Inside Ed Roses' Basement (July, 1963)

Historical Note: Though it’s been over 60 years ago, I still have dreams about my Grandpa’s house in Ortonville, Michigan. Like so many dreams, they don’t make a lot of sense but the identity of the dreamscape is usually self-evident in the moment. The actual scene in many of those dreams will seem particularly odd: the only bathroom in the little house! I could speculate on the psychology of bathroom dreams but I will spare you more weirdness. Suffice to say, the color and smell of that bathroom somehow found a permanent lodging in my brain. 

There was another part of their house that did also–not in any dreams that I recall but in vivid memories. It was Ed’s basement. 

As a six year old boy, the basement was an exotic jungle begging for exploration. It was what we call a “Michigan Basement”--unfinished, with low ceiling and a damp musty smell. But what stands out even more in my memory are things I saw. That’s what this story is about.

 Like all my family stories, I had to embellish the details to make them interesting. For example, it wasn’t Aunt Ruth who first led my discovery. In fact, I don’t remember who took me there. I may have actually gone there by myself (though I highly doubt my parents would have allowed it). I recall two items for sure–a baby buggy and a device called a “shoe last.” 

I’ve dramatized the stories of those items and two others in a way that seems reasonable (though impossible to document) based on things I know about my ancestors. The two items I added–a wooden toolbox with old tools, and a gold watch–are part of family lore. But I truthfully didn’t know about them until years later. I’ll explain that in the story. Lastly, I  also dramatized the story guide for young Jimmy. If you knew Grandpa or Grandma you would know it was highly unlikely they would have ever led a little boy on this basement adventure. But, if you knew Aunt Ruth as I did, it would seem very plausible for her to do so. 

July 3, 1963, Ortonville Michigan

Six year old Jimmy Rose did not enjoy the news from his mother that morning: “You need to get some books and crayons for our trip. We are going to Grandma and Grandpa Rose’s house today.” 

Jimmy was usually grumpy in the morning but this made it worse. “I don’t want to go!” he said.” 

“But I thought you would be glad. It will be fun!” she said. 

“There is nothing to do. They don’t have any toys. It’s so boring!” 

That would have been a good time for his mother to try and “sell” the fun part. But by this time  she was already distracted packing their suitcases . 

Jimmy didn’t know it was a Fourth of July family reunion. He didn’t know that Aunt Ruth and Uncle Eldon would be there, their two teenaged daughters, Ann and Lynn. Nor that Aunt Ray would come. There would be picnic food,  fried chicken, potato salad and lots of fresh vegetables from Grandpa’s garden. 

Ortonville was a small village between Flint and Pontiac. It took about an hour to get there from their houseWhen they arrived, entering the house through the side door, it began as Jimmy had feared: nothing to do, no kids to play with and all the warnings from his parents not to touch things. That night, after supper, he was whisked off to bed even earlier than at home. Night times were especially difficult for Jimmy–and if he realized it, for his mom and dad too. 

Grandma and Grandpa had a small bathroom on the main floor. Jimmy did not like going there. It smelled bad and there were often strange things either in the tub or on the sink. For example, one time Jimmy saw a weird contraption in the tub. It looked like a belt but it was made of metal and had two pads on one side and a buckle on the other. Jimmy asked his mom what it was. She said it was a truss. Of course, that didn’t mean anything to him but he would one day learn that it was a medical device Grandpa would wear because of a hernia on his back. Another time, Jimmy went to the bathroom and on the sink where soap usually is there was a little bowl with someone’s teeth in it! This was very disturbing and he was so upset he couldn’t go to the bathroom. Only later would he learn they were not real teeth but Grandpa’s false teeth, called dentures. But worst of all was night. Instead of using the bathroom, when he had to go in the night they had to go in a bowl (called a chamber pot) that was set in a corner of the room. He could not understand these things. And the confusion was complicated by fear because his mom kept warning not to spill the bowl in the night! 

July 4, 1963, 11 AM

Jimmy was just walking down the narrow wooden steps from their room when he heard the boisterous buzz of voices after loud knocking on the door: 

“We’re here!” a woman’s voice said. He looked around the corner to see Aunt Ruth's familiar happy face. Ruth LeBlond was his Dad’s older sister. As much as he struggled to like Grandma and Grandpa Rose, he had learned to love Aunt Ruth. 

Aunt Ruth spotted Jimmy peeking shyly from the hallway and with a big smile, clapped her hands together and welcomed him to come and get a hug. “And how are you Jimmy? You’re so tall! When did you get so big?” 

Jimmy felt her warmth and it made him feel happy for a moment. Just then he saw Uncle Eldon coming in the door, followed by the cousins. Uncle Eldon seemed scary. He didn’t ever hug Jimmy or say anything to him but he smelled like cigarettes (an unusual smell in the Rose family). But it was nearing lunch and the other good smells from the kitchen made him forget about the strange ones. Shortly after their arrival, Aunt Ray drove in. Jimmy did not know her full name was Rachel Inman. He didn’t learn until years later why she always came alone, with no husband or kids. 

It was a bright summery day and they would eat their lunch in the back yard with a picnic table and lawnchairs. 

“Girls, I need you to put these table cloths on the picnic table,” Ruth said to Ann and Lynn.

