| |
| The
Lee House - Fort Ringgold, Rio Grande City, TexasJohn
Howland Wood House - BaysideVernon
Historic Homes: Waggoner-Hicks House, W. D. Berry HomeAce
Borger Home - Borger, TexasPhilip
Goertz Cabin circa 1860 - Rockne, TexasJohn
T. Lehman Cabin circa 1858 - Rockne, TexasJ.
H. Meurer Home - Scotland, TexasSiddon-Barnes
Log Cabin - Chico, TexasSamuel
Smith Home Site - Troup, Texas Maplecroft,
Starr Famnily Home - Marshall, Texas |
To
Build a House
by C. F. Eckhardt
Texas Log Cabins and Log Houses
The first house a man might build, at least in East and Central Texas, was a log
cabin. Log cabins, by the way, looked nothing like the log houses usually called
'log cabins' today. The most common size was 12" x 14", usually the logs were
not dressed...
To
Build a House II
by C. F. Eckhardt
Adobe
Houses
"...Indians did not build in adobe.
Adobe was brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Adobe is mud brick, made with
mud and straw-the same bricks the Hebrews in Egypt were told to make without straw.
Finding the right kind of dirt to make adobe from was sometimes tricky..."
|
The
Good Old Days Bob Bowman 9-16-12
Soap
Making in East Texas after Civil War Always
take your come-along along by Delbert Trew 1-4-11
Though
some might look down on the common working man, he is actually an ingenious person.
If you don't believe me search the U.S. Patent office files and find millions
of tools, most invented by a working man to make his work easier or faster.Fire,
bricks and early chimneys by Delbert Trew 12-14-10
Few
of the tools needed by man equaled that of fire. He needed it to cook, heat, make
light and to use for making other tools, like in blacksmithing...Well
water, in the past, was work - Settlers dug with crude equipment by Delbert
Trew
The most significant problem facing the first Panhandle settlers was lack
of water for their families and livestock... Preserving
garden seed important by Delbert Trew
A wise man once stated: "A person
will do a lot of things he wouldn't ordinarily do if he is taking up a hole in
his belt occasionally." Hunger and the fear of hunger has always had a way of
leveling the various classes of the population and changing their habits... Before
Maw Bell - Rural Telephone Systems in the West by C. F. Eckhardt
Alexander
Graham Bell’s patent expired in the 1890s, and as soon as it did anyone could
legally manufacture and sell a telephone. Almost instantly both Sears, Roebuck
and Montgomery Ward began offering telephone sets in their catalogs... Across
much of the west, to the west of old US 81 (present I-35) in Texas... there was
already a network of wire covering most of the country, in the form of barbed-wire
fences... Quilting
a family history by Bob Bowman
If Teddy Ivy wakes up in the middle of
the night, curious about a part of his family's history, all he has to do is consult
the quilt on his bed...The
Banker, and Lightning Rods by Mike Cox
In 1749, Benjamin Franklin became
the first scientist to opine that lighting rods could protect buildings, churches,
houses and barns from thunderstorm-generated electrical discharges better known
as lightning bolts...
Lamp
chores evolved by Delbert Trew
A boyhood chore, learned at an early age,
involved filling lamps with coal oil poured from a gallon can with a blackened
potato pushed down over the spout... Plumbing
the Past by Robert Cowser
My sons and daughters
laugh about the shock they experienced the first time I told them about the galvanized
bath tub that hung on the exterior wall of the two-room house where I once lived...
Old
gardeners avoided 'feast or famine' route by Delbert Trew
You can tell
by reading my columns that I am fascinated by how people got by before the invention
of electricity, refrigeration and all the other modern conveniences we take for
granted today. Through research, I find they somehow managed quite well... Dirt-moving
methods improve through years by Delbert Trew
Few readers under 60 years
of age will understand this statement:'We installed a tin horn in our bar ditch.'...The
Coolerator by C. F. Eckhardt
"To understand a coolerator and the
need for it you have to go back to a time before the REA got to rural Texas."
