Hilda Carlson Ruberg Interview #1, 6/19/1976

Description: With Helena Carlson (sister-in-law) Work as cook, housekeeper and farmer. Women's responsibilities at home, Childbirth and children's ignorance. Neighborhood entertainment. 6-19-76 2 hr p KP
Date: 1976-06-19 Location: Troy; Big Meadow; Genesee; Burnt Ridge; Spokane Subjects: Norwegian Americans; accidents; childbirth; children; chores; clothing; cooking; dances; dating; death; families; ; farming; fishing; food; literary; music; newspapers; pregnancy; threshing; winter; women
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Hilda Carlson Ruberg

Born 1893
Occupation: Farm wife; harvest cook; housekeeper
Residence: Big Meadow; Burnt Ridge; Troy
      
      Sam Schrager: This conversation with Hilda Carlson, Ruth Berg and Helena Cartwright. CARLSON Sisters in law took place on June 19, 1976. The interviewer was Karen Petite.
    
      Helena Carlson: Said a new.
    
      Karen Purtee: There we go.
    
      Unknown Speaker: My family.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, I think I had it on the floor. You didn't have to look at.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: That, was it?
    
      Karen Purtee: no. I had the black woman.
    
      Helena Carlson: On the block for me to have the black one.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay. Now, we'll start with your family and then maybe how you got here and why.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, well, my father had been out here during the summer, and he bought this farm out here in Big Meadow. And then in November, I brought the whole family out. There were 11 children at that time. And we landed the try. And that November the 12th and no, November I. What was it? November?
    
      Helena Carlson: Just us, It was on August.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, it was November. Was it November 1912? And so when we got here, it was at night and we had to stay in the hotel and down here. And then the morning we got the somebody to take us out there and a hat, you know, And the mud was hugged deep in the streets and try them. And they drove out.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: They were three miles out there. And then my brother had come out first. He came up with the carload and stopped, you know, horses on so and so. He was already out their eyes. And so I didn't know from then on in that house that the mood in there was just nothing but these and up and down boards with the swabs on the cracks.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And I had to fix up the house for a they realized the house inside, you know, on paper didn't slide it around the outside. So it keep warm during the winter. And so then in January, I and my two sisters went to Spokane to find work. You know, of course, we were a large family. We couldn't live at home and so we were there.
    
      Karen Purtee: But I think you were about 19.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, I was 19. And we did housework just like everybody else around here went broke. And to do housework, you know, in those days in office, get it. And then either about a year and a half when I married and then we moved out to Detroit, bought a farm, options weren't really lived out very rich. Well, up until 48.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: But then I lost my first husband in 39 and he remarried again in 1931 and I remarried again in 36. So I still live that I'm the rich.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then we sold out in 48.
    
      Karen Purtee: well, your husband wasn't from Troy then.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, well, not the first husband, but he had relatives. That's right. I met him in Spokane at that time. I didn't know he had relatives in Troy.
    
      Unknown Speaker: I think the Calvert.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You know. And I remember that. Yeah, And elsewhere, his cousins.
    
      Karen Purtee: So I. Small world.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Then you know us.
    
      Karen Purtee: And then. Well you came from Dakota, I hope.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: North Dakota.
    
      Karen Purtee: South Dakota and by train.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: By train. Yeah. That was, I think two and a half day trip out on the train.
    
      Unknown Speaker: And.
    
      Helena Carlson: That's a.
    
      Karen Purtee: Long time for a big family. Yeah. You were you the oldest girl When.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I was the oldest girl? Yeah. And was older. I was. But I was the oldest girl, so I didn't know. And then, of course, they had the farm, you know, And just like anybody else did out here, you know, And woods.
    
      Helena Carlson: They cut wood.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Well, I never didn't get any wood. More meat out there on the farm out there. yeah. The folks out there. Yeah. Yeah. They would make their living out of town, so. so they. It was just a farm with just a few acres cleared one day, you know, and then didn't take very long. So they had several acres, maybe a hundred acres that they were, you.
    
      Karen Purtee: Know, the boys did this and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Did that in the air. And the other boys, you know, they and of course, they the after they got mad enough, period, romantic person buys into the woods to work. You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: They that your father stayed in farm.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, he stayed in farm but my mother died in 92 and so he did find a couple of years after.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Which.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay well what, what type of duties did you have then? You went to Spokane and became a housekeeper.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Or We just did record housework, you know, and did the cooking and kept the house up.
    
      Unknown Speaker: The whole thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We always had Thursday afternoon off to go to town.
    
      Karen Purtee: They give you Sunday off too or just.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well sometimes you had some meal. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes there you had to be there. They had company, you know, because maybe we could have Sunday afternoon off too.
    
      Karen Purtee: So. And they had a place for you to live or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, we lived right in the house. Yeah, I it was all kind of fun, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you work for more than one or two?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, I know it was. It is one most of the entire time. I started out at one place, you know, and I liked it there, but I didn't like it as well. I thought if I could, you know, But the back door neighbor wanted me over there. Or she had a girl, you know, working for her and she was leaving and she wanted me to work for her.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So I did the.
    
      Unknown Speaker: yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. They were awful nice for me.
    
      Helena Carlson: how to meet you, man?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I meet my man. Wire.
    
      Unknown Speaker: That.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Advance,
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, That's funny. And they happen to be separate relatives. I didn't know that on the men.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, this is that One of the things you did on your Thursday afternoon often was to go dance?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we went to. Yeah, Thursday evening because we'd had the whole afternoon off saying. Yeah. Every Thursday evenings, every now and, and then there were several girls from Troy working up there. We all met downtown City and went to the dance. yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: And her mother bragged about it. She said Hilda got the best man in the whole country, and Mabel got the second best.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Nice.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you have a lot of responsibility at home because you were the oldest girl, did you?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yes. I have to do more. Yes, I had to do more of that because the other side was younger. Me. If anybody needed neighbors, they didn't help. They went to help the neighbors, you know. But I was I was the one at home. Yeah. Because I had to take care of the little kids and did the cooking and helped her out.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You know, my mother did so much outside to, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: did you?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, you know, we have a lot of cows and so on. Had big gardens and all that. And she was outside working and I had to help her inside and outside. Yeah, we were all busy all the time.
    
      Karen Purtee: Do you have any idea how your father found out about this part of the country?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, he just thought he wanted to go out west and he went to Oregon first. He went to Burns, Oregon, and you'd heard about that country. We got out there and saw them running up jackrabbits.
    
      Unknown Speaker: He got out of that.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And so he came to Moscow and he came down to Florida and he met Mr. Duffy. This place belong to Mr. Duffy. And so he just decided he couldn't go back home without buying some things.
    
      Unknown Speaker: He he thought.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: That he.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Had to have.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Something or, you know, we're gonna be disappointed. Come back, you know? And he really he just paid so much down, you know, because he thought he wasn't going to keep and came back. And mother was so happy about it, you know. And so when the time comes to go, he didn't want to go. And she says, you're going.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And she liked it so well out here. She was from Norway. And she said it just reminded her of Norway.
    
      Karen Purtee: all the green.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Was green trees and.
    
      Helena Carlson: Everything. And then there were a lot of other normal white people.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, a lot of Scandinavians around here. So. they were like it, though. He learned to like it, to make it with a lot of hard work for him. You know, you he's been farming. He wasn't used to this sawing timber and.
    
      Karen Purtee: Your brother mentioned that you had a little sister that died.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Yeah, she died. I think she was only four. She died in 22.
    
      Karen Purtee: The same year as your mother.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No mother died. And 23 of them were the then 22, you know, friend died in a drunk inmate being and Mother died 22. Yeah. She was born in 1914. She was born everything out here. yeah. And she got burned you know. Yeah. She and, and just the, the day before day and Sunday this was on and Senator we'd all had a reunion the first time the whole family had all been together.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: At one time my brother was in the Navy and he was home and, and of course my sister worked in Spokane and, and maybe my other sister lived over in Montana and we all got together, went down to try and had a picture taken on Monday and the next morning caught my brother in the Navy, had gone took the train that evening and went back to the East Coast.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And the next morning while I, my sister and my mother upstairs making beds. And then Fern just got out of bed. She just woke up and went downstairs, you know, and Berkeley stayed upstairs and as she went downstairs where she went down out to the front porch to with the dog out there. And on her way out, she picked up some matches, I guess, and was lighting matches on the front porch.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And I guess the head flew off with a match, you know, and her nightgown and and they heard her screaming and they ran down there and she couldn't get in the front door. I guess it was okay around here, around the house. And the flames was just up above my head, you know, only porter nightgown or something either.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: But she died a couple of days after.
    
      Karen Purtee: What did they do for people then were burned?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, there wasn't no doctor in town and they found a mask. But I guess it just happened that a doctor happened to come through town, was going to locate here, and somebody said, well, there was a doctor in town. So he came out there and I didn't know he couldn't do very much for her. And she was so badly burned all on her on her body here and her hair was.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So your eyebrows fell from your lips or burned, you know, saying that they said that it was a it was burned so deep, you know, I had observed poisons inside or something.
    
      Unknown Speaker: waterboarding. Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: But she lived about two days. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: This happened Tuesday morning and she died Wednesday evening.
    
      Helena Carlson: She was such a cute man.
    
      Karen Purtee: I remember seeing the picture. It must have been hard on your mother. it.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Was. It was all for her.
    
      Karen Purtee: Because I know I've heard some people say, you know, well, half their children lived in because of the different problems that they had with with all the diseases, you know. But she had all her children. Yeah. And they they all.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Lived to be quite a while, too, you know.
    
      Helena Carlson: And then when they said, I believe, didn't they say your family, all those children and never a one had a broken bone. Yeah. Well, until you broke your hair. Now.
    
      Karen Purtee: My goodness. And that comes from good living,
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: And they did wild things like climbing up under out. That was in Dakota that they climbed up on the windmill.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, I was up there, too.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Good to get.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Down.
    
      Helena Carlson: Really? Actually has a broken finger to prove it. yeah, that is.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, that had that cut off in the windmill.
    
      Unknown Speaker: no.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. And that the the town has got up on the roof because mother wasn't home is important. Daddy's working with you. And my brother climbed up, but it was kind of a house under the windmill, see, because they ground feet with the windmill too. And that they'd been the grinder was down under the. And when you climbed up there they want to get up the windmill and of the eaves came this way and you had to get out over this.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You don't want to get up. And so it went clear up to the top of the windmill. I and I sat on the roof, but when it came down to come, get down, you know, I couldn't get down. I couldn't get over the roof. So I was sitting there crying. Her mother came.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Home,
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So happy that I'm going to.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Be living.
    
      Karen Purtee: Too happy about.
    
      Unknown Speaker: That.
    
      Karen Purtee: I think you learned your lesson this Monday and up there.
    
      Helena Carlson: What was it when you were up on there that you got.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: To know and that were that were just as were that were the windmill hooked up to the pump? You know, the window was idling. It wasn't hooked up to the pump. And of course, you know, there's a hole where you stick the bolt in hook. And so Edward cut his finger in the hole and let it get to the hole where it went through.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: He'd pull it out and you up this way, you know, come down. And I couldn't do it. And I didn't put my hand up. My finger went through the hole at all.
    
      Karen Purtee: That sounds to me like you. And there's a little bit have a lot.
    
      Unknown Speaker: O.
    
      Karen Purtee: O o Always good things. You have to have fun.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Have fun.
    
      Helena Carlson: That I was reading that letter that you wrote to him, you know, about the taking the horse or taking home and I forgotten the names of the people, the girl that had the buggy and was going to give you a ride.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, that was mainly done.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, what's that all about?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: that the teacher had had spanked me for something that I didn't do, and we're just getting ready to go home from school. And that was Belle Thomas was jealous us that Mamie Dad was going to take it home. See? So she went up, I'm told the teacher teacher with her and see and she said that Mamie is going to take Helen Eddy home.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And she said, No, ma'am, you've got to go home. And he'll run it. He's got to walk home. And she came down and told me that happened. So I just asked and now I said, Well, I use a room. He wants to take me home. We were only six years old, you know, It made me want to take me home.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I guess she can, you know. And I went up until her teacher I called her an old fat sausage.
    
      Unknown Speaker: But I don't know.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I think I've seen anything like that. So the teacher came down behind the bar and they, you know, got me to put her crosses or a lap, you know, respect me and so she said Mamie had to go home. So I ran all the way home across the fields and they took it home. But they let him off about a quarter mile from home in the teacher thing.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And it and I got home before.
    
