We spent the summer in an old beat up white house/ mansion with a large porch and wooden pillars (southern style) where we and our family rented out rooms and used a communal kitchen. I remember an old toaster that made the best toast imaginable. One had to open up the toaster and turn the slices of bread to be toasted. Mmmmm!
Milk was delivered in glass bottles, not homogenized and I think unpasteurized. The cream separated to the top leaving a thinnish and slightly blueish tinged liquid.
This particular vacation/farm was owned by Herman and Freida Frankel. I am not to sure of the last name or the correct spelling of Freida. Herman showed me how to milk a cow. Yes, milk does come from a cow and Herman milked all the cows by hand (6 or 7 cows) twice a day. He also raised chickens but he turned the chicken house into a clubhouse for the kids. It still stunk.
We also had an outhouse a short distance from the house which was quite quaint. It also stunk.
I was so enamored with that outhouse, that I used to collect postcards of different outhouses in the area.
Adjacent to the house was an arbor covered by Concord grape vines which were quite tasty by the end of the summer.
My Aunt Mimi Cohen ran a small bungalow colony next door to the Frankels called Willow Manor. Who actually owned it is left to conjecture. It wound up in the hands of an Aunt Gussie and Dave Schiffman by certain nefarious deeds or misdeeds as the case might be. In any case we spent a great deal of time there. Willow Manor had a small man made lake, one rowboat and a great many bullfrogs. I loved rowing about the lake and searching out a little cove that was there. In the middle of the lake was a wooden raft which we often swam to and relaxed on or about for hours on end.
Of course, what is a Bungalow Colony without a party house. It was a large one room affair where the ladies played canasta, mahjong and bingo. It was our clubhouse on rainy days. We played ping pong. There was also a shuffleboard court in front of the party house where we played many hours.
The men stayed in the city to work and visited on weekends. I believe that Buddy Cohen, Mimi's spouse drove them up each weekend. Buddy and Mimi had two children: Lee and Linda. Mimi was my Father's half sister, same father different mothers.
Every Friday night we would go to Willow Manor for dinner, first class. My Aunt Gussie and Aunt Mimi were first class cooks. I always looked forward to that meal. I might add that my Aunt Mimi was also the social director and bookkeeper as well.
There was an old movie theater in the town of Moodus housed in a big old white wooden building. I remember viewing Annie Get Your Gun and The Wizard of Oz on different occasions. Walking home at night was almost as much fun as the movie itself as the heavens were so full of stars I thought they would burst.
We, the kids used to play at night with our flashlights and make believe that they were ray guns. We went through batteries. The neon sign in front of Willow Manor would attract thousands of flying bugs every night which was a sight to behold.
One peculiar item that I found interesting was all the buildings in Moodus were white wood siding, which includes homes, recreational facilities, resorts and businesses. They were all very quaint.
I used to play with a town kid (Nicky) who lived next door but I didn't like going to his house because his big old gander always chased me.
To be continued.
