The Palimpsest

The Palimpsest, vol.65 no.1, January-February 1984

Regan, Stephen D

English

The Mighty I: The USS Iowa Story

Lane, Pat Sunquist

An Iowa Barn: Swedish Style
* J'
by Pat Sonquist Lane
\  A *
r * an
?! * /
j t . r
: L* #  ? '•■J **; “
s 4 v r t-. vi x
The Sonquist Home Place in 1981. (photograph by J. Haul), courtesy the author)
J ohn Sonquist was born in Ockelbo Socken, Gastrikland, Sweden, on Octo­
ber 13, 1829, and married Martha Person on 
September 25, 1854. They came to the United 
States in 1857, settling in Oneida, Illinois, 
before moving to Iowa in 1870. They just 
missed the 1870 census for Iowa but in the 1880 
census we find the family: John Sonquist, 50, 
born in Sweden; Martha, 48, Sweden; Robert, 
20, Illinois; Alfred, 15, Illinois; Emma, 11, 
Illinois; and Charles (Charley), 6, Iowa. There 
are family stories about walking the animals all 
the way from Illinois and about it raining most 
of the way. It is a matter of record that John 
Sonquist purchased the SE 1/4 of S27-T86N- 
R28VV of the 5th PM on November 26, 1870. It
€ Iowa State Historical Department/Office of the State Historical 
Society 1983 0031 — 0360/83/0910-0170 $1.00
was Charley who was born on the Home Place,
w
and Charley who later stayed on to farm it.
✓  *
The Frank Peterson family (Frank, Septem­
ber 3, 1850, Ostra Tolstrd Parish, and Caroline 
Carlson, April 20, 1843, Westra Harg Parish, 
both Ostergotland) did not emigrate until 
1889. Frank had been a land overseer for a 
baron in Mjolby, where he had lived c o m f o r t ­
ably. When the family came to this country, 
they spent their first few days in Iowa in a log 
cabin owned bv an uncle.
Charles Sonquist and Hilda Helena [Ella] Peterson were married in the Methodist 
parsonage in Dayton by Charleys uncle, Rev­
erend J. F. Berggren, on March 15, 1895.
» •
> •
c « * 
***«.
*
r
T he Palimpsest 171
They began their family which would grow to 
seven children.
Charley had a forge, anvil, and bellows, and 
people came from a distance for his services. 
While thev waited for their work to be finished,j  /
Charley, being hospitable, would ask them for 
coffee or meals. What an addition to Ella’s 
responsibilities! One of the worst years was 
1902 when their new house was built. Gerald 
was born just prior to the building of the house 
and had a stomach disturbance which kept him 
vocal without respite. Ella had to cope with all 
of it: meals, lunches, new baby, and regular 
duties. The hired man often knew and under­
stood a family better than anyone else and filled* j
in wherever needed, in many roles. In 1902 
their hired man was Charley Bloomquist, a 6'6" 
man with noticeably large feet. Without being 
asked he would come into the house at meal­
time and pick up the squalling baby, walking 
the tiny bundle to and fro, quieting him, and 
giving Ella a little peace and quiet in which to 
finish dinner preparations and get everything 
on the table.
In 1902 John deeded the west eighty acres to 
his son, Charley, and the east eighty acres to 
his daughter, Emma. This became the Nord­
strom Home Place. After his wife, Martha, 
died in 1904, John lived several years with
Charley and later with Emma, until his death 
in 1912.
Charley wrote with an elegant script and was 
township assessor for several years. He took 
the initiative in the drainage of the wetlands, 
was active in the Netzell school which his chil­
dren attended, the Farm Bureau in Webster 
County, and the development of the Dayton 
Crain Co-op. He always took pride in his live­
stock. It was Charley who planned for and built 
the present basic buildings on the Home Place. 
It was Charley who built the barn.
In 1913 Charles Sonquist was 40 and his 
wife, Ella, was 38. The children living at that 
time were Leslie, Myrtle, Gerald, Helen, and 
Verner, ages 15, 13, 11, 9 and 2.
‘The barn was built as they were in Sweden, no 
nails in the frame, put together with pegs. It 
was 50 feet long and 40 feet wide. Frames were 
made lying on the ground.’ In her letter con­
taining this description of the barn on the Son­
quist Home Place, Hazel Manguson Sonquist 
included a photograph of it. It was built in 1913 
and is “still standing straight and strong.”
T he barn was started in the spring of 1913 and took about two months to build. Since 
the corn crib and machine shed were built at 
the same time, work went on into the summer. 
Nels Peterson, a 60-year old Swede, was the 
contractor. His helpers were Eric Carlson, 50, 
Ira Campbell, 28, and John Malmberg, 22. All 
four lived eight miles away in Pilot Mound and
Charlev or Les would drive down in an old✓
surrey on Monday to pick them up and on
Saturdav the men would be driven home.✓
