Lots of Old Wife Tales in This Town

 

You probably know lots of old wives tales ...

As I was growing up in Greenview, lots of old ladies used to get together for church meetings and other lady functions to talk and drink coffee and eat cookies, cakes and pies. Grammy told me they also talked about old wives tales....and were always exchanging information and to see who had the best old wives tales.

As both grammy and I aged, I loved to sit with her and hear her tales about everything. She was in her nineties but she was sharp. She knew lots of things so I was always curious and always had a piece of paper around to jot things down. I asked Grammy about some of these old wives tales and the following are some of the tales she told me.....and for some, she swore by them as did a lot of the older folks around Greenview.

1. If you sneeze you must put your hand over your mouth to prevent your soul from escaping. Be sure someone says "God Bless You" to drive the devil away or he will enter your body. (hmmmph...I'm gonna cover my mouth for sure)

2. The old wives sneeze tale: Sneeze once for sorrow; Sneeze twice for joy; Sneeze three times for a letter; Sneeze four times for a boy; Sneeze five times for silver; Sneeze six times for gold; Sneeze seven times for a secret that never will be told. (note: Allergies probably caused the sneezies)

3. Hold a buttercup under your chin and the color will shine on your face and this person will become rich in the near future.
(Note....I did this several times, but to no avail.)

4. If you hear the cry of an owl, someone will soon die. (false)

5. If you crack your knuckles, you will get arthritis. (Note...I asked and doc said this is not true, but he said don't crack your knuckles)

6. When you drive by a cemetery you must hold your breath or you will breathe in the spirit of someone who recently was buried. (false)

7. If a bird flies into your home, there will be a death in the family.
(false....the bird was probably following a bug or trying to build a nest in your door wreath.)

8. Touching a toad will give you warts. (Note....false)

9. Fish is brain food. (TRUE; omega 3 fatty acids fish oil boosts brain power)

10. Bad Luck caused by:

• spilling salt...throw some over your left shoulder to redeem
• putting your shirt on wrong side out
• rooster crowing at night
• bad luck all day if your left foot comes out of bed first
• 7 years bad luck for a broken mirror
• bad luck if you give away an item which was a wedding present
• bad luck to the household if umbrella opened inside the house
• bad luck to stare at the moon over left shoulder
• bad luck if you sing before breakfast
• bad luck if you find a five leaf clover

Grammy knew best so I listened and believed in some as she did. It's not always easy to ignore something you heard as a child. We were impressionable then and as far as I'm concerned, I still believe in some of these! Maybe I never grew up!

Miscellaneous Vintage Photos

(on most photos, you can click on photos to get an enlarged view)

 





 



 

 

 

This was printed in the Petersburg Observer in 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

The Pavilion at Chautauqua

 

 

 

 

This was when the old skating rink was torn down.  This

building was contracted by the Armour Packing Company in 1923 and operated as the Armour Cheese company.  Four years later, the cheese operation was moved to Wisconsin and this building became the home of the New York Dressed Chicken Company.

Later in years this became home to a dairy, a skating rink and an auction house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Marbold.  The founder of the Marbold farmstead.  John was born Johann Wernsing on May 7, 1800 in Hanover Germany.

 

Because his childless aunt could only pass her estate, without thegovernment seizing it, to a legal heir with the same surname,

the aunt adopted Johann in 1820 and his name was changed to John Marbold.  John's brother lived in Petersburg and returned to Germany to convince his brother John to moved to America.   John's wife had died in 1843 so he was apparently ready for change.   John and his children moved to Petersburg and lived there for 3 years before moving to Greenview to buy 200 acres from Charles Montgomery.  He began to build a home called Elmwood.  The home was built 1850 to 1853.  John's wife was Marie Shearborn and they had six children.

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. H. H. Marbold (Margaret Hackmann) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B. F. Marbold, son of H. H. Marbold. 

 

 

 

 

 

Springfield Drive In which was off old route Business 66, otherwise known as 31st street and later known as Dirksen Parkway.  This drive in was located behind Guiffre Buick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Stuff Midwestern White Folk Like

It's A Fact...In the Midwest, White People Could Be Biased!!

Texas ain't the only state with Rednecks.  The Midwest has some really clearly defined Rednecks.

