May 5, 2020 – Washington Co., WI – As we make our way to Mother’s Day, May 10… we’re collecting vintage photos and stories about our moms.
This photo is from March 1966. Note the rotary phone on the side of the cabinet with the marathon cord that could stretch into another room. Looks like hats were mandatory if there was a birthday. Chickens and flowers for wallpaper.
In an effort to pay tribute to mothers on Mother’s Day, neighbors have written brief stories. Some focus on cherished memories and others recall the grief they realized they caused.
Paula Catarozzoli Anderson of Hubertus remembers her mom’s patience especially when her “goofball kids had little supervision.”
“Back in the 1970s my mom, Mary Catarozzoli, would often let us sit in the big purple station wagon (rather than drag four or five of us with her) while she would run into the bank or grocery store. I wonder how much time we actually gave her before we all took turns blowing the horn and laughing. That woman is a saint.”
Former Assembly Rep. Patricia Strachota of West Bend said a large family proved to be a challenge for her mom.
“My mom, Theresa, lovingly displays her favorite family photos on her refrigerator. This became a challenge as her seven children led to 28 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren. She now needs a second refrigerator to display all her favorites and many more magnets.”
Lee Krueger of Little Cedar Lake had many fond memories of all the things his mother Theo would do for her children.
“Saving a few cents here and there was important during the days of World War II,” Krueger wrote. “One thing I remember well is our mom spending hours sewing and creating clothes. A favorite source of sewing material was the colorful patterned Purina chicken feed bags that my grandparents would get from the West Bend Feed Mill. We would pick through stacks of 50-pound sacks finding the right patterns.”
Ellen Delworth O’Meara remembered her mother for her sewing skills.
“My mom Harriet would use ends of other people’s yarn balls to lovingly knit my pre-Barbie doll designer outfits, as I would sit patiently for her to complete her vision. They would have a hat, bag dress and coat,” O’Meara wrote.
Mary Lynn Bennett of Jackson wrote about growing up as farmers in a small town of 450 and how her mom would go the extra mile for her family.
“For a special treat occasionally my mom, Pauline, would get out her cast iron skillet, scoop in the Crisco, and make us her homemade raised donuts dipped in white frosting. So when my senior class needed money for our senior trip, I volunteered my mom to make 50 donuts every Friday after our school basketball games. When I told her what I did, she never said one word, just helped us raise monies every Friday, one white dipped, homemade donut, 25-cents at a time,” Bennett wrote.
Feel free to chime in with a vintage photo and cherished story about your mom