Comment Spam

Comment Spam. That is a pesky problem with blogs and so I have added protection by using Blogger's "word verification" for comments. If you comment, you will see a series of letters that only a human can see... and you will have to type them in to post the comment.

Update and Corrections - Riddle

An update. Yesterday, I heard from Sharon Little, our relative from the Riddle side of our family (In Iowa) and she sent along some additional information. It seems that her daughter found this blog and let her know about it. That means that there is a chance that others will find their way here as well and perhaps we can add to what we already know about the family.

You can see the original information in the June Archives...

Please change one thing. You have Frank Malcolm b) 4 April and d) 21 June 1943. It's Frank Riddle NOT Malcom. He is buried in Elmwood beside his parents William and Mary Florence Petty Riddle.

Thomas M. Riddle died 3 August 1841 and is buried in Elmwood Cem. I believe his wife and twins are buried in City Cem. I believe also that George Riddle is buried on the grounds of the mental hosp. in Mt. Pleasant,IA. I can't find Margarets burial anywhere.But haven't given up hope. There is probably things I need to send ya,not to sure when that will be. Some up dates on people I have found or has been given to me.

The old days

This postcard was made in 1948 and shows the dining room of the May-Ah_Mee Lodge.
The other photo is a more current view of the pier at the lodge. Usually, the water was high enough to cover the rocks you see under the pier and came to with a few feet of the top of the pier. Sometimes the water covered the lower section you see at the end.

Class Warfare

The smells associated with our vacations at Lake Tahoe will never go away. When driving up from Manhattan Beach, we would first get a hint of that wondrous aroma when we passed through Truckee. And then when we turned off the highway in Tahoma and went down the dirt road to the cabins, the smell of the incense cedars became intense. We always arrived at night and quite often we were the first vacationers to use the cabins that season. So we could smell the musty odor of a long winter and the smell of cold ashes in the firplace. It was all quite pleasant and we instantly knew were in our summer "home".

The residents of Gardner's Cedar Shadows were given beach privileges at the May-Ah-Mee Lodge, located right next to the Tahoma store and post office. I believe this was one of the first times that I experienced class distinctions. I don't think it was my imagination; the residents of the "snooty" lodge treated us as interlopers that must be accomodated. It was obvious that we were from the "wrong" side of the highway.

Picture this: 4 children, all floating in large inner tubes next to the May-Ah-Mee pier. 1 Great Uncle, (Len) standing ankle deep in the water, cuffs rolled up and wearing a ribbed undershirt. To top off the picture, he was smoking a cigar. Oh yes! We were definitely from the wrong side!

Tahoe

Kitty asked me to write something about our childhood vacations at Lake Tahoe and as I remember them, they certainly included most of the people I have been writing about lately. Back in June of this year, I posted a photo of the family car and a short note about the trips to Tahoe (June 29th). Now I will try to elaborate on that story.

Although the car was a1947 Oldsmobile, I don’t think we made our first trip to Tahoe until 1949 or 1950. I remember Dad telling us that he had an old friend who had recently bought some vacation cabins at Tahoma and that we were going to get a reduced rate on a stay there. After a very long trip in the backseat of that “Merry Oldsmobile”, we pulled into Tahoma quite late at night. Dad found the road up to the cabins, which were about a mile above the highway and the lake. I don’t remember much about that first night, as we were all tired and quickly in bed. The next morning we were up early and quickly exploring our vacation home. The first year we were in the “Big Cabin” as it was known. 2 stories tall and with 3 bedrooms; plus additional sleeping in the large living room. This mini-resort was known as Gardner’s Cedar Shadows and the owners were Joe and Francis Gardner. I think there were 5 cabins available to rent and we tried out at least 3 of them over the years. But the “Big Cabin” was always my favorite, with its knotty pine décor and a big stone fireplace.

Outside, it was quickly apparent why they chose the name “Cedar Shadows”, we were deep in the forest and the sun was always filtered by the huge cedars surrounding the cabins.

I will continue with these memories, but first I need to find a photo from those times. Hmm? I can't find one, so I will have to scan one for you.

