HASKELL Family Reunion

Home
Family History
Family Tree
Photo Album
Reminiscing
Reunion Info
Family News
Address Book
From Our Kitchen
We Took Piano in the Depression
by Jean Loesch Krauklin

Our home in Berlin, N.H, didn't have a piano in 1931. But we did have a determined mother, who felt that little girls were supposed to take piano lessons, as well as ballet and swimming lessons, in order to turn into young ladies with "a good background." We didn't know what that meant at the time, but we were willing to go along.
Mrs. Maude Barney was a piano teacher who lived not far from our grade school; we could walk there and get home before dark. Mrs. Barney came from England; she was a genteel, old-fashioned widow who supported herself by teaching piano, renting out the second floor apartment of her house, and playing piano for the silent movies at the Princess Theater. Her baby grand piano just barely fit in her living room, and she always made us wash our hands before touching it.
Mother worked out a deal: Mrs. Barney would teach both 7-year-old Ruth and myself (8 years old) for 75 cents, one joint lesson per week. She provided us with a cardboard replica of a piano keyboard with the names of each key printed on it. This was placed on our kitchen table, and Ruth and I practiced hand positions and imagined the notes we were "playing" between our lesson days. Mrs. Barney let us come to her house sometimes when she didn't have pupils so we could better get the hang of our scales and little pieces. I think we must have been the only kids in town taking lessons this way, but our mother evidently had hopes for better things.
A few months went by, and it was time for Dad's first fishing trip of the spring -- the smelts were running in Deer Isle, Maine, his childhood home. After a successful trip, Dad arrived back home in a truck, with many pounds of smelts -- and a piano! Mother and we girls were ecstatic. You see, at that time there was a local annual tax on pianos, which were deemed a luxury in Deer Isle. My Uncle Phil was tired of paying this tax, so we got the Ivers and Pond instrument. (My brother Bob has this piano, now back in Deer Isle, and presumably untaxed.)
Ruth and I galloped ahead with our lessons. There wasn't much else to do indoors except play cards or read, so we were inspired to practice. Besides, this piano had a lever you could push in that made the piano sound like a mandolin! Sometimes we played duets out of Mrs. Barney's ETUDE magazines, and that made us sound twice as good.
Mrs. Barney had an incentive up her sleeve: after a well-practiced lesson, we would receive almost every week a movie magazine. Evidently a film buff, our teacher read them all, and we took home MOVIE MIRROR, PHOTOPLAY, SILVER SCREEN, MODERN SCREEN, and others. Ruth and I pored over these gems and learned all about Myrna Loy, Greta Garbo, David Manners, Clark Gable, Clara Bow, and best of all, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Their full-page portraits were etched in our memory forever. I recall vividly a picture of Gloria Stuart, who sixty years later performed so beautifully in TITANIC. (We were taken to very few movies in the Depression, but we could later enjoy dozens of the old films on TV.)
It wasn't only the stars' lives and film reviews that we learned from. The ads in the back of these movie magazines were of great interest. There was Edna Wallace Hopper's face cream; if you used that, college boys would try to flirt with you, even if you were 60 years old. Tangee lipstick would turn from an orange color to just the right shade for you.. Shen Yu nail polish came in a "Heavenly Mauve" hue, whatever that was. Ponds cold cream practically guaranteed you a husband! There were drawing contests that we entered, but they weren't meant for l0-year-olds; they seemed to involve going away to school. They did get us some mail, though.
(Continued on page 2)

Any comments or questions? Contact
louise@loesch.net
S i t e d e s i g n b y W e b f a i r

Home Family History Family Tree Photo Album Reminiscing Reunion Info Family News Address Book From Our Kitchen		We Took Piano in the Depression by Jean Loesch Krauklin Our home in Berlin, N.H, didn't have a piano in 1931. But we did have a determined mother, who felt that little girls were supposed to take piano lessons, as well as ballet and swimming lessons, in order to turn into young ladies with "a good background." We didn't know what that meant at the time, but we were willing to go along. Mrs. Maude Barney was a piano teacher who lived not far from our grade school; we could walk there and get home before dark. Mrs. Barney came from England; she was a genteel, old-fashioned widow who supported herself by teaching piano, renting out the second floor apartment of her house, and playing piano for the silent movies at the Princess Theater. Her baby grand piano just barely fit in her living room, and she always made us wash our hands before touching it. Mother worked out a deal: Mrs. Barney would teach both 7-year-old Ruth and myself (8 years old) for 75 cents, one joint lesson per week. She provided us with a cardboard replica of a piano keyboard with the names of each key printed on it. This was placed on our kitchen table, and Ruth and I practiced hand positions and imagined the notes we were "playing" between our lesson days. Mrs. Barney let us come to her house sometimes when she didn't have pupils so we could better get the hang of our scales and little pieces. I think we must have been the only kids in town taking lessons this way, but our mother evidently had hopes for better things. A few months went by, and it was time for Dad's first fishing trip of the spring -- the smelts were running in Deer Isle, Maine, his childhood home. After a successful trip, Dad arrived back home in a truck, with many pounds of smelts -- and a piano! Mother and we girls were ecstatic. You see, at that time there was a local annual tax on pianos, which were deemed a luxury in Deer Isle. My Uncle Phil was tired of paying this tax, so we got the Ivers and Pond instrument. (My brother Bob has this piano, now back in Deer Isle, and presumably untaxed.) Ruth and I galloped ahead with our lessons. There wasn't much else to do indoors except play cards or read, so we were inspired to practice. Besides, this piano had a lever you could push in that made the piano sound like a mandolin! Sometimes we played duets out of Mrs. Barney's ETUDE magazines, and that made us sound twice as good. Mrs. Barney had an incentive up her sleeve: after a well-practiced lesson, we would receive almost every week a movie magazine. Evidently a film buff, our teacher read them all, and we took home MOVIE MIRROR, PHOTOPLAY, SILVER SCREEN, MODERN SCREEN, and others. Ruth and I pored over these gems and learned all about Myrna Loy, Greta Garbo, David Manners, Clark Gable, Clara Bow, and best of all, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Their full-page portraits were etched in our memory forever. I recall vividly a picture of Gloria Stuart, who sixty years later performed so beautifully in TITANIC. (We were taken to very few movies in the Depression, but we could later enjoy dozens of the old films on TV.) It wasn't only the stars' lives and film reviews that we learned from. The ads in the back of these movie magazines were of great interest. There was Edna Wallace Hopper's face cream; if you used that, college boys would try to flirt with you, even if you were 60 years old. Tangee lipstick would turn from an orange color to just the right shade for you.. Shen Yu nail polish came in a "Heavenly Mauve" hue, whatever that was. Ponds cold cream practically guaranteed you a husband! There were drawing contests that we entered, but they weren't meant for l0-year-olds; they seemed to involve going away to school. They did get us some mail, though. (Continued on page 2)
		Any comments or questions? Contact louise@loesch.net S i t e d e s i g n b y W e b f a i r