Mixed in with Mom's stacks of papers I found this print from the Blade's microfiche files. I must have done it while I worked there, but I sure can't recall doing so.
The date is May 24, 1915.
Reading just those few headlines, you realize what a period she was born into, as eventful as our own, certainly, even though it took news a lot longer to get around.
The Great War was under way in Europe. How innocent it was to call it the Great War, as if there is any such a thing.
As far as I know, no one in her immediate family served in WWI. By the time Dorothy appeared in the family, her father, David, was building the family plumbing supply business. I recall Mom saying that her dad was very, very good at estimating jobs. And everyone needed indoor plumbing.
Pickrel Plumbing Supply prospered during the Roaring 20s, and the huge family moved into this palatial home on Yale Avenue in Dayton's tony North End. When it went on tour for a charity event, I drove to Dayton and Mom and I visited the home.
My was she proud! And full of stories set there. She recalled brothers following her dad around the house as he shut it up for the night, lagging a little bit so they could unlock a window or two for a sib who was out past curfew.
I believe it was in this home that the family had many fancy trappings: a tennis court, a pony, lots of room for games. And Mom also mentioned the batty granny in the attic. Not sure who that was, but little Dodie, shortest in the family, helped Stella, her mom, care for the older lady.
My Irish grandfather was a plumber . . . the only reason the family survived the Depression, my mom always said. No matter what else was going on, people's pipes continued to break and toilets continued to need fixing. He did a lot of bartering in place of payment so they had veggies, fruit, and sometimes useless things instead of money.
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