Oppenheim Exhibit at Center for History
NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH MANCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
Volume XXVIII, No. 3, August 2011
Oppenheim Exhibit at Center for History
By Mary Chrastil, President
A major exhibition on the Oppenheim family and store opened at the Center for
History on August 12 as part of the Center’s Fun Fest offerings.
The Oppenheim Legacy: A
Perfect Fit for North Manchester for 125 Years is based on over 600
artifacts and photographs provided in 2010 by Rick Eisenstein, nephew of Phil
and Pat Oppenheim, the last owners of the Oppenheim Department Store in North
Manchester. When the store closed
in 2000, it was the oldest family-owned department store in Indiana.
For the exhibit, additional items were added from the North Manchester
Historical Society collection.
Mounting this exhibit was a growth experience for the Center for History staff
and other volunteers. We tried to
do more than just put stuff on display, but instead to tell the story of this
influential family and their long time involvement in the community.
Scores of photographs were mounted and hung; hundreds of labels were
researched, prepared and placed.
“Infrastructure” items like display cubicles and screens were built.
Three-dimensional items were cleaned and attractively arranged, and over
two dozen narratives were researched and written.
The following narrative gives a sampling of the variety and amount of
work that went into this exhibit.
One section of the exhibit presents the Oppenheim Store and its employees,
including photographs of the various times the store was remodeled over its
lifetime. This part also includes
photos of a 1905 baby contest, and ladies lined up around the block waiting to
purchase nylon stockings after World War II shortages ended.
[CLICK
HERE FOR 1946 PHOTOGRAPH & NEWSPAPER ARTICLE]
Biographies of the owners Jacob, Ben, Isaac, Jean, Phil and Pat Oppenheim
are incorporated, as well as artifacts from the store when it closed.
Another section displays family artifacts and photographs, including children’s
furniture, clothing and toys, dining room settings and linens, travel trunks and
clothing, family entertainment, and family community service, including military
service. On view are items from
Phil’s run for Congress in 1978 (including radio campaign jingles you can play!)
and photographs of the various homes where the family lived in North Manchester,
courtesy of Dave Randall and Werking Studios and Kyle and Stacy Trick.
Throughout the exhibit are narratives about the family and their interests and
community involvement, as well as reminiscences about working and shopping at
Oppenheims.
A grant from the Community Foundation of Wabash County enabled us to build large
display cubicles that created “rooms” within the larger exhibit space.
The cubicles can be moved and used for future exhibits, for example
building a display “room” within one of the larger Center for History exhibition
areas. Jim Garman, Owen Sommers,
and Richard and Althea Miller designed, built and painted the cubicles.
Assistance from Terri Michaelis and the Eel River Watershed Project
helped us produce the oversize photo prints that add so much to the exhibit.
Carole Miller-Patrick helped pick the items to be displayed, and plan and
construct the display areas.
The photography exhibit previously in the display area was moved and remounted
by Chaz Bellman, Alex Day, Dalton Day, Hannah Thomas and Sabine Thomas.
Hannah and Sabine also painted display walls and researched and produced
exhibit labels. Alex, Dalton and
Levi Richardson helped move artifacts from the collection area to the exhibit
area Jeri Kornegay helped us
name the exhibit, and Beth Anderson helped prepare displays and, with Owen
Sommers, design and build mannequins to display clothing.
Steve Lambert assembled the pedal car used by Phil Oppenheim as a child;
it’s something special, and is currently displayed in our front windows.
Also making contributions were James R.C. Adams, Steve Batzka, John Knarr and
Allan White. Mary Chrastil headed
the project. Mary, Joyce Joy and
Nancy Reed were involved in every aspect of mounting the exhibit and were the
key authors of its success.
The Oppenheim Exhibit will be on display through 2012.
After that, a major portion of it will become part of the Center for
History’s permanent displays.
10th Anniversary
and Mortgage Burning
On March 26, the North Manchester Historical Society celebrated two happy
events. First, we celebrated our
ten-year anniversary at the former Oppenheim Department Store building.
The Oppenheim store closed in October, 2000.
The building was purchased by the Historical Society in December, 2000.
The Society had been exploring various options for relocating its
collection from the Town Life Center (former Thomas Marshall School) when the
building became available. The
collection was moved to this site in the spring of 2001.
The new location was of great benefit to the Society and to the community.
