Retold by Marty Luebke
Although I have known our ‘neighbor lady’ in this photo many years, I never would have guessed who she is. So it’s probably not surprising that that not too many of our readers will recognize the above photo either. Telling you that she was born the same year as Judy Garland probably doesn’t help.
If I tell you this is a graduation picture of Miss Johnson most of us still wouldn’t know who it is. But if you were told it’s Bernice Hermanson, wife of Eric Hermanson, Edison Township, some of us could say—oh sure, I know who she is!
Isn’t it interesting that many ‘old items or antiques’ often become more valuable as time goes on? Perhaps because there are not many left or rare. If you had saved one of the rare Peace Silver Dollar coins made in the year Bernice was born it would be worth $6,750 today. Yes, very precious and just as precious are memories that will be gone forever, if not recorded, saved and passed on. With that in mind, I must thank and give due credit to family members who took the time to listen and recorded much of the family history that follows. So let’s start from the beginning and listen to what Bernice had to say in her story of Long Ago Memories.
“I was not born in a hospital but delivered by a midwife on July 6, 1922 on our family farm in Moody County NE of Trent. I was the youngest of John and Luella Johnson’s 8 children. My oldest sister said all of my siblings had to wait in the barn while I was being delivered. I’ll never forget the crowded sleeping quarters we had-5 girls in one room and 3 boys in another. Many times I slept at the foot of the bed or sandwiched between two sisters. My folks had the smallest bedroom upstairs.”
“We had a hand pump in the kitchen for our water supply from a cistern. But our drinking water supply came from a well with a windmill near our livestock tank. By the time I was 12 my job included carrying two 5 gallon buckets of water to the house (one on each hand for balance). I remember when gasoline lamps were considered a modern marvel-they gave off more light than kerosene and hung from the center of the ceiling in a room.”
“Of course we had no indoor bathroom and we recycled catalog paper before ‘recycling’ was ever popular. We were always thankful when it came time for peach season--we could re-purpose the soft individual wrappings. Our mailbox was a mile and a half from our home and we walked or road our bikes for the mail.”
“Our school was 2 miles from home and we walked unless the weather was bad, our dad took us. On average there were about 35 kids from 1-8th grade with one teacher. Our lunch pails were empty tin Karo syrup pails filled with homemade items like bread, meat or cookies. We had apples in season but never had bananas or oranges. When we had to go to the ‘outhouse’ we had to raise our hand to not only get permission but had to indicate why we needed to go. We thought this was a dumb rule and didn’t know why the teacher had to know.”
When I ask Bernice about the depression and the dirty 30’s she replied.
“Oh that was a bad time and I’d rather not talk about it.” But she went on to say, “Some days were so dark with dust clouds it seemed like it was night. It was really dry and hot and in 1936 we had an all-time record heat wave with temperatures reaching 106 degree. I sometimes wondered if the world was coming to an end. But we were more fortunate than others and never went hungry. We had a good well and could water our garden. We always had home canned vegetables/meat and even shared our produce with others who weren’t as fortunate.
“During the depression my mother’s brother, his wife and two children stayed with us. They all slept in one bed in the boy’s room. In the summer my mother still had to cook/bake in the kitchen. It was too hot to sleep upstairs so we slept on the floor in the porch. We had no electricity so no fans, much less air conditioning.”
Bernice went on to graduate from Trent High School and started attending Madison ‘Eastern Normal’ in 1940.
“After 1 year I obtained my teaching certificate and in 1941 began teaching at Heeren Country School east of Dell Rapids and was paid $50 a month. Later I taught west of Garretson at Fairview School. The longer I taught the more money I received and before long I was making $150 a month (but that included all janitorial duties).
“WW II broke out during my 3rd year of teaching at Fairview. Our coffee and sugar was rationed. Two of my brothers fought in the war but they wouldn’t take my 3rd brother. A family that lived a ½ mile from us had both sons in the war and one was killed. It was a difficult time as I also had a lot of other friends and neighbors in the service. It was our patriotic duty to write to them. Once they returned from the service they would come visit and thank me.”
Can you imagine what your life would be like without a telephone, TV or other social entertainment? Perhaps the following provides some insight.
“During those times there was not a lot of entertainment. If you wanted to visit someone you just went to their place and likely found them at home. We always had a lot of company on Sundays. There were no phones, TV and movies were expensive. Dances were popular and I went to some with my brothers (against my parents’ wishes). The girls would stand and wait on the sidelines for a guy to ask them to dance. I was careful about who I danced with. I had met a tall handsome man earlier at a baptism in church. So when Eric asked me to dance I didn’t hesitate. He learned that I was teaching and living close to his family’s farm. To make a long story short I went against my ‘vow’ to never marry a farmer.”
“Farming life became easier as time and modern conveniences came along. Tractors replaced horses, lamps were replaced with lights when REA came to our farm. Before refrigerators we used a cistern to keep food cool. I never liked operating the crank which pulled up and lowered food in the cistern. Our new ice box was a big improvement so you can imagine how great it was to have a refrigerator and freezer.”
“We worked with neighbors and it was a big job feeding all the workers-especially at thrashing time. We cooked 5 meals a day starting with breakfast before 7AM. The girls would bring out morning lunch to the fields at 9:30 and our big meal was at noon. We would feed a large crew chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy vegetables, pies and by 4:30 it was time again for coffee, sandwiches, cookies, cakes or raised donuts. Evening suppers were sometimes leftovers.
“I really enjoyed cooking and made several loaves of bread at a time. You had to know just the right amount of cobs and wood to put in the cook stove so it would bake but not burn on. Along with cooking we had other tasks like making detergent with lye and waste fat. That was strong soap but it sure turned clothes white. We heated water on the cook stove to do washing and hung clothes on a line even when it was frosty out. Ironing the clothes was not my favorite job.”
“It was not all work and we had lots of fun swimming, sledding or going on family trips. We were able to become active in the Garretson community and were on the Swimming Pool Committee to help raise funds to build a pool. We were also active with Zion Lutheran Church and home Bible Study groups.”
“By 1969 all 4 of our kids were attending SDSU and we were able to enjoy our ‘empty nest’. We also were able to become more active in mission work outside of Garretson including traveling to Indonesia.”
Interestingly, when I first called Bernice to see if she was willing to meet with me she said. “No I can’t, I’m quarantining myself and getting over COVID”.
When we were able to later meet, she informed me this is not the first or worst time she had been quarantined.
“When the Spanish Flu epidemic hit so many people died that my folks were still very cautious and if we got sick we were self-quarantined. When my oldest brother had Scarlet Fever we all had to be quarantined.”
When I asked Bernice what advice or words of wisdom she had for us younger folks had a quick reply.
“Trust in the Lord and personally know how much he loves you. Never underestimate the power of forgiveness.”
For all who know Bernice that answer will not be a surprise. She has been an inspiration to all who know her.
She ended our visit with her usual modesty saying “I had two good marriages and have a great family. It is not ME but the LORD who has allowed all of these good things in my long life”.
Thanks Bernice for your willingness to share some of your “Memories of Long Ago”.