Sometimes they took the Minneapolis and St. 
Louis Railroad (M & StL) to South Dayton and 
were picked up there. During the week the 
men slept on the farm and were fed the entire 
time by Ella. The carpenters worked eleven 
hours each day, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with an 
hour’s rest from noon to one o’clock. Their 
wages per hour were 250 for Nels, the foreman, 
200 for Eric, and 171/20 for Ira and John. Axel 
Carlson, the hired man at that time, sometimes 
helped too.
They decided to locate the barn, corn crib, 
and machine shed about 150 feet north of the 
east-west road, giving plenty of room for the 
work which would take place around the build­
ings. Building on a north-south axis meant that 
the hay mow would have good air circulation in 
summer and all of the buildings would have 
their more closed ends toward the winter north 
winds.
The lumber was purchased from the Dayton 
Lumber Company and Charley hauled it out to 
the farm, about four miles, on a wagon-box
172 T he Palimpsest
frame. Foundation materials and equipment 
were also readied for use.
Concrete was mixed by hand in a mortarbox 
and hauled to the building in a wheelbarrow. 
The mix was 3Vz or 4 units of sand to 1 unit of 
cement. First the sand and cement were mixed 
together very carefully. Then the proper 
amount of water was added to make the right 
consistency. John and Ira did all the mixing, 
using a mortar hoe to work the cement. The 
hoe blade was about eight inches wide with two 
holes in it for the mix to pull through.
The 40' x 50' concrete foundation was com­
pleted in one day and left to dry while the 
carpentry continued. The foundation was 8" 
wide and averaged about 24" high, except for 
the northwest corner, which needed 30" to be 
level. A 6" x 6" sill was bolted to the entire 
cement foundation, except for the twelve 6" x
6" openings into which the legs of the four 
horizontal main frames would be pulled into 
place. Carbide cans 2' long and 15" wide were 
used as forms for the four interior supports. A 
bolt was placed in this support form and the 6" x 
6" post was set on the bolt. A concrete floor for 
the cows with a gutter to the back was poured, 
extending around the four concrete interior 
supports. There was dirt under the horses at 
that time, a cement block being added much 
later.
The frames and cross-supports were cut, 
pegs were made, brace openings or grooves 
were drilled and chiseled, and the four hori­
zontal main frame supports were completed on 
the ground before any portion was placed on 
the cement foundation. All of the sawing was 
done with handsaws, a ripsaw for the ripping 
and a crosscut saw for cross grain work. The
lhe Sonquist barn, built with a f)egged frame using the Swedish method, in 1913. From left to right: 
(diaries Sonquist holding the horses, Ernest Peterson, Verner, Leslie, and Helen Sonquist, and Frank 
Bloomquist. (courtesy the author)
The Palimpsest 173
frame
one
frame
two
frame
three
frame
four
14' 12' 14'
50 ' y y-7 7 7 77 7 7 m '7 7 7 7 J J s s s s s J / m /  /  s ;  /  /  /  /  s /  ;  /  /  /
34'
\
N
\
\
\
\
S
\
\
\
\
\
s
\
s
.
s
\
s
\
\
\
\
\
s
loose ca tt le
16'
concrete gu tte r  fo r cows
cows
mangers for hay
hay
s to
\  
s
\ mow
N
\
\
s
\
\
\
\
feed way
fou
\
\
s
\
\
\
horses
>
0
1  
o  
*
our horses
\
\
\  
s 
s 
s 
s
s >6'
\  
s 
s 
s 
\
\  
s
N
N
A
\ |
\
\
N
\
\
\
\
\
N
\
S
\
\l
\
s
\
\
\
s
\
\
\
\
s
s
\
\
18'
extra bracing, 
ground f loo r  only
16'
extra  bracing 
behind horses
0 14' 26 ' 40 '
■  = locations for main horizontal frame 6" x  6" posts (4 posts to each of four frames) 
The floor plan o f the Sonquist peg frame barn, (design courtesy the author)
pegs were made out of hardwood. Lengths of 
oak about 1" square were cut, then driven 
through a metal die attached to a strong frame. 
Tins made a uniform wooden peg. The pegs 
''ere sawed off flush with the wood surface 
after being hammered into place. A drilling 
machine with a seat for the operator was used 
to drill the holes for the pegs. The drill could be 
adjusted to enter the wood at different, uni­
form angles. It was also used with a 2" wood bit 
to drill out three circles close together where a 
groove was needed for 4” x 4" or 6" x 6” braces
on the frame of the barn. A large wood chisel 
was then used to chisel the opening to the right 
size. Finally the horizontal frames were con-y
structed on the ground and all the other sup­
ports and braces prepared.
The barn raising required about twenty people, some using pikes made of 2" x 4"s 
with pointed ends to hold the frame steady, 
and some using ropes to hoist and steady the 
frame after the pikes had raised the sections 
high enough. Nels had a high-pitched voice
174 T he Palimpsest
