Memories, light the corners of my mind…or what do you want to be remembered for?
Aunt Dorris was my Dad’s only sibling, and she was ten years older than him. They grew up on the family farm in Doniphan County, Kansas. Like most of her peers, my aunt went into “town,” Wathena, for high school and graduated in 1928. In those days, they had memory books, similar to autograph books. My aunt had one that she kept during the years 1924 to 1928.
My husband found it the other night in some old papers we inherited from my Dad, and we had a grand time as he read it to me. Obviously there were lots of unknown poets and comedians at her school. Here are some excerpts:
“Do as your mother bids you,
do it with grace.
If a fellow tries to kiss you,
slap him in the face.”
~Harold Singleton 3/1/27
“When you get married,
and have twins;
Come over to my house,
and borrow safety pins!”
~Irene Foster 5/11/27
“Long as the vine,
that has no end;
That is my love,
for you dear friend”
–Esther L.
“Think of me long,
think of me ever;
Think of the fun,
we have had together.”
~Myrtle Whittacker
“Remember me even,
forget me never;
‘Til the Kansas mud,
is dry forever.”
~Elsie Phillip
“They sat on the porch at midnight;
their lips were tightly clasped.
The old man gave the signal;
and the bulldog did the rest.”
~May George
“When you get married,
and live on a hill;
Send me a kiss,
by the whippoorwill!”
~Henry Meng
“If you think of a monkey,
don’t think of me.
But look in a looking glass,
and there he will be!”
~Arthur Jenkins 3/11/27
“When sitting in a parlor,
on your fellow’s knee;
Tell him of your youthful days,
and kiss him once for me.”
~Frieda Wieyant
“It is easier to make a good impression
than to remake a bad impression.
Try this!”
~Grant Benitz 5/18/26
“When you get married,
and your old man gets cross;
Come to my house,
and I will feed you applesauce!”
~Vargricea Wakeman 5/18/26
“When you get married,
and your husband gets cross;
Pick up the broomstick,
and say, “I’m the boss!”
~Raymond K. 4/27/27
“You’ve a little way about you
that is very dear.
It always makes folks glad
to have you near.
It brings a smile to welcome you,
a sigh when you depart.
And that little way about you,
has endeared you to my heart.”
~Bertha Standby 5/18/27
“Ducks on the pond,
geese on the ocean;
Dorris won’t marry,
until mama takes a notion!”
~Anderson Holaday 5/12/27
“Sugar is white,
and so is salt.
If you don’t marry,
it won’t be my fault!”
~A. Green
When you see me,
think of dear old Wathena High School Days!
~The School Janitor
“The taller the tree,
the higher the bark.
the harder to spark!”
~Harold Frank 2/28/27
“Tell me quick
before I faint.
Is you mine,
or is you ain’t?”
~Fern Frank
“Dorris of Hearts,
beware of those Troy boys.
Now this is my advice,
although please don’t take it–ha!”
~Lucille Libel
(Troy is the county seat of Doniphan Co.)
All these rhymes written by “kids” who would now be over a hundred years old, gave us lots of good laughs that night. As the Bible says, “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine…” Aunt Dorris, my only aunt on Dad’s side of the family, was almost 50 years old when I was born. It was really insightful and fun to read things written to her when she was a teenager.
Dad said his sister was very beautiful when she was young, and had a gaggle of gentlemen admirers–but Aunt Dorris wanted a career. She was a real product of the Roaring 20’s, who bobbed her hair and went to work. She graduated from business college right before the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and The Great Depression.
She knew people far and wide including Gutzon Borglum the sculptor who did Mt. Rushmore. Gutzon took my aunt up to the presidential heads’ construction site, giving her a close-up look at his work, but also a tour of the “Hall of Records” he was working on as well. It was a grand museum he was building in the granite located behind Lincoln’s head. Due to dwindling funding during The Depression, and Gutzon’s death this was never finished.
My aunt visited New York in the 1930’s seeing the sites including going to the Empire
State Building and the Statue of Liberty. During the war, like Rosie the Riveter, Aunt Dorris took a job in an airplane factory making planes for The Allies. She dated an RAF Pilot, who took her for airplane rides, but was killed in the war.
Aunt Dorris had an exciting life. In today’s vernacular, she had most of the local politician’s numbers on speed dial. She lived to be 94 and was smart, confident and out-spoken throughout her life. To the end, she was a committed Christian.
I was her only niece, and although she never had children of her own, she was a great influence in my life. Aunt Dorris faithfully attended every event in my life, both big and small. She even played a very important part the turbulent night of my birth. But that, as Paul Harvey used to say, is another story.
