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MEMOIR BAG Memoirs of Life at the Roedde House: The Very Proper Parlor (back to Memoir Bag)
T he parlor at Roedde house was always filled with forbidden beauty and wonder for us kids. It was the "good room", and was to be used only for special occasions like receiving company or courting a sweetheart!
I remember Auntie Tilly entertaining her boyfriends in here, serving lemonade or tea. One of them had a first name of Chesterfield. "Chesterfield was on the chesterfield!" We thought that was very funny. Of course, he was called Ches, but we discovered his full name. One day we were in here and he wanted to get rid of us so he said, "Would you girls mind going out and closing the door on the other side?" He got rid of us. We were quite indignant that he had thrown us out. The wood in the parlor windows is soft. My sister Kathleen and I would carve in it with our fingernails. We weren't very popular when it was discovered. I don't remember Grandmother getting after us - it was always Auntie Anne and Aunt Tilly and mother, too. You see, Tilly was ten years older than I was, so when I was six, she was sixteen, and you know how bossy teenagers can be! Grandma Roedde was under five feet tall. Imagine her reaching to the top of the living room windows to hang the lace curtains. Of course, she dried them up in the attic on these stretchers with the pins. Kae and I always said she prayed too hard that we wouldn't be short...a little too hard.
We children were only allowed in the parlor if we were invited - except when it was time to practice the piano. We had a Heintzman upright piano. Do you know what I said to my Mother? I said: "You know, Mother, if you would give me a nickel for every time I practice, I wouldn't mind practicing at all! " Of course, a nickel was a fortune in those days.
The parlor was also the room for Saturday night family gatherings where everyone would get to show off their particular talents such as piano playing, singing, poetry recital, or performing little plays. This would also be a time for the family to play games together like charades or board games. Back then there was no TV, c.d.'s or video games - we had to make our own fun!
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