w o o d
metal d ie w ith c irc le  hole
The frame to make 1" square hardwood lengths 
into uniform round pegs, (design courtesy the 
author)
An adjustable drilling tool for peg holes and 
brace grooves.
Circles were drilled with a 2" wood bit, then 
chiseled to make a rectangular notch to receive 
the braces, (design courtesy the author)
and called out, Heave HO, heave HO/ the 
big lift coming on the HO.” The north hori­
zontal main frame was raised first and then 
number two. Cross bracing joined the two 
securely. Frame number three was raised and 
braced to number two and finally the south- 
ernmost frame, number four, was raised and 
braced to number three, completing the cross 
bracing.
Positioning the first brace for the hip of the 
roof was a difficult feat. The barn stood about 
38' high. One by one the inverted V-shaped 
hip braces were placed upon the top beam of 
the horizontal main frames. Again, they began 
at the north end, raising one and two, then 
cross bracing, up with three, brace to two, up 
with four, and brace to three. The west side 
was completed first, then the east side. The last 
part of the frame to go up was a twenty-two foot 
6" x 6" on the north end joining the west and 
east sides where the hip angles.
The rafters were raised by joining 2" x 6" 
boards at hi}) and peak levels spaced at 2' inter­
vals. Where the rafters met at hip level, an 
extra block of wood on either side of the 2" x 6" 
held each rafter in place. Wide boards were 
nailed crosswise on these rafter supports. Shin­
gles were then nailed onto the boards.
The siding used was 1" x 12" stock boards 
which stood flush on the concrete foundation 
and were notched at the top to fit tightly under 
the roof rafters. The doors were cut as the 
boards went up and finished later. On the 
south end were the big barn doors for the hay 
mow. The hay door at the top of the south wall 
had a hinged top section which was dropped 
down before the big doors opened out. A sub­
stantial platform, ladder, and two windows on 
the south end made the hay mow doors very 
easy to use. A bar inside across the doors heldy
them steady when closed. There was a smally
platform and ladder inside on the north end to 
permit window access.
The barn surface was painted. Battens to 
cover each vertical between the boards were
The barn, front elevation, (design courtesy the author)
peak
/  ^  N  
/  /  N S  X X N \
/  /  N  \
/  /  N  \\ \
hiP//£ll______A______V N
/ /
approximately 38'
22' beam, north end
\________
B
B B
14’
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
. . . . . . _______
A
t X  I 
& \ l I / b b\ 1
I A x |i
/ b
t \
BNJ L / + b\ J
12 ' |1 _ 14_ a |
hip braces, two sets for each of four 
main horizontal frames
four main horizontal frames with cross 
brac ing added between 1 + 2 ,  2 + 3, 
3 + 4
—0 -------
/ / / / /  
— ^ _
/////. 2' foundation with 6" x 6" sill on top
/ - - -
40'
A = 6" x 6" B = 4" x 4" C = 4 "x 6 "
x = point at which exterior vertical 6 "x 6 "  is 
notched to receive horizonta l 6 "x 6 "  on 
main fram e
j indicates center join o f 6" x 6"s. The d iagram  at 
right shows how the 6 " x 6 ” is cut to make a 
secure joint.
6"x6"
notched into 
vertical
ft
The drawings to the left (notched exterior verti­
cal frame) and right (center join) suggest the way 
the horizontal frames were joined with the verti­
cal main frame and how 6"x6"s were joined to 
make horizontal beams o f sufficient length, 
courtesu the auign th o r)
the barn, side elevation. (design courtesy the author)
T r~T“r"i_T“
center
join
-T - :— i - T - r - 1 ------- approx. 38'
+-L i-J
0
32'
20 '
four main horizontal frames with cross 
bracing added between 1 + 2 ,  2 + 3, 
3 + 4
------ 2' foundation with 6 "x 6 "  sill on top
50'
176 T he Palimpsest
Sketch o f the northwest pier in the hay mow 
showing how the main frame and cross frame 
meet, (sketch courtesy the author)
cut and all surfaces painted. They were then 
nailed into place and a second coat of paint was 
applied to seal the entire wood surface.
fhe cupola was hand-built on the ground, 
then hoisted to the top. Utilitarian in providing 
ventilation from the hay mow, it also added 
distinction to the barn. The old cupola is gone, 
replaced by a standard round metal one.
fhe barn is beautiful in its proportions and 
ingenious in its construction. All other infor­
mation is best conveyed through the drawings 
and photographs included with this text. I 
know of one other smaller barn built under 
Nels Peterson s direction still in existence. 
There may be others.
*  *  *
There was a great deal of excitement around 
farms when such major projects were in pro­
gress. Each process was carefully watched. 
During the construction of this barn, Ella Son- 
