Category: Bucklin

Teacher, Teacher, I Declare!

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Third grade class of Mrs. Bucklin in 1945. Loris Bucklin is the girl in the middle with the bangs.

There are a lot of teachers in my family.  I just discovered one this week, but that is for another time.  Right now I want to focus once again on my maternal grandmother Myrtle Sylvia Phenice Bucklin.  It seems like most of the people knew her from her days of teaching at Hathaway School in Hathaway, Louisiana.  Either that or from her singing at church.  Or both.

I got this photo from Aunt Loris almost a year ago.  It is her third grade year of school at Hathaway when she had Grandma as her teacher.  I don’t know the names of any of the other kids in the class, but maybe some of you know them.

Teaching Certificate from 1928

Grandma got her high school diploma in 1925, then proceeded to continue her education at Southwestern Louisiana Institute in Lafayette.  On March 19, 1928, she received her Professional Elementary Certificate from SLI that was “Valid For Life.”  She was not married at the time, so the name on the certificate was Myrtle Sylvia Phenice.  It looks like she added Bucklin later so she wouldn’t confuse her little third grade children.

She continued to further her education and received her B. A. from McNeese State College in 1957.

She then taught in Calcasieu Parish schools for two years until her marriage in 1930.  She didn’t teach during the time that she was having children and rearing them.  I’m sure she was teaching her children many wonderful things, but she wasn’t teaching in the school system.  She returned to the school system to teach at the Hathaway School in 1945.  The info from her memorial says that she returned in 1946, but it must have meant the school year ending in 1946.  You can see in the photo that it was the third grade class and the school year is 1945-1946.

She got back just in time to be aunt Loris’s teacher.  I wonder how that happened?  Did she prefer third graders?  Did Loris beg her to start teaching and be her teacher?  Why didn’t she teach older students?  Aunt Alma was in the fifth grade, mom was in the 7th, and Sylvia was probably in the 8th.  She could have taught them all if she picked a higher grade.

But third it was.  And that’s how a lot of people knew her – Mrs. Bucklin, the 3rd grade teacher at Hathaway.  She was just Grandma to me.

 

Go Tigers!

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Sorry about that misleading title. I couldn’t resist. I was trying to think of something to get people’s attention that was related to the story I’m going to write. “Go Tigers!” seems to be attention grabbing. But this article is not about LSU tigers. Not that I have anything against LSU tigers, my dad and I both got our graduate degrees at LSU. The tiger in this story is mainly just a tiger head that my mom made for me when I was a kid.

Jamie and Van Landry in early 1970s.

As you can see from this photo, it wasn’t just a tiger head that she made. She also made tiger-print pajamas for me and a leopard-print nightgown for my younger sister Jamie. What made me think of this photo was the cold weather we are having. I’m not much of a fan of cold weather and never really have been.

I don’t remember if it was that cold on the day that we got this sleepwear, but I do remember that it was a surprise when we got home from school.  And it wasn’t a hand-me-down!  Something new and decidedly fun.  Who wouldn’t want tiger-striped pajamas?  Any LSU fan would surely agree.  Of course, I had no awareness of LSU’s mascot at the time.  I just liked my new flannel pajamas with the matching tiger head.  It was warm and cozy and something that our mama had made us.

Another warm memory of my mom was a few years later on.  When I was in junior high, I had a paper route in the neighborhood.  And we were like the post – neither rain, nor sleet, nor blah blah blah could keep us from delivering those newspapers.  So every day after school – while reruns of “Star Trek” were playing mind you (now that’s dedication!) – I would faithfully go out and deliver my paper route.  Sometimes I would even do my brother’s as well if he had something to do!

Betty Lou Bucklin Landry in the 1960s.

During the winter it could get particularly cold riding that old Schwinn bicycle in the elements.  If it was raining, I would really be miserable.  I don’t know how often she would do this, but I remember my mom having a warm blanket to wrap around me when I would finish my paper route.  I’m not sure if she kept the blanket warm in the dryer or just started it running when I got home, but I remember it being nice and toasty and definitely comforting.