Anyone?

I seem to have hit an impasse here. Writer's block...I'm looking for a suggestion as to where I should head next in this exploration of our family history. We can even re-visit old ground!

More memories of Uncle Len

One of my many memories of Uncle Len was of the trips he would make to downtown Los Angeles. I was taken along on a few of those and found them fascinating, First, he didn't have a car so we would take the bus from Manhattan Beach, transfer in Inglewood and then arrive at the downtown terminal. From there we would walk to the financial district and the offices of E.F. Hutton where Uncle Len would study the "Big Board" before talking to a broker. I was fascinated by the "Board" itself; all kinds of numbers being changed each minute by a group of men with ladders. No electronics in the 1940's! After Unlce Len finished his financial business, it was time for lunch and we would go to one of many restaurants in the distict. Most were long and dark, with booths lining the paneled walls, The ceilings were quite tall and the lights dim. I remember that there were waiters only and no waitresses. The waiters all carried a towel on their sleeve and were very serious. The food? My memory is of a short rib lunch and it still sounds good! After lunch we would walk to a movie theatre where Uncle Len knew the projectionist and would go up the narrow stairs to the projection booth itself. There I would watch the movie through a narrow slot in the wall while Uncle Len chatted with his friend. Of course I loved watching all of the projection equipment at work, the whirring of the reels and the flickering lights.

After an exciting day downtown we would head back to the bus stop and then home. It's only now that I realize what a wonderful gift of memories my uncle gave to me.

Galley

Here we are in the galley of the dredge that Uncle Len worked on. I would guess that that I'm about 7 and Julie would be 4 in this photo. Kitty, being the baby, would be in someone's arms while the picture was taken.

Uncle Len

The recent post about the Statler and the comments about Clifton's Cafeteria reminded me of our Uncle Len; Leonard Earl Seymour and Nana's younger brother. That made him a Great Uncle, but he was always just Uncle Len...

A little history: He was born in October of 1890. I don't know if his birthplace was Duluth or if the family still lived in Tower, Minnesota. I also know that he served in World War I as a spotter in the Balloon Corps of the Army. He would go up in a tethered balloon and observe enemy movements, an altogether dangerous job! After the war...and at what age, I don't know...he became a cook. When I was born, he was a cook on an Army Corps of Engineers dredge. He seemed to work all up and down the west coast, wherever a dredge was needed. He remained with the Army Corps of Engineers till he retired in 1955.

Some early memories: Uncle Len bought the house we first lived in, the one on Pacific Avenue in Manhattan Beach. It was a very simple, quite small, cottage on the sand dunes. It seems as if Uncle Len, who never married, had adopted our family as his. Whenever his ship was in port, he would come and spend some time with us.

Pickled pigs feet. That is one of the things that I think of when I remember Uncle Len. When he arrived, he would open his "Gladstone" (a small piece of luggage) and take out all kinds of marvelous foods, exotic foods! Salamis and braunschweiger, artichoke hearts and pickled pigs feet. These would be spread upon the table and loaves of various types of rye bread would be opened for us to make sandwichs. Of course there were all the spreads to go along with it...horseradish, mustards and other "exotica". The table would look like a delicatessen!

Another item in his Gladstone would be his knives. A cook never went anywhere without his knives! He wouldn't leave them on board the ship for someone to misuse. And his would be carefully wrapped in newspaper, then taken out and put on the counter for the duration of his visit.

I still find it amazing when I think about all of the "stuff" he would pull out of that Gladstone.

Statler Days

Here is a photo of the Statler Hotel...

This was the site for birthday lunches with Nana. We would be dressed up as if we were going to church...in our very best, for the Statler was an exremely fancy hotel with a very fancy restaurant. I remember that all of her grandchildren were always present for these lunches, cousin Jill included of course. I also remember that the waiters/waitresses hovered all around us, giving us the best of the Statler service. The napkins were heavy linen and the silverware all matched. It even had an "S" engraved on the handles.

Judging from the age of the cars in the photo, I would guess that this was taken in the early 1950's.