quist had a hard time because her children 
used the frame as a jungle gym after the car­
penters quit work each day. Myrtle was partic­
ularly agile, but there were no serious
T —
y -
2 ' -
horizontal frame lengthwise cross bracing
all cross braces toward barn center all main braces to left side of post
The northwest interior hayloft pier, (design courtesy the author)
9 ' -
8 ' -
peg and groove
i ■+—  horizontal cross beam
6
5 — 
A '—
T he Palimpsest 177
The hay door at the top o f the south wall. The 
hinged top sections drop down, then the big 
doors open out. An inside platform makes open­
ing and closing the doors easy, (design courtesy 
the author)
accidents.
After Charley and Ella retired to Davton,
* *
\ erner and his wife, Lillian Peterson, lived on 
the Home Place from 1938 to 1946. Then the 
buildings were rented until 1950 when Leslie 
and Hazel s son, Richard, moved in with his 
wife, Twylla, and took over operation of the 
farm. Since July 15, 1952, the farm has been 
owned by Leslie. Single-family ownership for 
113 years and residence for 109 years reminds 
one that there is some stability in a changing 
world.
An end view oj a batten to cover cracks between 
stock board siding, (design courtesy the author)
Note on Sources
A variety of documentary material provided the base for 
tins article. Land patents, military bounty land warrants, 
assessment records, tract books, and famib histories of 
early settlers in Dayton Township, Webster County, 
ottered révélant information.
The final writing ol this article would have been impos­
sible, however. without help from Gerald, Linnea, Leslie, 
Hazel, Richard, and Twylla Sonquist. Thank von.
During these 113 years, however, there were many changes in the basic grain and 
livestock operations as well as in the farm 
buildings and equipment. In early years a 160- 
acre farm supported a large family. Richard 
now farms around 400 acres. The acre of forest 
trees planted in 1878 and the lA acre of fruit 
trees planted in 1882 are gone. As new roads 
were built whole lines of old trees were elimi­
nated. Old trees lost were not replaced. A 
fourfold crop rotation system based on corn, 
oats, pasture, and meadow has been replaced 
by alternating corn and soybeans, the latter 
having been introduced between 1935 and 
1940. Flax was sometimes grown in the early 
years and again during World War II. Horses 
were last used for planting corn in 1939. The 
first combine was used in 1940. There has usu­
ally been a livestock operation, now made 
easier by much concrete flooring and auto­
mated feeding and watering.
I he buildings reflect the same changes. The 
size, number, and types of buildings explain 
the evolution of farm life and operation. After 
1950 the basic house, built in 1902, was 
retained but a basement was dug, a gas furnace 
and air conditioning were added, the porch was 
enclosed, the chimneys removed, water was 
piped in, two bathrooms were added, a new 
kitchen and all new windows were installed, 
the upstairs got hardwood floors, and the house 
was re-sided. A large machine building, open 
hog house, hog house extension, drying and 
storage bins, and double garage were added. 
Many small buildings were removed over the
years.
0
The barn and corn crib are about all that 
remain as they were. Besides the replaced 
cupola, the barn has needed only new shingles 
and new wood and battens in areas near the 
ground which received the most wear and 
weathering. It stands as a testimonial to time- 
tested building methods, good materials, and 
fine workmanship. The barn built using old 
Swedish methods is ‘still standing — straight
178 T he Palimpsest
and strong* on the Sonquist Horne Place. □
The Buildings on the Sonquist Home Place Since the Turn of the Century.
Before 1902 W V2  E V2  SE lA
1 Old house
2 Old barn
3 Small pig house
4 Chicken house
5 Blacksmith shop
6 Oat bin
7 Outhouse
O O O O O  
80 O O O O O
1
1
1
» 1
8b m
1
1 ¡ Ù J
1
1
1
5
~ n
8 Trees: a) fruit b) windbreak 
0 Well
1
1
1
1
1
□ E
From 1913 to 1950
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
9
10
11
12
13
0
House
Barn
Corn crib
Blacksmith/tool slied 
Machine shed 
llog house
Boxcar grain storage 
Large tank/wire pile 
Chicken house 
Wash house 
Cob house 
Outhouse
Trees: a) orchard b) maple wind­
break c) willows, short lived 
Well
6
13a
O
O
O
o
o o 
o o
o
o
After 1950
30'
--h
X
1 House (1902), remodeled in 1950s
2 Barn (1913)
3 Corn crib (1913)
4 Old hog house (pre-1950)
5 Hog house addition (1955)
6 Open hog house (1971)
7 Machine building (1969)
8 Double garage (1980)
9 Drying bin (1973)
10 Storage bin (1977)
0 Well
x Automatic waterers 
— indicates cement floors
I
60'
©  ©
r  “i 
I
X
]
56x30 '