      Unknown Speaker: It and the dirt road all the way.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And so we told her to, you know, what happened. So mama got mad and hitched up the horse.
    
      Unknown Speaker: And buggy, went forward and told the teacher all that,
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I could do that. I could do that. But we've got everything that's goes back and I never got to.
    
      Helena Carlson: And it didn't deserve that. Well, the other girl really deserved it for telling a lie.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, I know. It's a lot of things that jealousy will do for kids. You, you'd finish school, and by the time you came out here.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, of course. I never went any further than eighth grade. You know, that was pretty good.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Okay.
    
      Karen Purtee: That was good one. yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: The tumor was all over. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: When we first started school, we only had two months a year. You know, when we first started summer. And then I think we only went to nine months to about one year. You know it. Good. Then we went for seven months.
    
      Helena Carlson: For two months, and then I remember that letter you was telling that it only had two months.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: The school year isn't something.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was that because of the weather in Dakotas? I don't.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Know why. I don't know why.
    
      Helena Carlson: It was like what they used to say about Dakota. People ask if you stayed in the school and they said, Yes, sir. How long were you there? Two winters, The summer?
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: The weather was so violent during the winter. They had regular blizzards. You seen just blue grass and people couldn't travel. Did you remember that?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, Yeah, I know. We we drove to school, you know, we had three miles of that time and we drove, drove, you know, and a cutter and a couple of horses. There's a lot of snow.
    
      Helena Carlson: Just blue and blue. All even Dad said covered the fences and everything. So you couldn't even see that there was a fence and they drove right on top.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yes. And there wasn't very many fences there where we lived. You know, nobody had seen their fields. So if you came to a big snowdrift or something, you could kind of drive around it, you know, because there was no fences to stop.
    
      Karen Purtee: You, no fences to stop the snow.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: But I know I saw snow drifts high right in our barnyard. You know, that was ten feet high that we used to close down.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, golly, that's a lot of snow.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And it was there one year. It was the snow was so deep that it would be around the house. You couldn't see out the windows and they had to climb up the back to get up, you know, to get to the barn and do the chores. And they finally cut a tunnel, burn, you know, so they get out and do chores.
    
      Karen Purtee: no wonder you came to and.
    
      Unknown Speaker: The.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Snow here, too. But then it didn't drift.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: And it didn't have the wind. Then the first year we were out here, wasn't it the first that first winter again. Six feet on the level.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Well, six feet. And it was just beautiful. The snow would be about that high on top of each fencepost. Know we said it looked just like a Christmas card, you know, the trees and everything was just beautiful and all.
    
      Helena Carlson: Then just for fun.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, I know.
    
      Helena Carlson: But I don't know. Then that was the spring, too, I guess, either. That spring, it must be when it started melting that we had the crest. Yeah. And the snow and everybody had so much fun with crest I think. Of course. Right over the snow. walk on it. Walk on it. I remember when l when I first discovered it, that was our first experience with Crest.
    
      Helena Carlson: We went out there and very carefully, you know, then got it on our stomachs crawl round. We did. And we tried it by walking and then we just discovered we could run on it. And boy, we were couple like a couple of fairies.
    
      Unknown Speaker: In the.
    
      Helena Carlson: Snow in the. It was moonlight too. It was beautiful. We were out there sailing room, not getting sighted, wouldn't walk on the snow.
    
      Karen Purtee: When was that? What they call the Silver Star or the silver crest or silver thigh?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: It counted, I guess.
    
      Helena Carlson: I don't. Yeah, I suppose it and rain one thing another that the snow had settled by that time and if you see some impact and then from there so it was really quite exciting.
    
      Karen Purtee: You had a piece of that what is it, sediment that even when.
    
      Helena Carlson: It went down your throat.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah, of going.
    
      Karen Purtee: How did your mother have all her children at home or with a doctor or. Yeah. Midwife Yes.
    
      Helena Carlson: All born at home.
    
      Karen Purtee: All at home. She had. Doctor Summer did.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Sometimes, and sometimes it.
    
      Karen Purtee: Just depended on if he was around.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well let's. I know she had the doctor for Alice and Frances, you know, that was. I can't remember, but they're all born at home that have somebody come in, you know, you know some.
    
      Karen Purtee: Woman come in or you weren't old enough when.
    
      Helena Carlson: The last ones gave them on.
    
      Karen Purtee: Talbot.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, Talbot, No.
    
      Helena Carlson: And what did you do with the rest? Your kid is going to have a baby. We were all alone. Were you? yeah. I remember when Hester was born and why we were invited to go up and visit Grandmother. so we weren't at home, you know, that time? Yeah, that's Brother was the doctor. They didn't live too far from us, so he was down there.
    
      Helena Carlson: Remember, Albert? I said, You bet you. We know what's going to happen, that they're going to have a baby.
    
      Karen Purtee: But they didn't. They didn't tell you. You just had to guess it. They hadn't told.
    
      Helena Carlson: Them words, you know, in those days didn't tell people like they do now. And the other kids know all about it. They know all about it.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: From the beginning, but not when we were growing up.
    
      Karen Purtee: We didn't know if you noticed that there was something different about your mother.
    
      Helena Carlson: I can't remember now. You have to remember that we didn't either. You make an impression. We saw the cows and the pigs smell like cats. But we never thought too much about that either. And we definitely never thought about whether.
    
      Karen Purtee: What was the explanation for the new baby in the house?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, I can't remember. I remember when Bill was born, you know, and one of the neighbor women was over there, you know, And so they said that they'd found him in a Hawks nest.
    
      Helena Carlson: I can't remember if I ought to if we were so gullible, I guess, that we didn't really need any explanation. I guess they just said they they had a baby sister for us. But in a way, in our little minds, we kind of had a feeling we knew where the baby had come from, but we never talked it over with the folks and they never talked it over with us.
    
      Helena Carlson: But my sister and I, we kind of talked it over between ourselves, you know? And I remember we were just little kids. And and I think it was after that or no, it was before that because we were younger. And I remember I think she said, you know, she said, I think I'm going to have a baby. I said, do you?
    
      Helena Carlson: And she had she was here. She was.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Years old. How old?
    
      Helena Carlson: she was doing five or six. What made her think she was going to have a baby? I don't know why she thought so. She said, you know, I kind of think I'm going to have a baby.
    
      Unknown Speaker: In 20 years.
    
      Helena Carlson: Out of session.
    
      Unknown Speaker: yeah, I.
    
      Helena Carlson: Baby never.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Progressed. Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: not at that age. But we did. I suppose we had kind of an idea about things because by then all of us had cows, you see, and they ran the bull with the cows and we saw a lot of carrying on like that. But I don't, I really don't know it to begin with. Even that didn't make any impression, particularly only that after a while they were all they begin to have cows, you know, And I suppose in our stupid little minds why there's something there might have been a sort of connection.
    
      Helena Carlson: They'd finally that there was.
    
      Karen Purtee: But you were never sat down and explain things.
    
      Helena Carlson: I never thought.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We were doing.
    
      Karen Purtee: Everything. What about as a girl matured when the facts of life became necessary?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we didn't never talk about that either.
    
      Karen Purtee: We just got a surprise.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah, Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: I know. My mother gave me some a little pamphlet to read one time. That was the only thing that was ever said about that time, you know, And she was on the watch, you know, And I remember when it first happened. Well, I was scared to death. I had eaten beets that day.
    
      Unknown Speaker: And I thought that was what it was.
    
      Helena Carlson: And I remember hiding in my closet, you know, and I was wondering, what on earth do I start worrying about it and everything? Like I was sure to be never again. never again. And I then I guess my mother knew that there was something she was watching. And so then she said, Well, I'm prepared, but you just expect that, she said.
    
      Helena Carlson: And then she told me probably how awful it would be and everything. That was my information.
    
      Karen Purtee: Just like that. Okay. Because now they have movies and books. Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: And the boys get the information just like the girls in them.
    
      Helena Carlson: And then they, you know, I understand. I didn't see that, but they even showed a birth on the TV from beginning to end. And I don't know if they show it to the kids or not.
    
      Karen Purtee: I yeah, they showed it at 7:00 at night and I sat down when my daughter watched it.
    
      Helena Carlson: Maybe a l. I know I don't remember. I must have been. It was after we'd come to Troy. I never did watch a birth even of a kitten, and I was too embarrassed to watch that. I came in the house one day and there was some other cat. I figured what was happening. She was giving birth to her.
    
      Helena Carlson: Kittens are very gently a picture of Christian and all and put her out on the porch. I know, but I wouldn't watch because I didn't want to embarrass her. Well, that's the closest I ever watched a bird to this day.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I never didn't watch versus a kitten or puppy, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: I was going to say, you know, that the kids that are raised on a farm see these things and they don't need to see it on television. But you didn't.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: They never did see it. You never did. You never saw calf born or anything, you know, because it all was happening, you know, when you weren't around.
    
      Helena Carlson: So I was in my teens. I know before Well, along in my teens, when this cat was I came upon her. Of course, I've seen it on TV. You know my word. Yeah. It came popping out and.
    
      Unknown Speaker: You know.
    
      Helena Carlson: Deer, buffalo, whatever. Here they are. They've gone through it all. So I've seen it on the TV set now. But this last year.
    
      Karen Purtee: Do you think that that because children didn't have these facts available, that they led a more carefree life than they do today?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I don't know. They seemed to me like and they were a whole lot better off.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, better behaved.
    
      Helena Carlson: Even better behaved. At least they were children. They didn't have all of this other. We played like kids play and we had fun just playing. We did a lot of make believing we had, the man and the girl were going together and we had families and everything like that, but we didn't have all this other information and I don't think we missed it.
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, I think we missed something.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: But even little kids now, like I know my great grandchildren on their get together, they play that way. I'm the mama and you're the pop. I'm you're the kids. You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: We still have a married. That's a good sign. I'm not so sure.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: I don't know. What were some of the things that you remember playing as a child?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I see. We used did it get out in the dirt and then we were harvesting make little piles and dirt economic shocks, and it would make a little threshing machine. He'd give a cane, you know, and make the engine and a separator every 3 to 1, you know, and made things. And then we put this dirt through it, you know, just pretending it was thrashing.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Stuff like that. yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We were farming.
    
      Karen Purtee: we're just doing what your where did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How about household chores? As a little girl, did you have things you had to do and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yes, we had to wash dishes and I know and, and, and I had to scrub the kitchen floor and I'm painted boards, you know, and the boards are about that way. And we had to paint and scrub it and scrap so many boards and he'd script so many boards. yeah. We had pictures like that. And we were just little kids, about nine, eight, nine years old.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then that, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: okay, let's see.
    
      Helena Carlson: in our it's of course we had lots of cows, dairy, you know, so we, we playing like that. I remember an 11 I going out in the courtyard. We had pitch gum. We didn't have gum. You couldn't by gum. Then we'd boom by pitch on the trees on certain pitch was real good. We'd lay there and two kids we practiced like we had just.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Okay.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now there's one other thing that I was thinking about that that is really interesting to me, and that's you were a cook for the thrashing crew and traveled around with them.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, that was here in Idaho. And my sister and I cooked in the cook wagon in 1913 and we were down in the Genesee Country right near the right in the rimrock, and then we thrashed for one man for 30 days. Now we were down there.
    
      Karen Purtee: Gravy was too had a big crop.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. You have acres of land. We had 28 men and we cooked four and made the we big have breakfast 6:00 in the morning because they got start threshing I think about 430 in the morning and threshing till six. They come in for breakfast you know, and we had dinner at 1130 and lunch again about 4:00 in the afternoon.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then their supper at 8:00 at night for meals.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay. Now what kind of stuff did you cook on these different interests?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Vegetables and potatoes, you know, and meats and desserts. You know, in those days we didn't serve salads and we they never bothered to think for us to serve salads or anything like that. But it just and then breakfast was always bacon pancakes and eggs, you know, oatmeal, stuff like that. And of course, we baked our own bread and everything.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Pretty.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, for 28, man, we're.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: 28.
    
      Karen Purtee: Men who are hungry.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then their sister and I slept in a tent outside. So every night when we went to bed, we'd look around for see, there's a new rattlesnakes.
    
      Karen Purtee: yeah, they have those down there. Did you ever find any? I never did find out.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Sure. We're afraid to go in the tent that night.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yes. We spent that on the ground.
    
      Karen Purtee: Then what was your. Your schedule like? What time did you get up?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I got up at 4:00 in the morning to get the table set. You know, on everything. And that made us sleepy and all. So about 530, I call her, and I got up and got everything started, you know. So we have of course, we had to make a lot of hot cakes ahead of time and get started on, you know.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how it was kind of fun.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, okay. What do you do for water?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, they hold water. They hold water in barrels.
    