I’m sure that my brothers and sisters have warm memories of my mom as well.  It’s not like I was the only one she treated that way.  I think she loved being a mom, taking care of her children and showing them that she loved them.  This carried on to her grandchildren as well.

Though later in life her failing memory caused her to be reticent in dealing with people, sometimes even her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Too bad they weren’t able to experience the full warmth of her love.  It was a wonderful thing.

Follow-up Friday: From Betty to Bob – I’m Yours

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“Follow-up Friday?” you ask, “What’s that?”  Well I’ll tell you what it is.  It’s when you obtain some added information that you want to add to your latest post, but you’re too eager to wait for Surplus Sunday.  I know that I made it very clear in my most recent post that you would not be reading any long lost love letters, but I can now happily report that I was wrong.  This is the best thing that I’ve ever been wrong about!

My sister Jamie and I had discussed those long lost letters during the Thanksgiving holiday and neither of us had any idea where those letters had gone to.  We assumed that either our mom or dad had destroyed the letters after we found them and read them.  So I wrote my post on Wednesday and shared it with y’all.

Then this morning I woke up and found a text from Jamie.  She had found a few letters!  I was so excited and when I read them I have to admit that I got a bit choked up.  I also laughed a bit because the letters my mom wrote have quite a bit of humorous points to them.  I was relieved that at least a few letters survived.  From the letters that did survive, it’s clear that they were writing to each other daily.  It is also clear that they were in love.

His letter was written on July 5, 1952, (which is exactly 10 years before our Jamie was born) and he starts out with a “Hi, Baby.”  Not long after that he says, “I sure miss you, cutey.”  He talks about how busy he is with training and not sure he will be able to write every day, but don’t be surprised if some day there isn’t a letter.  (This sets up for a funny exchange in the next letter.)  He then signs off, “All my love.”

I’m not sure of the date of the letter mom wrote, but it starts with “Hi Honey.”  This is a term of endearment that they both called each other for the rest of their lives.  I had been wondering if it had been used that far back, and now I know.  The letter continues as a response to his letter about not writing daily.

She was not expecting a letter and her sister Alma must have known this.  So when Alma went to check on the mail and saw a letter from Bob, she didn’t let Betty Lou know right away.  She then asked mom if she’d rather look through the new catalog or read the new letter from her beau.  Mom says in the letter, “I could have choked her.”  But she doesn’t, because she is “so nice.”  Now that got me giggling again.

But the rest of the letter is full of the same funny and sweet content.  She uses terms that she did for the rest of her life.  She said that she was gaining a “teeniny” bit of weight.  She was glad of that because she had lost weight because she was so lonesome.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed seeing these old letters that I had thought destroyed.  They do give a bit of a window back to the time when they were young, in love, and separated by some distance.  I’ll let you read them now, if you have a mind to.

 

Letter written on July 5, 1952, by Bob Landry who was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for basic training. He was writing back home to his fiancee Betty Lou Bucklin.

Saturday July 5, 1952

 

Hi Baby,

Watcha know?  We are now having/ our first free time from 7 to 9 P.M. I/ sure miss you, cutey.  Our basic is/ only 8 weeks. So maybe around Sept./ Huh, Hon?

If I miss a day or two writing/ don’t be surprised.  You can’t tell/ how long it’ll be until there’s time/ to write another letter.  These ser-/geants are very unpredictable.

Our T. I. (Technical Instructor) is/ O.K.  I will probably get transfered/Into a Band Squadron next/ week.

I’ll hafta close now.  I have/ lots to do.

Be Good

All my love,

Bob

 

Page 1 of 2

Wed. nite 9:30

Hi Honey,

Hows my man tonight./ Thought you said I wouldn’t get/ a letter this morn.  I didn’t/ expect one.  Alma got the mail/ + she just fooled around and/ pretty soon she asked if I’d/ rather look at the new catalog/ or read your letter.  I could/ had choked her.  But I didn’t/ cause I’m so nice, you know.

