I was born in 1947 when my birth father died in 1950 we moved into a 1/2 double Victorian house, mama's rent was 19 dollars a month. We had the downstairs.
In Ohio the winters can get pretty cold. I remember mom sticking folded newspapers under all the doors and in the door cracks to keep the air out we only used one door in wintertime. and we used plastic draperies bought at the 10cent store to cover the windows to keep the drafts down, and she would tape the draperies close to the wall. And for heat Well sometimes when it was really cold we propped open the kitchen oven and let the heat come out, and would have to open up all the cabinet doors to keep the pipes from freezing up. We had a big old wall great where a large amount of heat came out into the livingroom from the coal furnace. That kept us warm. And almost everyone wore long johns and sweaters inside and usually sleeping with two pair of socks on our feet. Now that old coal furnace was something else. Mr. Hodges Coal Company would deliver usually twice during the winter once in the fall and once in January. He would pull up in the driveway and open up those long slanted coal shoot doors at the side of the porch and I would stand there and watch the truck tip back and drop the big chunks of coal slide down and onto the basement floor and see that big puff of black dust come out. Mom always ordered the coal broken up into fairly small chunks it cost more but being a widow it was hard for her to break it up if it wasn't . I remember one year how ever we ordered the cheaper kind and she and my brother had to go down into that scary old basement with hammers and break up the coal herself. I sat up on the top step looking down into that dimly lite dirty old basement I did not like it at all. It was lit by one light bulb hanging on a long black cord from the ceiling.
Mom remarried a wonderful guy that I always called my DaD and she didnt have to do that anymore. Today would have been their 59th wedding anniversary
But that old furnace served us well it really put out the heat, hot enough if you were sitting near the register you would take off your sweater and bake. In the winter time when we came in from playing outside which was an every day occasion for 3 or 4 hours. we would place our wet socks, mittens and boots and pants on a 3 tiered wooden clothes rack so they would dry. And if they mittens were not ready when we wanted to go out again we would put socks on our hands and go anyway.
But that's a story for another time. Take care my friends and call someone up and tell them that you love them cause one day you might not be able to make it.
Tags: Coal Warmth Winter Furnace 1940s