And, no, I don't mean a person who has the deep red on the neck around the collar either.  It's the laborer, the farmer, the truck driver, the ditch digger.  All of these persons making their living by their hands and usually in the hot sun.  They work hard, and they are most likely Republicans, hard nosed, opinionated and biased. And some biased to the point of being a plain old racist.  They like being white and like being a redneck.  And they love shopping at Walmart and Farm Supply Stores.

And the funny thing is ....  a lot of these Rednecks are bigoted racist types and simply immensely dislike the black race, these same people go to the church religiously and are "Saved" every Sunday morning after listening to Joe Blow Preacher man's sermon.  And of course, this was also after these same rednecks were drunk the night before and church bound early on Sunday morning....hung over but hiding it carefully with sunglasses .... and they can sometimes be recognized as the ones sleeping sitting straight up in the pews in the back row of the church sanctuary.  Rednecks yes.....and hypocrites too maybe???!!

These white folk love their country fried chicken with tators and milk gravy and chuck pot roasts which are left cooking in the oven while they go to church.  Lots of tators, carrots and onions swimming in the broth.  Yummy.  Corn on the cob and apple pie made from the apples grown in the orchard.  White folk foodies!

They like what they like and you'd be hard pressed to changed their mind on most subjects.  If you tell them the sky was azure they would argue "it ain't no azure", it's blue.  And when it comes to politics, there usually is no other than the "Man" runnin' on the Republican ticket.  He might be a dog but he is the man.....because no Democrat is gonna treat the farmers and the laborers right.  Most of these white folk Midwesterners still think that under a Democrat "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer."  Their Grampa back born in 1893, always said this and it's the gospel truth according to Grampa who died in 1939.  Grampa also said, "give the Republicans more money and they will create jobs for everyone and make the poorer more rich".  But.....Grampa died a long time ago.....and does he really know and should his old midwestern white folk thoughts still be carried on through the family....in most rednecks families....yes Grampa's word is still gospel!

I may be a midwestern hick, or a country bumpkin or even a local yokel,  but I ain't no redneck.  And ... I don't always go with the flow of the white folks here...  sometimes I'm sitting on the edge of the wagon..and damn, I'm hoping no redneck pushes me off.

History.....it's good.

Petersburg Watkins Cafe Matchbook

Petersburg Flood 1942 or 1943 or thereabout.

Petersburg flood in 1979

Petersburg Old Water Tower 1954

Quote For The Day

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

--John F. Kennedy

It's still hot and my house is still in the drought of these lands, even though we got exactly 100 rain drops yesterday afternoon.  Yes 100....I counted the raindrops on the deck.  It rained a bit more in the town proper, but not enough to even wet the streets.  Now that's the pits.

Today is forecasted for high 90's.  Tomorrow is a forecasted triple number temperature day, with the feel like temps going through the roof.....it feels like crap to me.

Us Central Illinois peeps must have done something really bad to p*ss off old Mother Nature.....she is treating us like a red headed step child....we ain't getting nuttin'!  And it's looking like the same for quite a few more days.  The 20% chances of rain they have in the forecast will most likely result in 0%......so folks, get ready for a hot week....most likely NO rain and bad tempers and stinky armpits.....that's a sure thing!

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Unknown Local History

A Circus in Petersburg You Say?  And a Queen of sorts?!  Burlesque that is!

Sometimes history can be right under your nose and you still don't know about it.  In this area we tend to concentrate on Petersburg being known for Abe Lincoln, but, until recently, I didn't realize  there were so many history related items that enriched Petersburg during the days of old.  Thank you to all of my friends who gave initial information on pieces of history that I didn't have any knowledge of.

One of the people with the most notoriety (besides Abe Lincoln) was Amy May Coomer, who moved here with her mother when her mother married a Petersburg farmer, Curtis Hinds and lived on his farm (according to the 1930 census).

It seems Amy May Coomer attempted to change her name to "Evelyn $50,000 Treasure Chest West" in the Menard Circuit Court.  You see, Evelyn West (aka Amy Coomer) was best known for her bosoms.  Her famous 39.5 inch bust was insured through Lloyd's of London for $50,000.  She was apparently also known as the "Hubba Bubba Girl" and was a burlesque legend in the forties, fifties and sixties.  Wow a stripper among us!  Miss West died in 2004 in Florida.