I sure do like that picture./  Every time I look at it it/ looks more fanciful.  Yummy!

Just got back from an/ ice cream social.  Had a bunch of fun.  Got to see all my old/ gal friends.  Got to tell them/ all about my darling + showed/ them some pictures of you.  We/ really gabbed.  One of the other/ girls has her a Bob too but I/ bet he ain’t as sweet as mine.  (End of page one)

 

page 2 of 2

(page 2) Didn’t do much today.  Just/ worked.  Hoed this morn + worked/ in the house the rest of the day.

I believe I’m gaining a teeniny/ bit of weight.  It’s about time./  I weighed less that I have in 3 or 4 years.  Everybody thought I looked skinny.  I’ll probably get it back.  I feel better.  I/ believe I was just too lonesome -/ being with the family makes/ it much easier.  anyhow I be/ doing good for myself now.

I reckon that’s all the/ news I can think up.  Guess/ I’ll go to bed.  Sleep tight honey.

Be real good.

I love you, Bob

I’m yours

Betty Lou

(end of letters)

So there you go.  That’s what remains of the long lost love letters.  I can picture my mom being “beside herself” because of what her sister Alma pulled on her.  I’m sure she cursed her out!  Not really, that wasn’t her style.  She probably said something like, “You stinker, you!” and went to her room to read her latest letter.  I’m sure Alma got a good chuckle out of it.  I know I did.  I hope you did too.

 

Love Letters Lost

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Before you get too excited that you are going to be reading some long lost letters that have been found, I want to tell you that you won’t.  The letters are still lost.  At least to me.  Some of the contents of the letters are still available, but the letters themselves have been lost or maybe just destroyed.  Yes, they could have been intentionally destroyed!

The letters I’m talking about were letters written by my parents in 1952.  Daddy went off to basic training for the Air Force in San Antonio after he and my mom were engaged to be married.  I’m sure they missed each other when they were miles apart and my mom was not someone who liked to talk on the phone much.  Besides, it was expensive to make long distance calls in those days.  There weren’t many plans to choose from!  So they sent letters to each other and included photos of some of the things they were doing.

Of course the main thing that was included were pictures of themselves for their enfianced.  This is my mom Betty Lou Bucklin looking sweet for her beau Bob Landry.  I used to always think of my mom as a naive young girl who got lost easily and wasn’t very assertive.

But in retrospect, I think I was wrong.  My mom got exactly what she wanted out of life.  Her dream was to find a nice young man that she would want to marry, have lots of children, and have a family band together.  She didn’t hang around her quaint little country home town of Hathaway to see what would happen.  She went to the big city of Lake Charles and gave herself an option of an education to fall back on as a standby.  The standby was never needed.

This second shot is a photo Betty Lou with her sisters Loris and Alma.  This must have been in the summer of 1952, which was a few months before my parents’ marriage in early November.  On the back of this photo my mom wrote “anything to make you happy.”  I suppose my dad must have appreciated these photos, because he saved them and we’re looking at them today.

Here is one of the photos that he sent to her.  This was taken at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio in August of 1952.  His photos were a little more serious than my mom’s.  After all, he was a young man in training for the military.  That’s pretty serious business.

I’m not really sure how frequently they wrote to each other, but it was nowhere near what would be exchanged between people nowadays.  They’d be sending texts and photos every day.  Times were a bit different then.

One of the other differences is that they didn’t have the cloud to save all of their information for them.  They had to put the photos in boxes or albums and the letters in a file or drawer somewhere.  They did do that, because me and my sister Jamie came across those letters years ago.  And being the nosy children that we were back then, we opened up those letters and read them.  I don’t really remember much about the contents of the letters, but I do remember giggling a lot.

