Ron's first job

On the last day of Grade 8 for my Dad, Ron, his principal said, in front of the entire class, I would hate to have your future because you are going to end up dead or in jail. He carried those words for life as a burden and as a challenge to prove that principal wrong. To keep Ron out of trouble, Betty begged the manager of Wells hardware store to give him a job. He got the job and because he was making some money, he decided to quit school. After he quit and was walking out of the school, a young teacher, who was a friend of Betty's, Alice Widursky stopped Ron and said "it is okay to go to work and help your mom, but promise me you will read one hour a day for the rest of your life. Ron kept that promise. Over the years, I remember whenever I saw Alice Widursky talking to Dad, he was talking about the book that he was currently reading. Her typical question upon entering the store or on the street was, "what book are you reading now?"  She was the ultimate educator role model for my Dad long after he quit school.

Ron's time at Wells hardware store was filled with happiness in just having a job and I remember the stories he told in the heart of the great depression. Grown men desperate for a job would beg the manager for work...but they were too big to do the things my dad did, like cleaning out the chimney or scaling shelves to get products on the top shelf.  Luckily my dad was able to keep his job.

The stores were always open until midnight on Fridays back then because loggers, miners and farmers would come into town to get supplies at the Wells hardware around that time since they would work a full day then come in for supplies or they had closed down the local bars and needed supplies before heading home. Dad would talk of the interesting storytellers and characters that frequented the hardware store until the wee hours of the morning as he listened from his perch on the tallest shelf in the store.  

My Dad was always interested in the area of the store that housed the blasting caps but was forbidden from going anywhere near that area of the store. One day a miner came in and asked for blasting caps and since my Dad was the gopher, he dashed the full length of the store, through the forbidden door and back out with the box of blasting caps at full speed.  He stumbled! Everyone in the place backed up as far away from him as they could. He was always surprised that he didn't die or lose his job for that! He now felt his future was on the right track and that he was contributing to the family. So far, not in jail or dead!

The Quarter

Betty was a single mom in 1931 struggling to raise two kids, Peg and Ron.  After the divorce, Betty and her family were making their way from Baudette, MN to Fort Frances, ON.  Their house had been burned by the Spooner fire and the only recourse for her and the children were to walk the whole way.  They may have picked up a ride along the journey, I am not sure. My dad, Ron tells a story of sitting around a campfire on that trek with nothing but the clothes on their back.  Betty found a room to rent in Fort Frances.  It was upstairs in the building where the Bonnie Blue used to be.  It had no windows but had a hot plate for cooking.

In order to look for work, she left the kids with a new acquaintance, the fellow who had the apartment next to their little room. 

Her first job was with George H Ross company making bed sheets. Her payment for the day was one sheet. She chose a pink one because as soon as she got home, she used that sheet to make a little girl's dress to sell. She worked all night long and finished the dress. The next morning, she trudged to the Post Office corner where she stayed until she sold the dress: it was nightfall by then. She had gotten 25 cents for her efforts.  

When she returned home she asked her son, Ron to go downstairs to the grocery store to buy macaroni, one big tomato, (the biggest he could find) and a red onion with the quarter. When he had chosen all of the items, he went to pay with the quarter Granny had given him, but it was not there...he had some how lost the quarter!

The owner of the grocery store told him to take the bag and go home.  Ronnie felt sick to his stomach since he had lost the only money they had and his Mom had worked so hard for it. As he climbed the stairs to their rented room, he prayed with every step "Please God, I will be a good boy if you let me find that quarter...I will do anything you ask if I could only find that 25 cents!" Once at home, he gave the bag to his mom and she started to make a meal with the ingredients...my Dad said she could make a delicious meal out of anything. As he watched her cook on the hot plate, Ron sat on the little heater repeating silently his prayer to God. He bowed his head in tears with worry and prayer and low and behold, he saw a shiny thing nestled in the cuff of his pants!!!!  Yelling towards his mom GOD HEARD ME...here is the quarter!!!   Betty didn't ask him what had happened, she was too kind and anyway he had the quarter, why bother. She was so happy in that moment that she said to Ron and Peg, "let's have a jig" and the three of them danced in the small room until they laughed so hard, they cried. Years after, that was her go-to meal when family would get together..macaroni, tomatoes and onions.  It was a family favourite...IT WAS DELICIOUS!                                    

Christmas was just around the corner. A man appeared at their door with a wooden orange box containing a little hammer and nails for my Dad - it was his first Christmas present!  Things were looking up for Betty and her children once they settled in Fort Frances.

Here is the picture of my dad, Ron Anderson and his sister, Peg Ballard when they were children.

Granny's Hat Shop

My first memories in life revolved around Granny.  My mother was bringing my brother to his first day of kindergarten. I was upset because I wasn't allowed to go to kindergarten, but I was excited because Granny was going to bring me to the store, Betty's Hat Shop.  The best part was that she shared the space with the New Lunch Cafe and I would get pop and a donut. A driver arrived soon after we opened and carried a big box of hats into the store. My Granny asked me to carry it to the back of the store; it was bigger than me, but, from experience, I knew that it was light as feathers because it contained hats.  I remember she always praised me for being so strong to carry such a load.  Even though I was only 3, she always tried to teach me life lessons. She said, "Always smile and be happy to see people, and make sure you speak quietly." She would prop me up on the counter and I could watch the many people come in because the new hats were just delivered. The ladies would be talking, laughing and trying on hats.  It was quite chaotic because the store was only 10 feet wide. Betty's hat shop was filled to the brim with hats, gloves, scarves and nylons. The travelling salesmen called her "Carload Betty" because she liked to have a full store. Around lunchtime, my mother came to get me, but I always wanted to stay and work...as if I was working!  Eating donuts and listening to ladies talk about the pretty hats.  Here she is modelling one of her pretty hats.

     

                                       

                  

The arrival of Princess Cheryl

Pink was even more pronounced in our household once my sister arrived....Princess Cheryl. Her bassinet was a bouquet of pink tulle, and all were hustling and bustling to make her happy. It was very exciting to have a little sister until I decided to give her a ride down the stairs in her bassinet. Not a smart move...but I didn't learn because I continued to torment her throughout our childhood. More stories to follow.

Why growing up in the pink store?

I was born in 1950 in a house with a great grandmother, a grandmother, a mother, father and an older brother in the age of no television,  just storytelling. As life progressed, I learned by listening to old timers tell their life stories before I was born. For this, I am blessed. As life went on, under the direction of family, I learned to explore the downtown to understand how life was in our small town of Fort Frances. One important lesson was to honour and respect all the people I came across.  I started to write a book about my Grandmother, Betty Anderson, known to me as Granny. She is the creator of the pink store. Her life with her 2 children was very tough and violent with surviving a nasty divorce. And this was in the 1930s when divorce was unheard of. Her rise to becoming a respected business woman is also a great tale to tell. As I went deeper into my research, I realized recounting her life was a huge job so why not blog about all of the stories I want to tell. Hope you enjoy?