Happy Driving-to-FL New Year, 1966-7!

The picture shows (l to r - back row):  Jimmie Meredith, Ken Kellogg with Roger (3), wife Beth, Grandma Lottie Meredith, John Kellogg;  (front row) Dan, Diane & baby Lynn Pellettiere, Ruth Kellogg, Philip Kellogg ( 6).

It's Christmas, 1966 in Dan's and my first house at the corner of Greenfield and Greenwood in Mt. Prospect, IL. The Kellogg-Meredith-Pellettiere family gathered to have dinner together. Notice 3 of Dan's paintings - and a Van Gogh - behind us.

I'll go back through some of the many events of 1966 another time.  Here's what Ruth said on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 as the Kelloggs left to return to their condo in Clearwater FL.  They no longer had a house or apartment in Illinois for the first time since 1929.

Saturday, December 31, 1966   - "There were few flakes of snow in air as we left Diane & Dan's at 7 AM.  D&D got up to see us off and would probably go back to bed.  We gradually ran out of snow area, taking road slower because of blowing snow over the road.  I ate 2 P.M. lunch alone at Kum Back Inn while J. got the car greased.  I then drove clear here - to Hopkinsville - the last 25 miles after dark - 5:15 J. went for haircut."

Sunday, January 1, 1967  - "We left Ky. Motel at 7:15 A.M.  Had rain & fog last part of trip today, so were glad to get to the Robinhood Motel south of Atlanta, Ga. early - 4:20 eastern time.  We had dinner south of Monteagle (where we first hit fog in mountains, but not hard to see road.) They predict snow tonite in that spot.  I did about 1/2 of the driving today."  

Celebrating Christmas, 1930

The picture shows Ruth in a canoe on her honeymoon in Detroit, 1929.  The diary entries below were in 1930,when Ruth and John Kellogg were married 18 months.  The Depression had been running the country downhill for over a year.

Wednesday, Dec. 24, 1930     "It was cookies we got Mon. from A.A.  Rec'd gift from Wanda - sent John with hers.  He didn't have to work today.  Had the first of 3 pots of baked beans for supper (4:00).  Again."

The cookies came from John's family in Ann Arbor, Michigan...Wanda was such a close friend of Ruth's in high school, but gradually drops out of the picture.  At this point John was still working for Montgomery Ward, but not Ruth.  After being shunted from department to department because of the huge layoffs of workers, Ruth was finally let go in August, 1930.  She went to an employment agency and attempted to find another job, but the economy was collapsing around her with jobs were fewer and fewer.  Notice that baked beans, a thrifty dish, was on the menu. Again.

Christmas Day, 1930      "Nice sunshiny day.  Took snap of John carrying Xmas bundles over to the folks.  Had a big turkey dinner and played cards later.   Ate a lunch in evening too.  Drove us home with our gifts.  Gifts listed under 'Memo'."

I didn't find a tally of the gifts for 1930, though the ones for 3 other years in this 5-year diary were listed.  I'm sure there were few of them with so little money coming in.

The Kellogg's Christmas in FL, Complete with Polaroid Camera

There's a lack of Kelloggs-in-Florida pictures from the early 1970s.  This one is from 1975, showing the family playing cards around the table.  In the picture are Ruth (65), John (72) and grandson Phil, who was 15.  He, his brother, Roger, and  father, Ken, had moved to Florida in June, 1971 after Ken was divorced.

Here's a Christmas entry from Ruth's diary that wasn't in Pieces of a Life.

Christmas Day, 1971 
"A gorgeous, warm, sunny day!  We went for Mom and Jim early and went in for 20 minutes.  Then all drove to Ken's - who took movies of our arrival.  Philip got started fast on gift-giving and soon the living room was cluttered with papers, boxes and games!

In A.M. I opened John's gift - a new Polaroid camera & case!  We studied it for over an hour & decided it was too complicated for the little use it would get.  It's going back!  Also opened all our other gifts here.  List in back of book.

Xmas dinner was FUNNY.  Two places we went to eat were too crowded.  So we ended up with carry-out fried chicken & back to Ken's to eat it & potato salad & Jell-O mold - our Christmas Dinner!  We were hungry enuf to enjoy it - no work!"

"Mom and Jim" were Lottie and Jimmie Meredith, Ruth's mother and brother.  At this point, Jim was living at home with Lottie, medicated for his schizophrenia.  Ruth did write a list of her gifts in the back of the diary. Besides the camera, she got a green nightgown and Hallmark diary from us, a cookbook with some of my recipes in it from the 3 girls, gold scuffs, tennis socks and 2 half-slips from Lottie, a purse and a diary from Jim and a sliver evening purse from "B & K & boys".  That was habit or maybe a hint of the dementia to come - to add Ken's former wife to the list. She was no longer in the picture.

John and Ruth had stopped coming north to Illinois for Christmas by this time.   Back in Palatine, Dan, myself and our 3 little girls (Lynn, Cindy, Katie) were having our first big Christmas dinner in a lovely new house in Hunting Ridge.  A few relatives would have joined us. 

A Slice of Ruth's Life in 1940

In the photo, probably taken in Ann Arbor, Diane and Ruth are wearing outfits Ruth had made.  Apparently I wasn't keen on having my picture taken.

Let's view a slice of Ruth's life in the Fall of 1940, as a 34-year-old homemaker with two children, living in the Austin section of Chicago.  Her words are in a tiny diary with 5 days on a page, so brief snippets sketch her activities, thoughts.

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1940 - "Diane got her first permanent.  Her head is full of curls.  Cute.  Cried a little.  "  I remember this. The curlers were attached to a big machine and it was very uncomfortable because of the heat and being unable to move around.  I was only 4 1/2, so I wonder why my mother felt the need for curls on my straight, fine white-blonde hair.  Maybe it was Shirley Temple's fault.  She was a wildly popular, adorable child movie star with curly hair.

Friday, Nov. 1, 1940 -  "Had my hair done and a manicure.  Jeanette drove (with Will) 4 of us to Vange's for sewing club meeting."  This may have been after Evangeline moved very far away to Arlington Heights.  That was considered "the boondocks" by Chicagoans.

Saturday, Nov. 2, 1940 - "Shopped, baked.  Show was 'All This and Heaven Too' with Bette Davis.  Good.   Ruth and John are still going to movies, but now on Saturday, always arriving before 5:00 when the lower daytime prices changed.  Ken and Diane went too.

Sunday, Nov. 3, 1940 - "Took a lot of toys to Nursery of Church.  After ride we ate at new Robin Hood's Barn and then saw show."    Going to the Baptist Church on Sunday was also part of the pattern of their lives.  They had wrestled with the question of whether to go to John's Methodist Church, but decided on Baptist right before they were married. Robin Hood's Barn was a huge, rustic restaurant on Lake St. in Oak Park.  We went there about once a month for several years.

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1940 - "Voted for Wilkie.  Got my FUR coat finally.  Bought Kenny nice overcoat."  Ruth's fur coat was a full-length mink-dyed muskrat.  I remember the soft feel of it.

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1940  - "Wilkie lost!"  The other guy running - for his 3rd term - was a chap named Franklin Delano Roosevelt.    My parents were very Republican politically, but wasn't their party's day. They would have been stunned to know that FDR would run in 1944, deep in WW II and win a 4th time.

