sometimes I hated living there.
It just depended on the day, and from where it was viewed. I missed south Anderson and all my friends there. I didn't like school there. The boys seemed to be happy. David had a great friend across the street named Garl. Later I will tell you some David/Garl adventures. The Hudsons lived a few doors down and had seven children, but none really matched us in ages. I did play with Julia who was a little younger, and took piano lessons from Mrs. Hudson, who slept through most of my lessons. (Well, wouldn't you if you had seven children and a chance to sit down?)
But I have many stories to share about this interesting house, and this entry is too long already. Just imagine, if you will, a house with a locked basement, attic, and outbuilding, where children are told that they must NOT ENTER those areas. Led to some very interesting adventures!