Rather than having three empty store fronts downtown, interesting and
attractive window displays appear three or four times an year.
The community has used the building for receptions, reunions, and special
events, and the Historical Society happily participates in community events such
as Fun Fest, Harvest Festival, and the Bunny Hop.
It was a leap of faith to purchase the structure.
Many wondered if the building was too large, thinking that we would never
fill it. At that time, the
Historical Society had approximately 2,200 items in its collection.
Today, the collection boasts of over 23,000 items!
During Fun Fest this summer, we were hard pressed to find space for our
special exhibits, traveling exhibit, movie screening, entertainers and bake sale
on the main floor. Collection
storage and administrative space take up the upstairs, and we are starting to
explore the lower level for additional gallery space.
We have had no problems filling the building!
And we are very pleased that the community trusts us to conserve,
interpret and exhibit their treasures from the past.
Special thank you to the Harold and Eleanor Miller family for their
donation of 1,200 farm-related artifacts in 2009, and the family of Phil and Pat
Oppenheim for the donation of over 600 artifacts from the family and store in
2010.
The second thing we celebrated was burning our mortgage on the Oppenheim
Building. Our final mortgage
payment was made in January, 2011.
President Mary Chrastil noted that she had often heard of mortgage burnings, but
had not experienced such a ceremony personally.
She then lit up a copy of the paid up mortgage for all to enjoy.
The NM Historical Society now owns the building free and clear, in only
ten years and one month. Thank you
to all who have contributed to our efforts, with a special thank you to the Paul
Speicher Foundation.
Opera Curtain to Be Restored
The North Manchester Historical Society is very pleased to announce that we have
received a grant of $2,000 from the Community Foundation of Wabash County to
help with the restoration of a rare Painted Theatrical Backdrop in our
collection. We commonly refer to
such backdrops as opera curtains.
The curtain was donated by J. P. Freeman.
We contacted the Indiana Historical Society for information, and they
referred us to textile conservator Jennifer Hein to get an estimate for the
restoration. She told us something
very interesting. Painted
theatrical backdrops are very rare!
Because they are painted on fabric and because they were often folded up or
rolled up, they were prone to cracking, rot, mildew and mold.
She told us she knew of only one other organization in Indiana that had a
backdrop; we have since learned of two others.
Based on photographs, she thought ours was an excellent example based on
the quality of its artwork and the brightness of its colors.
The grant will cover a portion of the $6,500 cost to stabilize and restore the
backdrop. We have also received a
private donation of $1,000 toward the project.
We hope to bring Jennifer Hein to North Manchester this fall to begin the
project.
Since we have this unexpected treasure in our museum, we decided to make it the
centerpiece of our programming for the coming months.
Ms. Hein has agreed to allow the general public and high school and
college art and history students to observe her work on a limited basis.
Watch for announcements on when the observations are scheduled.
Next spring, when the opera curtain restoration is completed, we plan on a
series of programs centered around it.
Sample programs may include performances by historical interpreters and
opera students, lectures on the businesses listed on the opera curtain, and
lectures on the North Manchester Opera House and performances held there, and a
lecture on the Chautauqua Movement in the 19th and
20th century.
By the way, as rare as the opera curtain is, we have the good fortune to have
TWO of them in our collection! You
have no doubt seen the one on display, which could use some conservation work,
but which is in good condition overall.
Charles Boebel wrote an informative article on this curtain published in
local newspapers last fall. Who
knew that the opera curtains were so rare, and who would have believed that we
have not one, but two, of them!
Traveling Exhibits
The Center for History is taking advantage of a wonderful program offered by the
Indiana Historical Society. The IHS
gives not-for-profits the opportunity to display exhibits on topics of interest
in Indiana History. Their list of
exhibits includes over 20 different choices.
Three exhibits can be displayed every year for free, and the Center for
History is scheduling the maximum.
The exhibits can be booked for approximately one month.
Our first exhibit was displayed in March, and featured The Care and
Identification of Family Photographs.
Because the exhibit was a two-dimensional display, we decided to enhance
it with items we have in our own collection.
We found 160 photographs, cameras, stereopticons, and other items!
We have tintypes, daguerreotypes, and a rare ambrotype.
We didn’t know what cartes de visite and cabinet cards were until
we hosted the exhibit; but we found we had some in our collection!
