Mothers Switch
From Franklin Wike
After my mother Verna Wike nee Hostetter passed away, I inherited a small box containing some brown hair. It reminds me of when women or girls used to have pony tails and is around 21 inches long. My problem is that I have no idea who the hair came from or who would have written the words, Mothers Switch. The box has an old 2 cent stamp attached to it, so that will help to date the box, but not necessarily the hair. I do not believe the hair came from my mothers mother, Marion Hostetter nee Leedom because I was always told she never cut her hair and she had gray hair when she died. There is a part of me that wonders if this hair could have come from my great-grandmother Sadie Leedom nee Wachstetter except I have no idea when she was born or died. I know that Sadie’s husband, Jacob was born in 1875 and lived past the age of 90, but was told that Sadie died at a real young age, possibly in her 30s or 40s.
So if any other relatives have ever heard Verna or Marion talk about this switch of hair or if anyone knows when Sadie died, would you please contact me. I would also like to know if anyone else ever heard the term switch used when referring to hair.
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Old Song
From Marion
Back several years ago there was a song that goes like this:
Come sit by my side little darling
Lay your sweet head on my chest
Promise me that you will never Be nobodies darling but mine.
I am not very much on finding things on the Internet. Can anybody help? I am trying to find the title in preparation to using it on our 60th Wedding Anniversary, July 6, 2005.
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Response from GW
Here are the words to your song:
Nobody’s Darlin but Mine
Come sit by my side, Little Darlin,
Come lay your cool hand on my brow.
Promise me that you will never,
Be nobody’s Darlin but mine.
Nobody’s Darlin but mine, Love,
Be honest, be Faithful, be Kind.
Promise me that you will never,
Be nobody’s Darlin but mine.
You’re as sweet as the Flowers of Springtime,
You’re as pure as the dew from the rose.
I had rather be Somebody’s Darlin,
Than a Poor Boy that nobody knows.
Goodbye, Goodby, little Darlin,
I’m leaving you just for while.
Promise me that you will never,
Be nobody’s Darlin but mine.
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From Bernie
That old song brings back a few memories from 1941. I was down South in Mississippi and Louisiana. The Juke box never stopped playing Rose of San Antonio, Also, We’ll meet Again and the Andrews Sister’s Apple Blossom Time and the Ink Spots I’ll Get By. How time flies.
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From Tony
Hey Bernie, I was down in Camp Blanding, Florida about that time and every morning there on a local station the Cackle Sisters would come on and sing You are My Sun shine. I can still hear them.
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Ratzeputz?
From Oddball
Have you ever have come across the German drink called Ratzeputz? Widely common with the German Soldiers in cold weather. Made from fermented Horse radish with a fair amount of Pepper & Kmmel added. If you forgot to put the stopper on the bottle, the stuff use to turn into a sort of molasses, you could spread on a slice of bread. Anyone ever got drunk on sandwiches? This Ratzeputz could surely do it. Its still made today in some places in Germany but in a less potent concoction.
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From Smitty
I have a bottle of it here in front of me. I have been trying to find where to get some more of it. If you know please tell me.
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From Donna Sundlad
No idea where you’d get it. I checked online and most of what I found is not in English. One place I saw the price listed in Euros. So that tells you something.
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From Horst W. Mller, Goeppingen/Germany
I just had some Ratezeputz in Hannover/Germany and found out the address where it is manufactured. By the way, it is not made of horseradish but mainly of ginger which makes it taste very hot. It has 58 proof and is the best you can do for your stomach after a heavy meal.
Ratzeputz Spirituosen Am Wasserturm 35 29223 Celle Phone (from Germany) 05141 2244-0
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From Dirk
I’m from Berlin, so please excuse me for my bad English. Have you guys got this now? We have this stuff here. You can get it in a department store called KdW, which means Kaufhaus des Westens. Its very expensive! It costs about 30!
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Old Easter Photographs
From Ruthann Wike nee Held
Since Easter is coming up, I am sending you 2 photographs of my sister Alice DeLuca nee Held, that were taken Easter Sunday, 1945 in Grandview, Indiana, wearing her new Easter outfit. The snapshot to the right even has our old truck in it.
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Strange Lamp
In the February issue, we asked our readers to help identify an old lamp that someone purchased at an auction. Below are the responses that we received this month.
From Thomas PL
Well the water reservoir has the words rainwater stamped on it. Could it have been used to melt snow or heat water. Was it a military lamp?
From Dick
It could have been used as an old vaporizer from looks of it.
From Howard
The tank on the side of the lamp was to heat the ingredients. It speeded up the process of distillation associated with manufacturing of White Lightening. Portable stills are now almost a thing of the past. ATF has to have something to do!
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USS Monterey
From Bernie
I went overseas on the Monterey in October of 1942. We boarded the Monterey near New York City and spent two weeks in the Atlantic. We were part of the invasion force for the invasion of North Africa in early Nov. 1942. We landed just north of Casa Blanca. Subsequently to Tunisia, Sicily and Italy.. In Jan 1944, we were sent to India and then to China and Northern Burma. I made it home in 1945.
Bernie
From Mary
Interesting to note you were on the Monterey. Were you aboard in December of 1944? If you were aboard the Monterey on December 18th, 1944 you were right in the middle of that killer Typhoon where three destroyers went down. My husband was aboard the Spence.
From Woody
Mary, I was in that storm also, we went beyond the point of no return but another wave knocked us back up again. We also lost the number one 5 inch gun with 5 people in it. We looked for survivors but no luck.
Published in U S Legacies Magazine March 2005
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