An Iowa Barn: Swedish Style

Lang, William C

Higher Education in Cedar Falls: Town and Gown in the First Hundred Years

Smith, Mary Patricia

An Iowa Baseball Map

The Palimpsest, vol.64 no.1, January-February 1983

Salvaneschi, Lenore

Christmas
In the china closet at home Mother kept a little cup of clear pressed glass with a pale 
ruby border on top. This cup was a symbol to 
her of Christmas past and of hope always pres­
ent. It had been given to her when she was a 
very young child, in a year when her parents 
had said there would he no Christmas. It was a 
year of crop failure and panic (very possibly 
1893) and Mother and her brothers and sisters 
knew that Santa Claus would not come. Yet 
Christmas morning, the elder brother, faith 
undimmed, crawled out of bed, glanced in the 
kitchen, and came running up the stairs. “He 
did  come, he did come!’ The parents had man­
aged to set up a “tree / a dead branch from the 
grove, and each of the six children had a gift. 
For Mother it was the little glass cup, which 
must have cost all of 5 cents. It remained a 
treasure to her — an object of hope against 
hope. As such a symbol, I shall hand it down to 
my daughter.
I too have a Christmas recollection similar to this. During the Great Depression, 
perhaps the Christmas of 1929 when I was 
eleven, the farmers were in despair; it cost 
them more to bring their corn to the market 
than they received for their product. They had 
food and shelter, but no money (or so they said; 
I never knew an Iowa farmer to be without 
money, even though he frequently did  with­
out) and consequently Father had no salary. 
Then we too had been told there would be “no 
( Tristmas.” Since we had had a large garden
©Iowa State Historical Department/Office of the State I listorical 
Society 1983 0031—0360/83/1112—0214 $1.00
by Lenore Salvaneschi
and orchard and since Mother had spent most 
of the summer canning and preserving vegeta­
bles and fruit, we had something to eat, but we 
did long for a Christmas tree and something 
under it. The days before Christmas passed 
one by one and we had given up hope. At the 
very last moment —  I shall never forget the 
sound of those heavy rubber boots crunching 
the snow on the front porch —  a couple of the 
Vorsteher arrived and handed Father a “little 
something’ they had collected for Christmas. 
It was not much (and Father never did receive 
the salary he earned during that time) but it 
provided Christmas for us. I have no memory 
of what gifts we received, though I am sure our 
parents tried to provide some; what was impor­
tant was that at the last moment some people 
had cared enough to think of their pastor and 
his family.
C hristmas during our childhood in the par­sonage at Atkins was always a time of very 
special enchantment, even though it was inev­
itably accompanied by flu and severe colds in 
every household, certainly in ours, as my 
father s diaries attest.
In the parochial school the weeks before 
Christmas were spent in an orgy (if not panic) of 
learning our “pieces’ and singing three- and 
four-part songs. The Christmas Eve program 
was always a showpiece for “Teacher, and in 
all fairness it must be said that the school- 
children felt swept up in the production and
Opposite: The author with the fam ily Christmas 
tree a fte r  the h o lid a y  c e le b ra tio n , 1921.
(G . Rickels Collection, SHSI)

