My First Year: 1939-1940

 

My First Year: 1939-1940

I was born on July 1, 1939. These were the proud parents.

Last week when I published my Childhood Memoir Challenge article, I included the following:

“My childhood can be seen in three phases, in my mind, at least:
1) Farm Rentals in western Iowa - Mar 1938 thru Feb 1942 ( I was there Jul 1939 to Mar 1942, approaching 3, on Jul 1 of 1942.
2) Our own farm, nearby - Mar 1942 through Seventh Grade at Willow #3 (May 52 - 10 years)
3) Town School, still lived on same farm - Fall of 52, 8th grade through Spring of 53 plus High School thru Spring of 57 (18 on July 1, 1957)

I have absolutely no memories of phase 1. Nothing. [ADDED: I’ve since been told that is perfectly normal to age 4…whew!] I have read my mother’s diaries of that time (She kept a daily diary from 1932 to 1999, the end of her life) and there are a few photos, but they only show things I don’t have memory of. Thank goodness for them, however.”

This week, I want to bring together the photos and words I have of my first eighteen months of so, birth through 1940. Next week we will look at 1941, and 1942 the following week, on Tuesdays.

These next two photos are also from 1939. An earlier blog post said this about the photo with Dad (it also applies to the photo with Mom, I’m now certain):

“I may have posted this before, but I've now determined more details about it. In Mom's diary, the first week of December, 1939, they got a new (to them) 1934 Chevy, it snowed, and Mom got me a new snow suit by mail order from Montgomery Ward. Pretty good reason to take a photo, I think.”

 This next one, with cousin Karen Kinnick, nine months older, would have been late spring of 1940.

And, on the Smith side, here I am with first cousin, Gary Hilgenberg, nearly a year older than me:

These two with Dad around the same time.

And, this one with Uncle Buzz, about 12 (now 92) around the same time.

 

At a Smith gathering in the summer, Dad is holding me, just left of center and the women:

With Grandma Kinnick on the farm:

 

 

With Mom and Dad perhaps in the fall of 1940:

 

Next time, we’ll look at the 1941 photos. Neat to finally put these together in one place…

See you down the road…