      Karen Purtee: So then you didn't have to go find a spring or they brought it home.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You camped out in the fields, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: So did you move often or. you sitting here?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, no, We had moved quite often.
    
      Karen Purtee: So. So you never knew if the wagon was going to roll and you were turning some.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Of those hills? Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah, We had a lot of steep rides. Would you make the brand?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I did make the bed in the morning, and I had to have it then sort to go in the other and I didn't have roofs similar, you know, where we'd fix it. So that I think we really make it in the afternoon, you know, makes it seem like it took a long time.
    
      Karen Purtee: How many loaves did you.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Have to turn? I can't remember. But no, we made a lot of loaves. We had a great big pan, you know, but the big round about so deep, you know, that makes the ribbon.
    
      Karen Purtee: That's a good sized washtub.
    
      Unknown Speaker: There was.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I did all the baking Mayberry, I suppose we did the washing the dishes and peeling the potatoes, you know, and.
    
      Karen Purtee: That's a lot of dishes for 28. Man Yeah. And then the two you. Yeah, you do occasionally, yeah. What was the setup inside these cook wagons. Well, did you do cooking outside or was it all inside.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, it's all inside. Pretty good size and they had two tables, you know, just like you. You go into a restaurant, you know, a table with two men sat on each side. There were several tables.
    
      Helena Carlson: Along, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: All the men even aiding the cook, like,
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yes.
    
      Karen Purtee: My goodness. Okay. yes. It must have been a pretty big thing that it was like a like a bus.
    
      Unknown Speaker: A house, you.
    
      Karen Purtee: Know? It was like a house.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, it's like a house on wheels.
    
      Karen Purtee: because I've seen some pictures and they look so small and I'm trying to think of how you could make bread, you know, and things. Yeah. In such enclosed areas. But this was besides.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Your home of the cook house. You don't have it here, do you? You know, so it seemed to me like it wasn't. You want to. She had them enlarged from the old photos we had taken, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: And so anyway one, one side then was all seating area, both sides.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Both sides and both came down to these stools you know. Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now did this have a solid roof monitor with.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Some of I think it had a shingle roof and then there's windows on the outside, you know, and they've had the canvas that, that, that.
    
      Karen Purtee: Family that picture that was taken.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Had a little girl that got burned.
    
      Karen Purtee: she was Prudie. Now which one is you.
    
      Helena Carlson: I'm the skinny one.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Up here. I looked terrible. I was so thin at that time.
    
      Karen Purtee: And now that's in style. And the mustache on your. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Now, this one's Melvin, right? Yeah. Yeah. He was telling me I never could get his tie straight in time, remember?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, that's part of the cookout. See? You see, that is like.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, it still doesn't look too big to me.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, it was pretty good size, so.
    
      Karen Purtee: And, well, how many men could sit in it at once.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We don't count them all at one time.
    
      Karen Purtee: You get all 28 in the wagon at one time. Okay. So then then you did the cooking and you waited on the tables and then you cleaned up afterwards and you did that four times a day.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, well, three times a day. We took the lunch out to the field in the afternoon.
    
      Unknown Speaker: yeah. that was nice. Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Gave you a change of scenery.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, then how did you get out? Did you just walk out?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Whether it was about the head or asked about it came and goes.
    
      Karen Purtee: with a wagon.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. He was the one that went and did all the grocery shopping and all that stuff.
    
      Karen Purtee: I was going to ask about that too.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. You're asked about the car.
    
      Karen Purtee: And you had you made up menus and told him what to get or he just brought you something and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we wrote what we wanted. And then if he thought we needed something else, he brought that to, you know, So I see.
    
      Karen Purtee: Where that must have been. And how old were you then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I was. I was 20 then and Mabel was 18.
    
      Karen Purtee: For 30 days. You get 30 days, get up at four in the morning. They set the table for. Yeah. That still doesn't look very big to me when you think about you must have had a big stove.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, we had a wood range. You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did they, did they have a sink built in or did you walk.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We had to wash in Japan.
    
      Karen Purtee: Or you spread them out on the table here. Okay.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: you see this is. Yeah. Half of the side here. And the other side was, you know that way too, you see. there's a table there. And the tables on this side.
    
      Helena Carlson: Just like a cook shack in the camps. Well, I'm logging Kels. I'm leaving in the same way.
    
      Karen Purtee: I'm trying to think I'll say 28. And there was four men at each table. So you must have had at least.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: There would have to be.
    
      Karen Purtee: 17.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Men on each side, you know? So, yeah, that, I guess. Five women I know about. Two men.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay, Now, for breakfast, we had hotcakes and egg eggs.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And bacon and eggs and oatmeal.
    
      Karen Purtee: And oatmeal. They really had their choice. And then what? What was the. The dinner that.
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, they had lunch in the afternoon.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we didn't have much because they ate breakfast at six and then dinner at 1130 zero. So at noon it was always a roast. Roast beef or roast pork or maybe boiling beef or something like that, you know, or meat notes. And then the potatoes and gravy and their vegetables and their desserts. You know what?
    
      Karen Purtee: What kind of desserts did you.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I made pioneer me every day.
    
      Karen Purtee: Every day I pick out one day a week to make a pie or a loaf of bread.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: Is this ever.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: True? They want pie every day. yeah. They play every day. I mean.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you use fresh fruit then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, they used mostly fresh fruit. They had.
    
      Karen Purtee: You didn't have to dump out of the cans like we.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Did these days.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You know, And it's fresh fruit. Apples are.
    
      Karen Purtee: You had to tell them. yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah. Let's see. How many pies would that take you.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I don't remember how many times you made it for 20 men. You know, we cut them pies in five pieces and things made about six pie.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, six packs a day. Whatever it took in the way, Grant. And then the lunch in the afternoon about four years. SAT. Yeah. And you took that out in the field. So that would be sandwiches.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Sandwiches and donuts and.
    
      Karen Purtee: Donuts You made to donuts? They made.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Cookies. We make a lot of cookies.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now take it. You didn't have time to sit down and watch anything on the television.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Know if there was.
    
      Helena Carlson: Television, we'd never be able.
    
      Unknown Speaker: To. Some.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. okay. And then. And then they came in for supper.
    
      Helena Carlson: And why did you have to then? I'm curious.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: it's about the same thing, I guess. You know, And we'd have steaks and pork chops and stuff like that.
    
      Karen Purtee: Something a little bit lighter. What did he say?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And potatoes, You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: And then did they go back and out work after supper? No, no. And then they were gone.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And they.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Say it's sweet.
    
      Karen Purtee: But you still have the dishes today.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, we still have the dishes.
    
      Karen Purtee: So. So what time would you get?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: It involves about 1034. We get them in.
    
      Karen Purtee: And then up again at four. And they did that nonstop. Or did they take some days off?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: no. That was unless it rained. You don't think they had much rain?
    
      Karen Purtee: No, you didn't even take Sundays off.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No. Sunday and everything worked right.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. And you didn't have any rain 30 days straight of that schedule.
    
      Karen Purtee: Ha. Did you have any free time to yourself, like to wash your hair or. Or go for hikes or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we never had to wash your hair once.
    
      Karen Purtee: No, no. I mean to relax or anything.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, there wasn't really any time to relax about it. Just work. Work all the time.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, I believe it. And then you had to keep the place clean,
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, I was scrubbing it to, you know, scrubbing the floors.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah, In between, like you guys.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Been doing plumbing. Know I went out in the field some place.
    
      Karen Purtee: Find a small rise.
    
      Unknown Speaker: I was like, Yeah, it was private.
    
      Helena Carlson: dear. They didn't fix anything up for, you.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Know, I don't. Or anything fixed.
    
      Karen Purtee: and were your brothers on these crews too or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. And I'm, they're my dad and then. the other granddaughter. Lucky to be out there.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, I guess this was kind of their thrashing crew. Then they hired the rest of the guys.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, this is a threshing crew from Troy. They were the Johnson brothers. They had, you know, in those days, it was people from up on this part of the country like planes. And those used to go down there and do all the harvesting. You know, they didn't have a threshing machines down there. People came in and then it.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, now this must have been the slack time of year for farmers around here then.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well it was the harvest.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was that much later.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah it was later.
    
      Karen Purtee: So that they could go harvest for something else.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So my dad, you know, he had a band wagon, you know, on the team and that and as soon as they. Right. Or pitching or something and yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: I think didn't or didn't or maybe he didn't even my dad went down to.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah your dad is on there too.
    
      Helena Carlson: He had a team but a little.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Wreck.
    
      Karen Purtee: And then somebody else had the thrashing and just kind of got together and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, they.
    
      Karen Purtee: Went out and, and they.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Hired their men here, you know, took the men and all from here, all the pitchers and the bundle wrecks, you know, the farmers that had his own bomber rack and team, you know, and that's the way they did. They hired him like that. My dad. And then they heard the pictures in the sector.
    
      Karen Purtee: Your dad's in there, too? Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: He had a good team.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then there is a man.
    
      Helena Carlson: In this looks like in there. He had a team.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Did they have a team?
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah, I think it had.
    
      Karen Purtee: You standing on wagon.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Or was he. I think he's a pitcher.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay. Now, what was the breakdown? How many people pitched and how many people.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Are trying to think? I think they had about eight men the wagons and that with be about five pitchers or something because the wagons and I'll be out there at the same time you see.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then there was the the engineer and the fire man and then they have a man hauling water. Water came from the engine and then there was them, the sacks sauce and, and then they had the a man with the machine gun and then one of teams came in, they had the men pitching the bundles into the machine.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Then I forget what they call those, the head of the machine all the time. You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: He's not the bundle pitcher.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, it ain't the pitcher from out in the field. They were there.
    
      Karen Purtee: But I know pitchers are out in field and pitching into the way.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. And then they had another pitcher at the machine, you know, pitching the batter machine.
    
      Karen Purtee: So they just drive the wagon in and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Walk back out.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. They've got the empty where they went back out for another load and others coming in. So I saw they were just rolling around about all the time they pitched in from both sides of the machine.
    
      Karen Purtee: That's a good picture. That machine too.
    
      Helena Carlson: I was trying to think, was it around here? The end. So sex?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Convert ratio. Sounds like some.
    
      Karen Purtee: Email about that. About that. You got that being the hardest job.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, no producer.
    
      Karen Purtee: Thanks a lot. Because he had to pick them up.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Jiggle him a couple of times before the seven.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Carry them over the sack and boy, they wait, you know, and I guess £175 or something like that, maybe more.
    
      Karen Purtee: Those guys must have had quite an appetite working like that, you know? I bet you slept well at night, so. Yeah.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah, you did.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, in one way. You know, I had a clock alarm clock that we couldn't depend on, so I really didn't sleep too sound because I was afraid I was going to oversleep. boy. the clock would start. I would hear it when it would stop ticking. Is that our shaking?
    
      Karen Purtee: What a way to relax after, I guess. Now you're going to look closer with your spyglass. Going to see security confirmed. Now, you.
    
      Helena Carlson: She was her.
    
      Karen Purtee: Father. Your stones, then He must have been wood.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, there would.
    
      Karen Purtee: Have been brought you your water now else was I worried about you brought your own groceries. Did you have a pantry type of there where you can keep a lot of. You know.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: They.
    
      Karen Purtee: And every day.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: The meat and the eggs and stuff there by the eggs for the case. 30 decent cases and the meat and they would make shade underneath the cookhouse. They would hang canvasses at both sides and the sun can shine in. And we had to keep it on because we had they went to town every day, you know, So we didn't have to keep that.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We had to keep the eggs and the meat. And then we had the cookhouse. They had no boxes and put them in.
    
      Karen Purtee: No refrigeration. no, nothing was really all that cool in all that the sun. And how about milk and stuff like that. Did they drink milk?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, they didn't. We drink coffee, We drink alcohol in the milk. As far as I think we use canned milk all the time. When we were cooking, you know, half and half. You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: You didn't want a cow with. No.
    
      Helena Carlson: This one is my dad right here. There's her dad right there. And that's it. I get marks on them.
    
      Karen Purtee: yeah, I see the marks now. Okay. Yeah. He looks a lot like your father.
    
      Unknown Speaker: That's, that's a compliment. Yeah. You really Look, man.
    
      Helena Carlson: They thought it was a Norwegian name, so.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. Where's the walrus mustache? Was this it? It looks like it would be extremely dirty work.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: just dirty work. boy. They come in looking like niggers, you know? Yeah, All that just, you know, from the machine.
    