Past
can continue to serve the present by Delbert Trew
No doubt time marches
on with progress as inevitable as tomorrow's sunrise. This seems to be more evident
in the rural areas as our small towns and older communities slowly disappear or
change identities... To
Sleep Tight by C. F. Eckhardt
The old expression "Good night, sleep tight"
once had real meaning. Beds didn't have springs in early Texas. They had ropes...
Rollaway
bed was favorite for sleeping, hiding by Delbert Trew
My early day heroes
slept in thin blankets, on the hard ground with their heads resting on their saddles.
Later, my J. Frank Dobie heroes slept in canvas-covered bedrolls which had to
be rolled each morning, tied with a rope and tossed on the chuck wagon. Meanwhile,
back at the ranch, the cowboys slept in bunks with rope bottoms and covered with
ticks filled with hay, grass, corn shucks or cotton. Such stuffing seemed to invite
insects so bed legs were stood in small cans of coal oil to keep the ants and
other critters away... Air
Conditioning by Archie P. McDonald
When someone
asks my wife how people lived in Texas before air-conditioning, she says that
no one did. That is partly true and partly false, but we can all agree that the
a/c makes surviving Texas’ summers a happier experience. The old timers coped,
however, and here is how...
Being
in hot water actually a luxury by Delbert Trew
"Today, we take hot
water for granted, but not so long ago, plenty of hot water was considered a luxury.
Memories about hot water, or the lack of it, crossed my mind. Some go way back
to a teakettle sitting on the back of our kitchen stove, which was the only hot
water we had available."
A
look at wash day from early to modern by Delbert TrewThe
Good Old Days by Bob Bowman
Life in East Texas after
the Civil War.
Wash
day on the farm always fell on Monday by Delbert Trew
"Down through
time, as sure as death and taxes, Monday was wash day. Like the Ten Commandments,
the event was carved in stone and postponed only by funerals or bad weather. Though
family wash day routines varied, Mondays on the Trew farm proceeded as follows..."The
Most Famous Bathtub in Coryell County by Clay Coppedge
"Thomas and
Laquita Barton's house outside of town has the first bathtub in Coryell County,
a hand-carved limestone classic...."Fuel
Fires Up Memories by Delbert Trew
"Eb Patton,
a cousin from Mobeetie, used to say he didn't know his given name until he was
12 years old because all the family had ever said to him since birth was, 'Go
get wood.' " ...Using
concrete involved search for sand, much hauling by Delbert Trew Things
Worthy of Prayer by Delbert Trew
Baling wire, duct tape, drywall screws
and caulkingLimestone
Fence Posts by Brewster Hudspeth
Ten Things You Need to Know About Limestone
Fence Posts
(Besides their reluctance to take staples and that they can dull
a chainsaw real quick)Quilting
was hub of family, social life by Delbert TrewMailbox
was rural portal to outside world by Delbert TrewScreen
door was faithful fixture by Delbert Trew
The most used, abused, repaired
and mistreated tool on early farms was the back screen door. Barbed
Wire Telephones by Debert Trew
"In this day of seemingly unlimited
telephone services, it's hard to believe we once used barbed wire to carry our
message." Linoleum
was family's first sign of prosperity by Delbert Trew
"The only "linoleum
expert" I've known was a 92-year-old neighbor lady born and raised in the Texas
Panhandle. ... Her credentials as a "paint and linoleum expert" are presented
here in her own words..."
The
Church Lights by Bob Bowman
When the church decided to phase out the old
kerosene lights for safety reasons, Clark went to Jefferson Lighting Company of
Ann Arbor, Michigan, and told them what he wanted. The reproduction fixtures were
custom-made for the church down to the ornate decorations and adapted to electricity.Ranch
Life in Brewster County
A typical day of Lilah Smith and Edith Kipgen
As told by themselves and Barbara Kipgen. "Both women have recorded on paper a
lot of their experiences on the ranch back in the 30s and 40s..." Grandma's
Daylilies by Bob Bowman
My grandmother, who grew daylilies on the morning
side of her farm home in Slocum, advised her newly-married daughter, "Annie Mae,
if you can't grow daylilies you can't grow anything."
Small
Town Tidbits: A Friend Indeed by Jeanne Moseley
"If you're looking
for a plumber, you won't find Mr. B in the yellow pages. That's because he's mostly
retired at age 75...."The
Yo-Yo by N. Ray Maxie 10-1-09
In my area of the Ark-La-Tex
in NE Texas, the yo-yo was a manual labor work tool. Labor intensive!
