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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

85 Leabrook Lane: 1964

As I have said before, my mother was decidedly Mrs. Sewandsew. Along with making us matching RCA Picnic shirts in Princeton, she made matching red dresses for her, me, and a tiny one that was an exact replica of ours for my Barbie doll. These were not special occasion clothes. They had great big pockets with pointed tops (since she knew I would wear, and wear, and wear anything with a big pocket for me to stash stuff in) and were of a pattern she designed which she identified as princess line. And yes, the faux pearl beads, and medium heels were the way she dressed on a regular day. She did not have house dresses or cleaning house clothes. 
Baby boomers will recognize the square object on the steps that you can see between me and my brother as a milk box. Each morning a man from a local dairy company delivered fresh milk to our house, using it.

As I have said before, my mother was decidedly Mrs. Sewandsew. Along with making us matching RCA Picnic shirts in Princeton, she made matching red dresses for her, me, and a tiny one that was an exact replica of ours for my Barbie doll. These were not special occasion clothes. They had great big pockets with pointed tops (since she knew I would wear, and wear, and wear anything with a big pocket for me to stash stuff in) and were of a pattern she designed which she identified as princess line. And yes, the faux pearl beads, and medium heels were the way she dressed on a regular day. She did not have house dresses or cleaning house clothes.

Baby boomers will recognize the square object on the steps that you can see between me and my brother as a milk box. Each morning a man from a local dairy company delivered fresh milk to our house, using it.

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Milksicle, Anyone?

Princeton NJ probably wasn't as cold as Winnipeg, and the box had thick thermos-like walls. Plus, the just before breakfast time the milkman came, meant that only the empty bottles we were returning sat in the box very long.
Many times I would meet our milkman at the door and he would give me a stick of Juicy Fruit gum in response.

And yes, it WAS an expensive custom built house for its time, in a high priced location. Despite starting out in blue collar Levittown PA, we were never lower middle class. The first house my parents had when I was born, was their newlywed cottage. This house was supposed to be the real house, a home that our family would live in, into old age.

It did not work out that way. We lived there less than five years. Even in that short time, my father doubled what he had paid for it, when it sold.

Frozen milk

I don't suppose it got quite as cold in the winter in Princeton as it did in Winnipeg where I grew up. Our milk, delivered to the side door, would freeze if not taken in quickly during the dead of winter. The bottles very rarely broke. Instead, a column of icy milk would rise from the bottle, topped by the cardboard tab and foil wrapper. A marvellous sight, made all the more nostalgic by the sad fact that it's not as cold these days and milkmen no longer exist.

By the way, I see the house sold for just under a million bucks a year ago. You can take a tour on the Redfin site.

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