We got into trouble for that, which was another thing we giggled about.  But we never saw those letters ever again.  When we cleared out my parents house, we kept an eye out for them, but we could not find them.  I’m afraid that I will never see them again.  I’m not giggling about that.

Lagniappe – Thought I would add these two other photos to this post.  One of them is my mom with her younger brother Austin.  The other one is my mom’s Pin Up photo.  A photo of her in a two piece swimsuit.

Update!  Don’t want to give a spoiler, but that lack of a giggle was wiped off my face.

 

George and Susan’s Eighteen in ’19

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George and Susan with their 18 in ’19. A nice old family photo from almost a hundred years ago.

George Henry Hine and his wife Susan G. Stanbrough Hine had eighteen living grandchildren in 1919. Their daughter Addie’s fifth child did not make it past infancy or there would be one more in this photo.  There are actually more people in the photo.  It includes their six children and a few unidentified people who are most likely family.

Before I get too far, let me remind you who George and Susan are to me.  I am Van Landry and my mother was Betty Lou Bucklin Landry.  Her father was Fred Bucklin who is one of the twin boys standing directly behind George (the seated man).  The twins’ mother Addie Hine Bucklin (my great grandmother) is standing directly behind them.  Addie’s parents are George and Susan, who are my great great grandparents.  I’ve actually posted two other photos previously that were taken at the same occasion, though they were of smaller groups than this.

What’s that you ask?  ‘Who are all of those people?’ Well I already told you who the important ones are, so I suppose you want me to name everyone.  So that is what I will attempt to do.  I think we’ve settled it now that George and Susan are the older couple sitting in the front of all of their progeny.  They were from Indiana and while there, they had their six children.  They then moved to Louisiana in 1894 where the children grew up and started families of their own.

Hine family group in 1919 with name designations.

Addie was the first one born and she was the first one to provide them with a grandchild.  She is the one with the big A on her head in the second photo.  She was married to Louis Charles Bucklin, but he rarely showed up in photos.  Their first child was Leo (A1) who was born in 1898.  According to a letter written by Susan in 1916, Leo had an accident with a saw blade that left him “a cripple.”  Leo did walk with a limp for the rest of his life.  Next was Mary (A2) who was born in 1900.  Ralph (A3) was born in 1902 and he later had a daughter named Helen.  In 1903 Addie and Lou had a son named Paul, but he was the one that did not live past infancy, so he is not in the photo.

In 1904 a son named Carl (A5) was born.  The photos from this date are the only ones of him that I know of.  When he was very young, he lost his hearing and never learned to speak.  I don’t know if there were any other learning deficiencies or just that there was no Anne Sullivan out in the country in 1919, but I don’t think he had an education.  When my mom was a kid, she was kind of scared of him.  He stayed up in his room a lot, but sometimes he came down to sit on “his nail keg in the kitchen.”

On to number A6.  That would be Herbert born in 1906, who was the grandfather of Joseph.  Too bad Herbert is mostly hidden behind an unidentified boy in the photo.  Clarence (A7) and Fred (A8) came along in 1907.  Clarence is the father of Carla, and Fred is the grandfather of me and all my maternal cousins.  In 1909 Edna (A9) was born.  One of her sons was Mel Keys (my mom’s first cousin through the Bucklins and 2nd cousin through the Keys) who helped to build the working model of the Starship Enterprise for the original Star Trek series.  And he is the father of Steven and Teresa.

The tenth child of Addie and Louis was Robert (A0) who was born in 1911.  He’s sitting in the front looking a little sad.  We have seen that same look time and again from his mother.  I’ve given her a hard time about it on these blog posts, but look at her mother Susan.  She has a big frown on her face as well.  I guess Addie came by that scowl honestly.  Yet there is a photo of Susan with a smile on it from this same day.  I’ll save that for a special occasion!

Back to the list of people – particularly the children of Addie.  We’ve already named ten!  But there are two more to go.  In 1915 she had another set of twins.  Not identical ones this time.  A girl by the name of Ruth (AA) was born with a boy named Roy (AB).  Ruth is the matriarch of the Bruchhaus branch of our family and Roy was the father of Jeannette and Doris.

