Do You Know This House?

I recently heard from a gentleman who lives in Parsippany, New Jersey, and whose grandmother was born in Tenney at the Turn of the Century. Those emails are such a treat to receive--I have been shown again and again how far Tenney's reach extends! He sent me this photo, which he believes to be his great grandparents, Christof (Christ) and Helen (nee Kath) Zum Mallen, standing in front of their home in Tenney sometime in the 1902 to 1910 time frame. Their daughter, Malinda Zum Mallen, was born in Tenney in 1906 and she is this person's grandmother.

Can anybody who is familiar with some of the older buildings in Tenney identify this house? Obviously, it doesn't exist anymore, but given its size, it just seems that somebody might be able to identify it. The surrounding landscape is not clear, other than being quite sparse, so does not provide any clues.

Please keep sending me old-time photos of your Tenney people and Tenney places, as well as your Tenney stories. Email me at tenneyquilt@yahoo.com if you prefer to communicate that way. I love to hear from you.

Fire!

Tenney’s fire hall is cute. Just plain cute. Don't you agree? I would have to say, however, that each passing year requires a bit more imagination to see its "cuteness." It has such a wonderful history and, unfortunately, the city budget has not allowed its upkeep. Each time I cruise through Tenney I ponder this little building, its history, and wonder if it will be rescued before it suffers the same fate as most of Tenney’s other buildings. It always saddens me to see the door standing wide open to the elements and the building in a general state of disrepair and neglect; the same reaction I have to the church and other town buildings.

The fire hall once housed two hand-drawn fire engines. When I think now about how difficult it is to control a fire even with our modern firefighting equipment, I cannot help but imagine that in many cases the arrival of Tenney's hand-drawn fire engine to a fire scene probably served simply to make a larger audience to watch the fire. Then again, with a town the size of two city blocks, I'm sure there are many stories of these two trusty fire engines and their accompanying firefighters who arrived on the scene in time to save building, life, and limb.

I have also included photos of the Tenney fire engine and the hose cart on this page. The fire engine looks rather proud, sitting all shined up in the Traverse County Historical Society in Wheaton. The photo to the left is Engine Number One, purchased in early 1900. Engine Number Two was purchased in 1913. Each of the two fire engines consisted of a chemical engine on two wheels, which could be pulled by 6 to 10 people. According to the Wilkin County History book, each fire engine had “a large curbed well with a double stroked pump” which furnished several gallons of water per minute. The pump had handles on each side and, similar to the mechanism of the hand cars which the section men used on the railroad, four people on each side would operate the pump. A more “modern” chemical fire engine was purchased in 1916, though still hand-powered. The hose cart (pictured below) carried 200 feet of 3-inch hose. The hose cart is also displayed at the Traverse County Historical Society. The second fire engine apparently, and unfortunately, disappeared with one of the town’s residents upon his departure.

The fire hall was tended, in 1913 and 1914, by Village Marshall Henry Bendt, who also managed the hotel for a time. Henry was expected to tend the fire in the engine house, make sure the fire engines were in working order, and keep the fire hall and well area free of snow in the winter. In the years since, long-time Tenney resident Al Manthie, related through marriage to the Bendts, took care of the fire hall. The building is owned by the Village of Tenney.

The Tenney Fire Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It’s “period of significance,” according to the National Register’s website, was 1900 to 1924, the last year being the year the well went dry. One has to chuckle at the labeling of the fire hall as both a fire hall and a “correctional facility"; the rear of the 14 x 26 building housed the village’s jail in the early years.

The town pump stood for many years near the front of the fire hall building but is no longer functional. The town pump seems, to me, to be just as much of an icon of the Tenney that once was, as the school or the fire hall or the church. Just think of the water drawn from that pump throughout the years, the people that gathered around it to talk of Tenney things, and the sustenance it provided for so many people for so many years!

If reading about the Tenney Fire Hall has stirred up any Tenney fire stories, please post them or send me an email. Hope to hear from you!

Can I Borrow a Cup of Sugar?

Jeri Novak, daughter of Fritz and Leona [Kath] Novak, shared with me the story of my grandfather, A.N. Larson’s, generosity in providing for her family during the WWII years. Jeri was born in 1943, during the Second World War, a time when food rationing was in effect. At that time, prior to the production of canned, and eventually, powdered, baby formula, Karo syrup was mixed with milk to make baby formula. The amount of Karo syrup allotted to each family did not carry the Novak family through until the next month, so A.N. would hide a few bottles of Karo and earmark it for Jeri’s mother. Jeri informed me she still had the book of food war ration stamps that her mother used for food at the A.N. Larson Store.

The photo above is also a ration book for the Larson Store, given to me by my cousin, Neil Polifka. Upon looking closely, it has the name of A. Manthie, which I initially assumed was Al Manthie, a gentleman I have previously written about in this blog, and who was certainly known to all who ever lived in or around Tenney. However, Al's granddaughter Sherry, upon closer examination of the photo, noticed that the age of this "A. Manthie" person is 67, meaning it would be Al's mother, Amalie Manthie.

The food rationing program was set in motion during the spring of 1942 during World War II. Fortunately for our Tenney folks and others, it prevented a situation in which only the wealthy would be able to purchase commodities. Sugar rationing began a year later, in 1943. Families had to register in order to receive coupon books, after which the coupon books were distributed based on family size. A specific amount of particular food items was allowed to be purchased with these coupon books of stamps. Ration stamps became, for all practical purposes, the currency of the time.

“Blue stamp rationing” covered canned, bottled, and frozen fruits and vegetables, juices, and dry beans. “Red stamp rationing” covered meats, butter, fat, oils, and cheese. No food was wasted, and often people’s gardening and home butchering got them through the month until the next coupon books became available. A coffee drinker had to make a pound of coffee last five weeks—what a nightmare that would be for today’s Starbucks-oriented coffee guzzlers.

Food rationing lasted until November, 1945; a milestone that certainly must have been celebrated with great gusto. Additionally, it served as a means of developing the frugal habits of many of that generation throughout the remainder of their lives. How many of us can recall (or still experience) our parents or grandparents, who lived through the rationing years, carefully preserving, stretching, recycling, substituting, or reusing any number of food or non-food items. With a smile on my face, I remember my paternal grandmother opening her gifts so slowly and carefully, so as to not destroy the wrapping paper, that we "spectators" would all be on the verge of unconsciousness by the time she got the darn thing unwrapped. This would be followed by a slow, methodical, careful folding of the wrapping paper so that it could be reused for her own package-wrapping needs.

My own wasteful generation—myself included—could learn a few things by repeating a phrase often spoken during those war ration years: “Substitute or do without, and pray for the end of the war.”