Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Giebrich’s

Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Giebrich’s

In the 1930’s Mom's parents, my maternal grandparents, William and Flora Alice Cook Giebrich, lived in Indianola, Iowa, a small town about 15 miles south of Des Moines, where I lived with my family. We often went down to visit, usually for Sunday dinner. And usually there were many aunts, uncles, and cousins there as well.  Grandma and Grandpa called each other Will and Flo (short for Flora.)

One of my earliest memories is of the drive to their farm.  To a child under age 5, it seemed to take forever.  The road was hilly, and on one of the higher hills about halfway there, we could see the town’s water tower.  So my sister and I would chant in a sing-song voice, “I see the water tower, I see the water tower. Now I don’t, now I don’t. Now I do, now I do…” It must have driven my parents nuts.  But it was probably better than, “Are we there yet?” every 30 seconds. 

They had a small farm on the edge of town. They had an apple orchard, cows, and chickens. They had electricity, but they still used kerosene lamps sometimes. They had a phone. They had a car, a model-T Ford pick-up. They had water in the kitchen, but they did not have a bathroom.

I mainly remember playing outside, not inside the house. (They probably shooed us outside, from under foot.) There were so many wonderful things to explore. Grandma and Grandpa had what was called an acreage on the edge of town on North J. Street. I am guessing it might have been about 4 acres. There was a barn, some cows, and some chickens. On the northwest corner of the barn was a “garage” for the model-T Ford pick-up truck. We loved to get into the truck and pretend we were driving, making up stories about where we were going.  We never tried to start it, because you had to crank it to do that.  We also played in the tool shed where there was a grindstone run by foot power, pedaling like riding a bicycle.  There was a wonderful tree to climb, right outside the back door of the house, and on the back porch was a cream separator which was fun to watch.

Another place we loved to explore was to the back of the property where a creek ran through. We had fun wading in the creek, climbing trees, and gathering up hickory nuts.

But the most fun of all was the orchard.  We had fun climbing the trees, playing hide and seek, and picking up windfalls. And then there was the cave, where Grandpa stored the apples until they were sold. It was cool down there, and dark, because we were too short to reach the light switch. But dark was better anyway. And there was an echo of our voices. So we could tell stories and scare ourselves right out of there.

The other place we liked to investigate was the apple press where Grandpa put the apples, and then he turned the press and “squashed” the apples to make the juice come out. And from this he made cider.

On one of these visits when I was about five years old, I remember sitting around a huge table with many aunts, uncles, and cousins. For dinner we were having fried chicken and many other delicious things. The chicken was grown, raised, and killed by Grandpa.  It was drawn, plucked, and cooked by Grandma. I know that because at one time or another I had seen all the stages of preparation.

The big platter of fried chicken was passed around the table. Mother asked me what piece I would like. I said, “the foot please.” Everyone laughed and Mother said, “you mean the leg?” And she held up the drumstick. Before I could answer, Grandpa said, “no no if she wants the foot will get her the foot.” Mother said, “D-a-a-d!” Grandma said, “Will!!!” (Will was his name.) But Grandpa was already on his way out to the kitchen. He came back with a yellow scaly chicken foot and laid it on my plate. Grandpa thought his joke was hilarious. Some of the others laugh too, but I was embarrassed. And I noticed Mother and Grandma were not laughing at all. Grandma said, “Will! Get that thing out of here!” So I knew Grandma was mad at Grandpa for doing such a thing, so I didn't feel so embarrassed after that.

I have many happy memories of visiting Grandma and Grandpa Giebrich, but it is the orchard that remains most vivid in my memory. Grandpa was very proud of his orchard. 

            

 Here is another picture of Will, my Grandpa.

This is an earlier picture of Flora, my Grandma.

Grandma and Grandpa farmed in an area about halfway between Des Moines and Indianola until their children were old enough to go to college.  Neither Grandma or Grandpa had gone to college.  In fact they may not have even graduated from high school, but they held education in high regard and were both avid readers.  At some time they moved to Indianola so any of their kids who wanted to, could go to Simpson College there.  Grandpa owned a shoe store, but it burned down at some time.  Then he bought the small acreage on North J Street and planted the apple orchard.  As adults, one daughter lived in Alabama, one in Missouri, and one in California.  All the rest lived in Iowa throughout the 1930’s.

Here are Mom and her grown siblings.  From left to right, they are:  Frank, Clyta, Gertrude (Gertie), Bess, Stella, Lela, Doris (Mom), Florence, and Harold (Gieb).

Here are Grandma and Grandpa at Christmas time in their home on North J Street.