By
Donald A. Ungar
As I look back to the 30’s, the things that I remember were
those things that sort of made family a nice thing. As a young
boy I remember the horse-drawn wagons of the Ice man, the Paper-rex
man and the horse drawn wagon of the most important person, the
milkman. Some summer mornings I would wake up early and watch
the milkman deliver the milk to the front porches of the people
on the street. It was interesting to note that the horse always
moved to the next house when the milkman did two or three houses
before he went back to get more milk.
Summertime saw men who would walk through the neighborhood selling
things like strawberries, cherries, and other fresh fruits. There
was even a fish man who came on Fridays, selling fish that were
just caught. Blue pike was a special treat from Lake Erie. My
dad, my uncle and cousin would go to Gordon Park in the summer,
rent a boat and fish in the lake.
The joy of purchasing a new car. Dad bought a 1936 Chevrolet and
the first week end that we had this auto, everyone went for a
family ride in this new car. We stopped at an ice cream store
where the family all had ice cream before we returned home.
A journey on the street car to downtown Cleveland the day after
Thanksgiving was a day out by Mom and the children. These were
days where we looked at the Christmas toys and spent time visiting
Santa at May Co. or Higbee or whatever store the sale was.
Can our children remember radio like I did? Dad brought home a
Philco radio that was supposed to give us radio station from around
the world. On Saturday morning dad took a long pole and nailed
it to the garage. From the top of the pole on the garage, he put
a wire that went to the top of the house and down the side of
the house to the radio. This was the antenna to bring in the radio
stations signals.
It was on this radio that were heard FDR pull the numbers for
the first draftees. It was on this radio a few years later while
listening to a radio program on December 7, 1941, that we heard
that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor and the next day we
heard the most famous words by FDR, “A Day that will Live
in infamy."
The children of the 30’s like bikes, wagons and togetherness.
Seems we played baseball and football on our street. There were
always boys and girls that played these games. A favorite treat
in the summer was to go with the older boys who lived next store
to us, to the Erie Canal to fish for gold fish. We would always
bring back in a pale a couple of fish for my fishpond. I had goldfish
that lived in this pond for several years.
Chippewa Lake was in place in the late 30’s. We could even
go there via train, but somehow I remember best the auto rides
from Garfield Heights down Brookpark Road past the Streetcar tracks
and finally Pearl Road that was the longest road in the world.
Chippewa Lake had rides for all. Saturday nights were very interesting.
I remember standing next to my grandmother watching a man being
put into ice for a few hours. It was scary. My grandmother just
laughed and said don’t worry its just another way of amusing
people. The lake was pretty and my cousins and I would go to the
pier in Gloria Glens to fish. The music coming from the dance
hall filled the air. It was to this same dance hall in the late
40’s that my friends and I came to hear some of the most
famous bands of the time.
Because of the depression, growing gardens of tomatoes, peas,
sweet corn, etc. was something that helped with the food supply
and also turned out in the forties to be a thing that helped the
war effort, a victory garden. These are some of my thoughts. If
you like and want more, just ask.
My background. Born in Cleveland Ohio, Jan 1930. My parents purchased
a home in Garfield Heights, Ohio in 1932. Attended St. Peter &
Paul Elementary School, Benedictine High School, Degree from John
Carroll University, Additional education Cleveland College of
CWRU, Akron University and in the 90’s, Daytona Community
College.
Work: Teacher: Lorain Longfellow School, St. Joseph High School,
Archbishop Hoban High School. Worked as a TV Photojournalist for
WEWS-TV , In 1978 opened a movie - video studio for the production
of films and video for industry and Television. Retired in January
1992. Now living in Medina Ohio - E-mail - Donyal@aol.com
VIOLET
HODDINOTT
As told to Sue Haller
Violet
Hoddinott has experienced many of the changes in Medina County.
Moving from a small town in southern Ohio, Greenville that was
named after her family to Medina County in 1918. Violet has been
a schoolteacher in the city since 1924 to her retirement in 1971.
Teaching 5th grade at Garfield School for 18 of those years. Part
of the fascination of our town has been the changes to the building
and schools in particular as the schools change to accommodate
a growing community. Early in our days before Medina received
a charter the schools were located on the Town Square and consisted
of the primary school, grade school and the high school. Garfield
took up the smaller section near the church, until the population
grew and since divided into the 6 current buildings. The high
school was located at the corner of the square in the current
administration building.
Violet was in the graduating class of 1919, after which the building
was sold to the county and now seats the county administration.
The future of Medina holds more changes that we have yet to see.
The continued growth will bring more changes to the schools and
buildings that hold our children; these changes will ultimately
effect the people of our community.