On now to the second child of George and Susan.  Take heart, some of them did not have any children at all.  After Addie was born in 1876, along came Bert in 1878.  He was married to Anna Jones (BW) and they had three children.  Leta (B1) was born in 1912, Wanda (B2) was born in 1917, and Harold was born in 1921.  Being that the photo was taken in 1919, Harold can not be seen in the photo.

Harrison Rowe is the next child of George and Susan.  Rowe was born in 1880 and he was married to a woman named Electra (or May).  She may be the dark haired woman standing in front of Rowe, but I don’t have any identified photos of her.  They did not have any children that I know of.

Lonnie was born in 1882 and he was married to Millie (LW).  They had two children and they both show up in this photo.  Arthur Henry (L1) was born in 1905 and Alta Zay (L2) was born in 1912.  Jim was born in 1884 and he was married to Dorinda Thomas (JW) who had been a teacher at Nubbin Ridge in the Hathaway area.  They had four children together.  Aulden (J1) was born in 1908.  He graduated from Jennings High School in 1926 (the year after my grandmother Myrtle Phenice Bucklin) and lived the rest of his life in Jennings, Louisiana.  Audrey (J2) was born in 1910.  The baby at the time was Kenneth (J3) who is in his daddy’s arms.  Later on another daughter was born. Her name was Darlene and she was born in 1923.  She was married to Dalton Landry in Jennings.  I remember being confused about this when I was a kid.  They were Landrys but they were related to us from Mama’s side of the family?  What?  It doesn’t seem confusing at all now.

The last child of George and Susan was Ollie who was born in 1886.  He was a mama’s boy.  When he was younger he dated a girl, but he was too connected to his mom to allow the relationship to become more serious.  I’m not sure if he lived with both parents at this time, but after his father died later this year, the 1920 census shows him living with his mom and her 70 year old brother James Stanbrough.  Ollie lived with his mother until she died in 1933 and only married after that time.  He was a mama’s boy.

But Susan must have been a loving person.  She seemed fond of her children and grandchildren.  She also had her brother living with her family for many years.  He came down from Indiana with her family and he never married as well.  I don’t know his story.  He may be one of the identified men in this photo – possibly the bearded man in the back left.  There is also another adult man, an adult women, and some children who are unaccounted for.  I wish I knew who they were.

Well, that’s it. Thanks for traveling back to 1919 with me.  I hope you enjoyed it.  But most of all I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

Depression Era Bucklin Babies

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Here is a photo of my mom’s family toward the end of the Depression.  The Depression officially started on October 27, 1929, and lasted for about a decade.  My grandparents Fred Bucklin and Myrtle Phenice must have been dating when it started, because they were married a few months later on Mar. 12, 1930.

Bucklin family of Hathaway circa 1938

This photo was taken around 1938.  I base this on the fact that the youngest one in the photo is aunt Loris who was born at the end of August in 1937.  She looks to me to be a few months old.  Grandma and Grandpa would have been in their early thirties at this point.  The girls in the front (starting with the oldest on the left) are Sylvia at age 7, Betty Lou at age 5, and little Alma at age 2.

It looks like Betty Lou is a bit shy and is hiding behind her big sister.  It reminds me of a photo of our family when we were young and Jamie is doing the same thing next to me.  I wonder what Alma was distracted by.

It’s not a professional photo, but like I said at the beginning, it was during hard times.  Grandpa was a nurseryman during this time and grandma helped him out with that.  I know they didn’t have a lot of money at the time because my mom talked about how special it was that her cousin had a ‘real’ doll to play with.  Obviously this means that my mom and her sisters did not have store-bought dolls to play with during this time.

But things were different back then.  People were not used to the prosperity that seems so prevalent now.  The family seemed to deal with it all pretty well.  My mom was quite frugal all her life.  It really wasn’t necessary for her to tape up ziploc bags to store things in her purse!  But she couldn’t be persuaded.  She should be named the patron saint of recycling!

