The first place I remember living in
The first place I can remember living is a house in Merrill, WI. This place was, and still is, on Liberty street. At the time it was rather on the edge of town. Going north up the block there was not another block. Instead there was a field, and north of that was something not quite a field or at least not as regular. North of that was the local airport.
This place was a two story house, and the family lived on the second story. The stairs were outdoors and ended in a sort of elevated porch. The space under the stairs and porch was a bit of storage. This where a tricycle and later a bicycle would be put, as well as where the trash cans were. One was a rather old beat up can with a red lid. I found out later that it had once been for burnables only when there was incineration.
The landlady, Mrs. Knospe (I think that's the spelling, and every letter was pronounced: K'nus-pea) lived downstairs. I don't recall much of the layout. Mrs. Knospe seemed to always be sitting in her rocking chair knitting or some such. I do recall one light switch, by the door, was not the now-common standard toggle, but two very old looking buttons for ON and OFF.
There was no central heat, that I can recall. I don't know what was downstairs for heat, but upstairs there were two small oil stoves. These were rectangular, and were a size between filing cabinets and refrigerators. (And I can't seem to find a picture of anything like them, even with Google Images.) One was in the main bedroom and the other was in the kitchen. They were purely for heating, not cooking, and didn't have visible flame. They were for heat, not to look like a fireplace. The one in the kitchen was a color a bit darker than copper, a sort of brownish red. It had, I think, a sort of screen or baffle around it. Not like a window screen, but a piece of metal with holes so that contact with it wouldn't cause burns though it might be uncomfortably hot.
There was also no telephone. At least there was no telephone upstairs. Mrs. Knospe had a telephone and every once in a while there'd be the *tap*tap*tap* of her broom handle on her ceiling (our floor) to tell us that someone had called for one of the folks. I think any outgoing calls were made from next door, as one set of my grandparents lived there. The other grandparents lived out in the country on highway G.
This place wasn't perhaps ideal, but it was sufficient. It was also the lowest rent place in town. My father once related to me how Mrs. Knospe was terribly apologetic when she raised the rent once - and it was still the lowest in town. We moved out when she sold the place. She was finally to the point where she couldn't live alone anymore and so she was moving in with her sister (at least that's the story I got and recall) and was selling the place.
As my grandparents were next door, we often saw what happened as the new owners remodeled or renovated the house. I have no idea what it looks like inside now. But from the outside, it isn't too much different.
The yard wasn't huge, but wasn't small either. I suppose it is a typical small town non-corner lot. The house faces west to the street and there is a gravel alley to the east, bisecting the block. Most places have a garage with a driveway angling off of the alley rather than coming in directly from the street. I'm not sure I ever went all the way around the block, at least when I lived there. We moved just as I was starting first grade. I think I was told to stay on the half-block and probably did, for the most part.
There was a curious thing. Part of the yard was a garden or had once been a garden and there was some fence. Once upon a time it had been the traditional white picket fence, but was faded and peeling. I don't recall if there was a garden behind it but I don't recall ever going around it. Maybe I did, I don't recall. Behind the fence was an apple tree. But this wasn't a normal apple tree. The apples would grow and be little green fruit, about 1/4 the size, at most, of a fully grown apple and then they'd shrivel and turn brown. It was "the rotten apple tree" which grew only rotten apples. And Mrs. Knospe just let it be. I have no idea if it was special in some way or if she just had better things to do with her money than have it cut.
By the garage was a small sandpile, or maybe it was a box. Also there was a rhubarb plant and my mother would make rhubarb pie from it once in a while. The garage was storage and workspace. I don't recall it ever having a car in it - but I wasn't paying all that much attention to it either. I'm not sure if it even was wired. It wouldn't surprise me if it was not. Not too far away was a swing set with two swings and a small slide. This was all metal. Plastic? On something you expected a kid to pound on? Come on. The tricycle mentioned earlier was a metal thing as well. The Big Wheel was in the future - and I thought it looked cheap and silly when I first saw the commercials for it.
I suspect that if I visited the place and was allowed inside I would be surprised at how small it is. It wasn't great, but it was sufficient, and it wasn't bad for being the cheapest place in town. Having grandparents next door was a happy bonus. Probably especially for my mother, who worked nights and slept days. This way there was always someone around one way or another. Daycare? What was that? I had parents and grandparents.
That reminds me. There was one item that sticks out as being a bit of a luxury. The folks had a window unit air conditioner. I don't recall anyone else around having such a thing. But most folks lived on the street level of their houses and made good use of fans and screen doors. My grandfather spent quite a bit of time in his basement workshop. I don't know if the folks splurged or if it was a gift, or partly a gift. But it was there, which likely made things much easier for my mother who slept during the day in an upstairs apartment.
There were the standard appliances: electric cooking stove/range, refrigerator, washing machine. The washing machine was on small wheels and hooked up to a sink for use. There no dishwasher, dishes were done by hand. Neither was there a clothes dryer. Clothes were dried out on the line if the weather permitted, or on folding racks indoors if the weather didn't allow line drying. There was a TV, which pulled in all three available channels: 7 (CBS), 9 (ABC), and 12 (NBC) with rabbit ears. Maybe 13 (NBC, again) could be picked up as well. This was a color set, but it had to warm up (tubes) and had a twist-knob dial for channel selection. Well two, but there were no UHF stations in the area yet. Educational TV, such as there was, was carried on channel 12, the NBC affiliate. I do remember watching Sesame Street that way.
All this wasn't bad. I could walk to school, as it was only a few blocks away and the only street with any real traffic on it did have a crossing guard in the morning and afternoon.. and I think around noon, too. As kindergarten was a half-day thing, it made sense. I'm not sure if the guard was an adult all the time or if it was an older student mornings and afternoons. I don't know what would have happened had we not moved. Maybe I'd have grown up happier with being inside city limits. I wouldn't have had my aunt as my fourth grade teacher, and might not have advanced through the reading sub-groups. I expect with more kids around, I'd have found ways to get into more trouble. I suspect the move did me more good than harm, though it probably worried my grandparents considering where we wound up. But all this is mere speculation.