In fact, we had an example of every item mentioned in the exhibit.
The exhibit that we added worked so well that we decided to keep it on
display. You can see The Care
and Identification of Family Photographs at the Center for History through
the end of the year.
We just finished our second traveling exhibit of the year, Indiana Through
the Map-Maker’s Eyes. To
enhance the 20-panel display, we exhibited maps and globes from the NM
Historical Society collection.
Although the traveling exhibit is gone, the maps and globes are on display in
our front windows through October.
They include some interesting Sanborn maps of North Manchester, originally made
for insurance purposes but now a treasure trove of information for historical
research.
This year’s final traveling exhibit will be on display from October 17 through
November 18, and will feature the World War II photographs of Indianapolis
resident John Bushemi. Our windows
will display a salute to local veterans.
The Center for History has brought IHS traveling exhibits to the community
before. Some years ago we hosted
exhibits on Post Office Murals and on The Auto in Indiana.
We would like the community to recognize the Center for History as the place
where these excellent exhibits are available to them on a regular basis.
You don’t have to travel to Indianapolis to see them.
Expect more traveling exhibits next year.
Thomas Marshall House News
This spring, the North Manchester Rotary decided to paint the Thomas Marshall
House as its community project. It
had not been painted in several years, and chipping and flaking were becoming
more and more apparent.
Rotary members and a group of Historical Society representatives met and decided
that the logistics of using all-volunteer painters was just too complicated, as
it would involve constructing scaffolding and taking it up and down over a
period of several weeks while volunteers painted.
The most cost effective and simple way to proceed was to do some
volunteer work on the house, but hire a professional painter to do the painting.
The total cost was a bit over what the Rotary had budgeted, but the job
was accomplished with contributions from the Historical Society, a little extra
from Rotary, and a great price from the painter, Historical Society Member Jim
Mishler. It looks great!
Some of the work was done by volunteers.
Rotary arranged to have the house power washed.
North Manchester Historical Society member Steven Batzka was in charge of
scraping and painting the shutters, which are too delicate to withstand a power
wash. Deb and Brad Bauneller from
Rotary (and also Historical Society Members) put the shutters back up.
We’re all set for many more years.
Another Thomas Marshall House project will be taking shape this fall.
America in Bloom plans to plant a garden of old-fashioned plants around
the house, such as day lilies, peonies, and hydrangeas.
An herb garden is also being considered.
Watch for fall plantings and spring blossoms next April.
Thank you to Rotary and America in Bloom for adopting the Thomas Marshall House
and improving the property. The
Historical Society plans to open the house with regular visiting hours in
spring, 2012. Our main concerns now
are additional furnishings, creating a small exhibit on Thomas Marshall for the
house, and securing docents who can provide tours and information during open
hours. Your help with any of these
areas would be welcome! Call Nancy
at 982-0672.
Spruce Up, Clean Up
By Nancy Reed, Director
The opening on March 19,
2011, was preceded and followed by many volunteer hours of cleaning, painting,
carpenter work to get new areas ready, moving of showcases and just good old
elbow grease. A group of Manchester
College students helped us to remove wallpaper and paint the north room.
They also assisted in removing the displays in the front windows and
removing the tape adhered to those windows.
Mary and Joyce carried most of the load on organizing and supervising this one
and several that followed. I was in
and out of the hospital with tests and broken wrists (one in November and one in
May). [Just so you’ll know, I’m all
well again and back to work.]
Next came a town-wide clean up day when many of the churches volunteer during
Sunday morning services to go about town cleaning up.
In our case, a group from the First Brethren Church picked us to help and
we divided them among our 3 floors and got a lot done to organize and clean
things out. Some washed our display
windows, inside and out. Some
helped us clean out the garage, and there was much carrying of heavy items to
the basement. Another group swept
cobwebs, replaced light bulbs and handled the dirty work of sprucing up the
basement storage area. A couple of
brave ladies attacked the archival storage shelves on the second floor with
dusters and a shop vac. We didn’t
get everything done (as we hoped might be accomplished), but enough that we felt
it was a grand success. It might be
compared to the olden days when your aunts, uncles, and grandparents did spring
and fall house cleaning. Do any of
you still do this? As for the rest
of it, it will have to wait for another day.
Any volunteers?