Music in the Family Part V – Jacko and Papi

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Every week that I post something about music, my sock monkeys Jacko and Papi have been begging to include them in a post.  “After all,” Papi said, “I am the one that taught you how to sing.”  I always thought it was my mom and dad.  They did do a lot of singing when I was growing up.  But I also remember spending time with Papi when I was a kid.

Here is a photo of me with Papi when I was three years old.  It sure does look like he may have been singing in my ear!  He assured me that he was singing the “Yo! Ho!” song to me.  “What?” I asked, “That song wasn’t written until our Reunions Adventure.  This picture was taken way before that.”

“I know,” Papi said, “I started the song years ago when I taught Buddiloo to sing.”  So now he’s trying to take credit for teaching my mom to sing!  I know he was around back then, but I never really know when to trust what he is saying.

“Yes,” he explained, “It was around the time I was coaching Murder to sing for those old recordings you shared with everyone a few weeks ago.  I told you that!  You never listen to me.  Some sock monkey whisperer you are!  Hmmph!”

“You weren’t even there back then,” I started, but then I realized that he had been there.  I have a picture of him with Mama back in 1938.  Jacko shared it with y’all in the Sock Monkeys in the Past post.  And the recordings of Grandma (Myrtle Phenice Bucklin, not Murder as Papi incorrectly calls her) were done around 1944 “when those German Nasties were around,” as Papi likes to put it.  I’m sure he’s going to take credit for teaching her to play the baritone now.  “No,” he said, “She learned that at school.  I just sang along with her when we called the cows.”  That’s good to know.

So today I’m going to share with you “Papi and Jacko’s Traveling Song.”  According to Papi he started it in the 1940s, then he and Jacko added some more verses in 2007, and finally Jacko and I added the last part in that same year.  I’m sure some of you will recognize the melody from “The Lonely Goatherd” song from “The Sound of Music.”  It’s a rather catchy little song.  I hope you enjoy it.

Yo! Ho! Going on Adventures –
Jacko and Papi’s Traveling Song

 

Long, long ago lived a monkey sock

And a little girl that everyone called Betty Lou.

She played him a song on her baritone

Til the cows all came a-runnin’ with a moo.

​

They went to church with her Ma and Pa

And sang and gave their Glory Be’s to You Know Who.

She took along little Cyrus sock

Cuz he promised that he wouldn’t throw his poo!

​

After the service he told them tales

Of many of the places that he’d traveled to.

He made sure that they knew his skills

So they wouldn’t want to put him in a zoo.

​

Yo, ho! Going on adventures.

Yo, ho! Always on the move.

Yo, ho! Going on adventures.

That’s what I like to do.

​

Much later on in a different state,

He befriended a sock monkey who was very new.

His little friend took the name Jacko

And Cyrus then became his Papiloo.

 

Most of the time they stayed at home

With a family of several kids who grew and grew.

They looked forward to summertime

Cuz the fam’ly always went to somewhere new.

​

Yo, ho! Going on adventures.

Yo, ho! Always on the move.

Yo, ho! Going on adventures.

That’s what we like to do!

​

All of the kids grew up and left

and the house that they had lived in was too big for two.

The ma and pa got a smaller place

And they decided just one sock would do.

 

Poor little Jacko was sent away

and Jacko and his Papi had a big boo hoo!

They gave him a tag with an asking price.

At least they didn’t put him in a zoo.

​

He sat on a shelf with some other socks

as people walked right by with not much else to do.

Kids always grabbed them and pulled their tails

and some of them were taken home in twos.

 

A man by the name of Van came in,

And he journeyed from the same state as Papi Lou.

With help from above Van and Jacko met

And they became a trav’ling team of two.

​

Yo, Ho! Going on Adventures.

Yo, Ho! Always on the move.

Yo, Ho! Going on Adventures.