216 T he Palimpsest
tried not to let him down. Usually we practiced 
in the schoolhouse, but at least once before 
Christmas we dashed through the cold to the 
adjacent church building and practiced with 
our coats on, the breath steaming into the 
musty frozen air. There was competition to see 
who would get the longest “piece, one of the 
prophecies from the Old Testament or portions 
of the Christmas story itself from St. Luke.
0
Although there was favoritism, the parts usu­
ally went to the persons with the loudest voices 
and the best memories, for neither teacher nor 
parents could be disgraced by failure on Christ­
mas Eve. The songs, hymns and carols, were 
almost all taken from the “Tyselect (Theiss 
Select Book of Songs) published by Concordia 
Publishing House, St. Louis, which formed the 
staple repertoire of songs throughout the year 
for all good Missouri Synod Lutheran children.
At home Mother would have been preparing 
Pfeffernüsse and h u tze lb ro d t (the teacher s 
wife and preacher s wife always exchanged 
samples on Christmas morning).
My sister was the official fudge, penuchi, 
and divinity maker. Sugar must have been 
fairly inexpensive in those days, for I recall that 
she was never scolded for making all that 
candy. Father was preparing his holiday ser­
mons for Christmas Eve (English), Christmas 
Day (German and English), Second Christmas 
Day (German and English), New Year’s Eve 
(English and German in the early days), and 
New Year’s Day (German and English). For 
weeks we children had been going through the 
Sears, Roebuck catalog to select the gifts we 
might like and had gone in to Atkins with 
Father every chance we had to see the table full 
of gifts at John Koehn’s hardware store. Two 
weeks before Christmas, Johnny’s son, Mer­
lon, had brought catalogs of these gifts to school 
and handed them out before the teacher 
arrived. I can still see “Teacher s’ dismay as he 
tried — vainly, of course — to keep us from 
looking at them and comparing “wishes dur­
ing the religion and arithmetic classes.
A day or two before Christmas, the trustees 
and elders would have brought the Christmas 
tree, a beautiful tall evergreen cut from some 
farmer’s grove, to the church and set it up for 
the Walther Leaguers to decorate. These were 
the “young people’ of the church and to deco­
rate the Christmas tree was one of the big larks 
of the year. As long as 1 can remember the tree 
wore electric lights, but the wiring must have 
been uncertain for the elders always sat ready 
for an emergency with a big washtub filled with 
water on Christmas Eve. With the tree in 
place, adorned with tinsel, the church took on a 
different aspect. The cold wooden floors, the 
chipped golden oak pews, the musty carpet 
(only near the altar), and the dusty tin 
wainscoting seemed a little more respectful of 
the majesty of God. Even the mystery of the 
magi seemed to hover in the air, for the scent of 
the evergreen mingled with the oranges which 
were in the brown paper bags set behind the 
Christmas tree. On Christmas Eve every child 
in church received a brown grocery bag with an 
assortment of nuts on the bottom, an apple and 
an orange as well as a little sack inside with 
chocolate drops, the kind that took a deli­
ciously, sensuously long time — almost a whole 
chapter of a Christmas book — to melt in one’s 
mouth.
There was one custom which was observed 
only by our family, since we were the only ones 
of Plattcleutsch descent in the community. 
This was the custom, several weeks before 
Christmas (my guess is that it might have been 
the day of St. Nicholas, and thus probably a 
remembrance of my grandmother’s childhood 
near Holland) of placing an object in the win­
dow, a knife for a boy, a doll for a girl, and then 
saying the jingle:
Santa Klaus du gota Boot,
Smit m ir ein stiik zuckerbrodt;
Nit tu fe h l and nit tu min
Smit mi nur in fenster in.
Inevitably, that evening (it had to be under
T he Palimpsest 217
The author making a Christmas tree stand on the back steps, about 1920. (Cm. Rickels Collection, SHSI)
cover of darkness) there would he a knock on 
the door and when we children hastened to 
open it we would find a little gift, a harbinger of 
Christmas. For years the magic kept alive, 
until one day my sister crossly complained 
about a headache from banging on the door; 
her shortness of breath and disheveled hair 
confirmed what I was beginning to suspect: 
there was no St. Nicholas. Or, if there was, he 
came in the shape of my sister!
T he day of Christmas Eve was almost the most exciting day of the year. Now the 
real meaning of Christmas, the birth of the 
Christ Child, began to penetrate even our 
rapacious little hearts. For weeks the Christ­
mas carols and the Advent services had been 
telling us all this, but the songs had been 
mostly a form of entertainment, and sermons
were for adults. But now the parlor door was 
shut and even though I never believed, as we 
were told, that the Kristkind  actually brought 
the Christmas gifts — He seemed too remote 
and helpless as a baby, to do that — there was a 
feeling of spiritual calm, yet of great expec­