Activities continue and we’re busy planning so much for the rest of the year and
for 2012. You would be amazed at
what our small staff accomplishes.
Stop by to see for yourself. [And
bring some friends or family with you!]
Big
Bake Sale
2011 was our third year for holding a bake sale as a fund-raiser for the North
Manchester Center for History. With
so much to do in preparing the Oppenheim exhibits, we found just the team of
volunteers to take over the organizational part of putting on a bake sale.
Judy Glasgow, Nancy Schuler, Carolyn Reed, Loree Pritchard, Jeanette
Lahman, and Bonnie Merritt capably did the phone calling for baked items,
getting workers for the sale, and working at the sale itself.
As for the baked items, and I say this every year, they were better than ever!
Seriously, the talent for baking has not been lost over the years.
The pies were numerous and scrumptious.
The cookies, fudge and brownies were hits with the children.
Lots of people purchased the snack mixes in individual baggies as they
walked by our outdoor table during the Friday night “Cruise-In”.
Breads, yeast rolls, Danish pastry, muffins and cakes were grabbed up in
no time at all.
We started out overflowing three long tables and the top of a long showcase with
baked items. By the end of day one,
we were down to two tables and by closing time on Saturday, everything was sold.
Total profit for the Center for History was nearly $725.
All of it will go into our annual fund budget to offset costs of running
the Center for History.
Thank you workers: Bea
Knarr, Mary Miller, Phyllis Pettit, B.J. Grube, JoAnn Schall, Sally Welborn,
Betty Hamlin, Peggy Gilbert, Cass Amiss, Loree Pritchard, Julia Hoover, Arlene
Deardorf, Karen Hewitt. Thank you
bake sale committee, thank you Barb Amiss, Nancy Tiger and Nancy Schuler for
putting in extra hours, and thank you Fun Fest attendees for buying from us.
We’ll be back next year.
“See Yourself in the Movies” Project
Many of you have seen the 1938 Tri-Kappa movie “See Yourself in the
Movies”. In case you haven’t heard
of it, it was film shot by a professional photographer in 1938.
The Tri-Kappa group in cooperation with the Business and Professional
Women, arranged for movies to be shot on specific days in North Manchester.
It was advertised in the local newspaper and the community was urged to
turn out and be ready for the photographer to come to their workplace, church,
school or business locations.
A few years ago, Jim Adams and Charles Boebel did a voice-over to the originally
silent film, by identifying as many of the people as they could.
The Historical Society is now undertaking a project to identify even more
people in the film and then Jim and Charles will revise the script and add many
more individuals.
We held the first of those screenings at the Center during Fun Fest and many
turned out to watch the movie and help us with identification.
A hundred or more names have already been added.
We plan to meet at Peabody and Timbercrest and with other individuals so
some long-time North Manchester residents can help us identify even more folks.
If you believe that you could help us, or if you’ve seen the film and
recognized anyone, won’t you please call the Center for History at 982-0672 or
Nancy Reed at 982-2858 and we will be grateful for your input.
The revised 1938 movie will be sold on DVD, but probably not until next
year. Meanwhile, if you haven’t
seen the movie, but would like to, copies are available for $15.00 by contacting
the Center for History. Group
showings might be scheduled if you call to arrange it.
Do so quickly, because our deadline to cut off the identification process
is November 1.
A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU
to Owen Sommers who volunteers his extremely gifted talent of carpentry
for so many numerous projects for the North Manchester Center for History.
He always comes when we need him.
He always has a solution to our dilemmas.
He frequently saves us money by making it work with what we have.
He is dedicated and gets the tasks done immediately.
He wants to help others in
his retirement years and he is always happy and gracious. We couldn’t do the
projects without you, Owen. Thanks!
YOU CAN HELP. HERE ARE SOME OF OUR
NEEDS.
Someone to clean and wax our tile floors with a professional machine.
This is heavy duty work. We
will supply the products if you will supply the manpower.
Used overhead cabinets (3 or 4) for our small kitchenette.
Volunteer docents for one Wednesday or Saturday each month, between the hours of
10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for the Center for History.
We will teach you what you need to know.
If we had more docents, we could open more days and hours.
We like for docents to work in pairs, so bring a friend or we will match
you up with another volunteer.
Volunteer docents and interpreters for the Thomas Marshall house.
We will need to teach you about the Marshalls and the times around 1850.
