In Aunt Barb’s walk-in closet by the front door, she hung all her coats – car-coats, dressy coats, light jackets, in red or brown or green or black.
And in the pocket of each coat was a pair of matching gloves, 35 cents, two pieces of hard candy, and a handkerchief.
My mother, Harriet Duncan Claycomb, was in Illinois with her father – I don’t know the details of why she was there, but it appears it was at his request. She’s sending me birthday greetings, updating Dad on her sister Barbara’s plans, and adding a little romantic closing.
This is the residence at Cedarhurst, home of my grandparents, Ruth Bressler and Amos Claycomb in Wayne, Nebraska. The photo was taken about 1920. I think the car is their 1919 Cadillac. I cannot identify the children or the horses, a failure I must admit. Update: the children on the horses L-R: William von Seggern, Jr., John Claycomb, and Bill Mellor.
I wrote about the fate of this house here.
Out by the clothesline at the house on Oak Drive: my glamorous big sister and me. And kitten. Jeanie is classy – she wears shoes. Early 1950s.
Lakeside, California, USA.
This is from one of Mom’s first visit to the Claycomb farm in Wayne, Nebraska, probably 1935 or so.
John Claycomb, Barbara Claycomb, Richard Claycomb, Harriet Duncan, Frank Claycomb, and George Claycomb. Have to say, I just don’t recognize George – I put his name by elimination.
This is my mother, Harriet Duncan, about 1935. She was dating my father and they married in 1936.
Eleanor Pierce Townsend (1839 – 1904) and her offspring. And our best guesses at their names.
This is my father, Frank Claycomb, with a dog, and I think, my grandfather’s team. That would make it be Wayne, Nebraska. And probably the early 1930s.
This was typical of my youth – playing cards with the family and friends. This was in the early 1960s – Mom, Dad, Thelma and Jim Humphries, Jean (my sister) and Jerry Crews. There is a Christmas decoration on the table and you can tell it’s winter – there’s a heater under the table. This house, built in 1960, has radiant heat in the ceiling. That works okay except for under the table! Hence, the heater. Other trendy things in those days: over my sister’s head is the intercom – with stations in every bedroom, in the garage, and on the patio; the pull down light fixture; the aluminum window frames (to conduct heat in and out), and though you can’t really see it – on the right is a pink formica bar. Oh I wish I still had that wonderful, now retro piece.
Lakeside, California, USA.
This is a photo of my sister, Jean Claycomb, with Polar, the Samoyed that came with the property in Lakeside when we moved there in 1946. The photo is from about 1950.
Oak (Creek) Drive, Lakeside, California, USA.