 

Ruth Kellogg Tells of Daughter's Hospital Stay in N.Y.C.

Daughter Diane (me) is pictured here at 26 (1962) at a windy Chicago beach near Lake Michigan, close to her Astor Street apartment.

In 1964 Ruth and John, Diane's parents, still lived in Oak Park.  After a trip to Florida, they drove back to Illinois on Friday, Feb. 21.  On Feb. 22 Ruth wrote in her diary: "Diane phoned Ken this morning from N.Y. hospital where she's been since Thursday with kidney infection which is being treated with shots every 6 hours.  Tests are being run for cause.  Ken said she sounded chipper."

One day in mid-February, I didn't feel very good with several symptoms - such as back pain.  The only doctor we knew of was one some friends had just met at a cocktail party, so that's who I saw.  He examined me, but missed the kidney infection diagnosis, and sent me home.  In a couple of days, I was back - but this time with a high fever.  The doctor put me right into Beth Israel Hospital in lower Manhattan, where I laid around for about a week. That's where I was when I called my brother, Ken

What were we doing in New York City?  Dan Pellettiere was hired by N.W. Ayer, venerable old ad agency in Philadelphia, in Dec., 1962.  We got married in February, 1963.  At that time I had been working for Continental National Insurance Group in downtown Chicago for about 3 years, training employees in letter and report writing mostly, but also writing and editing materials and manuals.  When I left, I finished a project for them, working out of our apartment in Philly.

We expected to be there for a year, but were transferred to NYC in late April.  I was hired by another insurance company on Maiden Lane at the south end of Manhattan, this time working as a technical writer in the electronic data processing area.  The computer was the size of a room.   

John's Big Break Comes in 1934

Most people wouldn't look at this situation as a "big break", but with John's work ethic, he did...as you know if you have read Pieces of a Life.

In the early 1930s, deep in the Depression, John Kellogg took a sales job with a new company called "SealTex." They were starting to produce a new kind of bandage, invented in Germany in about 1930, which was cohesive instead of adhesive, so it stuck to itself rather than the user.

John was barely making enough money for he, Ruth and little Kenny to live on, even including repeat orders from Chicago area drug stores.  Kresge stores asked SealTex to provide demonstrations in stores all over the eastern U.S. John was doing that - and working with "a talkative female employee" in each store whom could he'd coach to demonstrate the bandage.  Even then, his income was low.

In 1934 when John was selling in Boston, he got a letter from Byerley, one of the 3 owners of SealTex.   "While I was trying to find answers to our money problems, I got a letter asking that I return to Chicago at once as the firm was broke.  The cash I had in my pockets was barely enough to buy the return bus ticket, and I knew that Mom had little also."  (Ruth no longer was working.)

My own comment was: "John must have been horrified to hear that SealTex was broke.  However, on the other side of the coin, John was focused on achieving - and would have looked at this as his best chance to make his mark in the world.  He was a risk taker.  It's a good thing he was not a gambler."

It appears that poor management undermined the company.  Byerley was finding new items to have his 12 detail (sales) men take to drug stores, but they flopped - and SealTex was stuck with those bills of $8,000- $9,000, some 2 years past due.  "Byerley said that if I would take the responsibility for paying all those old bills he had run up, he would give me his stock in the firm and just bow out.  I agreed."

Newlyweds in 1929

Just a few of Ruth Meredith Kellogg's many diaries are displayed, priceless to me because of the people they bring back to life.

Oct. 30, 1929
"Foggy day.  As I wasn't busy for a time this morning, I wrote Mamma a letter, telling her about the new Retail Store, plumbing to be done in our flat, etc.  

John refused to to go the Chicago tonite because I said it was a silent picture.  We got there and I managed to get him into the show.  He had to admit that he liked it but - it would have been better with talkies.  It had music, dancing and crowd noises in sound."

Talking pictures were quite new, but all the rage.  In the transition from silent movies to talkies, background noises and music made the silent movies seem more modern.  Both John and Ruth loved going to movies, so perhaps John felt a silent movie was better than none - and apparently he enjoyed it more than he thought he would.

The "Retail Store" belonged to Ward's where Ruth worked in the offices across the street...It seems quaint that Ruth wrote to her mother, whom she saw and talked to often.  At this point Ruth had been married about 5 months.  The two families lived a few miles apart, with Ruth and John in a building he'd bought at 4705 Byron St. in Chicago.  People used to write letters frequently.  I kept a chart of letters written in my twenties, 25 to 30 a month on average.  

Engaged...and A Bit of Choppy Water

Friday, May 18, 1928
"John shocked me this morning by telling me he traded his 2-flat building in for a new fashion 3-flat brick.  I have thought about it all day.  We drove out to see it tonight.  I don't care for it."

Saturday, May 19, 1928
"John signed for the 3-flat house.  The two of us saw the best play yet - 'Just Married!'  It was a scream - the whole four acts!  Home at 11:00."

Ruth is clad in true flapper attire, including the cloche and the long straight top with the fur-trimmed coat.  She seemed to get over the disagreement with John about the 3-flat quickly.

Ruth would learn over time that John liked to talk about financial plans, but did not want or accept her advice.  That went back to his feeling that he was the smart one, the college grad, unlike Ruth with her high school diploma. Did he make mistakes in investing?  Yes, but one did not remind him of that!  The Depression was only 17 months away, but no one really saw the depth and breadth of it coming.

First-born Baby Kenny Arrives Early!

 Ruth and John Kellogg greeted their first baby in September, 1931 when Ruth was 25 and John 32.  The first photo shows Uncle Jimmie Meredith (20) holding Ken on the front porch.  They're  at the Meredith's two-flat at 5458 W. Iowa St., Chicago in January, 1932. You can see the baby buggy behind them.

The second photo is also on the front porch. Taken in March, 1932, it shows Grandparents Jim (51) & Lottie ((45) Meredith with Kenny this time.   Both pictures are in Pieces of a Life, as is the first quote from Ruth's diary.

Sunday, Sept. 6, 1931 - BABY'S BIRTHDAY    
"(Am catching up in these records.)
Pains started 7:15 AM.  Doc Anderson came 9:10 & took us to hospital.  Baby boy born 12:00 noon - Central time.  
Weight 7# 5.5 oz."


Monday, Sept. 7, 1931 
"What a relief; it's all over & 3 days ahead.  Labor Day!  Folks here in afternoon.  John in morning and night.  Stitches bother me. Named baby Kenneth Alan & mailed announcements."

Tuesday, Sept. 8, 1931
"Doc was in & said baby's fine.  Mama and Jim up this afternoon.  Jim saw his nephew for the first time.  John here when Mable & Edith popped in for a while & brought dress and slip.  Irene came just at 8:00 & saw baby at nursery before."

Ruth mentions some visiting girlfriends, Irene, Mable and Edith.  The baby wasn't due until Sept. 9, which is why Ruth says he was "3 days ahead."  I never did know where the name "Kenneth" came from.  No one in the family has it, so perhaps they just heard or saw it in print and liked it.  Odd that it's Scottish in origin and so is Kellogg, though neither of my parents knew that.  (Both knew that their families had some roots in England, but were unaware of the Scottish.)