tancy in the house.
Since for German Lutherans the main event 
of Christmas was the children’s Christmas Eve 
service, for which we had been practicing so 
long, and since this was always held early, 
about 6:30, for the sake of the children and the 
family celebrations afterward, our supper of 
bread and cheese would be verv earlv, at 5:00
j  *  *
or even 4:30. A little later, as the people began 
coming early for church there might be one of 
three knocks on the front door: 1) by Barbara, 
the Aunt Barbry of the whole relationship, who 
always brought Father a box of homemade
218 T he Palimpsest
doughnuts; 2) by Katy Keiper, who always 
brought “a little something, usually a couple 
of homemade sausages and a pound of butter; 
and 3) by Lena Schirm , who frequently  
brought a gift of fresh meat, perhaps a roast, 
some ribs and a sausage wrapped in a clean 
white dish towel. One never-to-be-forgotten 
year, Father received a pint of whiskey from 
one of his parishioners. That pint was cher­
ished and relished drop by drop, under the 
disapproving eye of my teetotaling mother.
At six o’clock Father always tuned in on the 
Atwater Kent radio and we listened for the 
magic of Big Ben, striking the hour of Christ­
mas, midnight, in London. The excitement 
was almost more than I could stand and I 
always had to make one quick last visit to the 
bathroom upstairs before my brother and 1 
w ere sh ep h erd ed  to the schoolhouse by 
Father, who then went into the church to put 
on his gown and befkin and this night (the 
vestry was freezing) to seat himself near the 
Christmas tree, so that he could watch the 
children s program, and then come before the 
altar at the end of the service for his sermon and 
prayer.
In the schoolhouse there would be a mar­
velous din, with last minute practicing. "Sec­
ond voice, you’re still flat; first voice not so 
loud, last minute reciting of pieces and show­
ing off of new Christmas clothes — in my case, 
always made over from one of my mother’s or 
sister’s, but adorned with a bit of “trimming to 
make it seem new (oh, how I envied Lillian’s 
bright blue satin dress, with flounces) — and a 
chorus of coughing and sneezing. Coats were 
hastily thrown over our shoulders, and as the 
church bell began to ring, we lined up, pushing 
and shoving for a quick march to the church 
where the Vorsteher held out their arms for the 
coats which we threw' any which way in the 
vestibule, and then tried to march down the 
aisle with some decorum. I recall shivering 
through every Christmas Eve service, though I 
am sure it was as much from excitement as from
cold. At least half of the church was warm in the 
wintertime, for there was an old tin drum of a 
stove, fed to capacity, which glowed so dan­
gerously hot that the Christmas tree could 
never be set up near it.
The service began with a mighty 4-part 
effort, “Arise and shine, for thyyyyyyyy light is 
come, and the Old Testament prophecies and 
Christmas storv followed in due order, inter-j
spersed with much getting up and down from 
the pews to sing appropriate carols. An old 
pump organ (later an upright piano) was 
brought into the front of the church for the 
occasion and “Teacher’ exercised his playing 
and directing skills simultaneously. In good 
German and Atkins fashion there was alwavs a 
bit of sentiment with the littlest voices singing 
the most tender parts of “Oh Come Little Chil­
dren or “Silent Night. Once the Wise Men 
had returned home to the East and as Mary 
remained pondering all these things in her 
heart, Father appeared before the impatient 
and restive congregation and in a few earnest 
words admonished them to be grateful, with 
the faith and joy of children, for the great gift of 
the Savior. Then there was a rustle in the 
church, the V orsteher  came out with their 
wash baskets of Christmas sacks and walked 
down the aisles, dispensing the gifts. Not one 
sleepy-headed child was forgotten; all roused 
themselves sufficiently to reach for the sacks.j
After a mad rush back to school — who both­
ered about putting on a coat now —  we sorted 
through the stack that had been brought back 
by the elders and then ran home (on the other 
side of the church) as fast as we could, to wait at 
the parlor door until Father was through at 
church. (I remember hardly taking time to use 
the little commode which was kept warm 
behind the kitchen range, and I also remember 
hurrying to do this one Christmas Eve and my 
mother catching and holding me in that embar­
rassing position so that she could berate me for 
having told my friend Margaret that there was 
no Santa Claus. Even though Margaret was
T he Palimpsest 219
older than I, her skepticism was less precocious magic of that moment! The lights of the tree 
and her mother was furious with me.) One year went on (the switch was at the door and Father 
our approach through the parlor door was and Mother would have touched it as we 
delayed by even greater excitement. We found entered) and we stared at the beauty of the 
some men of the congregation putting out a fire tree. Our own children would scoff at, or more 