      Helena Carlson: Mabel and I, we always.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Put our hair in range, you know? Very good. So I knew every time we could spend with braids.
    
      Karen Purtee: Braids? Now, did that make extra work for keeping the cookhouse clean because they were so dusty? Or would they clean up for the end?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: they off as washed up. And then we had to do the washing to send in the I cook the towels. Yeah.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And they had to have clean towels around them all the time too.
    
      Karen Purtee: What else do you think? good. Gravy. Just baking bread is an all day project for me.
    
      Unknown Speaker: that is.
    
      Helena Carlson: But, you know, the man looked forward to going.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, they did.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you do this Just one year, then? Just one it. And that's all you needed?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I got married the next year.
    
      Unknown Speaker: And there.
    
      Karen Purtee: Wasn't that much excitement.
    
      Helena Carlson: For you. Then she had to cook for the Santa Cruz.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Rich. yeah. That we'd have a whole lot of men, too, you know, around about 25 of them to cook for you.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now, how many days would that be?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: we had them usually about five days at our place we had. But this was four or 500.
    
      Karen Purtee: It was it took them five days to thresh. And why did 500 here.
    
      Helena Carlson: I don't have one mark for Edward, so he must not have been in that picture. But this one's. There's Martin and this is my pool clip here.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, isn't that at the same picture? Is that two different pictures?
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, there's two different pictures. There they are by this machine.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, He was on the machine, but he wasn't in the picture, I guess. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all I'm thinking. At the same.
    
      Helena Carlson: Time, this must have been the Johnson machine, because I knew Fred, Fred and Alfred and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Fred. Alfred.
    
      Helena Carlson: And he was such a shy boy. Yeah, well, you know, this must be Alfred over here.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was he shot?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: they're both kind of shy.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah, they were never married. I don't think they're married.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I don't.
    
      Helena Carlson: Think so.
    
      Karen Purtee: That's shy.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah, well, I must not have been either. It wasn't in that one, or else I couldn't locate him.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you? Did you make real good money then? This for cooking? Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: What did we get? $5 a day?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, that's a big thing.
    
      Karen Purtee: And that. That was big enough.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. That was worth coming home from Spokane to do, you know, because we just got $5 a week in Spokane. yeah. 5 hours a day out cooking this was.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was. The work is hard, though, what you did in Spokane. no. For as long.
    
      Helena Carlson: No.
    
      Karen Purtee: No, it. Was it worth the extra money?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: It's was. They probably.
    
      Helena Carlson: Did you.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you just take a vacation then or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Or you have to come out for the summer because the the folks have gotten us this job, you know, with the Johnson brothers, they said they wanted us to cook for them. So we just cut our jobs there and came home. See? and then when was over, went back Spokane again to work. So we were busy all the time.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We weren't home very much.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay. Now, when you were working as a housekeeper, what was your day like then? Did you get up at 4:00 or. no. Yeah. Life was a little easy. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Life was a misery. We didn't get up so early and maybe had breakfast about 8:00, you know, and then dinner at six at night. And then there was really nothing much for lunch. No, because, the man of the house, the one I work for, he was a assistant prosecuting attorney, and the woman was home most of the time.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And they, they had three little kids. One went to school to her home, and it was just just ordinary.
    
      Karen Purtee: You did mostly the housework. Did you take care of the kids, then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: no, I only if they went out that thing. She took care of the kids, so I had nothing to do with that. But it was just the like living. Yes. Keeping house, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: So, yeah, it all just everything.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. There was an article where.
    
      Helena Carlson: Polish is.
    
      Karen Purtee: Keeping your silverware. I was going to say, were these rather well-to-do people, and I guess they must have been. Did the average family in Spokane hire somebody?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Hello, everybody. Anybody that had any little prominence at all? You know, I had hired girls. They called them all the girls from Troy. You know, we went up. There must be a get together, Annie and Sandstrom, you know, and the fish girls. And then we sometimes we get off on Sunday, we go to church after they eat room service.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You know, we meet downtown and go to church for the evening services. They get together that way later.
    
      Helena Carlson: His sister worked up there, too. She worked for those in that area.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So yeah, well, to.
    
      Helena Carlson: Me she hated it because she felt like she was just as good as they were. She did out of being a servant.
    
      Karen Purtee: They didn't treat her like part of the family.
    
      Helena Carlson: Not quite.
    
      Karen Purtee: Who were you treated like part of the family or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah. no. You didn't eat at the table with them?
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, I think they did. I think they really treated her. Only that I think she just. Yeah. Yeah. They were awful good to her. I think they were good to her too. But she just didn't cotton to the idea that.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Most all the more they, they just felt like you're one member of the family. And I felt I didn't feel a lord or anything by working for them, you know, I guess I felt to me like I was one of them were.
    
      Karen Purtee: Just kind of what I was. A listen to some tapes by another lady and she was talking about the different things in this wealthy household that, like the lady would forget to pay the mill man and things like this, you know, and skip out on some of her little bills, but entertain real lavishly. And I wondered if you had things like that or you had a these.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: People didn't dare really entertain so much. No. Once in a while they had come in for dinner, but they really didn't.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Entertain too.
    
      Karen Purtee: Much. No big party.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No big party center. No, I don't think we ever had a party when I was there. Only just a dinner party, you know, And it didn't last very long.
    
      Karen Purtee: So my they were very nice people who enjoyed yourself.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, I worked there nine months and then that was the.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Summer I got married and so.
    
      Karen Purtee: Then most of your courtship was just on Thursday evening.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah, that's right. All right.
    
      Karen Purtee: What what kind of things did couples do together with their shows and things to.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Show that smoking or else that a dance, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: But you're. You always had something to do. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I think you should do that for a boyfriend. Take us out for supper, you know, And we did sometimes made some of these boys and some of threshing crew. You know, they were living in Spokane in the winter time, you know, and they take a bath, you know, for supper. And a bunch of us tried girls, you know, like Sarah Sanderson and got her some maybe one hour and I'd say and they'd take us out for supper and then we go to dance for her.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Show.
    
      Karen Purtee: That was nice. Did they have roller skating and stuff like that, then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, I didn't hear of any person they had about I ever heard of them.
    
      Helena Carlson: That's to kind of come on later I think. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I think some.
    
      Helena Carlson: Time I don't remember the roller skating until after they, they used to have a roller skating rink up here.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah I've heard of the round hall or. Yeah. The moon, their apartment for a while.
    
      Helena Carlson: And a pool. They had that brown hall. Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well the big one. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: But that for Mayor Margaret was talking about that the other day. Who said how much fun they used to have. And they went out there and then they used to have some of these celebrities come in there and entertain. You know, these are radio people. And at those times when they didn't have television, you know, like, yeah, this was a mostly for sale and, and, Hank Snow or some of.
    
      Helena Carlson: Those.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Come in, you know, I didn't go. I had a chance to go with them, too, but I said, no, I'll stay home and separate the boys because I didn't trust any babysitters.
    
      Karen Purtee: these are your sons, you know, your grandsons.
    
      Unknown Speaker: And small.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I wouldn't trust anybody with them. I say I'll stay home, take care of the kids alone.
    
      Helena Carlson: Margaret, you know, And Margaret.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And a long time ago. Yeah. yeah. yeah. And then come. I.
    
      Unknown Speaker: That's not very nice.
    
      Karen Purtee: I wish my mother would say that.
    
      Helena Carlson: You change your word.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, well, Melvin was was telling me something about oyster feeds that they used to have out in Bert Ridge.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. And he said they'd have these literary programs there. You know, every Friday night we had a literary program, and we had that sometimes in the basket social, some kind of even the oyster feed, you know, something like that.
    
      Karen Purtee: big washtub. And yeah. Did you do the cooking?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, I know we all have together. All together.
    
      Karen Purtee: And this was for the whole, the whole community, for the.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Whole rich, you know, Margaret just it's a very big, you know. Yeah. That we had literary programs every Friday night, and then that was our entertainment, you know? Yeah. Yeah. we had a lot of fun.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now with this at the school. Or did you take turns going to people's houses?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, no, we never did that.
    
      Karen Purtee: It was, we're in seven.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Schoolhouse at the schoolhouse.
    
      Helena Carlson: And they went well, whole families.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, whole families went. Yeah. Had programs to sing and then they danced afterwards.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. Melvin said whenever they planned the oysters, he would make sure he got up there. He like those. And something about how they were cooked in the in the boiler.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We cooked them in the boiler thing.
    
      Karen Purtee: You mean like a wash when wash.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Boiler.
    
      Karen Purtee: You put that to, to write.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: That sounds pretty good. It was it kind of like a potluck. Did everybody bring something I ever did? You just all.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Know we did. Look at that by the oysters, you know, And then everybody chipped in to pay for the oysters and. And all the farmers had milk, you know, So you bring them up and then they bring the other food, you know, to go with it.
    
      Karen Purtee: Why do they need so much milk.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: For the oysters?
    
      Karen Purtee: we made you made a chowder type. Yeah, we're out of regular oyster soup.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You know.
    
      Helena Carlson: You. oysters.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Oysters.
    
      Helena Carlson: they didn't dress me either.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yummy. I like that. Yeah, I was trying to think how they were served, I guess. I don't.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Know. Certainly both and. Yeah, and both. And whoever. You guys to soup?
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't realize it was soup. I thought maybe you all sat there and picked them out of the shell. No.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, no. We cooked and reason I think we bought the fresh oysters, too. Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: I'm glad you're so simple. And I just put in there and butter, beef and all over the top. And it was too. This.
    
      Karen Purtee: yummy. There goes my diet. Just thinking about.
    
      Unknown Speaker: It.
    
      Karen Purtee: And homemade bread.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah, Yeah. that's good. Good.
    
      Karen Purtee: And these. These literary and programs and and things like that are, are. So.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. And we used to have literary paper, you know, there one each week and have a point, somebody to write for the paper and we just get all the most crazy things written up about people on the rich, you know.
    
      Unknown Speaker: okay.
    
      Karen Purtee: Can you remember any good particulars. I.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: In, I remember. and how about it? I wrote about average. So now. And of course, at first when he was young and not married, you know, and I said that he had gone to Moscow riding and the train and and so I said he was scratching his head, you know, headed, you know, with that stuff there. And I says, a fellow sitting behind in this program, I'd say, Mr..
    
      Helena Carlson: But and ever that one ever called the dragster home Monday night.
    
      Unknown Speaker: yeah. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: It's pretty screwed And she stayed at that place you know, and lived over and we were living on a rented farm then and adlibbed over in our place, you know, the house with Reagan. And so.
    
      Unknown Speaker: That but.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I something else, there was a dead person called the president to.
    
      Unknown Speaker: See about.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Something else that that person called and raised.
    
      Unknown Speaker: It all the time and that that.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was for you, the two of you were going together.
    
      Unknown Speaker: I think I.
    
      Karen Purtee: Read some of the stuff. Sounds like that in the paper these days.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, yeah. Kid. We ought to find somebody to do that, too. Yeah, that.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Would be fun.
    
      Helena Carlson: And I you imagine kind of plenty of room that would be available.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah, of.
    
      Karen Purtee: Course. I don't know if they if they call quite that politely anymore. That's Q And then what would you do. You mimeograph enough copies or just have one, you know.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Read, write the paper, get up and read it in front of the audience.
    
      Karen Purtee: just one.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Just one paper.
    
      Helena Carlson: We'd have a big long papers too.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: boy. Several pages. Then get up in front of the audience and read it to.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Part.
    
      Helena Carlson: Of the program. They also had a program you see, of various the things. And one of the highlights, of course, was the news weekly paper.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, well, now you were teaching out there. okay. Well, now, did you have to organize the program and everything or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, you didn't think to do about it. I know, I don't know. I guess somebody just asked them why, But tell somebody there at night, you know, Now you sing a song next time. Are you recite something or have a reading or something like that? Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Just everybody has somebody.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Ready to write the paper. You know, I would be a different one every time, you know? So they got around with the.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. Why do some of these Scandinavian gentlemen I've talked to? You have have.
    
      Sam Schrager: This conversation with Hilda Carlson, Ruth Berg and Helena Cartwright. Carlson Sisters in Law took place on June 19th, 1976. The interviewer was Karen Petite.
    
      Helena Carlson: Get a new.
    
      Karen Purtee: There we go.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Might do that for.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, well, I think I have it on the floor. You didn't have to look at it.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: That was it.
    
      Karen Purtee: no. Well, I had the black women.
    
