My mother-in-law was born into a large family in a small river village in western Massachusetts. She was first generation Polish American. When the depression arrived, they all worked together to survive the hard times. This picture was taken of her with her high school cheer team members. What I find remarkable is that she graduated in 1937. Her family wanted her to finish her education in an era when not everyone got the opportunity to do so.
She worked at a variety of jobs for a few years before she fell in love with her husband and married in 1940. Still living on a shoestring, she must have come across an article in a magazine on how to have some clever home decor for very little money. She had these Hazel Atlas pickle bottles left over and painted them red. Then she put a cute little stencil of a dog on each. These jars held bits and bobs through decades.
She was very proud of them and pointed them out to me when I was first dating my husband, which I thought was sweet. She loved them so much. She brought them with her to our house when she moved in for her last few years of life. She really wasn’t an overly sentimental person, but I so loved that she kept these, perhaps reminding her of her earliest years as a bride. I will keep them and her reminiscences close to my heart.