HUMOR / OPINIONBlind
Drunk in Beaumont by Frances Giles 8-17-12
Cleaning
Day in Beaumont
Head
to the Nursery by Peary Perry 1-6-10
Here we are
in the middle of winter and once we have one or two clear, warm and pleasant days,
you can bet most of us are out doing what we normally do this time each and every
year. Head to the nursery and buy new flowers and plants...The
Days of Attic Fans and Sun Dried Sheets by Peary Perry 8-26-09
No one had a clothes dryer, we had clothes lines. Here’s a practice that we could
bring back today and save some energy, except most subdivision rules won’t allow
you to have your clothes drying on a line. Jumping into bed and smelling sheets
that had been taken off the line earlier in the day was an experience you would
never forget.You
Got To Know When To Fold ‘Em Maggie Van Ostrand 7-3-09
When
Kenny Rogers sang, “Ya got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em … “
in his hit, “The Gambler,” he was singing about more than playing cards, he was
singing about housekeeping...Moving
Day Madness by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal6-23-09
I am
a nurse. I am organized. I am beyond organized. I am hyper-organized. But no matter
how organized a person is, she cannot control every variable. Which is how I found
myself not only driving a gigantic rental moving truck, but also driving it in
the fourth largest city in the United States... Whacha
Gonna Do With All That Junk? by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal
"I know in
general that things are in boxes. These boxes, however, could be anywhere. They
could be in the old house. They could be in the new house. They could be sitting
on the porch accidently mixed up with the things waiting to be picked up for donation.
They could be in the trunk of my car or in the moving van or even mixed up in
the mountain of stuff sitting on the curb waiting for Big Junk Day."The
Heat Is On! by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal
It’s summer and it is hot and we
are using our air conditioner. In the winter we use the furnace. And every year,
summer and winter, we fight the same old battles over what temperature is the
right temperature and over who is and who is not old enough and wise enough to
be allowed to change the thermostat... For
Sale by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal
What you don’t want to hear from your
real estate agent are the following words, "Well, realistically?" What follows
will never be good...Spring
by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal
"For me the very best part of Spring is playing
in the dirt. I'm not a gardener. I plant stuff but only because it grows in dirt
and I like to dig. I don't weed, fertilize, prune or tie things up. That's what
my husband is for."How
Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal
"I have been feeling extraneous
lately and I am not used to that and I do not like it. You know, when my children
were little I had a rich fantasy life. I might have looked like I was washing
dishes or folding 10,000 tiny little tee-shirts or picking the gum out of the
carpet, but in actuality I was someplace far, far away, someplace better. I was
in my secret world ..." Life
without a Washer by Peary Perry Remodeling
Your House by Peary Perry
"Have you ever seen one of those charts
that show you what certain stressful situations do to you and to your body? ...
Well, I haven’t seen one of these in several years, but I’d bet remodeling your
house while living in it has to rank right up there with the worst of them. Moving
into another house can’t be this bad. Moving into a tent can’t be this bad. Moving
to Iraq can’t be this bad. Moving into your mother-in-laws house can’t be this
bad…Well… we might rethink that one…"Home
Improvement by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal
"It
is the strong marriage that survives each spring without a tremor or two."Pet
Peeves: Coffee, Stereos and Thermostat by Peary PerryA
Home of My Own by Elizabeth Bussey SowdalAir
Fresheners: Use at Your Own Risk by Peary PerryA
Man's Guide to Housework by John Gosselink
"We here at the Unsolicited
and Possibly Dangerous Center of Advice have come up with some helpful hints for
homemaking for men. But before we start, let's review the male philosophy to housekeeping.
Remember, you are a guy, so you don't sweat the details." The
Ten Years Are Up. It's Time to Clean the Refrigerator by Maggie Van Ostrand
"Everybody's familiar with the Seven Lively Arts: Architecture, Dance, Drama,
Literature, Music, Painting and Sculpture. But there's an unsung eighth Lively
Art: Homemaking. If making a home out of a mere house is not an official Lively
Art, it ought to be..." | |
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