Talented Tuesday - My Grandpa the Ventriliquist

This is my Grandpa, Willis Harold Lyon in September of 1955, three months before I was born. Just recently this picture was uncovered from a box in the attic and I was so happy. Up until then there were no pictures of Oscar the dummy that I had seen or of Bud, Grandpa's second dummy.



So here is Oscar. My Grandpa went around to schools all over the country and gave temperance lectures to high school students about the effects of alcohol and ciggaretts speaking through Oscar and Bud. Oscar was the dummy that was not addicted to these, but Bud was an addict, a rambling drunk and he smokeed cigarettes. I wish I had a picture of Bud so show you. He was a bigger guy that wore a hat and an old overcoat and beat up shoes.



When us girls would spend the night at our Grandparents home a couple of us slept in the basement. Sometimes when I came up the stairs during the night I was scared out of my mind because Bud was standing there!



My Grandpa did a good job at his craft and really enjoyed the students. Unfortunately, Oscar was made of wood so did not survive the years. He had been eaten by termites . He was kept in a suitcase. I remember the suitcase. But what happened to Bud? I'll need to ask my Dad.



Yes these are fond memories.........

Super Sister Sunday - Indonesia

This picture is one of my favorites that consists of myself (on the left) and my eldest sister Nancy although we did not realize at the time it was taken it would someday be a favorite.

Here is the story. We lived in Bandung, Indonesia at the time. We were 8 and 9 years of age. Our mom would send us away in a "betcha" or rickshaw to take piano lessons from a nice Indonesian woman. Nancy remembers that day was really rainy and dreadful, but we went on the ride and took the lessons anyway.

The piano teacher had a son called "Sinchepu", a teenager, who was enthralled with us. While we waited for the other one to complete lessons he would show us weird things. Like, the

Indonesians would take a rubber band and rub it back and forth on their arms to remove the hair. It really hurt! Bad!

Sinchepu had a camera so on this day he decided he wanted to pose Nancy and I so he could take our picture. We were not in the mood, and ordinarily would not have posed like that but we let him anyway, therefore the non-smiling picture. He was very proud to give us the picture the next time we went for our lessons. Somehow it made it back to the U.S. with us and it has become a favorite of mine.

Sentimental Sunday - Continued

I've got the proof!

Last week I wrote about finding the two pictures that used to be in my Grandma Lyon's home. Today I even have the proof in a photo taken years ago.


Here it is! It's " Blossom Time" in the background on the wall.

In this picture. Back Row. Edna Fahl (my Great Aunt), Eleanor (Fahl) Lyon (my Grandmother)

Front Row. Melvin Lyon (my father), Minnie (Hanson) Fahl (my Great Grandmother) and Willis Lyon (my Grandfather)

A couple of thoughts. 1. Where is the other picture, "Old Fashioned Garden?" 2. What if this is actually my Great Grandmother's home and my Grandmother inherited the pictures from her? That is a question I will ask of my Dad straight away!

Look at that lampshade. That is hilarious!

"Hi Dad?.............."

Update: Believe it or not my Dad called me last night and was actually in town! So....he came over and I showed him the picture. He sat in front of the computer and really thought and thought and it finally came to him. This WAS my Gr Grandmother Minnie (Hanson) Fahl's home! He remembered the couch being in the corner like that and the living room was really crowded. He remembered it was right after he graduated from Oak Park Academy.

So....I am really excited to find out the picture (or pictures) came from my Great Grandmother! My dad also remembers seeing them on the wall of his mom's house in Nevada, Iowa.

Super Sister Sunday - More Hanson Sisters!

Back of the picture says:

Hanson Sisters

Claire, Edith, Emmie

Previously I had written about my great grandmother and two of her sisters. You can see that article here. In the box I found last Sunday, there were a few pictures. This one is of some more of the Hanson sisters! These girls are my Gr Grandmother's younger sisters. I really liked how they are posed and I wish I had more information on them.

Here is what I do have about them.

Edith Hanson
B August 12, 1888 On the farm near Marion, Iowa
M ?? Gordon
D March 10, 1980, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Buried - Oak Shade Cemetery, Marion, Iowa

Emma Hanson
B August 30, 1891, Marion, Linn County, Iowa

Clara Hanson
B October 19, 1893, Marion, Linn County, Iowa

Famous Last Words

These are funny! Enjoy.

These are from StoppingPoints.com.

Last Words & Epitaphs by StoppingPoints.com © 2009

Sentimental Sunday - Grandma's Wall Pictures

It was a fluke that I found these pictures today. We are in the process of moving. Things were taken out of the loft, had a garage sale a couple of months ago and today there are only a few boxes left on the garage floor.

Mike, my husband said " is this important?" YES! In the 80's my mother asked us girls to come over and pick out some things that were my Grandma and her sister Edna's stuff. Otherwise she would throw it away. At the time - I was not into genealogy and so I picked out a few things. These pictures found in the box today, I remember were hung in my Grandma's guest room. I saw them everytime I went to her house as a young girl. I'm sure my sisters will remember as well. They are interesting.

Here is what it says on the back of them.

B.E.-20

"Old Fashioned Garden"

Paired with "Blossom Time"

These truly beautiful creations are done in an exclusive hand process (right on the glass) exactly duplicating the world famous "Butterfly Wing" pictures. The delicate colors transferred directly to the glass prsent a pearly quality which makes them spring to life, and the glass itself seems to radiate an elusive ligbht.

Nothing has ever been offered before in America with such fineness of line, detail and rich coloring, and the "Butterfly Wing" effect process creates a brilliance not to be matched by any other type of decoratoin. In these very modern frames they will do credit to any room, and the particularly attractive when hung in pairs

__________________________________________________________________

Another "Reliance" Product

NEW YORK R. P. F. Co. Chicago

The picture on the left is "Old Fashioned Garden" and the one on the right is "Blossom Time".

I wish I knew if these were a gift or if my Grandma picked them out herself. Her name was Eleanor (Fahl) Lyon.

Enjoy......

Look What I Found!

First off, I must apologize. To my 29 followers. You see, my husband and I moved after 25 years of living in the same home. What an ordeal to go through everything and get rid of a ton of your stuff that just sat around not being used or looked at in years. Some even decades!

Anyway. I found all wrapped in a rubber band a bunch of my Grandma Lyon's recipe cards! They were all browned from the years that have gone by, and the rubber band snapped the minute I touched it. Some of the recipes were her mother's (Minnie Hanson Fahl) and her Aunt Lottie, Minnie's sister. How cool is that! In a few days check back with me and I will post some of the recipes. At the end of a Chocolate Cake recipe it said "beat it good". How funny.

Above, are the card instructions. These are old fashioned - at least I think so.

Happy Hunting!

Mary