You will need to be available at least once a month to give guided tours
and tell the stories of Thomas Marshall and North Manchester.
Add your name to a list of people we might call to help us:
painters, carpenters, those willing to move heavy objects, cleaners,
decorators for window and museum displays. We also need someone with excellent
computer skills to assist with accessioning artifacts, keeping track of income
and expense items on spreadsheets, working with a membership data base,
fundraising mailings, and much more.
Just call the Center for History to have your name added to our list.
This is part-time, irregular work at your convenience.
Volunteer to set up a facebook page for us and maintain it.
We are searching for anyone interested in serving on a committee regarding
historic house signs. The current
signs are in disrepair and we want to update and replace them.
Many more homes deserve to receive a sign and this will need to be
researched. Also, the covenants for
receiving and keeping a history house sign need to be revised.
To volunteer, call the Center.
To volunteer call the Center for History at 260-982-0672 or Nancy Reed at
260-982-2858.
N. Manchester Historical Society to Participate in Pilot Program
The staff and board of directors will be participating in a piloting assessment
for the Indiana Historical Society this fall.
We were one of a few museums to be matched up with one other similar
museum around the state to assess one another.
North Manchester has been matched with the Madison County Museum at
Anderson, IN. They will be
critiquing and learning from us and vice versa.
If all goes well, this is a project that will be offered around the
state. We feel lucky to have been
selected.
News Notes
(Joyce Joy in photo)
December – See our special Christmas windows, always grand and colorful.
We hope to do a display of dolls from various eras.
If you have a collection that you would be willing to loan, please
contact Nancy Reed at 982-2858 or the Center at 982-0672.
Tours – we have group tours being booked throughout the year.
Would your church group, graduating class, social club, family reunion,
anniversary party, or friends and relatives like to see and hear about our
exhibits? Ask us about our special
rates for group parties. Then call
to book a tour with us. We’ll be
glad to tailor your tour for whatever your time limit allows.
It takes a minimum of one-half hour to see everything—fast.
An hour is better and 1-1/2 hours will be filled with historic facts and
stories that we’re certain you will enjoy.
Touring the Center for History is a very nostalgic trip.
Another part of your tour can be to visit the second floor to see how we
archive and store our over 23,000 items and know where they are when we need to
retrieve them.
At the request of Manchester College we have added their African Art collection
to our storage area. We anticipate
getting a grant that will help us restore and stabilize this collection and hope
to build a special humidity controlled area in our basement to display these
valuable items. We expect the
process to take more than a year to complete, so stand by for more details of
our progress.
Watch for the release of a new hand-made, DeWitt model car.
It is made of wood, is very durable and just right for giving to a child.
They may be available for Christmas.
New projects pop up daily. We never
know what opportunity is going to present itself, but we look forward to them.
They make our museum ever-changing and always interesting.
Editor’s Note:
The first five articles in the early part of this issue were contributed by Mary
Chrastil, President of the North Manchester Historical Society. The remaining
articles on the activities at the Center were authored by Nancy J. Reed, Director of
the Center for History.
In the following
article, Robert Weimer recalls the
automobiles of his youth. Due to space constraints, his article will be
continued in the November issue.
Automobiles & Memories
By Robert A. Weimer
Some of my earliest memories are of the 1934 grey two-door Ford sedan that Dad
had while we lived in Bridgewater, Virginia during the mid-1930s when he was
teaching at Bridgewater College.
Each summer we drove back to North Manchester, Indiana where Dad and Mom helped
Grandpa and Grandma Weimer with their canning factory.
We also drove back to Indiana each year to spend the Christmas holidays with
Grandpa and Grandma Weimer, except for the winter of the big snow in 1936.
Our trip started as usual that year.
My brother Charles and I were in the back of the car with Grandma Jack
who spent the winters with us. We
wore our caps and heavy coats and had a comforter spread over our laps and
tucked around our legs. It got cold
in the back of that car. Mom and
Dad—also with their coats on—sat in front where it was only marginally warmer.
The little, rubber-bladed fan mounted on the steering column was blowing
air onto the windshield in front of Dad in an attempt to keep the glass frost
free. The heater, that small box on
the firewall in front of Mom’s feet, put out a feeble flow of warm air.
At dusk it began to snow as we entered West Virginia and the higher we
drove into the mountains, the heavier the snowfall.