That’s what we like to do!

 

Not long ago Papi surfed the web

and came upon a story too good to be true.

Though he was old he still liked to see

the adventures of sock monkeys on the move.

 

There on the screen was his friend Jacko

and he traveled with a man that Papi thought he knew.

When he heard that his name was Van,

he knew it was the son of Buddiloo!

 

He sent off a note to his friend Jacko

to see about returning to the place he knew.

Jacko and Van came to pick him up

and their reunion was a big todo.

 

They met up with friends on their way back home,

and Papi hugged and kissed the girls of Rue Cou Cou.

Though Jacko and Van begged to take him home,

Papi went to live with Betty Lou.

​

 

Yo, Ho! Going on Adventures.

Yo, Ho! Always on the move.

Yo, Ho! Going on Adventures.

That’s what we like to do!

Music in the Family Part III – Listen to Myrtle Sing

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The more I look into my family history for references to music, the more I realize how much it plays a part of the family.  I had thought at first that the series would be a month long, but now I’m thinking it will probably be close to two months long.  And since last week we looked at my dad’s side of the family, this week will be looking at my mom’s side.  In particular, the focus will be on my mom’s mom Myrtle Phenice Bucklin.  My Grandma.

Myrtle Phenice Bucklin

Myrtle Phenice Bucklin circa 1949

When I was a kid I never really cared for Grandma’s singing.  She sang kinda loud with a vibrato that seemed operatic to me.  I’ve never been a fan of the opera.  Different strokes for different folks.  But music was always very important to her.  She was singing til the day she died.  I mean that literally.  When she was 79 years old she was still singing at nursing homes for the “old folks.”  On May 6, 1986, she was singing and playing the piano for her peeps when she had a stroke and fell off the piano bench.  She ended up dying the following morning at 6:01 am.

Not only was she singing at the end of her own life, she sang at the end of her husband’s life too.  (You know this already if you’ve read all of my other posts.)  She sang his favorite song to him – “Amazing Grace” – and as she wrote in a letter to her childhood friend, “I’d finished singing, he looked up at me, smiled and died.”  Music was definitely an important part of her life.  But music wasn’t just a part of the end of her life, it was part of her early life, too.

Her father was Harry Clifton Phenice and her mother was Daisy Keys Phenice.  Both of them were musical people.  HC played the fiddle and he like to play by ear.  According to writings of Grandma’s sister Marguerite, he played a “homey” style that everyone liked.  He would play at community dances along with other extended family members.  He entered a fiddle contest in Jennings once and lost because he played a slow tune.  Daisy was beside herself because he didn’t play a showstopper like his usual upbeat songs like “Turkey in the Straw” or “Irish Washerwoman.” (or even “Soldier’s Joy”)  This allowed Daisy’s brother Leonard to win the contest when clearly HC was the better fiddler. (No bias there.)

The family also would have other families come over for a ‘sing-a-long.’  Daisy would bake peanuts or popcorn, and sometimes she would go all out and make popcorn balls with caramel and nuts.  (A treat that my mom would make for us from time to time.)  HC would play the fiddle, Myrtle (Grandma) or Daisy would play the piano, her brother Henry would play the violin, and Warren and the others would all sing along.  So Grandma grew up around music and was used to playing and singing in front of people.

That is a good thing, because otherwise she wouldn’t have been a willing participant when her older brother Sylvan suggested that he would record her singing some of her favorite songs in 1944.  Sylvan was into radio and sound systems from a young age.  This led to the Bucklin family being one of the early adopters for radio in the early days.  It also led to Sylvan making recordings of his family conversations and singing.  I am particularly thankful to him for that.

When I ‘rediscovered’ these recordings last year, I wasn’t sure who it was singing on them.  I thought it sounded like Grandma, but they were in a style that I liked.  I checked with mom and she assured me that they were Grandma.  The recordings were from around 1944.  It was after that time that she started taking singing lessons and adopted the more operatic style that I heard when growing up.  She even sings the old Irish song “Mother McCree” with a brogue and rolls her Rs.  I love it. (The titles of the songs are linked to the recordings.)