      Helena Carlson: The one, the black community had the black one.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay, now we'll start with your family and then maybe how you got here. Yeah. Why?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, well, my father had been out here during the summer, and he bought this farm out here in Big Meadow. And then in November, I brought the whole family out. There were 11 children at that time, and, we landed in dry. And then November the 12th and. No, November I. What was it? November?
    
      Helena Carlson: August, It was one August.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, just November. Was it November 1912? And so when we got here, it was at night and we had to stay in the hotel and down here. And then the morning we got the somebody to take us out and a hat, you know, and the mud was deep in the streets and try and they drove out. They were three miles out there.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then my brother had come out. First. He came up with the carload and stopped. You know, horses and cattle and so on. So he was already out there, I saw. And so I didn't know from then on in that house that the moved into was just nothing. But these are an up and down boards with the swabs on the cracks and I had the thing that the house for winter they realigned the house inside you know, and paper didn't slide it around the outside.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So it keep warm during the winter. and that and so then in January, I and my two sisters went to Spokane to find work. You know, of course, we were a large family. We could live at home and so we were there.
    
      Karen Purtee: But I think you were about 19. Yeah, I was 19.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And we did housework just like everybody else around here. Went Spokane to do housework, you know, in those days in office. Get it. And then either about a year and a half an I'm married. And then we moved out. Detroit bought a farm up and but really and lived out very rich. Well up until 48. But then I lost my first husband in 39 and a remarried again in 1931, and I remarried again in 36.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So I still live that I'm the rich.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then we sold out in 48.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, your husband wasn't from Troy then.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, well, not the first husband, but he had relatives that try. I met him in Spokane at that time. I didn't know he had relatives in Troy.
    
      Unknown Speaker: I think the Calvert.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You know, or I remember.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And everyone else were his cousins.
    
      Karen Purtee: So I Small world.
    
      Unknown Speaker: And he never was.
    
      Karen Purtee: And then. Well, you came from Dakota, I hope.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: North Dakota, South Dakota.
    
      Karen Purtee: And by train.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: By train, Yeah. It was, I think two and a half day trip out on the train and.
    
      Unknown Speaker: That's a.
    
      Karen Purtee: Long time for a big family. Yeah, You were you the oldest girl then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Ourselves? Girl? Yeah. And was older. I was from France. The oldest girl, so I didn't know. And then, of course, they had the farm, you know, and just like anybody else did out, you know, and woods.
    
      Helena Carlson: We cut wood.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, well, I never did get any wood made out there on the farm out there. yeah. The folks out there. Yeah, they would make their living out of town, so. they just had a farm where just a few acres cleared and then, you know, and then didn't take very long. So they had several acres with maybe 100 acres that they were, you.
    
      Karen Purtee: Know, the boys this. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Did you get in there and and the other boys, you know, they and of course they the after they got mad enough period when they first boys went to the woods to work, you know, so.
    
      Karen Purtee: That your father stayed in foreign.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah. He stayed in farm and my mother died in 92 and so he did find a couple of years after. And so.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay, well, what what type of duties did you have then? You went to Spokane and became a housekeeper.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Or We just did record housework, you know, and did the cooking and kept the house up.
    
      Karen Purtee: The whole thing.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We always had Thursday afternoon often go to town.
    
      Unknown Speaker: yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: They give you Sunday afternoon or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Just as well sometimes. You had some. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you had to be there. They had company, you know. Yeah. Because maybe we could have Sunday afternoon off to.
    
      Karen Purtee: And they had a place for you to live or.
    
      Unknown Speaker: yeah. We lived right in the house.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, I it was all kind of fun, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you work for more than one or two?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well.
    
      Karen Purtee: The entire.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Time. No, it was. It was one mostly the entire time. I started out at one place, you know, And. I liked it there, but I didn't like it as well. I thought I could, you know, But the back door neighbor wanted me over there. Or she had a girl. You had working for her and she was leaving and she wanted me to come over there and work for her, so I.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. They were awful nice for me.
    
      Helena Carlson: I had to meet your man.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I meet my man. my.
    
      Unknown Speaker: I had.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: A dance.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Hall.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah Was not funny. And they happened to be have Troy relatives. I didn't know that.
    
      Unknown Speaker: I remember the funny.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well this is that one of the things you did on your Thursday afternoon often was to go dance.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we went to. Yeah, Thursday evening because we'd had the whole afternoon off. Yeah. There's been, you know, the band and there were several girls from Troy working up there. We all met downtown and went to the dance. yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: And her mother bragged about it. She said Hilda got the best man in the whole country, and Mabel got the second best.
    
      Unknown Speaker: It's nice.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you have a lot of responsibility at home because you were the oldest girl, did you?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yes. I have to do more than Yes, I had to do more of that because the the other side was younger to me. If anybody needed neighbors, they didn't have their rent to help the neighbors, you know. But I was I was the one at home. Yeah. Because I had to take care of the little kids and did the cooking and helped her out.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And, you know, my mother did so much outside of to, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: did you?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, you know, we have a lot of housing and so on. Had big gardens and all that. And she was outside working and I had to help her inside.
    
      Helena Carlson: Every outside.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: all busy all the time.
    
      Karen Purtee: Do you have any idea how your father found out about this part of the country?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, he just thought he wanted to go out and he went to Oregon for a semester. Burns are down, and you'd heard about that country. We got out there and saw them running up jackrabbits.
    
      Unknown Speaker: He got out of that.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And so he came to Moscow and he came down to Florida and he met Mr. Duffy. This place belongs to Mr. Duffy. And so he just decided he couldn't go back home without buying something. Say.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: He thought that he had.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Been a ham.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Something, you know, we're going to be disappointed. Come back, you know, And he really he just paid so much down, you know, because he thought he wasn't going to keep and came back. And mother was so happy about it, you know, And so when the time comes to go, he didn't want to go. Or she says, we're going.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And she liked it so well out here. She was from Norway, and she said it just reminded her of Norway.
    
      Karen Purtee: all the green.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: With green trees and everything.
    
      Helena Carlson: Like that. And then there were a lot of other white people.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, a lot of Scandinavians around here. So. they were like. And so he learned to like it too. But it was a lot of hard work for him. You know, you, you, he's been farming. He wasn't used to this sawing. timber.
    
      Karen Purtee: Know your brother mentioned that you had a little sister that died.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Yeah, she died. I think she was only four. She died in 22.
    
      Karen Purtee: The same year as your mother.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, my mother died and 23 of them were the then 23, you know, from died in 1918 and Mother died 22. And she was born in 1914. She was born everything out here. yeah. And she got burned, you know. Yeah. She and, and just the, the day before we day and Sunday this was on a Sunday, we had the reunion the first time the whole family had all been together.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: At one time my brother was in the Navy and he was home and, and of course my sister working Spokane and, and Mabel. My other sister lived over in Montana and we all got together, went down to try and had her picture taken on Monday and the next morning caught my brother in the Navy, had gone took the train that and went back to the East Coast.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And the next morning while my sister and my mother making beds and then Fern just got out of bed. She just woke up and went downstairs, you know, and Berkeley stayed upstairs. And as she went downstairs where she went out to the front porch playing with the dog out there. And on her way up, she picked up some matches, I guess, and was lighting matches on the front porch.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And I guess the head flew off with a match, you know, in her nightgown. And and they heard her screaming and they ran down there and she couldn't get in the front door, I guess it was okay around here, around the house. And the flames was just up above our heads, you know, and only porter nightgown or something either.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: But she died a couple of days after.
    
      Karen Purtee: What did they do for people then were burned?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, there wasn't no doctor in town and they found a mask. But I guess it just happened that a doctor happened to come through town, was gonna locate here, and somebody said, well, there was a doctor in town. So he came out there and the I didn't know he couldn't do very much for her. And she was so badly burned all on her, on her body here.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And her hair was changed, her eyebrows fell from her lips and burned. You know, I think that they said that it was a it was burns that deep. You know, he had absorbed poisons inside or something.
    
      Helena Carlson: yeah. But she lived two days. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: This happened Tuesday morning and she died Wednesday evening.
    
      Helena Carlson: She was such a cute man.
    
      Karen Purtee: I remember seeing the picture. That must have been hard on your mother.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: it was. It was all for her.
    
      Karen Purtee: Cause I know I've heard some people say, you know. Well, half their children lived in because of the different problems that they had with with all the diseases, you know. But she had all her children. Yeah. And they all they all.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Lived to be quite a while too, you know.
    
      Helena Carlson: And one day and I believe. Didn't they say you're family, all those children. A never a one had a broken bone. Yeah. Well until you broke your hair. Now.
    
      Karen Purtee: My goodness. And that comes from good living,
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: And they did wild things like climbing up the out that was in Dakota that they climbed up on the windmill.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, I was up there.
    
      Unknown Speaker: To get down. Really?
    
      Helena Carlson: Actually has a broken finger to prove it.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah. That was. Yeah. That had that cut off in the windmill.
    
      Unknown Speaker: no. yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And that the the town has got up on the roof because mother wasn't home is important. Daddy's working with you and my brother clammed up, but it was kind of a house under the windmill see, because they ground feet with windmill too. And that they'd been the grinder was down under the. And when you climbed there they want to get up to the windmill and across the eaves came this way and we had to get out over this, you know, and get up.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And so it went clear up to the top of the windmill. And I on the roof, when it came down to come, get down, you know, I couldn't get down. I couldn't get over the roof. So I was sitting there crying when her mother came.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Home,
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So happy that I'm going.
    
      Unknown Speaker: To be living too happy about that.
    
      Karen Purtee: You think you learned your lesson up there?
    
      Helena Carlson: What was it when you were up on there that you got.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: To know that were that were this is where the with the windmill hooked up to the pump. You know, the remote was idling, it wasn't hooked up to the pump. And of course, you know, there's a hole where you stick the boat in the hook. And so Edward put his finger in the hole and let it get to the hole where it went through.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: He'd pull it out. And you go up this way, you know, come down. And I couldn't do it. And I didn't put my hand up my finger through the hole.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Get it off.
    
      Karen Purtee: Sounds to me like you. And there's a little battle.
    
      Karen Purtee: You know, all these good things. You have to have fun.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Did have fun That.
    
      Helena Carlson: I was reading that letter that you wrote to him. You know, about the taking the horse or taking a home and I forgotten the names of the people, the girl that had the buggy. And I was going to give you a ride.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, that was many done.
    
      Unknown Speaker: You know. Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, what's that all about?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: that. That teacher had had spanked me for something that I didn't do and we just getting ready to go home from school. And that was Belle Thomas was jealous that the Mamie dad was going to take it home, see? So she went up. I'm telling the teacher, take your rosary and see. And she said that Mamie is going to take children at home.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And she said, No, ma'am, you've got to go home. And he'll run that. He's got to walk home. And she came down and told me that happened. So I just asked. And Dallas as well, I guess. I mean, he wants to take me home. We were only six years old, you know, it made me want to take me home.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I guess she can, you know. And right up until the teachers, I called her an old fat sausage.
    
      Unknown Speaker: But I know I.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Think I've seen anything like that. So the teacher came down behind the barn where, you know, God put her crosses, her lap, you know, and me and so she said Mamie had to go home. So I ran all the way home across the fields, and they took it home. But they let him off about a quarter mile from home in the teacher thing.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And and I got home before.
    
      Unknown Speaker: It and the dirt road all the way.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And so we told her to, you know, what happened. So mama got mad and.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Hitched up the horse and buggy, went forward and told the teacher, that's, that's
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I could do that. I could do that. And that's where I was back. And I never got to.
    
      Helena Carlson: And it didn't deserve that. Well, the other girl really deserved it for telling a lie.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, It's a lot of things that jealousy will do to kids. You you'd finish school, and by the time you came out here.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, of course. I never went any further. Miss Grade. You know, that was pretty good escape.
    
      Karen Purtee: That was good one. yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, two months is all.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. When we first started school, we only had two months year. You know, when we first started summer. And then I think we only went to nine months school about one year. You know it. Good. Then we went for seven months. For two months, and then.
    
      Helena Carlson: I remember that letter you was telling that it only had two months.
    
      Unknown Speaker: The school year isn't something.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was that because of the weather in Dakotas?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I don't know why. I didn't know why.
    
      Helena Carlson: It was like what they used to say about Dakota. People ask you if you stayed in the school and they said, Yes, sir. How long were you there? Two winters, the summer.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: The weather was so violent during the winter. They had regular blizzards she seemed just Blue Cross and people couldn't travel. Did you remember that?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, Yeah, I know. We, we drove to school, you know, we had three miles of that time and we drove, drove, you know, and a cutter and a couple horses. A lot of snow.
    
