4

A. Varesano interviewing Mary Marshlik (#41 Back St) 8/21/72
Tape 28-1
AV: Now, in the living room [underlined], what did you use it for, as a bedroom?
MM: My- no, my father, yeah, that was used as a bedroom, my faather's and mother's bedroom. And they, they had their bed here, and usually there was either a cradle here, or if not it was here, and there was a little crib, because there was always a small baby, all the time.
AV: How many in your family?
MM: There were, my mother had nine children, but two died, so there were seven children, and my mother and father, plus a boarder or two. Off and on we always had a boarder [underlined]. So, ah, right here in a corner she had a side-board.
AV: Yeah. And what did she store in that?
MM: The clothing. Her linens.
AV: Whose clothing?
MM: Linens, ah, bed linens and towels, and then some of the children's clothes and ah, then she had a little square table over here and there were chairs where I have, see, that's chairs.
AV:What was that table used for?
MM: It was just ah, she had a lamp, because at one time my father used to, ah, sell gas lamps, before electricity came in, and they were gas lamps [underlined], and they had mantles on them, and ah, you, when you put the gas in, into the bottom, well like kerosene lamps, kerosene lamps you put kerosene in, but this you put gas in. And then, you'd have to pump the air in, and then the air would push up the gas, ah, to the top, and then it would come into the mantle. It was just like, long time ago, when they had the gas lights in the cities, and you had to have a mantle burning to show light, so those were the kind of lamps my father sold. I know that there were two mantles on there. And so, usually she has a lamp on the table. If she didn't have gas lamp on she had a kerosene lamp on there.
AV: So that's how the room was lit, from a lamp on this table.
MM: Yes. Yes. Um-hmm.
AV: Now, what was on the floor.
MM: First, it was just a bare floor. There wasn't anything. And then, later, it was just a carpet woven like this.
AV: Carpet. Bag Carpet [underlined].
MM: Bag carpet, yes.
AV: Where was it running?
MM: The carpet was running this way.
AV: Was [it] tacked all over the floor?
MM: It was nailed to the floor, yes.
AV: All over it.
MM: Yes, she'd have the whole floor covered with it, yes.
AV: What was this in front [underlined] here?
MM: This is a porch [underlined]. This is the dorr, and there was just a little square, like the one that's out here, just a little porch. There were two steps down.
AV: Was this entrance-way [underlined] used?
MM: No, it, we'd, that entrance was rarely used.
AV: What was on the windows?
MM: Ah, well, curtains [underlined] and [a] window shade [underlined]. (Living Room.)
AV: What kind of curtains.
MM: Dark green.
AV: Print?
MM: No, the window shade was a dark green and the curtains would be, at that time they called them ecru color.
AV: What kind of material.
MM: They would be lace.