John Speaks of Esther Clara Webb, His Mother

The quote below is from the beginning of my father's section in Pieces of a Life.  It's taken from the brief autobiography John Kellogg wrote in 1974 called 75 Years - Where Did They Go? 

The picture shows G.A. (Guy Ashford Wood) and his wife, Esther, in their home on Hamilton Ave., Detroit MI in 1922, both in their 40s.  This was after they'd moved from Buffalo NY as newlyweds and before they moved on to Walnut St. in Ann Arbor to buy and manage a rooming house for University of Michigan students. When this picture was taken, they had two young children, Junior (Guy) and Sara Jane.

I remember my grandmother saying that after trying both male and female students as roomers, she settled on only men because they were easier to deal with.  Like my father, she had strong, definite opinions - nothing wishy-washy about her!  Also like John, Esther was very interested in politics and current events.

Esther's first husband was Charles Kellogg, who had died in 1913.  She had been married at 18 and had two children with Charles as well - John Webb and Dorothy Helen.

"By luck I was born into a family which knew gracious living.   One of my earliest memories is my Mother, a young, attractive woman with a flat velvet ribbon around her hair to keep it in place.  One day I asked her why she wore that kind of decoration when none of the other ladies did.  The next day she appeared with her hair fluffed around a metal form called a 'rat.'  We have a 1907 picture of her dressed in that manner with her two children.

Actually she was much younger than the other women she knew.  As a farm girl, at an early age she learned to make her clothes.  Her next step was to do dressmaking in Buffalo NY.  At the age of 18 she married my Father, a widower about 44.  The farm was on Grand Island, which is in the Niagara River below Buffalo and above Niagara Falls."  

I recall a few early pictures of Grandmother Wood, but haven't seen them in years.  I'm sure that I saw the picture my father mentioned from 1907, but it may have been on a wall in Ann Arbor.  Sad that old pictures, letters, journals so often are lost in the dust of time.

Uncovered: A New Date for Jimmie's USN Service

A tiny address book stamped in gold with " Michigan Lithographing Company" on the cover looked to me like an address book.  However, it turned out to be a 4 1/2 by 2 3/4-inch diary in dark green leather, one of many sizes and shapes Ruth wrote in over the years.   Because I had not read it until after the book was published, it's not in Pieces of a Life.

The picture shows Ruth Meredith Kellogg and her younger brother, Jimmie, fooling around in the back yard on Iowa St. in Chicago where the Merediths had a two-flat.  You can see the stucco garage, which matched the two-flat (originally a house), in the background as well as the Petersen's garage next door.

This would have been around the time - the early 1940s - when Jimmie was in the United States Navy.  I had always thought that my uncle, James William Meredith, was in the service briefly early in 1942 after the start of World War II.  But Ruth's 1940 diary corrects me, as you will see.  Uncle Jimmie was a kind, soft-spoken man, but his mental illness gradually controlled his life.

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 1940 -   "Jim joined Navy and left for Great Lakes Naval Training Station for 2 months."

Saturday, May 25, 1940 -  "Jim home from Navy with Honorary Discharge papers and button."

And that's it - nothing more about what happened, though I had thought Jim left the service because he had had what used to be called "a nervous breakdown."   Ruth was very careful not to say much about Jim's schizophrenia in writing.  Since there was mandatory military service at that time, perhaps the button was something he could wear to show he had served.

"He Tackles Tennis, Life With Zest."

The Clearwater FL newspaper article about John Kellogg was headlined with the quote about tackling tennis and life with zest.  John had just written the short autobiography that's part of Pieces of a Life.  and apparently sent a copy to the newspaper along with the ones he sent to his children (myself and Ken) and five grandchildren.  He turned 75 three days after the article was published on Aug. 22, 1974.


I'll quote some of it, though you'll know what's coming if you've read the book.  His philosophy was written in stone.  "Not many 75-year-old men play tennis three times a week.  J.W. Kellogg does, and his arduous schedule tells a lot about the man."

" 'I hadn't played in more than 35 years, didn't have the time.  After I retired, I took lessons and it all came back, ' said Kellogg, a member of the Clearwater Tennis Club. ' "  Note:  He did play with Ken and a little with me when I was in grade school, but maybe that didn't count.

"Although his game is slower now, he plays it with the same dedication and seriousness with which he has tackled work and play all of his life.  Dedication to a goal and extra effort to 'make each job successful plus' pay big dividends, Kellogg said.  With that in mind, he is leaving his five grandchildren a double legacy:  several thousand dollars in bonds for each and the story of how one man toppled from the lap of luxury as a child, working his way from poverty to riches."

"He inched his way toward the edge of his chair.  The crow's feet deepened around his gray eyes as he recalled the first work room for his big manufacturing venture, SealTex, an adhesive bandage.  'It was a basement room next to the boiler with one window and one pigtail light.' he said, squinting at the still-remembered glare.  But the rent was only $10 a month, that was the important thing."

"It is the story of a self-made man.  It is also the story of a growing, industrialized nation and an era now almost lost in the mesmerizing hum of a computerized society.  Kellogg's father, a graduate of M.I.T. and a builder of bridges, died when the youth was about 11 years old.  Kellogg set his goal of financial security early.  He has attained that goal and is satisfied.  But perhaps the best legacy, after all, and one that any grandparent can leave, is a first-hand account of days that are gone forever. " 

Note:  It seems that Charles Kellogg, John's father, did not go to M.I.T., but he and his father did build bridges all over the eastern part of the United States.  Also, John was 13 1/2 when his father died, not 11.   

1930: The Stress of Being "Laid-Off"...and Rehired

As you know from Pieces of a Life, Ruth Meredith, pictured above, and John Kellogg were married in June, 1929.  The Depression hit just months later in October and the economy began to slide precipitously. This was shocking to the Kelloggs - and to everyone else in the country.  At this point, both Ruth and John still worked for Montgomery Ward, but a rocky road was ahead.

Thurs., Jan. 8, 1930 - "I was laid-off.  More than 50% of office got it.  Am all broken up over it.  John found an opening for me in Hse. Auditor's Office.  Hard to get transfer."    Doubtless, Ruth was stressed out about the sudden loss of a job she and John counted on for extra money.  That was also familiar work in a department where she knew everyone.  Without John's help, Ruth never would have been transferred over to the House Auditor's Office.  Everyone fired - both at Wards and elsewhere - was job-hunting.

Fri., Jan. 9, 1930 - "Finally got transfer - but keeping it quiet.  Packed all my belongings and left Gen. Methods (what there is left of it) tonite.  Florence is still there."   Years later my mother, Ruth, told me that Florence Childers kept her job, at least at first, because she had no spouse employed by Wards.  Florence, a close friend of Ruth's, was married at the end of 1930 to Clyde Ballentine. He didn't work for Wards.

Sat., Jan. 10, 1930 - "Worked straight through until 2:00 today (Sat.) - hard - so tired I cried when I came home.  Didn't go to show.  We baked our first pie - butterscotch - for tomorrow."   Ruth was trying to take on a new job of tedious typing job involving a lot of numbers and columns, I'd imagine.  She was also working for and with people she didn't know. There were no computers to handle rote tasks, so typists did that work.  On top of that, Ruth and John were having a few people in for a light meal and dessert the following day - more pressure!