      Helena Carlson: Just blue, red and blue, all even dead and covered the fences and everything. So you couldn't even see that there was a fence and they drove right on top.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yes. And there wasn't very many fences there where we lived. You know, nobody changed in their fields. So if you came to a big snowdrift, something, you could kind of drive around it, you know? yes. There was no fences to stop.
    
      Karen Purtee: You know, fences and stop the.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: But I know I saw snow drifts high right in our barnyard, You know, that was ten feet high. And we used to go down.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, golly, that's a lot of snow.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And it was one year. It was the snow was so deep that everything around the house, you couldn't see out the windows and they had to climb up the back to get up, you know, to get to the barn and do the chores and they finally cut a tunnel, burn, you know, so they get out and do chores.
    
      Karen Purtee: Ah, no wonder you came to try.
    
      Unknown Speaker: The.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Snow here too. But then it didn't drift.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: And they didn't have the winter. Then the first year we were out here, wasn't it the first first winter again. Six feet on a level.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Well, six feet. And it was just beautiful. The snow would be about that high on top of each fencepost. And we said it looked just like a Christmas card, You know, the trees and everything was just beautiful.
    
      Helena Carlson: Paneled in just for fun.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, this place is now.
    
      Helena Carlson: But I don't know. Then that was the spring, too, I guess. In that spring it must be. And then it started melting that we had the crest. Yeah. And the snow. And everybody has much fun with Chris of Course. Right over the snow.
    
      Karen Purtee: walk on it.
    
      Helena Carlson: Walk on it. I remember when l when I first discovered it, that was our first experience with Crest. We went out there and very carefully and got it on our stomachs crawl round. We did and we tried it by walking and there was this discovered. We can run on it. Why? We were couple like a couple of fairies.
    
      Unknown Speaker: In the.
    
      Helena Carlson: Snow and the it was moonlight too. It was beautiful. We were there sailing room. Society wouldn't walk on the snow.
    
      Karen Purtee: When that what they call the Silver Star or the silver crest or silver thigh.
    
      Helena Carlson: It sounds I guess I don't. Yeah I suppose it and rain and one thing another and the snow had settled by that time and if you see some impact and then thunder so it was really quite exciting.
    
      Unknown Speaker: To.
    
      Karen Purtee: Have a piece of that. What is it, sediment that even without.
    
      Helena Carlson: It, when you throw.
    
      Unknown Speaker: 30, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did your mother have all her children at home or with a doctor or. Yeah. Midwife Yes.
    
      Helena Carlson: No, they were all born at home.
    
      Karen Purtee: All at home. She had. Doctor Summer did.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Sometimes, and sometimes it.
    
      Karen Purtee: Just depended on if he was around.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well let's, I know she had the doctor for Alice and Frances, you know, that was. I can't remember, but they're all born at home. But they have somebody come in, you know, you know, some.
    
      Karen Purtee: Woman come in. you weren't old enough when the last ones came on. Number No.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Number.
    
      Helena Carlson: No, but it's still with the rest. Your kid is going to have a baby. We were all home. Were you? yes. I remember when Hester was and why we were invited to go up and visit Grandmother. so we weren't at home, you know, that time? Yeah. It's brother was the doctor. They didn't live too far from us, so he was down there.
    
      Helena Carlson: Remember, Albert? I said, You bet you. We know going to happen that they're going to have a baby.
    
      Karen Purtee: But they didn't. They didn't tell you. You just had them. Guess it. They hadn't told.
    
      Helena Carlson: A word, you know, in those days. Tell people like they do now. The other kids know all about it. They know all about it.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: From beginning, but not when we were growing up.
    
      Karen Purtee: We didn't know if you noticed that there was something different about your mother.
    
      Helena Carlson: I can't remember now. You got to remember that we didn't either make an impression. We saw the cows and the pigs smell the cats, but we never thought too much about that either. And we definitely never thought about.
    
      Karen Purtee: What was the explanation for the new baby in the house?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, I can't remember. I remember when Bill was born, you know, and one of the neighbor women was over there, you know, And so they said that they'd found him in a locksmith.
    
      Helena Carlson: I can't remember if I ought to if we were so gullible, I guess, that we didn't really need any explanation. I Guess they just said they they had a baby sister for us. But in a way, in our little minds, we kind of had a feeling we knew where the baby had come from, but we never talked it over with folks and they never talked it over with us.
    
      Helena Carlson: But my sister and I, we kind of talked it over between ourselves, you know? And I remember that we were just little kids. And and I think it was after that or no, it was before that because we were younger. And I remember I think she you know, she said, I think I'm going to have a baby. I said to you.
    
      Helena Carlson: And she but she was here. She was.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Years old. How old?
    
      Helena Carlson: so you must have been five or six.
    
      Karen Purtee: What made her think.
    
      Helena Carlson: She was going to have a baby? I don't know why she thought she said, you know, I kind of think I'm going to have a baby.
    
      Unknown Speaker: In.
    
      Karen Purtee: 20 years from now.
    
      Helena Carlson: Still session.
    
      Unknown Speaker: yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: I baby never progressed.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: not at that age. But we did. I suppose we had kind of an idea about things because my dad always had cows. You see, And they ran the ball with the cows and we saw a lot of carrying on like that. But I don't, I really don't know it to begin with. Even that didn't make any impression, particularly only that after a while they were all they begin to have cows, you know, and I suppose in our stupid little minds why there's something.
    
      Helena Carlson: There might have been a sort of connection that they finally that.
    
      Karen Purtee: There was that that you were never sat down and explain things.
    
      Helena Carlson: I never thought.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We were doing.
    
      Karen Purtee: Anything. What about as a girl matured when the facts of life became necessary?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we've never told about that either.
    
      Karen Purtee: You just got a surprise. Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah, I know. My mother gave me some a little pamphlet to read one time. That was the only thing that was ever said about that time. Know? And she was on the watch, you know, And I remember when it first happened. Well, I was scared to death. I have eaten that day.
    
      Unknown Speaker: And I thought that was what it was.
    
      Helena Carlson: And I remember hiding in my closet, you know, and I was wondering what on earth I want to do. I start worrying about it and everything like, well, I sure did this.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Never again.
    
      Helena Carlson: Never again. And I then I guess my mother knew that there was something she was watching. And so then she said, Well, I'm prepared, but you just expect that, she said. And then she told me probably how awful it would be and everything. That was my information.
    
      Karen Purtee: Just like that. Okay. Because now they have movies and books and.
    
      Helena Carlson: The Yeah, and.
    
      Karen Purtee: The boys get the information just like the girls.
    
      Helena Carlson: In them. And then they, you know, I understand. I didn't see that, but they even showed a birth on the TV movie getting to me. And I don't know if they show it to the kids or not either.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, they showed it at 7:00 at night and I sat down and my daughter watched it.
    
      Helena Carlson: Maybe l I know I don't remember. I must have been. It was after we'd come to Troy. I never did watch a birth even of a kitten, and I was too embarrassed to watch that. I came in the house one day and there was some other cat. I figured what was happening. She was giving birth to her kittens.
    
      Helena Carlson: A very gently picture up question, and all them put her out on the porch. I know, but I wouldn't watch because I didn't want to embarrass her. Well, that's the closest I watched a bird to this day.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I never did. Watch versus a kitten or puppy or anything.
    
      Karen Purtee: No, no. I was going to say, you know, that the kids that are raised on a farm see these things and they don't need to see it on television. But you didn't.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Never, never did see it. Never did. You never saw a calf born or anything? Never guess it all was happening, you know, when you weren't around.
    
      Helena Carlson: So I was in my teens. I know before. Well, along in my teens when this cat was, I came up on her. Of course, I've seen it on TV now. My word. Yeah, it came popping out.
    
      Unknown Speaker: You know.
    
      Helena Carlson: Deer, buffalo, whatever. Yeah. There they are. They've gone through the all. So I've seen it on the TV. I had it now what in this last year.
    
      Karen Purtee: Do you think that, that because children didn't have these facts available that they led a more carefree life than they do today?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I don't know. They seem to me like.
    
      Helena Carlson: And they were a.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Whole lot better.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Off.
    
      Karen Purtee: They better behaved. Yeah, I.
    
      Helena Carlson: Better be it. At least they were children. They didn't have all of this other. We played like kids play and we had fun just playing. We did a lot of believing. We had the man and the girl were going together and we families and everything like that, but we didn't have all this other information and I don't think we missed it.
    
      Helena Carlson: I don't think we missed something.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: But even little kids now, like I know my great grandchildren, they get together, they play that way. I'm on my mind. You're the platform, you're the kids. You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: We still to have a married. That's a good sign. That is. I'm not so sure. Yeah. I don't know. What were some of the things that you remember playing as a child.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I see. We used did it get up in the dirt and then we were harvesting, make little of dirt, economic shocks and it would make a little threshing machine. He'd give a cane, you know, and make the engine and the separator every 3 to 1, you know, and made things. And then we put this dirt through it, you know, just pretending threshing stuff like that.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, we were farming.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Just doing what? Where did. Yeah, Yeah. How about household chores? As a little girl, did you have things you had to do and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yes, we had to wash dishes and I know. And, and, and I had to scrub the kitchen floor. I'm changing boards, you know, and the boards are about that way. And we had to paint and scrub it. I script so many boards and he'd scrub so many boards, you know. yeah, we had pictures like that. And we were just little kids, about nine, eight, nine years old.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then that changed forever from,
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay, let's see.
    
      Helena Carlson: In hours, of course, we had lots of cows, dairy, you know, So we we playing like that. I remember an 11 I going out in the courtyard. We had pitch gum. We didn't have gum. You couldn't buy gum. Then we'd go by and pitch on the trees or certain pitch was real good. We'd lay there and two kids.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: We practiced like that. So it.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Just. okay. I know there's.
    
      Karen Purtee: One other thing that I was thinking about that that is really interesting to me and that's you were a cook for the thrashing crew and traveled around with them.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, that was here in Idaho. And my sister and I cooked in a wagon in 1913 and we heard down in the Genesee Country right near the right on the rim rocks at and we thrashed for one man for 30 days now we were down there.
    
      Karen Purtee: Gravy was too had a big crop.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah you have acres of land we had 28 men and we cooked four and we made it We big have breakfast 6:00 in the morning because they got start threshing I think about 430 in the morning and threshing till six. They come in for breakfast you know, and we had dinner at 1130 and lunch again about 4:00 in the afternoon and then their supper at 8:00 at night for meals.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay. Now what kind of stuff did you cook on these different interests?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Vegetables and potatoes, you know, and meats and desserts. You know, in those days we didn't serve salads and we they never bothered to think for us to serve salads or, anything like that. But it just and then breakfast was always bacon pancakes and eggs, you know, oatmeal stuff like that. And of course, we baked our own bread and everything.
    
      Karen Purtee: For 28. Man.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We're 28 men.
    
      Karen Purtee: Who are hungry.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then their sister and I slept in a tent outside. So every night when we went to bed, we'd look around, see if there's any rattlesnakes.
    
      Karen Purtee: yeah, they have those down there. Did you ever find any?
    
      Unknown Speaker: You never did find out.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I'm sure we're going to tell you.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yes. We spent that on ground.
    
      Karen Purtee: Then what was your your schedule like? What time did you get up?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I got up at 4:00 in the morning to get the table set. You know, and everything and let me sleep in till about 530. I call her and I got up and got everything started, you know. So we of course, we had to make a lot of hot cakes ahead of time when you started on, you know.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: It was kind of fun.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, okay, what do you do for water?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, they hold water. They hold water in barrels.
    
      Karen Purtee: So then you didn't have to go find a stranger.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: They brought it to you, camped out in the fields, you know?
    
      Karen Purtee: So did you move often, or. you just sitting here?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, no, we had quite often.
    
      Karen Purtee: So. So you never knew if the wagon was going to roll. When you return those hills?
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. We had a lot of steep rides.
    
      Helena Carlson: Would you make the brand?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I did make the bed in the morning, so they had to have it sort of to go in the oven. I didn't have roofs similar, you know, where we'd fix it so that I think we really make it in the afternoon. You know, a mix of in the morning seemed like it took a long time.
    
      Karen Purtee: How many loaves did you have to turn?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I can't remember that. Well, we made a lot of loaves. We had a great big pan, you know, but the big round about so deep, you know, that makes the ribbon.
    
      Karen Purtee: That's a good sized washtub.
    