Our headlamps made only a small dent in the surrounding darkness.
The road ahead seemed to disappear under a blanket of snow.
Finally, Dad stopped, wiped the windshield again with a towel and said, “We
can’t go on. We must turn around and go home.”
Slowly, he started back downhill towards Bridgewater.
We made it home safely and Dad called Grandpa and Grandma, telling them
what had occurred. After a long
night’s sleep, we gathered together our presents for each other and opened them
that Christmas Eve. On Christmas
Day, Mom and Grandma Jack rallied; put together a Christmas dinner and thus we
celebrated our first Christmas in Virginia.
And a few days later when the postman delivered the packages from
Indiana, Charles and I celebrated Christmas all over again.
Back in North Manchester, Grandpa Weimer had a big 1932 Ford truck with a
stake-sided flat bed that was used at his canning factory.
I remember Dad’s brother, my Uncle Al, and Grandma’s half brother, Uncle
Orrie Gamble, coming to Virginia in that big truck to move our household goods
back to Indiana in the spring of 1938 when Dad got a teaching position at
Manchester College. Our sofa was
cross wise at the back of the load and Uncle Orrie rode most of the way back to
Indiana sitting on that sofa and enjoying the scenery while we followed in Dad’s
car.
Uncle Orrie was a latecomer to driving.
Uncle Paul, Dad’s youngest brother, remembers that as a boy in the late
1920s or early 1930s he rode with Uncle Orrie in the Gamble family buggy pulled
by Dandy, their carriage horse. But
Uncle Orrie had learned to drive a car by the mid 1930s.
After Dandy was retired to the pasture behind the barn, I remember riding
with Uncle Orrie and his sisters as he drove to Silver Lake to pick up sacks of
chicken feed. He also delivered
once a week a can of cream to the Laketon Creamery which was five miles in the
other direction on the way to North Manchester.
Uncle Orrie’s driving skill was marginal.
The four miles to Silver Lake, the five miles to Laketon and the seven
and one-half mile to North Manchester were his usual limit.
At some point in the late 1930s he was delivering a can of cream and made
the right turn from State Route 114 onto the Laketon Road.
Unfortunately, he managed only about 45 degrees of that 90-degree turn,
and straight he went through the large Laketon Creamery sign that stood at the
side of the road. Cream spilled
throughout the trunk of his 1937 Chevy.
Subsequently, whenever we rode in the back of that car, we would catch an
occasional whiff of sour cream mixed with the smell of chicken feed.
Each spring, after spending the winter with us, Grandma Jack returned to her
home in Carroll County, Indiana where she always planted a large garden and
purchased a flock of chickens to provide eggs and an occasional chicken dinner.
Two miles from her house she owned 25 acres of land, inherited from her
father, on which she raised a couple of calves and several pigs each year.
To get back and forth she had purchased and learned to drive a 1930 Chevy
coupe. I well remember helping her
fill two large milk cans with water, putting them and some sacks of feed in the
trunk, and riding along to feed and water her livestock.
Back in North Manchester, Uncle Al owned four semi-trailers that were used in
deliveries for the Northfield Furniture Company.
At least one of the cabs had a bunk behind the seats.
I remember sharing that bunk with my brother on several trips to Elwood
to pick up loads of empty tin cans for the canning factory while Uncle Al and
Dad sat on the seat in front.
World War II ended auto production at the beginning of 1942 but the extended
Weimer family had a varied fleet of autos by then.
Dad had a 1938 black, two-door Chevy sedan that replaced the 1934 Ford.
Uncle Al had a 1941 gray and blue, two-door Pontiac.
Aunt Mabel and Uncle John Paul had a 1939 black, four-door Buick.
Uncle Paul had a 1942 red, two-door Chevy.
Grandpa Weimer had a 1941 maroon, four-door Oldsmobile in addition to his
big, red 1932 Ford truck and a 1939 dark gray Ford pickup truck.
There was no public transportation within North Manchester and only a daily
train on the Big Four Railroad to Indianapolis and a daily bus to Fort Wayne to
get you into or out of town. Of
necessity, the Weimer families shared the use of their cars.
If you needed transportation and your own family’s car was in use, a car
could often be borrowed from another family member or someone in the extended
family would drive you to your destination.
[TO BE CONTINUED IN NOVEMBER ISSUE]