A Sultry Summer in 1928

July, 1928 was long before air conditioning commonly appeared in homes and businesses, though it was invented in the 1930s.  People stayed in the shade, used handkerchiefs soaked in water, wore broad-brimmed hats, went swimming, used fans, etc. to make life more bearable when days of hot, sticky weather descended.   These quotes are from Ruth Meredith's diary, but did not appear in Pieces of a Life.  The photo, however, is her graduation picture in 1926 and was in the book.

Thursday, July 26, 1928
"Very trying day.  Very hot.  Had several verified statements to make.  John's car had a flat tire on way home.  We had to get air twice.  Poor John!  Loaned Papa $20."

Ruth was still working at Montgomery Ward's as a stenographer.  The "verified statements" were her job at work that day.  I was surprised that Papa asked Ruth for $20.  I imagine it was because of a tenant upstairs in their rental flat who "skedaddled" (ran off without paying).  Ruth's parents, Lottie and Jim Meredith, counted on the extra money, though the upkeep on the flat was a lot of work.

 July 27, 1928
"Wasn't so hot today, but for some unknown reason I am very tired and listless.  Got new Catalogue tonite.  John was tired too.  I shall now go to bed and read until sleepy."

Ruth and John were probably dehydrated from the run of hot weather, not knowing about electrolytes and hydration.  They saw a lot of movies that summer, always great entertainment, and even went to Ravinia on July 29 with another couple.  They heard a two-hour concert, but Ruth doesn't mention who was playing. The weather was better until early August when it was again "very hot" and "miserable to work steadily."  What a contrast to today when we flick on the air conditioning in the house or car!

Life With John in Florida - Car Accident

After growing up in snowy, cold Buffalo NY, John always dreamed of retiring to a warm climate.  In the mid-1960's, they tore up their roots in Illinois and replanted themselves in Clearwater FL.  Their roomy 3-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath co-op apartment was in the brand-new Horizon House on the Causeway leading to Clearwater Beach.

Ruth probably didn't object because that was what many of their friends were doing, traveling and re-locating in Florida. By then she had been overseeing brother Jimmie and her mother, Lottie, for 20 years - and was probably tired of that responsibility.  They, too, moved to Florida (Largo) after a few years of separation from Ruth.  Though no one realized it, she was also ever-so-slowly fading into dementia.

Though the photo is most likely from the 1950s or early 1960s, it gives you an idea of what Ruth and John looked like as they grew older.  Never very easy to deal with, John exhibited his anger in different ways, such as on the roads in Clearwater. 

"John got a citation today!  Police came here after J. had slight accident on Causeway.  Easter holidays have brought too many cars and caused so much delay that he got upset at people 'cutting in' & thus got it himself!  Tonite I drove both ways to Greer's." This is from Ruth's diary on April 17, 1981.  She was 74 and John was 81.  The following quote is from her April 24, 1981 diary entry.

"No tennis as John had to appear in court about last week's accident on crowded Causeway. 'No contest' plea got him $25 fine.  I hope he has learned something.  Started reading a free gift book - "The Spike" by Arnaud de Borchgrave & Robert Moss.  John liked it very much."

Both of them were avid readers and led an active social life centered around traveling as well as playing bridge and tennis with friends, some of whom were from their 20+ years at First Baptist Church in Oak Park.  As far as John's learning something from the ticket is concerned, fat chance!

A Drive Out in the Country to Deer Park

On May 31, 1926 the Merediths drove their Willys-Overland car, similar to the one pictured, out to Deer Park.  That caught my eye because the woods, now called Deer Grove Forest Preserve, are only two or three miles from where I live in Palatine.  I'd never dreamed they had driven out here for day trips into the country!  At that time, of course, Palatine was a tiny town perched on the railroad with farms radiating out into open land.

In the car were Ruth Meredith (19), her brother, Jimmie (14), and her parents, Jim (45) and  Lottie Weekes Meredith (39).  They were leaving their yellow-tan stucco two-flat in the Austin area of Chicago -- and their cares -- behind.  The Merediths had bought the two-flat, originally a house, in 1922 to add extra income.  They rented out the smaller two-bedroom flat above them.  They had a changing cast of characters as renters, some just fine and others who disappeared to avoid paying the rent, often leaving a mess behind them.

Ruth's diary said, "We left about 8:40 and arrived at Deer Park (30 miles from Chicago) at 10:15.  Had coffee and a big lunch we prepared before we left.  Played ball, etc.  It was cloudy most of the day." 

At 4:30 the Merediths headed back toward Chicago.  After 25 minutes, "the rain came down in sheets."  All but Lottie dashed out of the car, soon soaking wet, to retrieve the protective curtains from where they were stored and secure them.  "Didn't get home until 7:30 because we had to wait in lines of cars miles long when we came anywhere near (3 miles) of a busy crossroad."

This was a time when families took Sunday rides for fun into the forest, farmland or small towns, though this one didn't turn out as planned!

Fire at Ward's Where Ruth Works

April 28, 1930 - Monday
"Excitement - big fire in Ward's - our bldg. this morning - 7 firemen overcome by smoke - 3 in hospital.  Not much work done. $1,500 damage.  Mama and I had shampoo and set tonight.  Home 9:00."

Ruth also had newspaper clippings about the fire in her diary.  You can see one of them here.  It's from the Chicago Daily News.

One clipping said "150 Flee" and mentioned that "9 city firemen and one private marshal in charge of Montgomery Ward & Co. properties at Chicago Avenue and Larrabee Street were overcome."  Spontaneous combustion was thought to have caused the fire, which broke out in the basement.  The thick black smoke and fire were confined to the store room, which contained wicker baskets and stepladders. Ward's workers, mostly women from the floor above, poured out of the building as the smoke appeared.

Later the workers realized that ten firemen were so affected that they had to be treated. Seven were cared for at the emergency hospital on the fourth floor of the Ward's building. They were:  Dan Cahill, John Fligg, Thomas Hickey, Roy Hoff, Renig Landuyt, Thomas Mayer and Captain George Sweeney.  Landuyt was the Montgomery Ward Fire Marshal.

Three men, the first to enter the smokey area, were taken to Henrotin Hospital for treatment.  They were: Captain Arthur Barcal of 2952 Waveland Avenue (Commander of Company 14 and Acting Chief of the Battalion).  The other two men hospitalized were: Lieutenant Charles Brelie of 2119 N. Halsted Street and Charles Mackin of 2245 N. Rockwell Street.  Both were from Company 4.          

Ruth's Second Baby Arrives Early

On May 17, 1936, Ruth said, "At 4 A.M. we arrived at hospital.  At 6:12 A.M. baby girl was born - 6# 5 oz.  Left Kenny home asleep.  It happened just one week early.  Folks came at 3 P.M."

On the top of that diary page is written in my early cursive handwriting "Birthday of Diane now 8".  I read everything in sight, including Gone With the Wind" at 9 or 10 years old.  Evidentally my mother's diaries were not out of bounds!