      Unknown Speaker: There was.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: First I did all the baking Mayberry, I suppose we did the washing the dishes and peeling the potatoes, you know, and.
    
      Karen Purtee: That's a lot of dishes for 28. Man. Yeah. And then the two you. Yeah, you do occasionally, yeah. What was the setup inside these cook wagons. Well, did you do cooking outside or was it all inside.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, it's all in selling pretty good size. And they had tables, you know, just like you, you go into a restaurant, you know, a table three, two men sat on each side. There were several tables along.
    
      Karen Purtee: You know, all the men even aid in the cook like,
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yes.
    
      Karen Purtee: My goodness. Okay. yes. It must have been a pretty big thing. It was like a like a bus.
    
      Unknown Speaker: A house, you.
    
      Karen Purtee: Know? It was like a house.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, it's like a house. Wheels.
    
      Karen Purtee: because I've seen some pictures and they look so small, and I'm trying to think of how you could make bread, you know, and things. Yeah. In such enclosed areas. But this was.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: The home of the cook house. You don't have it here, do you? Yeah. Yeah. So seemed to me like she wanted to. She had them enlarged from the old photos we had taken, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: And so anyway one, one side then was all seating area.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Both sides. Both sides, some both came down these stools, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now did this have a solid roof monitor. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Some true I think it had two shingle roof and then there's windows on the outside, you know, and they've had the a candle that that.
    
      Karen Purtee: Family picture that was taken out.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: On that got burned.
    
      Karen Purtee: she was pretty. Now which one did you.
    
      Helena Carlson: I'm the skinny one.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Up here. I looked terrible. I was so thin at that time.
    
      Karen Purtee: And now that's in style. And the mustache on your father. Yeah, I know. Yeah. Yeah. This one's Melvin, right? Yeah. He was telling me I never could get his tie straight in time, remember?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, that's part of the cookout. See? You can see what it's like.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, it still doesn't look too big to me.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, it was pretty good size, so.
    
      Karen Purtee: And, well, how many men could sit in it at once?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We don't count them all at one time.
    
      Karen Purtee: You get all 28 in the wagon at one time. Okay. So then, then you did the cooking and you waited on the tables and then you cleaned up afterwards and you did that four times a day?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, three times a day. We took the lunch out to the field in the afternoon.
    
      Unknown Speaker: yeah. that was nice.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. Gave you a change of scenery.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, then how did you get out? Did you just walk out when.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You asked about the or asked about it came and got us.
    
      Karen Purtee: With a wagon.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. He was the one. Did all the grocery shopping and all that stuff.
    
      Karen Purtee: I was going to ask about that too.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Or asked about the car.
    
      Karen Purtee: Then you had you up menus and told him what to get or he just brought you something and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we, we wanted. And then if he thought we needed something else, he brought that too, you know. So I said.
    
      Karen Purtee: Boy that must have been. And how old were you then.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I was, I was 20 then and Mabel was 18.
    
      Karen Purtee: For 30 days. You get 30 days, get up at four in the morning. They set the table for. Yeah. That still doesn't look very big to me when you think about you must have had a big stove.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, we had a wood range, you know. Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did they, did they have a sink built in or did you walk.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So we had to wash in Japan.
    
      Karen Purtee: Or you spread them out on the table in Oak.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: you see this is in half of the side here. And the other side was, you know that way too, you see. there's a table clearing, the road tables and this, that.
    
      Helena Carlson: Just like a cook shack.
    
      Unknown Speaker: In the camps.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, I'm logging Kels.
    
      Helena Carlson: I'm leaving the same way.
    
      Karen Purtee: I'm trying to think I'll say 28. There was four men at each table, so you must have had At least.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: There would have to be.
    
      Karen Purtee: 14.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Men on each side, you know? So, yeah, that, I guess. Five women. I know. It was about two men.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay, now, for breakfast, we had hotcakes and eggs.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Eggs and bacon and eggs and oatmeal and oatmeal.
    
      Karen Purtee: They really had their choice. And then what? What was the. The dinner that.
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, they had lunch in the afternoon.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we didn't have much because they ate breakfast at six and then dinner at 1130 zero. And so at noon it was always a roast. Roast beef or a roast pork or maybe boiling beef or something like that, you know, or meat and potatoes and gravy and their vegetables and their desserts.
    
      Karen Purtee: You know what? What kind of desserts did you.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I made pioneer me every day.
    
      Karen Purtee: Every day I pick out one day a week to make a pie or a loaf of bread.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: You know.
    
      Karen Purtee: This.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Everybody true. They want pie every day and they play every day. I didn't.
    
      Karen Purtee: Make. Did you use fresh fruit then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, they use mostly fresh fruit. They had.
    
      Karen Purtee: You didn't have it to dump out of the cans like we.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Did these days. It didn't, you know.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We had fresh apples.
    
      Karen Purtee: You had the fields and. yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah. Let's see. How many pies would that take a day.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I don't remember how many times you maybe four. 20 men. You know, we cut the pies and five pieces and things that made about six pies.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, six pies. Him whatever it took on the way. Bread and then the lunch in the afternoon about four. You sat. Yeah. And you took that out in the field. So that would be sandwiches.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Sandwiches and donuts and.
    
      Karen Purtee: Donuts. You made two or three donuts.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: The two cookies. We make a lot of cookies. Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now take it. You didn't have time to sit down and watch anything on the television.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Know if there.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Was.
    
      Helena Carlson: Television, we'd never be.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Able to them.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. okay. And then. And then they came in for supper.
    
      Helena Carlson: And why did you have to then? I'm curious.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: that's about the same thing, I guess. You know. And we'd have steaks and pork chops and stuff like that.
    
      Karen Purtee: Something a little bit lighter than what got.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Nerve potatoes, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: And then did they go back and out work after supper?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No.
    
      Karen Purtee: No. And then they.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Left them their crumbs, just.
    
      Helena Carlson: Like.
    
      Unknown Speaker: It's sweet.
    
      Karen Purtee: But you still have the dishes, too.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, we still have the dishes. So.
    
      Karen Purtee: So what time would you get?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: It involves about 1034. We get the in.
    
      Karen Purtee: And then again at four.
    
      Karen Purtee: And they did that nonstop or did they take some days off?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: no. That was unless it rained. You don't think they had much rain. No.
    
      Karen Purtee: You didn't even take Sundays off. No.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Sunday and everything worked right.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. And you didn't have any working 30 days straight on that schedule.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Ha.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you have any free time to yourself, like to wash your hair or, or go for hikes or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, we never had to wash.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Your hair once in a while.
    
      Karen Purtee: No, I mean to relax or anything.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, there wasn't really any time to relax about it. Just work. Work all the time.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, I believe it. And then you had to keep the place clean.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. I was scrubbing it to, you know, scrubbing the floors. Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: In between, like.
    
      Helena Carlson: You guys.
    
      Karen Purtee: Were.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Coming. No, I went to go up the fields of place.
    
      Karen Purtee: Find the small rise high.
    
      Unknown Speaker: But I was like, Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: That was private.
    
      Helena Carlson: dear. They didn't fix anything out for, you.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Know, I don't think fixed.
    
      Karen Purtee: And were your brothers on these crews too, or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Ed was on there my dad and mean. the other granddaughter, he had to be out there.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well I guess this was kind of their thrashing crew. Then they hired the rest of the guys.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, this is a threshing crew from Troy. They were the Johnson brothers. They had, you know, in those days it was people from up on this part of the country like planes. And those used to go down there and do all the harvesting. You know, they didn't have threshing machines down there. People came in and then it.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well, now this must have been the slack time of year for farmers around here then.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well it was the harvest here.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was that much later.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, it was later.
    
      Karen Purtee: So that they could go harvest for something else.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So my dad, you know, he had a band wagon, you know, on the team and that and the sounds that are pitching or something and yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: I think didn't or didn't or maybe he didn't even my dad went down to Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Dad his on there too.
    
      Helena Carlson: He had a team but a little wreck.
    
      Karen Purtee: And then somebody else had the out and you just kind of got together and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: And went out and then they.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Hired them in here, you know, took them in and all from here all pictures and the bundle wrecks, you know, the farmers that had his own bomber rack and team, you know, and that's the way they did, They hired him like that, my dad. And then they harden the pictures in the sacks or.
    
      Karen Purtee: Your dad's in there, too?
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: He had a team.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then there was a man and this.
    
      Helena Carlson: Looks like Ed there. He had a team.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, they did have a team.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah, I think it. He had.
    
      Karen Purtee: You standing on the wagon over.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: There. He. I think he's a pitcher.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay. Now, what was the breakdown? How many people pitched and how many people?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I was trying to think. I think they had about eight men, the wagons. And that would be about five pitchers or something, because the bandwagon wagons going to be out there at the same time, you see.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And then there was the the engineer and the fire man, and then they had a man hauling water, water tank for the engine. And then there was them, the sacks or, and, and then they had the a man at the machine in the barn and then one of the came in they had the men pitching, the bundles into the machine.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Then I forget what they call those. Yeah. The hand of the machine all the time.
    
      Karen Purtee: You know he's not the bundle pitcher.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, it the pitcher for him out in the field they were out there but.
    
      Karen Purtee: I know pitchers are out in the field pitching in on the.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Way. Yeah. And then they had another pitcher at the machine, you know, pitching the machine.
    
      Karen Purtee: So they just drive the wagon in and.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Walk back out.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. They've got the empty where they went back out for another lower than the others coming in. See I so they were just rolling around about all the time they pitched in from both sides of the machine.
    
      Karen Purtee: That's a good picture of that machine too.
    
      Helena Carlson: I was trying to think, was it around here that in some sex.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Convert ratio. Sounds like some.
    
      Karen Purtee: Email about that. Not that not. That would be in the hardest job.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Now when you suspected.
    
      Karen Purtee: An awful lot because he had to pick them up.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: jiggle him a couple of times before he so to carry.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Them the SAT column boy wait you know I guess £175 or something like that, maybe more.
    
      Karen Purtee: Those guys must have had quite an appetite working like that, you know? I bet you slept well at night.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, he did. Well, in one way, You know, he.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Had a clock alarm clock that we couldn't depend on. So I really didn't sleep too soon because I was afraid I was going to oversleep. boy. the clock would stop. I would hear it when it would stop ticking Is that are shaking.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Quite.
    
      Karen Purtee: A way to relax after all.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now you're going to look closer with your spyglass. Going to see what you can find now.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah. Which was her.
    
      Karen Purtee: Father. Your stove's. Then it must have been wood.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, there would.
    
      Karen Purtee: Have been brought you your water. Now, what else was I worried about? You brought your own groceries. Did you have a pantry type of there where you could keep a lot of groceries?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So they.
    
      Karen Purtee: And every day.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: The meat and the eggs and stuff. They buy the eggs for the KC 30,000 cases and the meat. And they would make shade underneath the cookhouse. They would hang canvasses at both sides and the sun can shine in. And we had to keep it on because we had they went to town every day, you know, so we didn't have to keep that.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We had to keep the, the eggs and the meat. And then we had the cookhouse that had no boxes.
    
      Karen Purtee: No refrigeration. No, no, nothing was really all that cool. You know, Look at the sun. How about milk and stuff like that? Did they drink milk?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, they didn't. We drink coffee and drink in the milk. As far as I think we use canned milk all the time. When we were cooking, you know, half and half, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: You didn't want a cow with.
    
      Helena Carlson: And this one is my dad right here. There's her dad right there. And that's it. I get marks on them.
    
      Karen Purtee: yeah, I see the marks now. Okay. Yeah. He look a lot like your father.
    
      Unknown Speaker: That's. That's a compliment. Yeah. You really look, man.
    
      Helena Carlson: They thought it was a Norwegian. Anything, so.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. Use a walrus mustache. Was this it? It looks like it would be extremely dirty work.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: just dirty work. boy. They come in looking like niggers, you know?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. All that dust, you know, from the machine.
    
      Helena Carlson: Mabel and I, we.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Always put our hair in range, you know? Very good. So I knew every time we could spend with braids.
    
      Karen Purtee: Braids? Then did that make extra work for keeping the cookhouse clean because they were so dusty? Or would they clean up for the end?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: they off as washed up. And then we had to do the washing and choosing to make the towels. Yeah. Yeah. And they had to have clean towels around them all the time too.
    
      Karen Purtee: What else do you think? good Gravy. Just baking bread is an all day project for me, that is.
    
      Helena Carlson: But, you know, the men look forward to going.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, they did.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you do this just one year, then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Just one. You did it.
    
      Karen Purtee: And that's all you needed.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I got married the next year, so.
    