Then thinking about fun things, I was doing some research and found some info on Petersburg being a former Circus mecca in the early 1900's.  I didn't know that.  There is a huge story related to the multiple circus people who lived in Petersburg in the days of old.  During the next week or so I will do some posts related to these circus people.

 I also found out there was a gas station and a store at the corner of Curtis Road and Route 123.  On the northwest side where the pasture is.  There is also an old small building there but in the early 1940's it was run by a person of the name Flumiydoal.  Thus, this corner got its name "Floomydoodle Corner".  Later it was ran by Ed and Haskell Pike who had the store and a trucking company at that site.

My trips down memory lane also led me to information about a Dairy Business which was along Route 123, right about where the rock waterfall is at the entrance of the subdivision at the top of the hill past the bridge going toward Greenview (left side).

Of course I already knew about the slaughter house which was located on the east side of the river, turning down a road at the end of the bridge.  The person who operated this was a relative of mine and also ran the locker plant on the west side of the uptown square.

(Cheese Factory)

Among other things, Petersburg also had a Cheese Factory which was in the building which later became the skating rink along the tracks.  E. E. Brass Canning Factory was known for canning pumpkin under the brand name "Man In The Moon".                                                  

(E. E. Brass Canning Factory)

The old brick yard at the far north end was a really busy place making bricks of all sorts for the needs of the expanding community. 

                                             (Petersburg Brick Yard)

And, of course, there was the Peabody Mine in Petersburg.

Did you know that Petersburg was greatly damaged in 1907 during an earthquake originating in the New Madrid Fault.  Towns all over Central Illinois had damage but Petersburg suffered the most.

A gruesome murder occurred in Petersburg.   Charles Houlden and his wife were constantly bickering and on an evening in March, 1884, he decided he couldn't take it any longer and grabbed an axe.  He hit his wife over her right eye then jumped on her chest and withdrew his dull knife and proceeded to saw her throat.  Even after all of that, his wife was still alive and tried to crawl to her son which her husband had threatened.  So Houlden again jumped on her with his dull knife and began hacking away again.  She succumbed to her injuries.  Houlden was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.  This was the first execution in the city and the last public execution.

(Jennison Hall at Old Chatauqua 1908)

And of course Old Chautauqua was well known all over the state.  It drew crowds by the hundreds.  It was founded as the Old Salem Cumberland Presbyterian State Chautauqua Association of Petersburg in 1897.                                                                                                        
                                                                 
                              



(Another Old Chautauqua building).







Our neighboring town and county seat is indeed rich in history....and I've only skimmed the surface.  Makes me a little jealous that our community didn't have as much.  Perhaps if it did, our little town would have grown to a huge city full of life and history.   Perhaps you knew about all of this history lore, but maybe you didn't.  And if you did, I'm sure it was fun to once again jog your memory. We will again visit history in the county in the near future.

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Dang Shoogly Table

You say you don't have a shoogly table?  Well you are lucky!  Those dang shoogly tables are a nasty bunch. 
I bet there are a few of you who don't know what a shoogly table is and have already called up another internet window to do a search.  So, should I explain "shoogly" or not??  I will tell you but only for those lazy peeps who know that I'll tell them so they don't have to expend energy looking it up.

I love using words.  And especially ones which aren't often used.  So, instead of bleeping on about my "wobbly" table, I used shoogly.  It basically means the same as wobbly and it sounds much more sophisticated.  Shoogly can also mean unsteady, unstable, very shaky.  This wonderful and whimsical word comes from Scottish dialect.  Having a bit of Scotch in me (the blood not the whiskey)  makes it seem appropriate that I use shoogly when I describe this dang table which sits on my porch. 

I've come to the conclusion that shoogly tables should not be allowed on this earth.....even when it means tossing it to the wind and saying "sayonara" you stupid shoogly table.  Oh table of mine, I'm tired of putting a folded piece of cardboard under your leg.   Adios.....goodbye.....ciao....au revoir.....farewell.....off the porch you go and to the rubbish bin.  NO more spilled coffee, bowls sliding off the table and constant shakiness.  YAY. 

