by Donna Swagerty Shreve
Pearl Aldrich Swagerty was known for her patience. Elmer tested that quality of Pearl’s many times over the years. Besides being married to a high maintenance husband, Pearl also gave birth to six children and raised five to adulthood. Pearl would ignore or put up with so much and then on occasion would finally put her foot down. This gesture was usually accompanied by hands on her hips or her hands thrown into the air above her head.
Pearl had come from a well off family. The Aldrich children grew up in a small farming town of Hughson but they always had plenty of food and clothes that were designed by their clever mother. Elmer came from a more humble household where basic living would be considered more like camping than what Pearl was used to.
Over the years Pearl wanted various items to provide for her ever growing brood of children. She desired a new Singer sewing machine as Singer was the high end product that she wanted for her various sewing projects. Instead of letting Pearl go pick out her own machine, Elmer arrived home one day with a new inferior sewing machine made by New Home. The cheaper machine did the jobs Pearl needed, but the cabinet was made out of particle board and was not an object of pride.
Pearl also wanted a buffet and curio cabinet for her nicer things she finally was able to buy. Her curio cabinet housed her salt and pepper collection plus some of her Fostoria crystal. Most of the grandchildren remember that the curio cabinet was where Pearl kept her sugared lemon drops. Those candies were a special treat only handed out by our beloved grandmother. Again Elmer took it upon himself to go out and buy these new pieces of furniture by himself without Pearl’s input. They were poorly made and had the telltale particle board that cheapened their appearance and endurance. Brian ended up with the buffet and enjoyed the secret drawer that opened underneath the other drawers. Instead of throwing it away after years of service, Brian now uses it as a work table in his garage.
The next example of Elmer needing to being in charge came in 1953. Elmer and Pearl wanted a new car; a new car meant new to them. Elmer found a 1951 blue Hudson hornet. It turns out the Hudson hornet only lasted from 1951 to 1954. Elmer wanted a grand presentation as this car was quite a step up from their usual vehicle. Elmer asked the salesman to drive the car out to the dairy on Thanksgiving and then Elmer could show it off to all of his sons and family. My father, Floyd, had just happened to have his new toy, a 16mm movie camera, to record the event. The eleven second movie clip is on the family web site at swagertystories/videos.com. The salesperson arrived at the dairy and the sons and some family were assembled in the driveway to watch the big surprise. Pearl was escorted out of the house on some pretense and was presented with a new car chosen by Elmer without her input. Realize Pearl had just put on a Thanksgiving dinner for forty plus family members and was probably exhausted. Elmer had just gone too far. She threw up her hands and said, “NO! Absolutely not. Take it away now.” After some arguing from Elmer, he finally gave up and sent the salesman on his way and had his failure witnessed by all of his sons. Pearl would put up with a lot and was very patient but when she was done, it was over. That trait has been passed down through the generations. I like to think that my father started filming and realized what was going to happen and stopped the camera. Jack and Jeanne’s tiny house is in the background. The various family cars are lined up in order of arrival. The movie clip is only eleven seconds but so much is revealed if one knows some of the family history.
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6/26/2020
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 