Because the Kelloggs were living with Ruth's parents in their two-flat, Ruth could easily ask Lottie and Jim Meredith to keep an eye on sleeping Kenny and give him breakfast when he awakened.  Ruth couldn't have been too surprised at the early birth.   When she saw the doctor on May 15, "He hinted that there might not be another trip down there."

On May 19, "Baby is  getting cuter every day.  Named her Diane Meredith."  I was told that my first name came from the heroine of a movie called "Seventh Heaven," starring Janet Gaynor.

At that time women were hospitalized for about 10 days after a birth and very gradually got back to normal tasks.  Ruth came home on May 25.  "Sure enough I came home tonite.  Doctor Tucker is so nice.  Have to see him in 6 weeks & another Doctor Kartoon is to examine baby in 4 weeks.  In the shot above, I'm 7 weeks old and Ken, only part of him pictured, would be 5 in September.  Ruth might have been celebrating her 30th birthday, which was on July 5.  For more about the Kelloggs and Merediths, see Pieces of a Life.

In 1968 Ruth Wrote About a Terrible Shooting That "Shocked the Multitudes."

"We babysat tonite so Diane & Dan could go out for a cocktail and see movie, 'The Graduate' at the Capital in town.

This morning D & D went alone to the beach for a few hours of walking and relaxing after picking up 2 rental strollers at $3 each for a week.

Dr. Martin Luther King was killed by a bullet in the neck in Memphis, Tennessee appearance today.  It shocked the multitudes.  Not good for colored equality.  Afraid of uprisings now everywhere."

That last paragraph was written in red pen.  My mother was probably quoting what she had heard on television about "uprisings."

Dan and I were visiting my parents, John and Ruth Kellogg, in Clearwater FL where they'd moved a year or two earlier.  Lynn was almost two years old and Cindy about 9 months.  You can see all four of us on a couch in the living room of the condo.

I didn't recall that we had seen "The Graduate" that particular night, but vividly recall the cocktail at Schraft's, a restaurant/bar in Clearwater.  We were sitting at the bar when the television on the wall in front of us broadcast the news and film about the death of Martin Luther King.  It was a horrifying moment, not unlike the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963.  You hear the words, see the picture, but it is too awful to believe.  

"Help Me!"

One day Lottie Meredith phoned Ruth, crying hysterically, "Ruth!  Ruth!  Help me - my finger is caught in the sewing machine."
Trying to be calm, Ruth said, "What do you mean 'caught'?"
"The needle came down right into my fingernail.  It's bleeding and it hurts so much!"
"Can't you just release the needle - turn the wheel on the machine so it comes out?"
Still crying, Lottie said, "No, I can't.  I'm afraid I will just make it worse."

I was home so Mom (Ruth) and I ran to the garage, backed her Packard sedan into the alley and drove the two miles to the my grandmother's two-flat on Iowa Street in Chicago.  We had lived there until 1941 when we moved to 1210 N. Euclid in Oak Park.

Ruth was able to turn the wheel on the side of the sewing machine to pull the needle upward out of Lottie's bloody finger. Then she had me put ice in a bowl so that Lottie could put her finger in it.  This was 1949, so Grandpa Meredith (James) had passed away.  Her son, Jimmie, still lived with Lottie, though he was out when this happened.

Was this just a random accident?  Not exactly.  In the Nov. 5, 2013 post I mentioned that Lottie was very poorly coordinated because, as a lefty, her teachers tried to force her to use her right hand.  They tied her left hand behind her back.  It didn't work.  She still used her left hand to write, but was forever after awkward in doing tasks around the house or yard.  It seems barbaric, but tying up the right hand was an accepted practice in the late 1800s when she was a child.

Oddly enough, my father, John, was the first person to notice that our middle daughter, Cindy Pellettiere, was left handed.  When he and Ruth were visiting from Florida, he started to hand food or toys to little Cindy's right hand - until we realized it!  That was in 1968 when she was about a year old.

The picture is not in Pieces of a Life.  Taken in June, 1949, it shows my brother, Ken Kellogg (age 17), dressed for the Senior Prom at Oak Park High, with his mother, Ruth (age 42), and grandmother, Lottie Meredith (62).  They're in the Kellogg living room, framed against swirled plaster walls that were a pale aqua.  Past Ken you can see the arched entry to the dining room and the Danish Modern furniture, quite stylish at that time.

Precious Post Card From the Past

In the last post, I mentioned finding another treasure in a large box of diaries written later in Ruth Meredith Kellogg's life.  This is it - a post card made by Fain & Corning, 1716 W. Madison St., Chicago.  I'm assuming that's the photography studio, which probably was close to where the Merediths lived on the near west side of Chicago.

The young Meredith family is shown in June, 1910.  My grandmother "Lola" (aka Lottie or Carlotta), is shown in a large, feather-trimmed hat and tailored shirtwaist and jacket.  She looks so much older to me, but is only 23.  My grandfather, Jim Meredith (age 29), wears a derby, bow tie and suit, quite dressed up for the family photo.  Their prized daughter and my mother, Ruth Viola, has a special hat and coat on as well.  She is just weeks away from her fourth birthday.

The back of the card, which is where the address is shown, has more intriguing information.  It's addressed to my Great-Great Grandfather, William Henry Olmstead on Rural Delivery Route 12, Saranac, Michigan.  Jim's mother, Ruth Parks Olmstead, was named for the wife William lost in childbirth at age 25 when young Ruth was born. (Yep, more Ruths to add to the mix!)   In 1910, William Olmstead was an old man of 87, living with family in the state he had always called home.   He lived another six years, passing on in June, 1916.

Though we don't see William's handwriting on the post card, several of his letters were passed on to me.  He has elegant handwriting.  I was told long ago that he was a school teacher.  Someone did address this card to him, most likely Jim, even though he had little education.  It was his employer, Western Electric, that helped Jim Meredith achieve a high school education, even holding a graduation ceremony for all of the employees who earned diplomas.  

One question entered my mind when I saw the card.  You too?  How did it end up with the Merediths when it was mailed to Saranac in June, 1910 from Chicago?  I speculate that the Merediths either reclaimed it when William died or when his daughter, Ruth, died in 1923.  I should mention that Ruth's husband, Nathaniel Meredith, had died in 1907.  He had fought with a Michigan regiment in the Civil War.  Nathaniel and Ruth were the parents of Jim Meredith.  (See the abbreviated family tree on the last page of Pieces of a Life to help figure out who's who.)

Seek and - Sometimes - Ye Shall Find

Finding the pieces of a life can be daunting.  Dead ends abound.  And then, with luck, something drops in your lap.

In Pieces of a Life, I relied on my mother's early diaries mainly.  One day this week I was going through a large box of diaries from later in her life, which should have been labeled "paydirt".  It turned out to be a treasure trove.

Hidden at the bottom of the box were two autograph books.  Both were from 1922 when Ruth Meredith graduated from Emmet grade school in Chicago.  On the first page was written her name and her address, 644 Leamington Ave.  I'd never had that address before!  The Merediths lived there before they moved to Iowa Street.  Autograph books were used in 8th grade so that friends, classmates could leave a name with a poem, silly limerick or just their good wishes before moving on to a huge high school, Austin High.  For instance, "By the river, By the sea, By the hillside, Think of me.  Your schoolmate, Sinah Kitzing" is one example.