The recordings are in really good shape.  I did edit them to make it easier to listen to them.  When she sang “Smiles” she went straight into “Perfect Day” and I wasn’t sure it was a new song. I separated them into two separate files. Then on “There’s an Old Spinning Wheel in the Parlor” the song was cut off before the ending.  Fortunately for us, she had perfect pitch which made the editing easy.  Otherwise the beginning of the song would be out of tune with the end.

So enjoy listening to Grandma sing these old songs from bygone days.  I always find that listening to them in my car has the best effect.  If you have a smart phone that is linked to your sound system, that is.  And do it when you’re not driving!  I’m sure that thought never crossed her mind when those songs were recorded.  Mercy me!

After Grandma and Grandpa moved to Jennings in the 1970s, Grandma sang many solos at the Trinity United Methodist Church.

International Harvester 123-SP Combine

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Herbert, Roy Bucklin, and their mom split the cost of a new International Harvester 123-SP Combine in 1945 for $3319.24. The statement from Jennings Tractor & Implement Co., Inc. is below.  Mom says they bought the first one in the area.

I found a webpage with this info about that model: “In 1942 International Harvester offered its first self-propelled combine designated the No. 123-SP. The 123-SP featured a 6 cylinder IH engine, 12 foot grain head and hydraulic platform control. Options included a straw spreader and seed bagging attachment.”

On Facebook I wondered how long they would have used the 1945 combine and if it could be in this 1965 photo.

Jon Lawson wrote:

I remember my grandfather, Roy, telling me about this combine that they bought. He said they spent more time fixing it than cutting in the beginning. They were not very reliable in the beginning. He also told me that they were the fist to own one in the area also.

I really don’t know how long they used it but I kinda doubt it would have lasted that long. However we both know that our grandfathers would stretch the life out of equipment to it’s absolute maximum before discarding it therefore I wouldn’t rule it out.

Ray Bucklin told me:

Seward LeJuene and Herbert Bucklin cut rice together back when Seward LeJuene and Addie Bucklin [and her sons] owned the only two combines in the area.  Seward LeJuene was the owner of one of the big grain driers in Elton.

The combines lasted beyond 1965.  Remember the 1952 Ford truck that was still being driven in the 1970s. Daddy and Uncle Roy bought two of the same model IH Combines. So, you may find the receipt for the second combine somewhere.

They replaced the IH combines with Case combines sometime around the time I was in high school. I am not sure when I started driving the combines, but it was sometime in High school (1964-1968, probably Fall 66) and at that time we were using one of the IH combines and one of the new Cases. I am pretty sure that I drove the IH for more than one year. The IH was fun to drive. It had lots of levers to keep adjusting. So both hands were often off the steering wheel and you steered with the brakes. The Case had a lot of levers too, but it had hydraulic systems which made things a bit easier. I am not sure if we bought the second Case when I was in High School or if I had started College.

So, Daddy and Uncle Roy used the IH combines until the late sixties, but 20 year old stuff for our family is just getting broken in, so of course Daddy and Uncle Roy sold the IH combines to Harley Bruchhaus. I don’t know how long Harley kept using them. They are almost certainly scrap by now, but there is a remote chance that they are still sitting somewhere on the Bruchhaus farm. Charles may remember how long Harley used them. There is a good chance that Charles drove them too.

Roy Bucklin Home

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Ronnie Collins asked if I had some old photos of his house which was built in 1886. Before it was Roy Bucklin’s house, it was a Hine home so there should be plenty of photos in the family. I found these two I sent him a while back. I have probably scanned more, just have to find them, my scans aren’t very well organized and labeled. If you have any, I am sure Ronnie would appreciate seeing them and so would I.

The first photo is Doris, Roy, and Jeannette Bucklin. The second is Jeannette.

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