Today has been a learning lesson for us all.....you learned that shoogly meant wobbly, shaky, unstable, etc.  You learned that shoogly tables just aren't good for anything.  You learned how to say goodbye to my shoogly table in about six languages.  And you learned that shoogly is not a dance like it sounds....but the word "shoogle" means to rock and shake so that could be a dance!  Now that is education for the day. 

Until the next shoogly table raises its ugly head, so long!


Old Stuff
(click on the pictures to get an enlarged view)

The old train depot on the 10th street corridor in Springfield.

1971 photo.

The Cliff's Motel

At Routes 4, 36 and 54 West

Springfield

1950's Matchbook from

Norside Restaurant, 619 N. Grand Ave. E.

Mid 1950's postcard of the Stuckey's 30 miles south of

Springfield on old Route 66.  I remember going to this

one many many times to get the pecan rolls.  Not many pictures left of this landmark.

A person recently asked me if I had a picture of an old store which sat on the corner of Curtis Blacktop and Route 123 just east of Petersburg.  This person was in their early 70's and remembered the place.  Not only did I not have a picture, I didn't remember any buildings which would represent a store at this site.  I finally found that indeed there was an old store and a gas station on that intersection,  operated by a person with a last name of Flumiydoal.  It was referred to as "Floomeydoodles Corner".  Later it was operated by Haskell Pike and his son Ed.  They had a trucking company and sold gas there.  If anyone has a picture of this place, please contact me.

Not being able to easily reconstruct history, strengthens my thoughts that each person should document their and their family history.....old pictures, documentation or an actual story of your life will be invaluable to those who in 50 years might want to know what your life was like.  Take the time to document your life story!

 Thought For The Day

Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to

sell your parrot to the town gossip.

--Will Rogers

Many years ago I wrote the following "free verse" poetry (or maybe it is prose).  I recently found this once again and thought I would share it.

Greenview In The Mist

The mist falls upon the fields.

It leaves an eerie cloud that floats on the surface.

Rural America looks like London for a while.

Turkeys, deer and field mice play on the ground.

But, there is no one to see them in their frolic in the fields.

Just God and those who have left this earth can see.

The mist rises as the sun does the same.

You can see that Greenview remains.

A little more shabbier than before, but still there.

A mist cannot erase the past or the future.

But, it can cover the ugliness of the current day.

Then the mist is gone and the ugliness exists.

Just a lonely town.  Full of inhabitants and life.

But, lonely just the same.

It will survive.  It has for a long time.

Greenview has once again come out of the mist.

The field mice, the turkeys and the deer still roam.

And the people are still there....for now.

                                          The End

Remembering Greenview

and those veterans who lost

their lives.  Our town's memorial arch.

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Skip To My Lou My Darling

When was the last time you skipped?

I remember skipping with a lot of my friends when I was a kid.  I remember hopscotch too....and a couple of years ago I saw a chalk hopscotch grid on the sidewalk and I did it!!  But I don't think it was a skip I was doing....more like a hop, charge, gallop and maybe a skitter....and I know I looked like a buffalo in a china shop.  But I tried.

People skip all the time....they skip out on bills.  They skip court.  They skip jail.  They skip a couple of steps in a procedure.  They skip out of their wedding.  There are lots of things to skip about and out of.

One time I had to work overtime....the big building was empty except for me and the security guard who knew me well.  I went to my floor and started to skip to my office but I kept on skipping and skipped around the floor.  When I got to my office my phone rang.....CAUGHT!  It was the security guard laughing and laughing....he saw me on the cameras.....I invited him up to my floor to skip too but he laughed more.  When I heard that phone ring in my office,  I felt like the caller was going to say "GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW!"  Oh well...I had fun.

It's my personal feeling that grumpy old women and grumpy old men would be a lot less grumpier if they skipped....I mean the real foot skipping.  I know it ain't pretty to see a bunch of old fat and hairless women and men skipping but who cares.....it's awesome that we feel young enough to do it!!  Skip Skip Skip To My Lou My Darling!  Where's my sidewalk chalk?

Old Passage About Petersburg
This passage is from a story called The History of Petersburg, narrated by J. Colby Beekman.  I don't know the year it was written.