 “Oh Ruth!” Ann said with disrespect, annoyed at the interruption. It always shocked Jimmy to hear the girls call their mother by her first name. He never heard of anyone else doing that. But they reluctantly complied. And, over the next hour or so, the picnic was spread in the back yard, with Grandpa’s lush colorful garden of vegetables and flowers to brighten the scene even more. Jimmy likes picnics. And he especially liked the cake and ice cream Aunt Ray brought.

But now, the meal was over, the excitement and chatter replaced by grownups sitting quietly in their chairs.  Jimmy was unhappy again. From a distance, Aunt Ruth noticed the gloomy boy and called him over, “Jimmy, can you come here?”

“Why do you look so sad?” she asked not so much with concern as mischief. “You’d think someone died and went to heaven!” 

Jimmy had never heard that phrase and didn’t know what it meant. He just looked away. 

“Did you ever see Grandpa’s basement?” she asked, pointing her hand in the direction of a basement door on the back of the house. 

Jimmy shook his head. 

“I hear there are some interesting things in there,” she continued. “There might be some things a little boy might like to see.” Aunt Ruth stood to her feet and grabbed Jimmy’s hand. “Come on. Let’s take a look.” 

Aunt Ruth took Jimmy’s somewhat reluctant hand and together they entered the old basement.

The Baby Buggy (Ed’s Story)

The basement smelled old. It was damp and musty. What is called a “Michigan Basement” was more of a cellar with a low ceiling and unfinished walls. It was also cluttered with so many items Jimmy could not focus on anything in particular. Aunt Ruth said with some mystery in her voice, 

“I think there’s something over here we should look at.” They walked to the far corner of the basement. “See there?” Ruth began. “Do you know what that is?” 

Jimmy had never seen anything like it and didn’t have an answer. He noticed some details: it was white in color and as tall as him. It sat on four wheels and looked like some oversized picnic basket.

“That’s called a baby buggy,” Ruth explained. “When your daddy was a baby, Grandma put him in the buggy to take walks on the old farm.” 

Now it made more sense. Jimmy had not seen old fashioned buggies before but he knew what a baby stroller was.

“Let’s see what else we can find.” 

The Shoe Last (Goodwin’s Story)

There, in another corner of the basement, Ruth pointed. “I’ll bet you can’t even imagine what this is.” She crossed her arms and smiled smugly. “Well? What do you think?” 

Jimmy had no clue. It was taller than him with a skinny metal post attached at the bottom to what looked like a tree stump. On the top of the metal post was a flat piece of metal. Jimmy was confused. 

Ruth put her hand on the flat metal on top. “What does this look like?” She pointed to Jimmy’s shoe. “Does it look like part of your shoe?” 

Now he could see. He nodded his head. 

This is called a “shoe last.” It belonged to your Great Grandpa Rose. He used it to fix shoes.?” She reached down and took off her own shoe and set it upside down on the flat metal last. “In the olden days they couldn’t just go to the store to buy a new pair of shoes. When they started to fall apart your Great Grandpa would use little nails to fasten them back together.” 

Jimmy had stopped listening to the explanation of shoe repair when Aunt Ruth said, “Great Grandpa Rose.” He was almost stunned. He never knew he had a Great Grandpa Rose. Why had he never met him? What did he look like? Those were troubling questions for a six year old boy. 

The Wooden Toolbox (Peter’s Story)

But Aunt Ruth had already moved on leaving Jimmy standing in confusion. “And would you look at that?” Ruth was saying. There on the floor was a large wooden box, so big he would never be able to lift it. On each end were handles made of rope. Ruth reached down to pull the wooden lid off. “Let’s see what’s inside,” she said. 

Jimmy recognized some tools like those his dad had but they looked very old. There was a hand saw with sharp metal teeth, a hammer with wooden handle, some screw drivers. Aunt Ruth pulled out one in particular. “Now what do we have here?” she said. “What do you suppose this tool is?”

Like the others, it was mostly metal. It had a rounded piece of wood on one end. When she held it in her hands, she pretended to use it, turning the handle around and round. “I bet you never saw a drill like this before.” 

Jimmy had seen his dad’s drill but it plugged into the wall. This one didn’t have a plug. “I’m pretty sure this came from your Great Great Grandpa Philip. And I’m thinking he got it from his father.” 

Once again, Jimmy was stunned at the news of a Great Great Grandpa he had never heard of. He couldn’t even register the words about this mysterious Great Great Grandpa having his own father! It seemed like a dream. 

Jimmy’s reverie was forced back to reality with Aunt Ruth grabbing his little hand quickly. “Uh oh, I hear your mom calling for you. I should have told her where we were. She’s probably worried.” 

As they returned to the backyard, everyone was eating watermelon and some were spitting out seeds. Only Jimmy’s mom seemed to notice them. “Where have you been?” she asked. She sounded a bit angry. “Now Donna, don’t worry. We were just doing some exploration of the basement. Jimmy had never seen it before.” 

As Ruth handed Jimmy a piece of juicy watermelon she asked, “Did you like our little adventure?” Jimmy nodded with a smile, watermelon juice dripping down his chin. Ruth laughed affectionately as she got a napkin from the table. “We better get that watermelon off your chin so we can find some more treasures to explore. I wonder if we can find that gold pocket watch inside.” 

Jimmy liked the sound of that. But he wondered what she meant by treasure. It would be many years before he started to figure out who all those grandpas were he never knew. And what was a gold pocket watch? Would he ever see it himself?