Then two pictures fell out of the diaries.  The one you see is blonde Ruth at age 2 with a toy bear.  It is so thrilling to be able to see where they lived back in 1908.  Yet still another new-to-me address - "Fulton St. house" is written on the back of the picture in Lottie Meredith's distinctive lefty handwriting. Fulton Street is east of Iowa Street, near Leamington.

The figure at the top of the stairs could be Ruth's father, Jim Meredith.  What about the other picture that fell in my lap?  I'll use that one in the next blog.

A Tale of Three Uncles - # Three

 The picture on the left is Guy Ashford Wood Jr. in April, 1945 (age 28) on a 30-day leave from the Royal Canadian Air Force.  He was a Flight Lieutenant.  He's pictured in the backyard of his parents, Esther and Guy Wood, in Ann Arbor, MI.  He tried to join the U.S. Army Air Corps (later became the Air Force) early in 1941, months before the U.S. engaged in World War II.  However, Guy was color-blind, so was not considered eligible for service.

When he crossed the Canadian border to try again, Guy was welcomed with open arms by the RCAF.  Canada, as part of the British Empire, had been at war for two years by then.  Guy was a fighter pilot, mainly in North Africa, and was never shot down.

When on leave in Capetown, South Africa, he met his future wife, Edna Smith, who worked at the hospital.  At the time the family was told that Guy was hospitalized because he was hit by a car while riding a bike.  It was only months ago that my cousin, also named Guy Wood, told me that his father had been in a bar fight!  Guy must have changed the bar fight to a bike because some of the family, my father among them, did not drink, nor did they believe anyone else should do so.

The picture on the right was taken at the Wood's home in Ann Arbor in 1938.  My father, John Kellogg (age 39), and his step-brother, Guy Wood (age 21),  are shown with Esther Webb Kellogg Wood in the back-ground.  Each man looks like his own father, so appear very different from each other. Uncle Guy was actually my step-uncle.

Though the people in this post are mentioned in Pieces of a Life, these pictures and this story are new.

A Tale of Three Uncles - #Two

Here's the story of the second uncle, who's familiar to those who've read Pieces of a Life.  He's Jimmie Meredith, shown watering the grass and flowers in the back yard of the Iowa Street two-flat in Chicago.  The Peterson's garage is behind him and the gate leading to the alley is at the left edge of the picture.  He's near the Meredith garage, which is out of camera view.

Swept up in the tidal wave of patriotism early in 1942, Uncle Jimmie enlisted in the U.S. Navy to fight in World War II.  He had had a history of mental illness for 14 years, but perhaps he had been doing better.  Ruth is usually silent about Jimmie's problems in her diaries, so we can only guess.

Within a few months, Jimmie was back.  He had had a nervous breakdown and was given a medical discharge.  There were pictures of Jimmie in uniform, but they must have been discarded.  I have a memory of touching the white cap and the deep blue bell-bottomed uniform itself long ago, stored in his closet.

The Austin neighborhood on the far west side of Chicago was close-knit.  I imagine that everyone who had lived near 5458 W. Iowa Street a long time, as had the Merediths, would have known about Jimmie's troubles.  Perhaps that would have made it easier to be able-bodied and about 30 years old in time of war.

A Tale of Three Uncles - #One

Did anyone in your family serve in World War I or World War II?  My family probably started out with King Philip's War (1675-76)  and worked their way through the other wars, century by century. If you live right where the war is happening, you're involved.

The man with the "X" in the picture is Lewis Henry Weekes, Lottie Weekes Meredith's brother, born in 1888 in Chicago.  He is my great-uncle.  I don't know who other two men were. Lewis' brothers had both died in the 1890s as an infant and child. The only other family I know of is his sister, Lottie (Carlotta), and their father, William  The picture was most likely taken after Lewis came home from serving in the Army in World War I.  Somewhere I have a frail silk handkerchief from France that he gave to Lottie.

Needless to say, World War I was fought in Europe, starting in 1914.  There was mixed feeling in the United States about becoming involved in something so far away, but in 1917 America joined the war effort.  It was a far cry from King Philip's War in New England.  Once the decision was made, though, there was mounting patriotism and men like Lewis went to war.

Lewis was exposed to mustard gas when fighting in France.  Though he survived, he was never quite the same, according to Lottie.  Later on he lost his balance when riding on a wagon, fell and was trampled to death by the horses.

The Cold Milk Caper

In Pieces of a Life John Kellogg's autobiography sketches various jobs he took while working his way through the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the early 1920s.  When he was waiting tables at the Keeler Klub one hot day, he swigged a cold glass of milk right before the guests started to come in.  Eating before they did was against the rules.  As he heard someone approaching, he poured water into the milk pitcher to make it look full.

Sure enough, the guest was at one of John's tables.  "...the first thing he did was pour himself a glass of milk.  All he got was the water I had poured in and lacked the time to stir in. He drank and then said, 'They sure loaded this heavy today.' 

Silently, I agreed.  Student waiters, like the paying students, could eat anything they wanted and there were few restrictions.  But they were supposed to eat after the guests.  And they had to have all of the dishes off of their tables before they ate.  Never again did I break those two cardinal rules."

"I heard this story many times as I grew up, usually punctuated by my father's laughing so hard that the tears streamed down his face.  He'd remove his glasses to wipe his eyes, his cheeks - and sometimes start to guffaw all over again.  He was puzzling in some ways - so work-focused, but loving a belly-laugh that came from something close to slapstick comedy."

The photo of John is probably his graduation picture, taken in 1924.   

Lovebirds Ruth and John in 1928

In her diary, Ruth tells us about John's 29th birthday and his trip to visit his family, the Woods, in Ann Arbor.  This isn't part of Pieces of a Life.

August 25, 1928 - John's 29th Birthday

"I made a cake & trimmed it with his name & flowers.  Gave him white gold cuff links.  Tonite we went to Harding & saw "Forgotten Faces."  I bade John farewell.  He starts for home tomorrow morning to be gone until Labor Day."

On August 26, Ruth said, "How lost I am without John!'  She also mentioned answering a letter from Esther Webb Wood, her future mother-in-law, and starting a letter to John.

August 31, 1928

"I had barely finished reading a letter from John tonite when who should call but John himself.  Surprised!  Very.  He got tired of Ann Arbor, etc.  He came over and just left minutes ago.

Letters, notes, journals, diaries were such a big part of their world.  For the first 50 years of my life, writing letters was an enjoyable part of life.  I penned several letters a week.  Compared to my i-phone, a letter offers so much more opportunity to mull over thoughts, to shape the writing, think through what you are expressing, consider the other person as though they were in front of you.  Hmm - in Facetime, Skyping or a Google Hangout, they are in front of you!   

Summers At The Webb Farm on Grand Island

This is an excerpt from Pieces of a Life.  The source for this story is my father's autobiography, witten in 1974. Other parts of my book are built on my mother's diaries.  John Webb Kellogg, born in 1899, is writing about the first 12 years of the last century.