      Unknown Speaker: There.
    
      Karen Purtee: Wasn't that much excitement.
    
      Helena Carlson: For you. Then she had to cook for the Santa Cruz.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Rich. yeah. And then we'd have a whole lot of men, too, you know, around about 25 of them to cook for you.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now, how many days would that be?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: we had him usually about five days at our place we had. But this one was for $500.
    
      Karen Purtee: It took him five days to thresh. And why did 500 here?
    
      Helena Carlson: I don't have one mark for Edward. So he must not have been in that picture. But this one was. There's Martin, and this is my poor cook here.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Well, isn't that the same picture? Is that two different pictures?
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, there's two different pictures. There they are by this machine.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah, He was on the machine, but he wasn't in the picture, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, that's all I'm thinking. At the same time.
    
      Helena Carlson: This must have been the Johnson machine, because the bread. Fred Alford and Fred Alford, he was such a shy. Yeah, well, you know, this must be awkward over here.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was he shot?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: and I feel kind of.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Shy, you know. Yeah. They're married.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I don't think they were married.
    
      Helena Carlson: I don't think so.
    
      Karen Purtee: That's shy.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah.
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, I must not have been either. It wasn't in that one, or else I couldn't locate him.
    
      Karen Purtee: Did you? Did you make real good money then? This for cooking? Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: What did we get? $5 a day?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, that's a big thing.
    
      Karen Purtee: And that. That was big enough.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. That was worth coming home from Spokane to do, you know, because we just got $5 a week in Spokane. I get 5 hours a day out of cooking.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was. Was. The work is hard, though, what you did in Spokane. no. Or as long.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, no, it.
    
      Karen Purtee: Was it worth the extra money?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: It was.
    
      Karen Purtee: They probably did you did you just take a vacation then or. Or you have to.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Come off for the summer. The the folks have gotten us this job, you know, with the Johnson brothers. They said they wanted us to cook for them. So we just cut our jobs there and came home, say, and then one goes over Wesley and Spokane again to work. So we were busy all the time. We weren't home very much.
    
      Karen Purtee: Okay, Now When you were working as a housekeeper, what was your day like then? Did you get up at 4:00 or. no. Yeah. Life was a little easy.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, life was a misery reading that you get up so early and maybe had breakfast about 8:00, you know, and then dinner at six at night. And then there was really nothing much prevention. because, the man of the house, the one I work for, he was up there, assistant prosecuting attorney. And the woman was home most the time.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And they, they had three little kids. One went to school to her home, and it was just. Just ordinary.
    
      Karen Purtee: You did mostly the housework. Did you take care of the kids, then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: no, I only if they went out. That thing. She took care of the in, so I had nothing to do with that. But it was just like living in a house, you know?
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, it all just everything.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. Do you keep an over wear polish?
    
      Helena Carlson: Yes.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Keep the.
    
      Karen Purtee: Silverware. I was going to say, were these rather well-to-do people, and I guess they must have been. Did the average family in Spokane hire somebody?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Hello, everybody. Anybody ever had any little prominence at all? You know, I had hired girls. They called them all the girls from Troy, you know, went up. There must be a get together, Annie Sandstrom, you know, And the fish girls. And then we sometimes we get off on Sunday, we go to church for the evening services. You know, we meet downtown and go to church for the evening services we get together that we later.
    
      Helena Carlson: His sister worked up there, too. She worked for those in that area.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: So yeah, well, to.
    
      Helena Carlson: Do miss she hated it because she felt like she was just as good as they were. She didn't know how to be a servant.
    
      Karen Purtee: They didn't treat her like part of the family. Not quite. Were you treated like of the family or.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: yeah. no. You didn't eat at the table with them?
    
      Helena Carlson: Well, I think they I think they really treated her. Only that I think she just. Yeah. Yeah they were awful good to her. I think they were good to her to it. She just didn't come out. And I do you know, I think.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Most all a lot more. Are they they just felt like you're one member of the family after which I felt I didn't feel a lord or anything by working for them. You know, I guess I felt to me like I was one of the things I.
    
      Karen Purtee: Just kind of wanted. I was a listen to some tapes by another lady, and she was talking about the different things in this wealthy household that, like the lady would forget to pay the milkman and things like this, you know, and skip out on some of her little bills, but entertain real lavishly. And I wondered if you had things like that or you had a these.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: People didn't dare really entertain so much. No. Once in a while they had come in for dinner, but they really didn't.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Entertain too.
    
      Karen Purtee: Much. No big party.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No big party center. No, I don't think we ever had a party while I was there. Only just a dinner party, you know. And it didn't last very long.
    
      Karen Purtee: So, like, they were very nice people who enjoyed yourself. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, I worked there nine months, and then that was the.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Summer I got married and so.
    
      Karen Purtee: Then most of your courtship was just on Thursday evening.
    
      Unknown Speaker: Yeah, that's right. All right.
    
      Karen Purtee: What what kind of things did couples do together with their shows and things to.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Show that smoking or else A dance, you know.
    
      Karen Purtee: But you're. You always had something to do. Yeah.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: My God. You should do that. Boyfriend, Take us out for supper, You know, And we did sometimes meet some of these boys and of threshing crew. You know, they were living in Spokane in the winter time, you know, and they take about, you know, for supper. And a bunch of us tried girls, you know, like the Sanderson. And he got her some maybe an hour and I'd say, and they'd take us out for supper, and then we go to dance for her show.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah, that was nice. Did they have roller skating and stuff like that, then?
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: No, I didn't hear of any person behind it, but I ever heard of them.
    
      Helena Carlson: That's to kind of come on later I think. Yeah. I think some time I don't remember the roller skating until after they, they used to have a roller skating.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Rink up here.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah I've heard of that. The ground holler. Yeah. Ruined their they're charging it for a while.
    
      Helena Carlson: And blues they had that brown ball. Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Well the big one. Yeah. But that for.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Mayor Margaret was talking about that the other day who said how much fun they used to have. And they went out there and then they used to have some of these celebrities come in there and entertain, you know, these the radio people. And at those times when they didn't have television, you know, like, yeah, this was a recipe for selling in the snow or some of those come in, you know, I didn't go.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: I had a chance to go in to it and go, I stay home and sit with the boys because I didn't trust any babysitters.
    
      Karen Purtee: These are your sons. You mean you.
    
      Helena Carlson: Know.
    
      Karen Purtee: Your grandsons.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And small. I wouldn't trust anybody with him. I say I'll stay home, take care of the kids.
    
      Helena Carlson: And Margaret, you know.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: And Margaret and wife would go, Yeah, yeah. yeah. And then you mean, come.
    
      Unknown Speaker: That's not nice.
    
      Karen Purtee: I wish my mother would say that to them children.
    
      Helena Carlson: Yeah.
    
      Karen Purtee: Melvin was was telling me something about oyster feeds that they used to have out in Bert Ridge.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah. And he said they'd have these literary programs there. You know, every Friday night we had a literary program, and we've had that sometimes it'd be basket social, sometimes it'd be to think, you know, something like that.
    
      Karen Purtee: Big washtub and yeah, Did you do the cooking? I know, I know.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We all help all together.
    
      Karen Purtee: And this was for the whole, the whole community, for the.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Whole rich, you know, Margaret just, it's a very big, you know. Yeah. That we had literary programs every Friday night, and then that was our entertainment, you know? Yeah. Yeah. we had a lot of fun.
    
      Karen Purtee: Now, was this at the school or did you take turns going to people's houses. No, no, no. We never did that. It was we're just.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: That school at the schoolhouse.
    
      Helena Carlson: And they went well, whole families.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: Yeah, whole families. Yeah. Had programs to sing and then they danced afterwards.
    
      Karen Purtee: Yeah. Melvin said whenever they planned the oysters, he would make sure he got up there. He like those? Yeah. And something about how they were cooked in the in the boiler.
    
      Hilda Carlson Ruberg: We've cooked them in the boiler thing.
    
      Karen Purtee: Do you mean like a wash when wash boiler. You put that.
Hilda's family coming to Troy

Hilda's family coming to Troy, Nov. 1912 to farm in Big Meadow. Mud in the streets of Troy, clap board house had to be remodeled. Hilda and two sisters go to Spokane to work as housekeepers. Father sells firewood in town.
Housekeeping in Spokane; met future husband at dance

Housekeeping in Spokane. Thursday afternoon off. Met future husband at a dance - he had relatives in Troy. Always had the most responsibility at home being the oldest daughter. Mother worked outside, Hilda worked inside. Father's reasons for coming. Mother liked Troy because it reminded her of Norway, her homeland.
Little Sister Fern burned to death in 1918; winters in Dakota

Little Sister Fern burned to death in 1918. The day before had been a family reunion with pictures taken. In Dakota, kids climbed up on the windmill, Hilda gets her finger tip cut off in the windmill hook-up. Getting in trouble in school for something she hadn't done. Winters in the Dakotas. Helena and sister on the frozen snow in Troy.
Mother's children all born at home; pregnancy and female puberty

Mother's children all born at home. Helena and sister sent away when sister is born. Didn't know mothers were pregnant, secrecy of childbirth - no discussion with adults about facts of life. Helena hid in the closet when first menstrual period came. Helena too embarrassed to watch birth of kittens. Children were better off without knowledge, they enjoyed being children.
Hilda describes her play; chores

Hilda describes her play, harvesting imitated. Chores included dishes and scrubbing the wood floors.
Play continued; Helena and sister imitate the family's dainty cows

Play continued. Helena and sister would imitate the family's daity cows and chew their "cud" in the shade - pitch gum.
Hilda's cooking for men on thrashing crew

Hilda's cooking for 28 men on a thrashing crew., thirty days in Genesee. The menu, the cook wagon described, Family and threshing pictures. Serving the meals, keeping the wagon clean, "public" plumbing. The threshing crew. The undependable clock. The shade cooler; they did the washing too.
Cooking for threshers on Burnt Ridge after marriage

Cooking for threshers on Burnt Ridge after marriage. Made $5 a day - big money - on Genesee thresher crew.
Work as housekeeper, lots of girls found employment in Spokane

Work as housekeeper, lots of Troy girls found employment in Spokane. Helena's sister didn't like being a "servant", Hilda felt like part of the family. Thursday evening dates. Entertainment at the Palouse Round Hall in later years.
Literary programs on the Burnt Ridge

Literary programs on Burnt Ridge, oyster soup, the Literary Paper (continued).
Literary paper; Helena taught at Burnt Ridge school, boarding with Hilda

The Literary paper. Helena was teacher at Burnt Ridge school, boarding with Hilda. The music and dances at the Literary. Churches.
Hilda's mother was a good hostess and served lots of food; Norwegian recipes; ladies employment opportunities

Hilda's mother was a good hostess and served lots of good food. Fattigman, "poor man's cake" - a Norwegian recipe. Mother's cooking, some about mother and father. Posing for portraits. Ladies' employment opportunities: housekeeping, teaching, clerking in a store. Knee pants for boys, the stylish tight sheath dresses.
Hilda's mother was extremely clean; mother's goiter and death

Hilda's mother was so clean she wore the paint off. Once when she spilled boiling oil on her foot, her only concern was for the stain on the floor. Mother's goiter and death.
Swedish and Norwegian names; setting up Hilda's first home

Swedish and Norwegian names - all "sons"; Carl Carlson becomes Carl Rose due to confusion. Setting up Hilda's first home (1914). Hilda operates the farm after her husband's death in 1931 for 5 years.
Raising beans, farmers' economics after WWI; depression

Raising beans, farmers' economics after WWI, depression. Selling wheat at 220 a bushel during depression so she can by her girls some Christmas gifts. Sold butter, had people follow her into the store to buy hers. How she made butter. Helena's creamery tales. Hilda's chores to keep the farm running. Hauling water to Burnt Ridge.
Hilda has her babies at home; pregnant girl though the was growing because she ate watermelon seeds

Hilda has her babies at home, first daughter arrives before the doctor does. The pregnant girl who thought she was growing because she had eaten watermelon seeds. Morals were of a higher standard then as compared to now. The bad girl was marked and an exception. Hilda's chores before her baby was born.
Hilda and her husband fishing; what Troy looked like in 1912

Hilda and her husband fishing. What Troy looked like in 1912; horses up to their knees in mud. Raised strict by mother.
Milking and responsibility not entrusted to all the children; Mother's tumor turns out to be sister fern

Milking a responsibility not entrusted to all the children. Ed's tricks in milking. Ed wears a dress to fool the cow. Mother's tumor turns out to be sister Fern.
Latah County Oral History Collection
