7-16-16

I thought of a couple of more stories to tell you about "The Old Country". Since I have all these neat pictures I thought I'd share some with you. Hopefully you have been reading the last 2 Saturday blogs, because this is a continuation of the story.

This 1st set of pictures were taken in Hungry. The picture in the upper left corner is our father holding my brother as a baby along with his mother and 2 sisters. The picture directly to the right of that is our mother and father and my brother. The reason I want to share these pictures with you is because of the one on the bottom row in the center. That's my brother "the big guy" feeding the ducks. Very cute!

In Austria to make extra money my father made some camera cases out of genuine leather. These were custom leather cases to protect the camera. He would get paid in cigarettes. One cigarette equals 1 hour wage. So a pack of 20 cigarettes was a lot. He would take the pack of cigarettes and give it to the lady I mentioned last Saturday who owned the castle. Her name is Frau Mayor. (The pronouncement of her last name is different than it looks). Frau Mayor would then convert the cigarettes into food or useful items.

I remember my father telling the story of how she would go to town. She would have her driver bring the horse and carriage around.  When there was snow on the ground it was obviously very cold in Austria. She would get in the carriage and take out her bottle of schnapps. She would take a drink and then pass it to the driver and he would take a snort. This is how they kept warm on their trip to town. No heaters in the carriage.

Since I know there are quite a few ladies that read the blog I'm going to include a picture of my mother and father on their wedding day. So the ladies you may see the type of wedding gown that was popular in hungry in the late 30s.

This next picture was taken in the backyard of my parents 1st home in the United States that they purchased. My mom, myself and my brother. The back story is of the car in the background (no pun intended). It's a 1933 Chevrolet. The picture was taken in the mid-50s. The gentleman that owned the car, his name was Edward. He had 2 sisters. They were always very nice to my parents and us. When Edward died he willed the car to my dad and mom. I still remember as a little kid when they went to pick up the car. My father did not have a drivers license that's why the cars in the back yard. It's a 3 speed stick on the floor. He had to learn to drive and of course driving a stick.

My father used the car for many years and when my brother turned 16 he learn to drive on that vehicle also and I did to when I turned 16. After high school I joined the Coast Guard. My father had purchased a newer vehicle in 1953 Chevrolet station wagon. My father asked my brother and I if we wanted that car the 33 Chevrolet and both of us were terminally stupid, we said no and my father sold the car to a sailor for $300. I still kick myself in the butt and wish I had the car now.

That's about it for going down memory lane for the day. The message for tomorrow morning at church is "Overcoming Financial Worry". What does the Bible say about worry and fear? That's a good question. I hope you be in church tomorrow morning and take the time to praise the Lord. He is worthy of all glory and honor and praise!

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Maranatha,
Frank