"Mother" is Esther Clara Webb Kellogg, young second wife of Charles Henry Kellogg.  Esther and many of her Webb relatives grew up in farming families on Grand Island. Esther's grandparents were Potato Famine Irish.  

"Usually Mother & I (also Dorothy after she arrived) spent a few weeks on Grand Island in the summer.  Dorothy was my sister, 4 years younger than I, who died of cancer in the early 1940's.  Grand Island was a typical farm area with a one-room school house teaching all grades through 8th. In Spring, school closed early as the children were needed to help get the crops planted.  In Fall, school opened after the harvest had been gathered.  Some chores I liked better than others."  

John then analyzed what he disliked about strawberry picking and current picking.  The chore he "did not mind" was waging war on the potato bugs. "Each week I would get a small stick and knock all visible bugs from the leaves into a small pan.  Then at the end a few drops of kerosene plus a match and that batch would never harm our potatoes.  Next week there was another batch.  How simple now with our sprays!"

Like most people, in 1974 John didn't understand the danger of DDT and other chemicals they were using on their plants.

Ruth Gets Her First Job

 Pieces of a Life tells us that Ruth Meredith, pictured in a flapper outfit, got her first job in 1925.  On Feb. 3 a friend, Margarite Klina, called to tell Ruth "she had gotten me a position in a Tea store on Madison Street.  I'm to go there some morning this week.  Oh Boy!"  Margarite must have been helping Austin High students to find part-time jobs in a work-study program..

Ruth was very excited.  She was to get "broke in" on Feb. 5  She said, "Well, I hope I make good in the Tea store business..."  On the 5th she worked from 8:30-11:00 AM and then went to school.  She worked again Thursday and a longer shift on the following Saturday from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM. when the store was busier.  She said, "I was very nervous in the morning, but this afternoon the crowds didn't bother me half as much." 

She added, "I had dinner and supper there, and then washed the supper dishes.  I was paid $2.50 for today, and $1.13 for the two mornings; totaling $3.63.  The folks came after me about 9:25.  It is now 11:00 o'clock, and my feet and legs ache terribly, so here's where I turn in."

Initially Ruth liked Miss Hogan, the manager who trained her.  More than once Ruth was called in to cover a shift, hopping out of bed and getting to the store quickly.  Then on March 19 there was a sudden change in the picture.  "I feel terrible, but at the same time I feel that everything will turn out satisfactory.  The reason is, Miss Hogan called me up tonight and said she wouldn't need me in her store because the trade is slackening.  She said she would speak to Mr. Miller in the morning about getting me in some place else."

From then on Miss Hogan avoided Ruth, failing to call back, evidently unable to set up a job at another store for her.  On March 21, Ruth's mother talked to Margarite, who said she would speak to Andrew, the Manager of the new National Tea Store opposite Miss Hogan's store.  Ruth did get a part-time job there - and more money than the 23 or 24 cents an hour she had been earning.

Tap Dancing to "I'm a Little Teapot" in 1941

Diane (me) had been taking ballet, but tap was new to her. Before her first tap class in October, 1941, she needed tap shoes.  In her mother's diary, Ruth said, "I was lucky to get a pair of tap shoes for only 50 cents.  They were nice to her because she tried hard to do the steps."

In June, 1942 at age 6, Diane poses in her red and white gingham outfit with teapot motif, made by Ruth, after a dance recital.  She and the girls in her class tapped, danced and sang to "I'm a Little Teapot."  It was quite a hit with the proud families watching.  My dance career was about to end, though, because the young teacher was soon to close her school and follow her husband to U.S. Army Basic Training camp.

In the picture, Diane is standing on the "sundeck" that was off of two bedrooms, hers and brother Ken's.  A peek at the Oak Park neighborhood's garages, trees, homes appears behind her. Wrought iron fencing and low orange brick walls form a bulwark around the second-floor porch.

The tarred sundeck was fine to walk on or lay a beach towel on most of the year, but on the hottest summer days pools of liquid tar would appear, banishing any thoughts of sunbathing.  Neither the picture nor diary quote are in Pieces of a Life.

The Old Kellogg Home in Lancaster NY

This is the house, built sometime in the 1800s, where John Kellogg lived until age 13. It's somewhere between 16 and 20 rooms.  He said both in his book. The photo, taken in 1940, shows the house next to another, sitting on a paved street with little land, compared to the 3 1/2 acres on a hill where it was in 1899 when John was born.

In Pieces of a Life I quoted a section from John's autobiography called "Life in Lancaster in the Early 1900's".  John sketched the small town atmosphere back in the 1870's and 1880's when his father, Charles, had his first three children with his wife, Clara Shotwell, who died.  They were born in the 1870's:  Charles, Kittie Clara and George.  These were John's much-older step-brothers and step-sister.

"Now let's go way back.  What was life like when Father lived in the little town of Lancaster?  Perhaps 5,000 people walked or drove buggies or wagons over dirt roads.  The sidewalks were of wood planks as were the cross walks.  Sometime later the Village paved Main Street with brick, which was a big improvement."

"Our house had been built many years before we bought and had about 20 rooms.  It had two floors, plus a cement floor, full basement.  In the basement there was a furnace in which we burned hard coal and which gave hot air through two ducts to the two living rooms and dining room on the first floor, also to both second floor front bedrooms.  The first floor also had a large kitchen and pantry, which were heated by a large range primarily used for cooking or baking."

John goes on to say that his room and those of the hired man and woman were not heated, yet "I did not feel bad about that for none of my friends had rooms with heat.  You piled on the blankets in zero weather and dressed fast in the morning."   When John speaks of the heat, "it brings to mind the fact that he turned off the heat at night in our house in Oak Park.  In the belly of the winter when pipes might freeze, he put on just enough heat to avoid that.  So I, too, remember bundling up at night and getting dressed very quickly in the morning."  

Summertime in the Back Yard on Iowa Street

Brother Jimmie and Ruth look intently at the photographer in the summer of 1940 or 1941 while Diane appears bored and Grandma Lottie looks away, probably unaware of the photo because of her increasing deafness. Was it young Ken behind the camera - or maybe Grandpa Jim Meredith? They're seated on a bench behind the Meredith two-flat, the kitchen window and basement door behind them.

On June 12, 1941, Ruth wrote, "Most of the Radio Stations are elaborating on the sinking of United States merchant ship 'Robin Moor' by a Nazi sub-marine.  There is much speculation about it.  So far only 11 survivors out of 46 crew and passengers."

On June 14, 1941 Ruth reported in her diary an incident that could have been a tragedy.  "Part of a punch press Papa was working on broke and fell on his head.  Made a cut about an inch long.  He had to to to company [Western Electric] hospital and have it taken care of.  Then he went back to work.  Everyone marveled that he wasn't knocked out.  Piece weighed 12#."  Western Electric did start to investigate why the piece loosened and fell.  It was just three years later that Papa (James B. Meredith) passed away at the age of 64.

Life is smooth for the Merediths and Kelloggs, but a bumpy road is ahead with World War II on the horizon. This picture is not in Pieces of a Life, nor are the quotes from Ruth's diary.

Timing is Everything, They Say...

