Three seniors from Eatonia share happy childhood memories

By Joan Janzen

It was such a pleasure to visit with three nonagenarians (aged 90–98) at Eatonia Oasis Living. Gail Guidinger (90), Frances Swan (97), and Lloyd Adams (98) happily shared just a few of their childhood memories and stories. So why not grab a cup of coffee and take a few minutes to listen in on their conversation?

When asked if they were ever bored as children, Frances Swan promptly replied, “Heavens no! I was playing ball and was always interested in sports. My dad took us to ball games and I played first base with the boys.” Apparently, Frances can still throw a ball really well.

These three residents at Eatonia Oasis Living may look serious, but don’t let that fool you, because they were excited to share happy memories of their childhood. Frances Swan (97), Lloyd Adams (98), and Gail Guidinger (90) had so many stories to tell that I may have to go back and hear “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say. Photo by Joan Janzen

Gail Guidinger couldn’t recall experiencing boredom as a child. “We had chores to do. At the age of seven, I started milking cows,” she explained. “But we had fun too, because all of us were together.” Gail had seven siblings with whom she could play ball, as well as all the games they played in those days.

As for Lloyd Adams, he recalls trapping rabbits and weasels as a child. “I got 75 cents for a skin and felt rich. You didn’t throw money around like that in 1939. That was a lot of money!” Lloyd said.

He also had vivid memories of the Dirty ’30s, with plenty of thistles, wind, and tumbleweeds. “Storms would come up in the afternoon, and Mom had to light the lamps because it was perfectly dark outside from the dust,” he said. “But we never went hungry. We had chickens, eggs, and beef.”

Gail said during a 1930s dust storm they put mattresses and pillows against the windows so they wouldn’t break. “It wasn’t easy for our parents, but we grew up and survived,” she said. Her family had a large dairy farm, which ensured they always had food.

“My dad helped out the neighbours,” Frances said, as she recalled the years of the Great Depression. They always had food on the table and in their lunch kits. School lunches included sandwiches, homemade cookies, and half an apple.

“We had ham sandwiches on Fridays, and the Catholics said we were definitely on the way to hell because we ate meat on Fridays,” she chuckled.

Both Gail and Lloyd remember school lunches being packed in a honey pail. “Peanut butter was elite food,” Lloyd laughed. “And peanut butter and syrup was a high-end lunch.” Nevertheless, all three seniors remember enjoying meat in their sandwiches, since their parents raised chicken and cattle, but some children weren’t as fortunate.

“I remember a family whose lunch consisted of a slice of bread with cheese curds,” Lloyd recalled.

Money wasn’t plentiful during their childhood years. “I remember a raffle for a ten-dollar bill, and that was an incredible amount of money back then,” Frances said. And the best gift she ever remembered receiving was a pair of grey gloves. “I loved my little grey gloves. My mom made me put my gloved hands in mitts, and I didn’t want to do it,” she said.

There wasn’t a gift that Gail could recall as being special. After all, she and her siblings usually shared everything. But Lloyd remembers receiving a very special seven-dollar guitar from Santa. “Now it would be worth a lot of money,” he said.

All three seniors lived through the WWII era and had cousins and men they knew who were serving overseas. “My dad wouldn’t let me enlist till I finished high school,” Lloyd recalled. “I was prepared to go and win the war all by myself, but I got robbed. It ended when I finished high school.”

But during their school years prior to graduation, they had been taught by many different teachers. “Our school was a mile and a half across the field, grades 1 to 9, with one teacher,” Gail said. “Most teachers only stayed one or two years.” Living alone on the prairies was a lonely existence for a teacher.

Frances’ favourite teacher played guitar and would accompany students who sang at school concerts. And Lloyd couldn’t wait to share his memories of his favourite teacher.

“I was madly in love with my favourite teacher in grades 1 and 2. But it was a losing battle because her husband was overseas making a hero of himself,” he explained. “I can’t remember her name. She was blond, Norwegian or something. She was a really nice person, but she didn’t return my love, and I was a coward and kept it a secret.” At long last, at age 98, his best-kept secret has finally been revealed.

“Some teachers were good and some weren’t so good. But we weren’t so good sometimes either,” Gail admitted. “Once we had some papers to roll cigarettes. We went up to the north pasture, rolled leaves into the papers, and had matches we took from the hired man’s bunkhouse. We lit those cigarettes, and we burned our eyelashes!”

Frances also remembered getting into trouble over cigarettes. “I took a cigarette out of my dad’s box for my brother. When they found out my younger brother was smoking, they blamed me,” she confessed.

Finally, it was Lloyd’s turn to confess. “I don’t remember anything really bad. I stole an apple from the store once, and it haunted me for years. I never stole anything after that, and I couldn’t get up the nerve to pay for it.”

The trio remembers wearing handmade clothing, clothing ordered from the Eaton’s catalogue, and of course hand-me-downs. Gail said, “I remember a plaid shirt that went through everybody, and I hated that shirt!”

“I had a sister who was four years older, and I ended up wearing her clothes,” Frances chimed in.

Gail remembers her mother sewing the majority of the clothing for her eight children. “She made a lot of clothes! She must have stayed up all night sewing!”

During their formative years, shoes were reserved for school days and cold weather. “As soon as spring came and the ground warmed up, we never wore shoes all summer. The soles of our feet would get just like leather,” Lloyd recalled.

And those feet were made for dancing, from polkas to old-time waltzes and square dancing. They all began dancing when they were very young. “My dad called the square dances, and every Friday night we went to the schoolhouse to a dance,” Gail remembered.

In spite of living through the Great Depression, experiencing poverty, and a world war, Gail, Frances, and Lloyd all shared their memories of a happy childhood.