in the attic. The chimney had “blown out courteously perhaps pity our joy over the little 
again, and providentially they had seen the gilded sticks and bits of tinsel which made up 
sparks and prevented an even wilder celebra- the trimming, but I can never remember a 
bon. childhood Christmas when our tree did not
W hen Father finally came in — perhaps, if it seem magical. From as far back as I can remem- 
had been a good year — even bringing an extra ber there was the little wooden manger scene, 
C hristmas sack for himself— we hardly let him made in Germany and bought from Louis 
take off his coat before we lined up at the parlor Lange Publishing Company in St. Louis. The 
door, youngest to eldest, brother first. Oh, the gifts were not that many, nor expensive,
The pupils o f St. Stephens Lutheran School rehearsing the 1929 Christmas Eve program in St. Stephen s 
Church. Director Albrecht is located in the rear and to the left o f the altar, while the authors younger 
brother, Robbie, is standing in the fron t row, fourth  from  the right, in his shirt-sleeves. (G. Rickeh
Collection, SHS1)
220 T he Palimpsest
though I do remember a gorgeous red fire 
truck, which actually squirted water through a
rubber hose for mv brother —  the forerunner✓
of the Big Mac dump trucks his own son 
requested and received many years later. And 
I remember the year Santa Claus forgot to put 
my brother’s present under the tree and 
Father came riding a little scooter into the 
parlor, to the delight of the whole family. I 
remember one Betty Jane doll with staring 
eyes and pink dress received and carefully put 
back in its box by the bed upstairs every night. 
(This bed had the only featherbed in the win­
tertime because I slept with my grandmother 
and the vision of the doll is always associated 
with my grandmother’s chuckle as we regaled 
ourselves with a bit of horehound or licorice 
candy before plunging into the featherbed.) I 
know I also received a set of children s china 
dishes, decorated in typical German animal 
designs, Bremen town Musician style, but the 
gifts which were most important to me were 
the books which provided the deepest enjoy­
ment of Christmas. Father insisted upon clas­
sics , and although I remember one year in 
which 1 received a couple of volumes in the 
Campfire Girl series —  these could be con­
sumed, like chocolate drops, in one sitting— I 
was soon told that these were shunt (junk) and I 
would get no more. The denial was no hard­
ship, since I knew that I would get bigger, 
longer, and better substitutes.
Our Christmas social activities, other than 
going to church, were few. There was no big 
Christmas dinner in our family since our rela­
tives were far away and probably wouldn’t have 
come anyhow if invited. I can recall that Father 
usually bought a duck or goose, which Mother 
roasted, and that she had kart o f f  el klose to go 
with the fowl, but of the remainder of those
Christmas dinners I can recall nothing, except 
to be sure that there was always plenty of 
Mother’s homebaked bread. I know there was 
no wine, for we never had any in our cellar 
except the congregational communion wine, 
and mixed drinks were only for ‘fast city folks.”
During the week of vacation, the preacher’s 
and the teacher s family would exchange at 
least one visit, to admire each other’s gifts. We 
usually played in the snow together, if we 
weren t sick in bed, and played with each oth­
ers’ games. I can hardly remember toys, as 
such; these were too individualistic and too 
expensive, but games such as parchesi and 
lotto were always given and used. My greatest 
happiness during Christmas vacation was to 
hide awav in the Morris chair in Father s studv
J *
or on the old plush sofa in the parlor, a pocket­
ful of cookies or chocolate drops stashed away, 
and read all the old as well as new Christmas 
books. At the age of eleven, Thackeray and 
Dickens were obvious favorites, to be followed 
shortly by Jane Austen and George Eliot. 
These delights were sometimes interrupted by 
my brother, who wanted to “play,” by my 
father who wanted me to get some fresh air, or 
by my mother and sister who wanted me to 
help — but I confess I was deaf to every other 
voice except those of my books.
Of New Year’s Eve celebrations I remember 
none at home. We always attended a very sol­
emn church service, sang the hymn “The Old 
Year now hath passed away, and went to bed 
at my father’s normal hour of nine (!) o clock. 
My sister, I remember, was permitted to join 
the Walther Leaguers to go caroling and to 
have an oyster stew perhaps at the home of one 
of the carolers afterward. By the time my 
brother and I were old enough to go, the 
custom had died out. D


Not a member yet

The Palimpsest, vol.65 no.1, January-February 1984

The Mighty I: The USS Iowa Story

An Iowa Barn: Swedish Style

Higher Education in Cedar Falls: Town and Gown in the First Hundred Years

An Iowa Baseball Map

The Palimpsest, vol.64 no.1, January-February 1983

Christmas

The Palimpsest, vol.64 no.6, November-December 1983

James Norman Hall's My Island Home: An Overdue Review

John M. Work: Iowa Socialist

2,796

4,035