I quoted my father's autobiography in Pieces of a Life.  John Kellogg said, "In October of 1929 a serious depression started.  Mail order houses (branches) quickly reflect any change in orders for houses they operate on a percentage of sales.  In 1930 the Chicago House [of Montgomery Ward] sold about 10% of what it had sold in 1928.  This meant that the House Manager had 2 million dollars in 1930 to do what he had done with 20 million dollars in 1928.  This called for the most vigilant curbing of all expense.  

We liked our little flat building, but with things so shaky we traded the 3-flat for vacant lots west of Wilmette; the payments on the lots were so low I was reasonably sure I could carry them.  I was not sure I could carry the 3-flat;suppose that some of the tenants lost their job or we did?"

This didn't work out as John had hoped.  The land ended up being taken for part of an expressway and, from what I heard, John didn't get all of his money out of it.  Yet no one could have predicted the terrible financial hurricane that was coming.  

The picture shows John and Ruth in Ann Arbor just weeks after their wedding in 1929.

The Young Weekes Family in the 1890s

The two pictures show you a silver necklace with an engraved disc that belonged to Viola Hawley Weekes, Ruth's grandmother.  One side (above) shows the date, "1891", in the center.  The other bears the word "Mother".   The necklace is not shown in Pieces of a Life, though I am in possession of it.   

That is the year, 1891, that Viola and William's fourth child, Leroy, was born in April and died in August.  I suspect that William gave the necklace to Viola some time during that year to commemorate Leroy's death.  More tragedy was to come with the passing of oldest son Walter in Feb., 1894 and the death of Viola herself in Jan.4, 1896.

Yes, at that time there were many deaths of infants and children as well as mothers.  Yet it no less sad because it was common. Viola was 38 when, after 6 months of illness, she was taken by "Chronic Catarrhal Gastritis".  The dictionary says catarrh means 'inflammation of mucous membrane, usually the nose and air passages."  The gastritis is "inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach."

When Viola died, that left just William and the two remaining children, Carlotta Lola Lucretia, who we know as "Lottie" (Ruth's mother) at age 9 and her little brother, Lewis Henry at age 7.  The family lived at 325 W. Randolph St., in what is now bustling downtown Chicago.  Neither Viola nor William had relatives in Chicago. Viola was 3 when she came from the East Coast with her mother, who must have died years earlier.  William traveled from Wilkes-Barre PA after the Chicago Fire in 1871 to find work as a carpenter in the massive rebuilding of the city.  

Lottie lived with Mrs. Millard, a family friend, for 4 years, though I am not sure which ones.  Perhaps she and Lewis lived with William from 1896-1900.  Lottie would have had responsibilities beyond her age during Viola's months of sickness, so she she became a surrogate mother for Lewis from ages 7-11.  She is not shown on the census in 1900 with her father and brother.

William was a carpenter.  Perhaps by age 11 Lewis could go with his father on jobs when he wasn't in school.  Lottie, my grandmother, told me that she had dropped out of school in 8th grade "to keep house."   Whose house?  Do I wish I had asked more questions of her?  Of course!

 

1930- 31: Climbing Out of the Depression

I'll have to give John Kellogg credit for always believing in himself - that he could overcome whatever odds were lining up against him.

The picture of Ruth and John was taken in 1930, almost a year after the Crash in 1929.  Ruth lost her job at Montgomery Ward.  Any wives whose husbands also worked at Wards were let go quickly, so John's job lasted a year or so longer than Ruth's.  Then John worked for a newly-created division of the Welfare Commission in Chicago. Luckily he was hired by his former boss at Ward's, though that job only lasted 8 months.

Always on the lookout for an opportunity, John found one.  "Meanwhile I was searching for something new that people would buy.  I first saw a roll of Sealtex at a social meeting of a Bible Class.  I bought a dozen 2x60 rolls for 25 cents each and the next night sold them directly for 50 cents each.  They sold very fast.  For the next several nights, I repeated the above.  Then I felt sure I had located something that had a future.  Mom and I sold two shares of AT&T we had jointly bought after we were married to buy the rights for all sales in Cook County.  Long before that our car had been stolen and wrecked.  We had been using public transportation for many months.

Our son, Kenneth Alan, was born September 6, 1931."

John didn't talk about the family again until I was born in 1936.  His focus was on succeeding in business, much more difficult than it would have been before the Depression hit.  Everyone was impacted, so at least one didn't feel alone in trying to survive.

New Year's Day, January 1, 1941

The picture shows Ken and Diane Kellogg (me) on the front steps and stoop at 5458 W. Iowa in Chicago where our grandparents, Jim and Lottie Meredith, owned a two-flat for over 50 years.  You can see the sandy beige stucco on the porch behind us.  At that time, we lived upstairs in the smaller apartment.

In Pieces of a Life, Ruth's diary reports on the beginning of that momentous year, 1941.   "Drove down to factory with Papa and Jim to see new Aids machine in operation. Back again for New Year's Day dinner of Chicken and Duck with folks.

Just had time after dishes to get dressed and go to Florence and Clyde's.  Her folks came too.  We had a nice cold meal at 8.  Home 10:30"

"Papa and Jim" are my Grandfather Meredith and Uncle Jim.  The Aids machine mentioned might have been the long tunnel-like drying mechanism for the surgical bandage my father, John Kellogg, made.

Interesting about the food served on New Year's Day.  I have one vague recollection of duck and chicken or turkey being served for Thanksgiving at my grandparents' home when I was very young.  The custom must have ebbed away.

The other people Ruth mentions are the Ballentines, Florence and Clyde, who were their close friends. Florence and Ruth met when they both worked as stenographers at Montgomery Ward in Chicago.  By this time, Ballentines had a daughter, Bonnie Kay, who was one year younger than myself.

What Excitement! In 1904 John's Father Bought a Steven-Duryea

Okay, this is not the Steven-Duryea automobile that Charles Kellogg bought in 1904.  Continuing his father's fascination with cars, John bought the one pictured much later.  Shown in 1939 with John and children  Diane and Ken, it's a blue 1938 Lincoln Zephyr, the first expensive car John purchased.  John loved showing it off.

Pieces of a Life quotes John Kellogg's autobiography in talking about that other car, the Steven-Duryea. "In 1904 Buffalo received four new cars; one of them was ours.  I was five years old.  Cars then lacked windshields, tops, doors, mufflers and many other things we now take for granted.  To keep clean, folks had to wear goggles and linen dusters.  Vividly I recall the family driving the 25 miles to Buffalo to get outfitted.  I was asleep and they did not waken me.  I was heart-broken.

Our car came from Massachusetts and was a Steven-Duryea.  Like all others it had one large cylinder that shook the car when it exploded.  Cars were so very simple then.  If something broke, there was no service station to which you took it for repairs.  The village blacksmith forged your parts back together.  Each person with a car kept their own wood barrel of gasoline; recall, ours was down in the apple orchard.

Lacking mufflers, cars made a terrific racket.  Horses were just plain scared of them.  Horse owners at first tried to minimize the impact by putting blinders on horses; with these the horse could see only straight ahead.  These helped some.  Still the noise was so loud that often the horses ran away or their owners held them at great risk.  I have been in a car many times when the frustrated owner would lash out at us with his whip.  We went much faster, so in several seconds were out of danger.