"They had the city of Petersburg laid out in 1832-1833 and after the town was surveyed they sat back and waited for customers to come. Well, they didn’t come. Petersburg was passing through the same throws that other pioneer towns were. Now we go out west to see these pioneer towns, those ghost towns while we have them right here. We have a resurrected one right across the street here. We get on-half mile north of where Arthur Johnston lives over towards Curtis and out where the cornfields are (I don’t know whether there was ever a house there or not) is where NEW MARKET was surveyed and laid out. East of Petersburg, about one-half mile off of the hard road, there was a town named GREENSBURG laid out. Farther north along the Sangamon River was HURON and MILLER’S FERRY, but later on they were located in Mason County, but they were originally in Menard because Menard County at one time comprised what is now the County of Mason and Menard. When the court house fight was on for where they were to locate the seat of justice, all those towns were candidates for the courthouse but Huron and Miller’s Ferry were removed form the picture because the legislature about that time cut off the north part of Menard County and made Mason County out of it and that took Huron and Miller’s Ferry over into Mason County. Along about 1835, Warburton and Lukins sold their interests. It hadn’t grown very much – the city that they had laid out. They sold it to HEZEKIAH KING and JOHN TAYLOR. The town was re-surveyed. I was allowed one, a good many years ago, to see a copy of the original survey and bout the only difference that you can notice between that one and the one that Abe Lincoln surveyed of the present town, is that the centers, the main street, the two main streets, one from the north and south and the one east and west, intersected at the public square. They came up not on the sides of the square but in the center or in the middles of the sides of the sides of the square. Lincoln threw the square in there between streets. There is on file in the Circuit Clerk’s office a copy of the Lincoln Plat of Petersburg and it was recorded on February 22, 1836. It began to grow. Somehow or other it took on new life. These other towns began to pass out of the picture As New Salem began to die, Petersburg, began to grow.

In 1841 the legislature passed and act making a town out of Petersburg. Then the COUNTY OF MENARD was laid out in 1839 and the courthouse was located here and then the town began to grow. At the time it was made the County seat it had a population of 300."


Recipe
One of my resolutions is to become a quasi-flexitarian.....that means lots more veggies and a lot less meat.  But I still will eat meat because I really don't like tofu!  And a vegan I'm not!

I will be starting this flexitarian regimen after tonight's meal of dry rubbed and smoked pork ribs cause they are a favorite of mine.....might as well go down with a belly full of good food before the flex stuff starts.  But for the most part I will be using some vegetarian recipes and in some I will add very lean meat or chicken or fish.....but small amounts of the meat product.

But come tomorrow I will be making veggie pasta.....simple to make....chop carrots, celery, onions, squash and toss in parsley, olive oil and pepper (and salt if you like) with lots of herbs for flavor.  Spread in a pan and roast at 425 until they are golden brown....toss with your choice of pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Thought For The Day

None of us is as smart as all of us.

--Phil Condit

I sure don't mind having a good beer every once in a while.  When someone tells me I should try a certain drink or a certain beer I will try it just to see if it's the one I've been waiting for all of my life.

But.....sometimes there are those "try it" drinks which should be flushed down the toilet or buried in the ground because they aren't fit for human consumption.....that has happened to me!

Someone told me I should try a wonderful beer called Mephistopheles Metamorphosis Beer ..... when I heard that name I thought to myself....I bet the devil is in that beer since old Mephistopheles himself, in legend, worked for the devil and is the one Faust sold his soul to.

But being the good joe that I am, I went ahead and tried it. I looked at the nice head on it...I was kind of surprised at this...then I thought maybe it will be like Hornsby's Hard Cider which I love.   I smelled the Mephistopheles first....oranges, bananas, apples, bread, flowers, yeast, sugar, candy. 

The first taste was weird....I tasted a citrus....then a peppery taste....then tartness....then kind of like an apple taste....then spicy...then like bread (the yeast probably)....then yeast.  I tasted again and I thought of a strong golden ale which I usually can't stand. 

I really can't say that I liked it...and I know that I had a headache the next day but I don't think I will try it again...I'll have Hornsby's Hard Cider thank you and will leave the devil alone!!

I think I will use the other bathroom!  Good thing I didn't see this the other night when trying that devil beer!!

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