Work and Discipline in the Zielke Household

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One thing that has become VERY clear to me through my interviews with Aunt Grace is that farm life was hard work and it required everyone doing their share of the work. Today we're going to learn about some of the chores and consequences of NOT completing those chores. Keep in mind that this information is from Aunt Grace's view. It doesn't discount the work that the older five did when they were still home or the work the younger two had to do after she left home, but we can imagine that each of our parents had to do their fair share of these chores (and others) in their time at home. One additional note, if you remember the earlier post about the move to Oswego, the oldest three (George, Henry & Bertha) moved to and ran the farm before the rest of the family came. This undoubtedly meant that George and Henry did the farming and took care of the livestock while Bertha ran the household; three teenagers/young adults taking on FULL responsibility and being left on their own.

Chores were an expectation of living. Chores entitled them to a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and food in their bellies. There was no allowance and they knew they had responsibility to the family survival. Chores on a typical day looked like this:

• Bring wood/kindling into the house for use in the cook stoves. There was one stove in the kitchen used for cooking and another in the basement for heating water for the laundry.

  

  Wood-burning Cook Stove*

• Dishes had to be done after every meal. Aunt Grace remembers thinking it was unfair that she never got to wash. Marge washed them, Grace had to dry. It may have caused an occasional spat between the two....
• Housework. In the summer months, at least, the housework fell to the girls while Grandma was outside tending to her garden. Grandma apparently loved being outdoors and loved the garden, so she taught the girls to do all the housework, including the canning of various home grown veggies.
• Throwing silage was discussed in our farm tour and took about a half hour out of their day.
• Helping Grandpa milk the cows fell to Grace after Ray left home and never fell to Marge or Dorothy as the family had moved to "the Barker house" by the time it would have been their turn to help.
• Family chauffeur. Grandpa never drove a car with a stick shift for multiple speeds after the family accident. He was not mechanical and could not get the hang of it; fearful of killing the family. Grandpa would still drive the Model T, but never one of the newer cars. Henry taught Ray to drive, who in turn taught Grace to drive handing down the chauffeur responsibilities. Marge never liked to drive and rarely did. 
• Cutting homemade lye soap into bars. 
• Laundry! Laundry was a major undertaking each week and spanned two days.



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• Saturday was "dainty" laundry day and was done by hand in an 18" diameter wash bowl in the kitchen sink. These items were hand-washed with Lux or Ivory Soap.
• Monday was main laundry day. Laundry was done with homemade lye soap in the basement during the cold months of the year and in the wash house during the summer months, then hung on the line to dry. 

  

  Lye Flakes & Crystals

• Lye soap. Lye is made by "leaching" wood ashes. This is done by boiling ashes from a hardwood fire (softwood is too resinous) in soft (rain) water. This results in crystals or flakes that are mixed with rendered lard (from butchering), poured into a form to harden and then cut into bars. (Note: They did not make their own lye, but purchased lye to make into their own soap)

  

  Lye Soap and Bars

• Aunt Grace remembers one time when neighborhood child, Diane Reppy, who was about Dorothy's age, put her finger in the container of lye and tasted it! It was extremely painful and caused burns/blisters around and in her mouth!
• Water for the laundry was heated in the copper boiler on the cook stove. The cook stove had two plates to accommodate the copper boiler. 

  

  Copper Boiler used for
  Heating Laundry Water

• Hot water was poured into the wash tub of the wringer washer. The wringer could swivel around so that excess water could be squeezed out of the clothes before falling into the rinse tubs of cold water.

  

  Wringer Washer with
  2 Rinse Tubs**

• Bluing was added to the second rinse for whites.

  

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As a mother of five myself, I know discipline can be a challenge. I was interested about how (and when) they were all disciplined as children. I chose to add discipline to this post, because it turns out that the primary reason they were disciplined was for not doing a chore OR not doing it soon enough after being asked! For example, Aunt Grace said that she would be disciplined for not getting the kindling in to the cook stove as soon as she was told. Understandable, I guess. Not having the wood available to get the stove going could delay dinner or starting the laundry. 

There was no need for disciplining a smart mouth or bad attitude; apparently they all knew better than to even TRY to get away with anything like that. There was also no waiting 'til their father "got home." Discipline took the form of a "lickin'" and was meted out with whatever Grandma could get her hands on: fly swatter, wooden spoon OR her bare hand if nothing was within her reach!

I asked her about a story I remembered hearing from my dad about a time Grandma was after him for a lickin'. Apparently, he had run when he knew he was in trouble and Grandma had him cornered.  He knew what was coming and rather than accepting the inevitable, he dove down, slid between her legs and took off in the other direction! Aunt Grace didn't remember that particular story, but she laughed and said it was probably likely. 

As I write this, I've been reflecting on what an amazing family we claim to be our own. How three people, Reinhold, Louisa & Martha, none of whom completed high school, raised eight children (four of whom didn't complete high school either) to be good, responsible, productive members of society. Those eight in turn have had children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who have also taken, or will soon take,  their own place in the world. As I learn more of the wonderful accomplishments of my cousins, my siblings and all of the younger generation, I am truly amazed that we all came from such a humble beginning. Yet, I feel that as our parents learned responsibility to contribute to the family, they built the solid foundation enabling them to raise us and that we have, in turn, learned to teach our own children and grandchildren. Teaching doesn't always come through a text book and there is much we can learn from those who have gone before us. To honor Grandpa, our Grandmas and each of our parents, please teach your children well. 

* This is a cook stove; not necessarily like the ones they had. When I'm able to meet with Aunt Grace in  person and look at pictures, I'll ask her to point out one that is closer to the one they had and replace the picture.

**Once again, this is a wringer washer. Picture will be replaced if I'm able to find one with Aunt Grace.